to be or not to be...?

My hair is getting a bit long...however when I see this hairstyle...I feel like cutting it off....this is super cute..should I or shouldn't I?hmmm.

COUSINS

Turning ONE is a joy....baby Alice lights up our lives when she comes to visit and we had the priviledge of hosting her big ONE at our home...cousins are wonderful. we are lucky to be close so we can celebrate these precious milestones...

elegant nails

I used to have fake nails for the longest time because my nails just don't grow but I have ditched them and gotten gels...I love this nail color by Essie which is at Target! yay!BTW...those are NOT my nails!

love this for fall!

I love frilly skirts and of course I LOVE my boots...so why not put the two together...okay so I am attemping to make this skirt..IF and WHEN I can get it together, I will share a tutoral but that is a big IF..I am not sure I have the sewing skills for such a skirt but hey I WILL try!In the meantime check out PIPERLIME for the boots and a similar skirt! I cannot live without Piperlime!

more organizing

Yesterday I posted the awesome linen closet that I am aspiring to create in the hallway but today I found this fabulous picture of what an organized pantry should look like...needless to say this one does not look like mine ..I have some work to do!

Organizing

My constant pet peeve with this big family is the linen closet..how great would it be to replace the shelves with drawers?? the kids would be able to help put sheets and towels and blankies away much easier than the darn shelves...hmmm lets ask Peter if he'll go for it.

How to make it...

Brownie surprise is the perfect junk food for your labor day holiday...
spread cookie dough on the bottom of a 9x13" dish.
line Oreo's (or in my case I used Jo-jos from good 'ol trader Joes)over the top of the cookie dough.
spread a brownie mix over the top of those layers and bake for 25 min.
The secret weapon is to UNDERBAKE it a bit. the middle will be gooey and super yummy.
give it a try!

just for fun...

I get really inspired by pictures...I love to take something I see and add my own twist to it..so I thought it would be fun to do a blog post every few days on what inspires me and hopefully inpsire someone else...I love a great recipe or a sewing project or an idea about things to do with your family..whatever...but its always good to get new ideas and so I am doing just that...hope you will join me and even share it with a friend,,it could be fun!

School days..

I remember saying this last year and getting a ton of smack about it( hahaha) but I really don't like the first day of school. It makes me so sad. To me it is another year of the kids getting older and me getting younger and I am already way toooo young. Seriously. I'm super young.I actually enjoyed every minute of summer...I enjoyed my Wonderful Wednesdays, my beach days-minus the beach catastrophe, and the lazy "lets-not-go-anywhere" vibe that was around our house. Now its back to homework, lunches, driving EVERYWHERE, seminary, hair-do's, outfits, drama, tears, clothing dilemas and everything in-between! ugh...How many days until summer?

my baby..

1st and 2nd graders..kind of a big deal around here...

Caeley is the sweetest girl...although highly emotional when it comes to her hair and clothes and make-up. whew..exhausting!love her though! LOL

clairebee

my littles

My first...i love this boy...sniff,sniff.

Chloe is way too excited for school...isn't she going to miss me?

my two littles...holding hands going to school

Swimsuits galore!

I made the girls swimsuits this summer! They actually turned out super cute believe it or not! Its hard to find cute modest swimsuits and when you do find one everyone at the beach has the same $9.99 Target suit...you don't know which kid is yours! I googled swimsuit fabric and then found a tutorial and viola! homemade swimsuits!

Things happen....

First of all Chloe is good....last week we went on our weekly trek to the beach and Chloe got hit by some huge rogue wave and ended up on a back board, riding in the ambulance to the darn hospital...so first off, we wanted to be better safe than sorry so thats the reason for the dramatic pictures:) she was okay...just REALLY sore the next day.but here is my version of the story with a humorous spin...Cause I like to laugh, ya know....
the day started out great...beautiful day at the beach, kids playing, diet coke, US magazine..what could be better? Chloe takes the wave upside down and lands on her neck and shoulder...so I turn to my good friend Deb and say" maybe you should go ask the lifeguard to come over and help me with the right questions to ask chloe and try to figure out how bad she really is"...Chloe is HYSTERICAL at this point so I have to put down my magazine, my diet coke, etc( darn it) and help her:) Okay ....within 5 minutes my quiet" I really don't want to call attention to myself" moment turned into 17 lifeguards, 4 lifeguard trucks, a fire engine with fireman who by the way were blond, tan and smelled pretty good actually,a police car, an ambulance and last but not least a lifeguard boat in the water with the water stream shooting straight up in the air as if we just left on a cruise to Mexico.
Are you kidding me? I thought we were in a state budget crisis? they don't even clean the beach bathrooms...where in the heck did all these people come from?
You should know, I hadn't showered yet that day or shaved my legs, I was wearing an old black cover up, no bra- hello whats wrong with me?? and if the tall blond lifeguard touched my gross, sweaty shoulder one more time I might have had to hurt him. He can touch my shoulder AFTER I take a bath:)
I had promised a friend I would drive her 3 kids home from the beach because she was helping with the family of some ward members who had just had a death in the family...( can no one count on me for anything?)I got up , handed my keys over to another friend and said I'm going in the ambulance!I left a complete garage sale of beach stuff all over and 7 kids wondering what the heck just happened....
then, as we are pulling into the E.R. my phone is ringing and its the dear friend who was driving all the kids home saying she couldn't get the emergencey brake to release so she could drive my car home!there are nurses asking me questions, and I'm mouthing to them "this call is really important and I'll be right with you!!!!" Are you kidding me?? of course the E brake is broken...this is my life..the poor girl had to get down on the pavement on PCH and try to release the darn thing!By the grace of Heaven it released and she drove everyone home....
Needless to say everything ended well...no broken bones or concussion or anything...and tomorrow we are going back to the beach but here are the changes I'm making for tomorrows trip...I am putting a helmet on chloe before she goes into the water...I am getting up and showering, shaving my legs AND doing my hair BEFORE we leave...I am wearing a bra and a cute outfit..I may even add a little lipgloss for good luck...don't want to scare away cute lifeguards:)