Long Time No See, eh?

Every month, I look back at the calendar to review my/our month and to remember what all we did.  Lately when people ask what I have been up to, I usually draw a blank.  Not because I have done nothing, but because I have been so busy I have no idea what all I have done.  This last month was ridiculous, and all about the kids.  That's good though, right?

 Let's see, going back a couple months I was able to take a trip to SLC with some lovely lady friends for the weekend, and it was fabulous.  It was filled with good food, fun shopping, hot tubing and mani's and pedi's.  There was a special day set aside that was dedicated to IKEA.  We had been planning and saving for months, so you can imagine what 4 girls with a wad of cash, an empty truck and heart full of determination can do.  I need to upload the pics from my phone, because it was ridiculous. ;)

The month of May? = Little league.  Seriously, 2 boys on 2 different teams?  Practices, games

etc.  I am happy for them that they had a good time and always want to give them the opportunity to compete in sports, but here is to secretly hoping they don't want to do it again.  The games started in the freezing cold, and the last game nearly gave me heat stroke.  But that is now over, the last day of school was Friday and we have already BBQ'd, had our own little pool party, gone swimming, gone shopping to garage sales, played a round of kickball with some friends at a park with a picnic- and it's only Monday. ;) 

I did learn that my body isn't the same now as in high school when I last played kickball- but it was apparent that everyone else felt the same. :)

So way back:  Last June, the Boise Art Museum (we will now refer to this as BAM), had a ladies night to coincide with their Shoe Art exhibit.  It was a blast and I just noticed that they had these pictures up on their facebook page.  This is my group of gals, and mine are the red polka dot shoes.  I seriously love this first shot.  Fabulous.

This one's pretty sweet too.

    I had some friends over one night to have  movie/spa. pajama party night.  So fun.  One of my friends has an auto immune disease which caused her hair to fall out.  She changed her diet and now has a fabulous head of hair again, but in the mean time had invested in a fabulous collection of wigs.  So naturally, she brought them and we tried them on.  Here is me modeling one along with the Kimono Preston brought back from Japan for me. 

I've had a hard realization that my body is getting older and while I am not like I was when I was 20, I am not giving up and and trying to be healthier and getting stronger with Yoga.  It has helped my pelvis and I almost have zero problems with it now, and thanks to the cortisone shots- my knees are great again too. ;)  I just really wish that this were true:

'till next time, thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Birthdays are definitely different when you are older, but I have learned to enjoy them.  This time around, Preston took the day off, so I was able to sleep in and take breakfast in bed.  Then he took Aleah to the Library so I could do Yoga in peace without a 2 year old monkey on my back.  It was raining and we had planned on doing a picnic, so Thurston suggested to do it inside.  So there we were, snacking on some Quiznos on a blanket in our livingroom, and it was fantastic.

We got a babysitter and Preston and I went out to the Movies, followed by a trip to purchase an ice cream cake.  Oh yes, it was delicious.  We totally ate that first, then had dinner- because it was my birthday and that's how I roll.

I was laughing at the pictures... this one was pretty good, but I am doing something pretty wierd with my mouth.

 Oh, that's sweet- wait, crap- Aleah is not wearing any pants...

ahhh... Oh come on JoJo- open your eyes...

 Yes!  Ok, Thurston is now looking off...

F.   Nevermind.

Woohoo to Tile!

Tile in the bathroom seems like something that isn't that exciting to talk about, but when you have had yucky carpet lying around in your Master bath- it is something to celebrate.  Granted- this was done back in December and it has taken me this long to post.  I hope to be a little more diligent in up keeping the blog for all 4 of you that may or may not still be reading this thing.
   So here we are, we found this tile at Home Depot and I LOVE it.  It's Brazilian Slate- it's manufactured, so it is not a true slate, but its nice.  It has a good texture so you won't slip and fall like the tile we have in the kitchen (that stuff is the WORST).  Plus, it stays warm because it is a second floor, and the materials it is made out of.  It has a sandy look to it in person, which is what I wanted.  Because of the new tile, of course I had to repaint it.  This picture was ,my inspiration- we took it last summer when we were in San Diego.  It's pretty and has great memories tied to it.

Big thanks to our buddy Travis who installed it for us!   

 I decided to paint the vanity and add a little bling to the mirror.  I just attached 2"x2" tiles around the existing mirror.  I have to say I love how it turned out.

And here is a door....?

I also painted an older dining room table.  It had good bones, but was that "80's oak" color, so then I kept painting and painted the side table, and then the kids destroyed my Soji screene, so then I had to make another painting to fit the room.  Luckily, when my neighbor was movie there was a giant canvas she gave me.  I stretched some leftover fabric from the curtains and did a Watercolor.

