Bunco madness!

I hosted Bunco at my house last night. It was my first time hosting and I was so nervous. I don't entertain on a regular basis, other than my 8-yr-old daughter's friends which doesn't really count. They are happy with a pizza from Little Caesars and a 2-liter of root beer. I got all stressed out after talking to my sister-in-law(SIL) who has been doing Bunco for years. She told me I absolutely should not buy food from Costco- that makes for a terrible night.
So I fretted and worried about what on earth I would make and what gifts would be "good enough." I took a friend from our group shopping with me, and we got some really great prizes from a cute local store called "Rod Works." I felt much better. Then we did go to Costco to buy food, I found out my group isn't as snobby as my SIL. I ended up getting a big ol' chocolate cake and some lettuce, they just didn't have anything that looked all that yummy, I was shocked. I ended up making Lemon Rosemary Chicken, Garlic Smashed Potatoes, homemade rolls, spinach dip, Little smokies and caramel pecans, and a caesar salad. I also made some Lemon Water to drink and we had various sodas as well. I REALLY did not intend on actually cooking so much of the food, I honestly don't know what happened. I spent almost the entire day yesterday in the kitchen, but it was really worth it in the end.
Once people started coming I just relaxed and really just enjoyed myself. The food turned out great, everyone kept going back for more which never really happens. I was really expecting to have tons of leftovers, I didn't expect others to have abandoned their New Year's Resolutions as quickly as I did too!
It was the loudest night of Bunco I think we have ever had, definitely the loudest I have ever been to. I was laughing so hard! And the very best part, I WON!! I never win. Ever. I'm lucky to get one Bunco all night long, and usually am 20 pts off getting the low score prize. I rolled 6 Buncos. Two of them back to back in the very last two games. Here's my prize:

It's cute, but I am going to return it to get a couple items at the store that I liked better. Shhh, don't tell! That's the really nice thing about hosting, you have the receipts and you know which gift cost the most money!! :)

December Recap II

Ahhh, the rest of the month. I couldn't possibly leave out Christmas!

Here we are assmebling the tree. Julia had been begging all month long to set it up, and finally on December 14th we did. It seems we always get sick the first few weeks in December, so we promised ourselves next year the tree is going up the day after Thanksgiving. After throwing things together so late in the game this year, I think we really will... I hope...



Here it is folks, the Bob Vila gingerbread house. We had a blast decorating it. We have a tradition of doing this on Julia's birthday. I assembled the house before we went to Winger's so it could really set up and then over the next day or so we put all the candy on it. I love the little "rocks" I found for the chimney, front walk, and front of the house. I'm told they tasted delicious as well.



Bob and Kristie came Dec 23rd and Kristie and I immediately went out to go last minute shopping. I hadn't bought myself a single gift yet. Oh, my husband and I have a somewhat unorthodox gift-giving tradition. To avoid being disappointed by what you got and feeling guilty about returning it and/or feeling like a shmuck for getting the wrong gift, and to retain that "oh wow!" surprise feeling, we purchase our own gifts. That way we always get exactly what we want and we get to be surprised by what the other person bought for themself. It works great for us. Anyway, we ran to Kohls. After a mad dash through the store and a joyous time in the dressing room (imagine this last part laced with sarcasm) the hubbies call to tell us to come make their dinner. So we dashed to the check out line only to get the slowest checker on the face of the earth made even worse by a lady demanding price checks, but we make it through run out the door and then, "hey, where did we park? Wasn't the car right here? We got a good spot didn't we? I swear we parked right here? Where is my van???" We walk up and down every aisle looking for my green Mazda and all I can say is, "Why when we are surrounded by Honda Odyssey's and Chryslers would a stupid car thief choose my MPV???" We're getting pretty paranoid by this point, imagining what our husbands will say (hers is a SHERRIFF!!) when suddenly a light goes on, "was there more than one entrance?" We head back inside and remember we came in by the shoes, so we go over that way through the doors and guess what? There's my van right out front like it should have been. We were laughing so hard with relief and were so mortified by our experience, that we vowed not to tell our hubbies the real reason we were soooooooo late.

