Birthday Shout Out To Darci!

Today is Darci's (my sister-in-law) 28th birthday! As a tribute to her, on her special day, Devon and I thought we would share our Top 10 favorite things that make us think of Darci!

• The first time ever experiencing snow and going sledding in it, Darci forgot to wear socks. Within minutes, her feet were freezing and they had to leave...Devon claims that he has never forgiven her for this, but still loves her.
  
• When Devon and Darci were kids, Darci once asked him if he thought cartoons were real. Devon told her they weren't and she told him back that she really thought they were.
• Darci loves to read--especially romance novels.
• She is a great Aunt and Mom. She always makes each of her nieces and nephews feel loved and special.
• She is very artistic and creative.
• When she was a kid, all of her family thought she looked like Yoda (from Star Wars). This was because of the way she scrunched her face when she smiled.
  
• She has fainted numerous times! It's amazing she survived pregnancy and delivery since any topic related to the human anatomy, especially sex ed. classes, makes her feel woosy!
  
• She is a good listener and friend.
• Darci and Devon were heartbroken when their mom found a "better" home for their rabbits (Whiskers and Carmel) who were eating up the grass in their backyard. Little did they know that a "better" home was actually the Golf Course. They were very distraught when they discovered the truth.
• For awhile, she and her friends were obsessed with American Girl Dolls.
  

These are just a few of our favorite memories...Happy Birthday, Darci! We love you!

Good Day/ Bad Day

Mr. Independent, Blake, adding his own "BAM" to our Smoothie!

Bad Day:

• Subbing Pilates to Solana Beach Yoga Snobs!
  
• Thanking them for attending my class and "tolerating" Pilates for one day and having someone tell me that "tolerate" was the right word!
• Arriving at 7:45am for an 8am class, with all three kids in tote and discovering that the Kids Club didn't open until 9am.
• Watching my HUGE pile of unfolded laundry glare at me!
• Not washing my hair...does not make pretty hair, rather, ugly, greasy, post-exercise hair.
• Rainy day...it really puts a damper on my 75 degree California lifestyle! And, it only makes the (already) ugly hair, even uglier.
  

Good Day:

• Exercising! Getting oxygen to those muscles of mine always makes me feel good!
• Being grateful, for one moment, that the recently unemployed husband (Yes, he, along with 2500 other employees, was laid off last Tuesday...sniff, sniff) was home to pick up the kids since there was NO Kids Club!
• Cleaning my house.
• Hiring a babysitter to have some alone time, with the husband, to go see this movie, and loved it!
• Listening to Luke sing the theme song to Transformers.
• Taylor drawing me pretty pictures.
• Blake laughing and helping me make a Smoothie!
• Eating a square of Nestle Toll House Cookie dough, sipping a coke and sharing a piece of Chocolate cake...aaahhh, if that doesn't make a good day, I don't know what does.
• And, having a good laugh while looking at this and remembering the good ol' Utah Hair Days!
  

Another day in Paradise!

It is the middle of January...need I say more?Kisses for Daddy!
If you ever come to visit, we will take you to Wind and Sea beach...it is the most picturesque and beautiful beach we have to offer!
Oh, my babies are getting so big, but they are still so cute!
Despite the 75 degree weather, the water was freezing!
As Luke looks over the edge, he is thinking "hmmm...where can I find another rock to throw."
This baby is especially getting bigger and growing up WAY too fast!
I wouldn't trade this for anything. Especially for those of you that are shoveling snow, driving on slippery roads, wearing layers outside, and salting your driveway--I do not envy you! Nothing beats this...this is Paradise!

High School Sweethearts!

It all began 13 years ago...It was our Junior year in High School, and, while sitting in History class, Ibegan chatting with Devon about the upcoming swing lesson activity at the church and invited him to go. I was so attracted to his happy-go-lucky attitude, smile, sense of humor, as well as his breathtaking blue eyes that I couldn't wait to dance with him that night. That night, we never exchanged partners and have been side by side and heart to heart ever since. In High School we attended both Proms together and graduated together....
After graduation we spent the entire summer at the beach...I don't think I have ever been so tan in my life!
It is hard to remember a time in my life without him. We loved listening to Chicago's Greatest Hits and would sometimes drive around in his red, 1988, Honda Prelude, listening to those songs over and over again. That is how "our" song became "You're the Inspiration."
We continued to date, long-distance, while I was at Ricks College. When I returned home to attend CSUF, we dated another year and a half and then got engaged!
Devon proposed after I returned home from a trip with my family to Washington, D.C. To propose, he sent me on a treasure hunt to find the ring. When I found the ring, I was really surprised, but really happy!
After a long, 6 1/2 month, engagement, an original engagement ring that was destroyed by the jeweler, and a tux that wasn't picked up (which I thought I would totally die if my husband-to-be didn't have a tux to take pictures in), somehow, everything came together and we were happily married on the most beautiful, gorgeous, sunny January 15th, 2000 day in the L.A. Temple.
It seems like every year that passes goes by faster and faster! And, yet, even after 5 years of dating my best friend, 8 years of marriage, 11 moves, 3 children, and all the trials and challenges that come with it, I continue to fall deeper and deeper in love with this man!
As a tribute to our time together, I chose a playlist for our blog that reflects our years and memories spent together. Nothing brings a memory more to life than one that is remembered with a song!
Happy Anniversary, Devo! I love you!

And The Winner Is...