Here it is upclose:

'Till next time...

101 Cupcakes

This last weekend I made more cupcakes than I thought I was capable of.  My friend Tricia and I put our awesome (if I do say so myself) baking abilities together and baked well over 100 cupcakes for a bake sale.  My friend was recently diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer, so we wanted to hold a fund raiser for her and her family.  We all got together and rented out the Rollerdrome and had a fabulous night of skating and cupcakes.  We raised over $1000 for her that night!!  We were all blown away with everyone's generosity and donations to help her out.  She had her surgery yesterday and so far so good!  It's just great to know that there are people out there who can help lend a hand and help each other out.
   I am very very sad, because I did not get ANY pictures of the cupcakes.  You will have to just imagine the most delicious, beautiful cupcakes ever. ;)  I will tease you to say that I made a chocolate mint, chocolate raspberry meringue buttercream (also a vanilla version of this), a chai spice, and various little ones for the kiddos.  Tricia made a chocolate with purple cream frosting, boston cream, and a salted caramel cheesecake.  Yeah, they were that good. 
   Roller skating was awesome.  It had been WAY too long and left me a *little* sore the next day.  I went old school with the classic roller skates, while Preston took his Rollerblades out of retirement.  They let you bring strollers out on the floor so Aleah had fun.  She loved the disco ball and had a blast.  Preston wore his blue velvet shirt and yes- the chest hair was out for all to see, it was fabulous.  This is what I imagine we looked like:

But I'm pretty sure this is more what I looked like:

So that was fun.

   Now to get Preston all ready for his trip.  He heads out on Monday for Japan for a week!  I think he is really excited- esp since Ralph spent so much time over there when Preston was a kid.  We were discussing how it was first instinct to want to pick up the phone to tell his Dad he gets to go over and spend time with a company he once spent so much time with.  It's the little things like that that are the hardest.  When you remember that they aren't there to pick up the phone anymore. :(
   

All About Eee-ahs

On the 10th of this month baby girl turned 2!  We managed to celebrate it on her actual birthday this year. (This rarely happens in our house).  I am going to start with the evening party that we had that evening to celebrate her as well as Wendy's birthday.  Why?  Because that's how the photos loaded....

Here is Bill ....

                                Birthday girl Wendy

 She said this is how she is supposed to take a picture...

 Everyone sat at the kiddie table that night.

   Aleah's reaction to her Hello Kitty cake

 It was convenient that they both love Hello Kitty

 Nom nOm nOM

 This girl got spoiled

 She got the pink barbie jeep I always wanted...

That morning we had her friend party.  We did a tea party.  Here she is waiting for everyone to arrive.

Savannah waiting for everyone to arrive. :D

The table!  My friend happened to have a large amount of kid chairs and white pillowcases for the taking.  How did I get that lucky!?

The spread

The Tea Cups!!  Seriously, how cute are these puppies??  I found them on Oriental Trading Co.  Perfect for a 2 yr old tea party.

Little Tiaras for party favors and boxes filled with mini marshmallows

They were ALL so well behaved and well mannered.  Such a difference from the boys parties.

So dainty

Elliott

I love how the boys dressed up too

Seriously so sweet and cute!

oooh yeahhh

The Royal couple. Tricia made Elliott a Prince Charming costume.  They are so cute and are totally each others best friend now.  "Alla and Ewiott"

Summer Time Blues

Where's this??  It's Newport Beach,CA.... and it is calling my name. 

We were thinking of doing a tour of the Southwest- NM, AZ, UT, NV etc etc and to visit my parents.  Then my Dad told me that he and my Mom were taking off and spending the majority of the summer driving and touring the US.  One of their first stops would be California.  So I did what any other kid would do- I invited myself and my family to meet them in Cali. :D  Now many of my siblings will be there too!  If you are a friend and live close and feel you might want to meet up one night for a crazy IKEA trip or some food- (*coughPaulandMarissacough*)  Let us know.  We wil be in that area June 9/10-15th). ;)

The Snow

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all came and went without any snow.  It was sad- esp when I heard that New Mexico was covered in the stuff.  I never thought that living in Boise, ID, I would be jealous of Silver City, NM for their snow.  Well- mid to late January it finally came.  We had an excellent storm that produced the best snow to build a snowman with.  By that evening, it was melted.  I then realized that that was all I needed and will be happy if we do not get anymore.  I like it to be in the mountains so we have access to it.  Once Christmas time is over- the snow should be too. ;)  The kids had fun though!

 She screamed bloody murder when I brought her inside.  Kids don't care if they are frozen and their hands are about to fall off- It's SNOW!!

 JoJo rolled this snow man all by himself!

 Of course, hot chocolate and marshmallows were quickly consumed once the playing was finished.