I have been waiting for big sis to put this on her blog, but she hasn't so here it is, her Ric Rack Purse. I think it is absolutely adoreable and I really want one for myself. Hopefully I will be able to knit it myself before too long. Julia absolutely loves it, it is perfect!!








Christmas Eve -- another tradition we have is opening jammies on
Christmas Eve. So here are Daddy and his girls in their coordinating jammies. Sydni looks thrilled, doesn't she? Daddy didn't buy himself any jammies, shame on him!! I had pink ones to match the girls but we didn't get any photos of us... We also wathed a video of the Christmas story called "Joy to the World" and sang songs and took a moment to remember the Savior and the true reason we all gather together this time of year. It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle. After the kids went to bed it was a mad dash to get presents wrapped and orange rolls baked. Big sis and I were up until 4 am!


It was all worth it Christmas morning though. The kids had a great time, Sydni was more interested in passing out all the red presents than actually opening any, but she did like the toys inside. We had a great time!! We had Christmas dinner at my in-laws. Ja's little sister that is my age came with her hubby and 2 girls and it was wonderful to see them! Gotta love the holidays.

December Recap


First up, Julia's Christmas Dance Recital on the 19th of December. They danced to the Dance of the Chinese Something Or Other song from the "Nutcracker" and they were so cute. Julia is the second girl on the right. The girl standing on her right looking at the camera is Bailey, our neighbor and friend. Her mom usually takes the girls to ballet. It is so much fun to listen to their conversations. Bailey has RA and consequently undergoes a lot of medical testing every month. When Julia had to get her flu shot, Bailey gave her advice about how to handle the "dreaded needle!!" Their latest conversation was about the age of their mothers. Julia was telling Bailey about my upcoming birthday and how I would be "30 (pause) years (pause) old!!!" Then Bailey said her Mom just turned 37 (??) and at her next birthday "I think she's going to turn 90 or something." I love kids!


Next up, the snow storm. We had about a foot of snow fall just in time for Christmas. We love the snow! No one more than Sydni. She and Julia played in the snow even after the sun went down. I literally had to drag them back in the house. Sydni was shrieking and kicking and actually I'm surprised none of the neighbors called the police or rushed out to see what happened. I guess they are used to her screaming since she does it every time I bring her inside.

We were so happy the snow lasted through Christmas so Uncle Bob and Aunt Krisite could have a white Christmas. Right after they left for Idaho, we had a few warm days and it melted. Now it's only a memory, but we're hoping to get a t least one more good storm in before the spring.

Happy Birthday! Julia turned 8 on the 20th of December. She looked all grown up in her outfit that really looked like something I would wear. The 20th was also the last day of school before winter break, so she got to sing in her Christmas program and have a party at school. We took her to one of her favorite resteraunts for dinner, Wingers. Her sister was a little terror and kept wanting to strip and they took the Jell-o off the kids menu, but they still had popcorn and Asphalt Pie so all was right with the world. She had her friend party in the summer (see my first post), so she was stuck with her family that night. Luckily she still likes us! I'll end this post with pictures of her opening some of her presents. Sydni is calling...







From Grandma and Grandpa Her new scriptures from Mom and Dad









From Aunt Angie & Family

To gusset or not to gusset...

When big sis came for Christmas, she started to teach me to knit socks. Unfortunately, we did not make it to the heel gusset. So here are some photos of what I have knit so far, but is it far enough???

I'm really excited about my first pair! I'm hoping it is the first of many, especially since big sis also gave me another hank of beautiful Fearless Fibers sock yarn. I figured I'd be ripping this first pair back so much that green would be a much more appropriate color.

This is all for now, Syds is demanding to have Einsteins on the "uhputer" right this second!

Quick post

I am completely overwhelmed by the holidays and have zero time to blog, but I just had to write about the gingerbread house templates I found on Bob Vila's website! I was surprised he would have anything like that on his site, but there are some great templates and detailed funny instructions! Check it out. We will be making a few of the designs for Julia's 8th birthday on Wednesday. I will post pictures most likely after the New Year. Who knows maybe things will quiet down and I can do it before then... I also finished my Swirl Hat just in time for Julia to wear it to school this week. More on that later too!