Thank you all for playing my game! The actual number of phrases in the boxes is 41. The closest numbers chosen were, 36, 37, and 50. The winner is ANSKU who chose 37....Hooray!! Many of you had no idea what "wall words" or "vinyl lettering" were, so I thought I would give you a sample (for fun) of what I sell and what these fun phrases look like!

Post 100: Highlights From My Week!

This week, as always, has been very eventful and exciting so I thought I would share a few highlights...AND, in honor of my 100th post, give away a prize...First of all, I have been extremely busy fulfilling orders for my Wall Word phrases. This picture of boxes were last weeks orders. In honor of my 100th post, I am giving away a complimentary 34" (lengthwise) Wall Word phrase to the first person that can come within two numbers of the total number of phrases that are within these boxes.
Since Christmas, Luke has been OBSESSED with Transformers. He got the old 1980's Transformer cartoon movie for Christmas and goes around the house singing "Transformers, more than meets the eye..." It is so funny. He started playing with this box pretending he was a transformer, so Devon made his dream come true and drew a Stereo on the front and let him color it in. He has been wearing this box non-stop.
Taylor and Luke went back to school this week...Woo-Hoo!

One very on-going event in our house is this Stupid broken toilet. The handle keeps breaking and we have to flush it manually...it is really driving me crazy!!!
Blake, after finishing his chocolate muffin, for breakfast, had muffin stuck on his front tooth. It was so funny to see him grin with all that stuff stuck to his teeth, I just had to take a picture.

No matter what, Blake's grin always makes me smile...he is the happiest boy!
No one entertains quite like Taylor. This picture was taken after she had constructed her masterpiece fort. She entertains her brothers with things like this all day long!
Blake is right at home inside the fort.

Finally! After living in this house for 4 1/2 years, we finished painting up the stairs. Both of our necks were strained from all the over-head painting, but it looks so great and feels so great to finally have done! After the stairway, I convinced Devon that we should also re-paint the family room and dining room. He told me I was crazy, but agreed.

Now, start posting your guesses! Tell your friends..all are welcome to participate! I will announce the lucky winner on Monday!

Most Definitely Deceptively Delicious!

Growing up, everyone in my family ate everything! We had no picky eaters except for the occasional non-milk drinkers and fish eaters. I never imagined that people actually exist who despise eating vegetables, fruits, and adding sauces to their foods. I love the imagery in Ratatouille where the rat describes eating a strawberry and it tastes so good by itself, but when you add another flavor with it, such as cheese or chocolate, your senses start to explode! This is how eating is for me...I love mixing vegetables and fruits together and adding ketchup and mustard and so on to my cheeseburgers. My husband, on the other hand, is extremely picky!!! He is strictly a meat and potatoes guy. He orders his hamburgers plain with cheese and will NOT eat any fruits or vegetables (I tell him potatoes and corn don't count). He has given his condition a name and says he has "Super Tastebuds," whatever! Since our children share his DNA, it has been quite the challenge getting them to put good things in their body. However, I have discovered two wonderful things that have changed my life! First, the VitaMIX! It is a commercial blender like the ones they use at Jamba Juice. I can add vegetables to smoothies and the kids and the husband eat them...hooray! I make one every morning. Second, for Christmas, my mom gave me a new recipe book called, Deceptively Delicious. These recipes include pureed foods that you add to regular meals and are delicious! The most recent was a huge hit and the kids devoured them! It's a miracle...I love watching my kids enjoy eating fruits and vegetables without even knowing it! Below is the recipe...my kids (and hubby!) loved it, so will yours!

Applesauce Muffins (with butternut squash or carrot)

TOPPING

• 2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2TBSP trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread, melted

BATTER

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup nonfat (skim) milk
• 1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 large egg

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. To make the topping, stir together the oats, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the margarine.

3. To make the batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. In a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil, and egg. Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened. Do not overmix- the batter is supposed to be lumpy.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins, 18 to 20 minutes. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and serve warm or cool.

Enjoy!!!

Happy New Year!

In honor of my dear cousin, and her always hilarious blogs, I too am going to share my own version of what I will NOT do this New Year!!!

(No Happy New Year would be complete without hats, blowhorns, silly string, a tupperware full of explosive devices (I may now have future pyros on my hands), fun, games, and food all courtesy of our friends!

First of all, I will NOT stop loving musicals!! Sorry, Babe, you can continue to make fun of me all you want, but the musical diva, in me, will live on.

I will NOT jog 3 miles a day, rather try and jog 4. Remember, "try" is the operative word!

Also, I will NOT stop teaching Pilates because I love it (and the Kids Club is free, therefore giving me a one-hour, uninterrupted, break)!

I will NOT stop eating sweets, rather try to eat them less during the week.

I will NOT stop watching my daytime Soap or Greys Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and LOST (what can I say, I'm totally addicted).

I will NOT allow the kids to make a mess of their toys in every room--especially with miniature Legos!

I will NOT stop kissing or squeezing Blake every time I pick him up or sit him on my lap.

I will NOT stop telling the kids how much I love them and NOT stop letting my heart melt every they tell me they love me back.

I will NOT stop the husband from pinching my bum and whistling at me when I walk by.

I will NOT stop blogging or reading others blogs because I love it!

I will NOT stop loving the beach or the non-stop 75 degree weather.

I will NOT stop remembering how deeply blessed my life is and how sweet each moment is with my kids because it is all passing by too fast!

Happy New Year!