Smith Family

Our ward is putting on their own Women's Conference in August and I was asked to teach a class on inexpensive crafts to give as gifts. My mind just went crazy thinking of all these projects I've been wanting to create and finally I have an excuse to make them! Here are a couple things I've been working on, these are gifts for a baby shower. I got these ideas off of other peoples blogs but I don't know who because I've had these things stewing in my head ever since I saw them. So unfortunately I can't give credit where credit is due. Here is a little thrift store magic. I love treasures I can find there. I happen to hit the 50% off day. So this gift cost a whopping total of $3! Before After  I think I'm going to hang it horizontally. I just saw on Martha Stewart something similar to this, but she added little knobs for necklaces or headbands. So I'm probably going to try and add that. I absolutely LOVE these bibs. They cost 66cents to make and are wond...

He looks kinda cooky here because the smoke was in his eyes . We put that cute little grill to use. We weren't too sure how it was going to turn out, but it was quite delightful.  Hopefully in a couple of months we'll be able to set the canopy up and have a picnic, it's just TOO hot right now.

My best buddy from college came out to visit us for the day. It was so fun to see her and her son Riley. It had been over a year. It's nice to have friends where no matter how long it's been it's like you've hung out every day.  Riley loved the play station and Audrey loved to pretend to play with the Nintendo remote.

I visit teach the cutest girl in my ward who is about to have a baby girl. A friend in the ward, Jocey, and I put on a little shower for her. I saw this idea on  http://meandmyinsanity.blogspot.com/2009/04/shes-about-to-pop-coolest-baby-shower.html   and really wanted to try it out so we did. Here's how it turned out. We tried to have as many things that had pop in their name. We did have other yummy food as well. I thought it was a lovely evening and a wonderful turnout. Can't wait to meet little Kya. 

r I love holidays. Any holiday really. I just think it's fun to have an excuse to do something different than the same ol' thing every day. Especially if it gives an excuse to show our appreciation for the people we love in our life. We started out the day with breakfast in bed. Seriously all he wanted was Cinnamon Toast Crunch with apple juice. I was planning on making a really fine meal but he insisted this is what he wanted, which was fine by me :) Then he opened his presents which I was sure he was going hate. I got him a little canopy and a cute little grill. He informed me that grills are not supposed to be cute, but look at that little thing... how can it not be cute? He actually loved it which made me happy. We are hoping to go fishing soon and use this stuff. Unfortunately he had to give a talk on Father's Day which was kind of a bummer, but I think he did a swell job.  I'm so grateful for my father and the great example he has been throughout my life. I'm...

I read that stringing beads on pipe cleaners help develop fine motor skills, so I thought I would give this a try. I handed Audrey a pipe cleaner, she then dropped it immediately with the most disgusted look on her face. Every time I tried to hand it back this is what I got. I think she thought it was a bug or something. I found something else to use that worked really well and she loved it. She was so thrilled to wear her necklace. Now we are working on matching colors... this one might take a little longer. She loves to throw the colors in the cups but hasn't quite understood the matching thing. 

The first time Audrey saw Wesley at church she went ballistic. I believe she was about 3 months old, and she couldn't contain herself. It was so darn cute, I think she remembered him from heaven. They are only about a week apart. Wesley's nanny, Mariah and I decided we needed to get the 2 together for a play date and Audrey had a BLAST. I was pleasant surprised to find that she had bought little aprons for the 2 of them to decorate. Cool right? As soon as Audrey made a hand print she would look at me and say, more. She could have done that all day. Then it was time to make edible play dough. Audrey mostly just ate it instead of play with it. She had a lot of fun making it though. It took Wesley a little while to warm up to Audrey, but by the end they were buds Or a little more :) Every time she sees her apron she opens her mouth and eyes super big like it's the greatest thing she has ever seen. We had a great time, and it reminded me that I need do these kind of things more...

Sometimes I just like to hit up Target because it's nice and cool and they have wonderful stuff I wish I had the money to buy. But, one of the best parts about Target is they provide a vice to bribe my child to sit in the cart. If you ever see me at the store I will most likely have Audrey on one hip, shopping list in hand, and awkwardly trying to push a cart all at once. Why doesn't every store provide popcorn? This popcorn is really good too, it's like movie theater popcorn for a quarter of the cost. You better believe that the next time we go to the movies we will be getting our popcorn here for a buck and stuffing it in my conveniently ginormous purse. 

We celebrated Amy's birthday about a month ago and I was in charge of the cake. I was told she LOVES the praline Carmel one at DQ so away I went to pick one up. Of course they no longer sell that one so I had to make an executive decision and went with Reese's ... who doesn't like Reese's , right? The worker stored the cake in the back so Audrey and I could enjoy our ice cream cone. The lady asked what I would like written on the cake. I'm an idiot and thought she meant what name would I like to use to reserve the cake. Needless to say my last name appeared in neon red on her birthday cake. P.S. for future reference, Amy doesn't like Reese's !!  P.S.S. I'm really good at being in charge of the birthday cake so if you ever need anyone to fulfill that duty I'm available. 

My child has developed some talents and if anyone could use some of her specialties give me a call. I don't believe in Child Labor laws, I believe in making money no matter what. Here are a few of her services.  Envelope Lick er Body Artist- I'm pretty sure she can make markers/pens/crayons appear out of thin air. If you're lucky you will get the classic "Uh Oh" at the end of the masterpiece Sweeper Gold Digger And last but not least photographer. This particular advertisement will take a couple visual aides to fully provide an accurate presentation of her abilities. She goes for the abstract/ contemporary look  She always gets the best lighting And just look at those angles.... Remarkable She also provides MULTIPLE options of the same object I give you Ms. Audrey Ann

Certainly the biggest thing that has happened over the past 2 months has been my lovers GRADUATION! It is so wonderful to have him done. We had the opportunity to hear the President himself speak and we were planning on going... THEN we realized the traffic and parking would be outrageous, and we were expected to sit in an unconditioned football field for almost 4 hours sweltering in heat waiting for him to come out. It was supposed to be in the triple digits and with the sun beating down on those benches it would have been an oven in there are not even worth it. So instead of that Pete opted to go to the JD Hayworth talk show. He was lucky enough to get up and actually be a part of the show which was a lot of fun for him. Since he ultimately wants to be involved in politics this was a cool experience.  I do have to explain the eventful graduation ceremony that we attended. One student was chosen to represent the class and give a speech. As this person walks up to the podium I was slig...

I've lost my camera cord, which is super annoying. Hopefully I'll find it soon so I can catch up on life. I'm kinda tired of looking at the previous post so for my viewing pleasure I have decided to switch it up :)  On a side note, we were hoping to visit this magical place in September but our AC broke and all our money for Disneyland went to fix that... what a shame. Maybe next year