I took my daughter, Julia, to the Hale Center Theater's production of "A Christmas Carol." I was sure what to expect because I'd never been to this theater before. When I walked in and saw that it was theater in the round and a pretty small round at that, I thought "well at least I didn't spend that much for tickets." Once the production began though, I was pleasantly surprised. We had the best time! The actors and actresses did a remarkable job, the blocking was impeccable, the singing was excellent-- I walked out of the theater with the biggest smile on my face and full of Christmas spirit. Most of the cast was even outside in the bitter cold singing Christmas carols and thanking you for coming as you left. I really was just so impressed and highly recommend the Hale Theater to anyone in the area. Julia had a wonderful time, and the best part was watching her face light up as she was transported into the story. Going to this play brought back fond memories of when I was a theater major in college, and oh how I wish I could have been a part of it all! I do miss it, but motherhood is definitely worth the sacrifice. Hearing her laugh and tell me all her favorite parts took any longing for another life completely away.

Trying to catch up

I banned myself from blogging, knitting, papercrafting, and baking until I got caught up on all the little household projects I've been letting slip by for far too long. I did manage to reorganize the office and most of my bedroom, I reorganized Jul's room and Daddy did the toy room, I finished the evil evil blanket, but still have so many projects to go. So why am I posting? Because I just couldn't resist sharing some photos!

Halloween Houses:

Back in October I volunteered in my daughter's classroom to do "Friday Fun Clubs." We chose to do Haunted Houses. The kids had an absolute blast and made the biggest mess ever! We used chocolate graham crackers for the house, royal icing in neon purple, black and white for the glue, candy corn, m&ms, spider rings, gummy worms and kids, teddy "mummy" grahams, and crushed butterfingers for the fall leaves. Some kids used the butterfingers to bury their teddy grahams- my daughter included! Yeah, she's my kid!

Bubble Love!

Now Sydni loves her bubbles. The girls would spend all night in the tub if I would let them. Now I just need to find bubbles that won't upset my oldest daughter's delicate skin.

Finished Unblocked Projects

I have finally accepted that I will most likely never block these or any other project I make, so here are the pictures.

Mason-Dixon Ball Band Dishcloth

Materials: worsted weight cotton yarn in white and variegated yarn

Needles: size 8

Notes: lots of fun to make!

Vine Lace Dishcloth by S.M. Kahn

Materials: ww cotton yarn

Needles: Size 8

Notes: I really love her patterns, they are so much fun and turn out so beautiful!!

Diamond Lace Dishcloth by S.M. Kahn

Materials: ww cotton

Needles: size 8

Notes: I did these on my bamboo needles and really enjoyed them. This is my favorite dishcloth pattern so far. She has a TON more I can't wait to try!!

So there you have it! That's some of what I've been up to lately. Hopefully I will get pictures of Julia's finished bedroom soon and maybe the office. I really have to get the house decorated for the holidays and I need to finish my holiday shopping! Christmas is coming much too quickly for me this year.

It's starting to smell like Thanksgiving!

Today I am roasting the vegetables to begin making the stock for the turkey brine. Wonderful smells are filling the home and I cannot wait for Thursday. Hopefully I will not be too exhausted to enjoy the food and company.

Does anyone have Thanksgiving traditions? My husband's family always just ate and ate and they were all skinny as a rail. Growing up I remember helping my mom the night before Thanksgiving. It was always the children's job to tear up the bread for the stuffing. Thinking back it seems like we tore up a hundred loaves, but it was probably only two. On Thanksgiving Day we would rehearse our version of "The First Thanksgiving" while the turkey roasted away. I'm sure my parents have some highly embarrassing footage of us sailing to the new world on my sister, the Mayflower. I remember one year after my older sisters had all gone to college, my brother and I were the only ones who still wanted to carry this tradition on so we used our Cabbage Patch dolls. I know there is no way I could convince my hubby's family to do the play, but maybe if we could just go for a walk and enjoy the crisp autumn air before coming home to warm apple and pumpkin pies... That would be just about perfect to me.

Frighteningly Possible...

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

I was reading my sister's blog ofcourse and thought, hey hers was hilarious, let's give it a try! I wasn't sure what to expect, but this could end up being very true! I love art and will really enjoy frequenting museums more like in those long forgotten days before I had small children. And I really love baked goods of every variety, yes even the small easy bake oven creations. Dare I admit it was my favorite toy growing up? If you could see my hips you'd know it's true.

I did go running for the second time this week tonight. I went for 35 min tonight and definitely felt it much much more. It is sooooo much colder here too. What am I thinking starting this program in WINTER???????? I just figure if I don't do it now while I am somewhat motivated and have a sister-in-law who calls to check my progress, I will just never start. The thought of eating all those pies this coming Thursday is fairly good motivation too. Oh how I love the holidays! Especially feasting holidays!! I am going to try to eat smaller portions of everything, but I totally plan on eating EVERYTHING.

What is your holiday menu?
We will be brining our turkey this year. We did this about 5 years ago and really loved it, but then we tried the Jennifer Garner-Martha turkey and really loved how little prep work was involved and the delicious gravy. Buying a bottle of wine in Utah is trickier than you might think though, and we decided going to the local liquor store just wasn't the best of examples for our girls. So Good Eats Roast Turkey it is! It really is so succulent and flavorful, I cannot wait!! We will also have family favorites like sausage apple craisin stuffing, monkey bread (it isn't sweet), a fab lemon pie, sweet potato soufle ( my fave!!), mashed tatoes, gravy, pretzel strawberry salad, and a pumpkin custard pie. I'm sure there will be a few more pies involved, we love our pie! And I've heard we are having some salad you can get at Nordstrom's with a cranberry walnut vineagrette.

Wish me luck!

In order to be a more "Fitter Knitter" I have decided to really get serious about this whole exercise thing. I'm not ready to give up my Twix, but I will try to move a little more. So I found "The Couch-to-5K Running Plan." Supposedly in 2 months I will be able to run 3 miles. My sister in law assures me it will work and in three months time I will be running for 2 hours every day like she is and the pounds will melt off and I will fit in a size 25" jean too. I don't really know if I want to run for 2 hours ever, but who wouldn't want a 25" waist??? I ran for the first time last night. I have no idea how far I went, but I did run for 40 minutes. Now the real trick is, doing it again...

I made a hat!!!

My Knitpicks order arrived on the 9th. I was so excited to knit that I canceled playing Bunco that night- don't tell anyone else in my group! The yarn was all very yummy, but much brighter than I was expecting. I was most concerned about the Memories yarn, but it is the yarn I like best now. I absolutely LOVE the options needles, with a little help from big sis I conquered my fear of using 2 circulars. Once I actually tried, I realized it really wasn't all that complicated. Maybe it's just that I have a great teacher... ;) I was too scared to use my "good" yarn on my first attempt, so I used some yarn I had bought for a crochet project I will never complete. It is the Chestnut Heather colorway that looks absolutely horrid on my monitor, but is quite nice in person. I also decided to make the hat for me and since I have one of those large Irish heads and I was doing a long tail cast on and wanted to use up all the tail, I cast on 122 sts. The ribbing is a little big even for me, but oh well! The cabling all went great and then I was wondering when to decrease... hmmmm..... what exactly is the "crown" of my head.....who should I call??... big sis ofcourse and like always she had the answer. She found a help for me in "Knitting Rules" that says the measurement from the palm to the longest finger is how high a hat needs to be. This trick worked great for my noggin, but my hubby has bigger hands than I do and he tried on my hat last night and had to roll it up a good three inches. Maybe that's just for women?? Or large-Irish-head-people??? Dunno. Back to the knitting though, the decreasing went great and poof like magic I had a hat!! I look like a complete moron wearing it, but hubby seemed to enjoy wearing it around and today I tried it on baby and she loves taking it on and off on and off. I think she looks adorable in it, what do you think?

Practice complete, can I do a hat now?

I finished my "Braided Hat Practice Dishcloth" this afternoon and thought I'd hurry and blog while I had a chance. This was my first time doing cables and I really enjoyed them! I used size 6 metal knitting needles and the u-shaped cable needle which was a little tricky for me to work with, but I didn't mind it. I ordered a flying something one from knitpicks though, big sis says I'll like it much better! I used 100% cotton yarn in denim by Bernat that you can find at Wal-mart. Did I mention I'm cheap? ;) I have discovered that I despise knitting with Acrylic yarn now, so I had to try some knitpicks yarn. I ordered Swish Superwash in Capri, Totem in turquoise, and Memories in Yukon to attempt my first pair of socks. Little projects are best for me with a wild 2-yr-old hell bent on destruction. I am dying for my order to arrive, but I'm told it will take at least a week. I also thought I'd include the pattern I used for this dishcloth:

Braided Hat Practice Dishcloth
Cast on 66 sts (or 88 if you knit tight) Work a band in 2 by 2 rib knit for 1."
Row 1: *p1, k9, p1, repeat from * to end.
Row 2: *k1, p9, k1, repeat from * to end.
Row 3: *p1, place next 3 sts on cable needle and hold in front of work, k3, pick up cable k3, k3, p1, repeat from * to end.
Row 4: same as row 2
Row 5: same as Row 1
Row 6: same as Row 2
Row 7: *p1, k3, place next 3 sts on cable needle and pull to back, k3, k3 from cable, p1, repeat from * to end.
Row 8: same as Row 2
Repeat rows 1-8 to desired length and end with rib knit for 1."

Adapted by miss88keys originally a hat pattern by anise.

Punkins!

The theme of Sydni's whole day can be summed up in that one little word, "punkins." I wish I knew how to include sound, because if you could hear her say it, she would melt your heart. Not that I've been able to capture her saying it. Kids never speak when you want them too, well mine don't.
She started out her 2nd birthday by going shopping with Grandma and Grandpa. I was entirely shocked because she wanted nothing to do with them the previous night and all that morning. Once the word "bye bye" was mentioned though, she was more than happy to let Grandma hold her and take her out to the car. She loves being outside or anywhere new. While they were out shopping, I was madly baking and preparing her birthday cake. It took me about 5 hours to complete, including chill times and bake times, but I think the end result was worth it.
Once they were back and the cake was complete we all went to the Pumpkin Patch. She loved it, she was surrounded by punkins to throw. She didn't like any of the Halloween decor, but Julia and her older cousins loved it. I don't have very many pictures of the trip. Since my parents were with us, I rely on them to take all the photos. Wonder if I will EVER get them... Seeing as I still haven't received her photos from her 1st birthday, it doesn't look good. At least I know there are photos though and I can at some point get them from my father.
After the patch we had dinner and came home for cake and ice cream and presents. We made the mistake of giving her what ended up being her favorite present first and it was difficult to get her to open anything else. Oh well! As long as she's happy!! She received a ride along car from Daddy, a Backyardigans pirate ship from Mommy, a Pooh Bear Water Baby from Julia, a baketball hoop from Grandma and Grandpa Inglet, and a Magna Doodle from Grandma and Grandpa Ivey.

So here is "the cake." I made it by baking two bundt cakes and frosting them and then covering the whole thing in fondant. Then I cut out the leaves and rolled the vines and the stem out of fondant. For the eys and mouth I rolled yellow sugar into the fondant and painted it with yellow food coloring to give it a more shiny effect.

Here's one last photo of me trying to get Sydni interested in blowing out her birthday candles. She usually loves to blow out any candle I try to light, but wouldn't you know I ended up blowing them out! Maybe next year?? We had a great time. I really cannot believe my baby is 2!

Back from the dead...
So much has happend since July, that I will just skip ahead to October and pretend I never stopped blogging.

I have finally managed to take photos of my new finished knitting projects. I finally caught the bug and bought a little kit to teach myself how to knit. That was utterly useless other than a more economic way to get the "basics." By far, knittinghelp, and my dear sister taught me how to knit. So for my first project I decided to make a scarf for my toddler out of some junky yarn I had left over from some crochet projects.
It turned out great, but she will have nothing to do with it. I snapped this photo seconds after putting it on her and you can clearly see she is ripping it off her neck. Oh well, lesson learned. Don't bother knitting anything for my little one! I had originally planned to make scarves to practice my stiches and do some red ones for the Red Scarf Project, but I am waaaaaaaaaaay too slow for scarves to be very much fun. It took an eternity for me to finish and I never wanted to do sockinette stitch ever again!

So I decided to try dishcloths. I'd already purchased some cotton yarn a while ago to crochet some but just never got around to it. Actually for the life of me I cannot figure out how to do a long double crochet like the one in the pattern, so it just never happened. If any of you know PLEASE post how!!! Obviously I wasn't a very good hooker... I was able to complete the Feather and Fan Dishcloth with no trouble at all and the Tulip and Garter Dishcloth was a breeze too. I was so relieved! Best part of all, it was almost instant gratification. I had two completed projects in half the time it took me to do a scarf. Hooray! I wanted to move on to hats, because I figure they too will give me that instant gratification that I need, but big sis says I'm just not ready so for the hat I want to do. So I will settle for this one instead. Good thing I have her to guide me so I don't get in over my head, right?

So there you have it kids. If you are lucky, some day soon I'll post pictures of Sydni's second birthday. I made a pretty cute cake for her as well. It's so cute in fact I haven't had the heart to cut into the front of it. More on that later though...

What the devil???

I just had to include this picture of Sydni in the tub. She absolutely LOVES blowing bubbles, so naturally I thought she would enjoy bath bubbles. Luckily I found some before I purchased more "baby approved cost a million dollar" bubble bath at the store.

Banded shut

Have I mentioned before that I am reliving my teenage years? Complete with braces, Accutaine, and hormones from hell induced by the pill? If not, there you go. I really must say that I am soooo grateful my own teenage years were blemish-free with just the normal amount of hormones. All very bearable. I would rather go through this now with a husband who loves me no matter how crazy I get or how horrible my skin and body look. He has the thickest pair of "husband-goggles" in the world!

I had my appointment with the orthodontist today and to my horror, my mouth is now rubber-banded shut! Well not entirely, but I can hardly open my mouth. I have a photo and will try to include it, but we all know how I hate posting photos. My mouth actually looks much worse in real life. The upside to being banded shut is maybe just maybe this will effectively curb my non-stop snacking during the day. I also discovered that my teeth hurt so bad now that I can't really chew anything either. So goodbye salads, hello vegetable soup or milkshake depending on how depressed I am that I can't eat!!

Bits of wisdom... maybe...
So I was searching in blogland and came across this quote that I really love.

"Be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves" and eventually you find yourself "living into the answers." --Rilke with addition from unremembered blogger.
How to "love the questions" is something I that will take me a lifetime (or more) to discover. I think I have been able to come to peace with all those questions, but I definitely do not love them. I often dream of having a crystal ball to just tell me all the answers. It seems like things would be so much easier that way, but I guess not. I just have to believe that God knows the path my life should take and that all those bumps along the road really will teach me something important for a later time. That's the way it's always worked anyway, some bumps hurt more than others though.

The absolute best...

I have just discovered the most wonderful masacara that I had to blog about it! It is Loreal's Voluminous Mascara. I realize it's a drugstore brand, but it works like a dream! I feel like I have fake eyelashes on with only one coat!! Love it love it love it!!!!

My wobbly bits...

My wobbly bits got to go on display in front of a good deal of the community today. I put my girls in swimming lessons hoping to motivate myself to get in shape before the "Mom and Tot" class began. I've done a fair job. My wobbly bits are a bit less wobbly I must admit and my arms are really starting to tone up. If only the same could be said of my behind... in time right??

The girls had a blast and did not want to leave the pool. Julia started working on the back crawl today and Sydni and I worked on jumping in the pool to Mommy and playing a "Wheels on the Bus" game. Her favorite was jumping in the pool. Since tomorrow is the 4th so we'll have to wait for the 5th to display my bits again. I'm getting on the glider right now!!! Did I mention I can't stop eating the birthday cake?? Heaven help me!!!

The bit about pictures

I have decided after attempting to get pictures where I want them in this !@#@$%#$^% program that I will RARELY post a picture here ever again. I am sorry dear reader, you will have to go to Snapfish to view any photos again. I can see why you would like to get your own program to create your own page. Oh the frustrations!!!!!!