HYPOTHESIS??? Can you tell me what that means?

HOMEWORK?! REALLY! Nobody told me when I graduated from school that I would someday have to RELIVE some of the DREADED grade school assignments like studying for tests, Country reports and yes, SCIENCE PROJECTS! This time it is not for my grade, but my 5th grader. Why do teachers give out assignments that they KNOW a student can't do on their own, but have to have their parents walking them through each step of the process?! For the past few months I have been dreading this Science project and I told Chris that he had to help her with this one...I hate science and don't remember a thing about it (including what a hypothesis is). Well in keeping with my husband's ways, this was put off until the last minute, so this became the weekend project from you know where! Sienna came up with the topic, but the rest she had to be walked through at every step. She chose to do it on "Is sugar explosive", which was creative (I thought). I will spare you all the details, just know that after many sleepless nights and frustrated tears (on her part) she finished her display board and turned it in. She had to explain her project to the judges and we were so worried that she wouldn't know how to explain it. I talked to one of the judges yesterday and he told me that he was very impressed with her explanation and that she did a great job. Sienna felt really good about it and like her mother is THRILLED that it is done! For any of you that will have a 5th-8th grader soon...BEWARE!!!! YOUR DAY WILL COME!!! MAWAAAHAAHAAAHAAAAAAAAAA!

Baptism booklet

I am super excited about this! The week before a child gets baptized I go to their house and go over a few things with the child and their parents. I go over things that they need to know about the day they are baptized and answer any questions they are their parents might have. I also introduce them to the scouting/activity days program. I wanted to take them something special and have been racking my brains about what I could give them. Last week I went to our monthly scrapbook night with the ladies and we made these darling Hot chocolate recipe books, they were super cute! I have always prided myself on being the world's best copy cat...I rarely come up with original ideas, my brain just doesn't function like that! So when I saw this little recipe book I thought "How can I turn this into a baptism theme". Well this is what I came up with.... they are seriously the cutest thing eva! For the boys I will have to make a few changes, like adding a male paper doll. They are only about 5 1/2"X 7 1/2", so they are perfect size for the kids to be able to look at. There are places for them to put pictures and answer questions about this special day. I have already had four people request that I make one for their child (they aren't in my ward). I think for the other ones that I will modge podge over the top of it (before I add anything dimensional) this way it will be waterproof and more durable. Take a look and tell me what you think! Front of the book

page 1 and 2

page 3 and 4

page 5 and 6

page 7 and 8

page 9 and 10

page 11 and 12

page 13 and 14

A wonderful christmas gift!

For Christmas our good friends Jake and Amy gave us a gift certificate to Fat Cats bowling alley. They said that we had to use it and go on a group date together (they also gave it to our friends the Barnes and Spencer's). Yesterday was the big date night and what a blast it was!!! Here are some of the crazy shots.



Kirstin after she got a strike!!!


Amy, Kristen and Me

The spouses (minus the Spencer's)

Chris, Jake 'Dough', Merrill 'Miles'

Kristen and Miles...ha ha Miles, you made it on my blog after all (he kept threatening "if these end up on your blog, you will get it!"

Me and Chris

A shot with the gift certificates...cheesy I know...oh well deal with it people!

'Dough' HATES to have his picture taken and his wife Amy ALWAYS has her camera and is taking pics! This picture captures the essence of it all!

Brett and Kirstin




They had HUGE hot chocolates (think 'so I married an axe murder')

It was REALLY hot and I burnt my tongue! Poor baby! Honey, quick, kiss it better!!! :-)

Kristen Bowling

Oh ya....were bad!!!

The proof that they have a volatile relationship!!! J/K....seriously though, notice what is in Amy's hand...yep, a camera. She was trying to take an action shot of 'Dough' and he had had enough!

Love this one of Aim

When my daughter saw this she asked "Why are they ALWAYS kissing?" I told her that they were trying to set a good example for your dad. HINT HINT!

Okay, so my JERK friends are always giving me a hard time about not ever sharing drinks with them. I admit that I have a huge germ/slobber phobia. I personally don't see anything wrong with not wanting to suck on something that someone's bodily fluid has touched. So I had my own drink and they were all sharing (dry heaving right now!!). I guess that they took this picture while I was in the bathroom. Yep that is my cup and yep, I drank it all gone before they showed me this picture. YA JERKS!



This was taken after I figured out what they had done...actually first I threw ice at ALL of them! They are such MEANERS!

You would think that he had just made a strike...nah, he gutter balled BOTH balls!!!

I guess that this is pay back! They thought that I was taking their picture, not video taping them. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH (said while rubbing hands together aggressively!) But not to worry girls, you will get yours!!!

Thanks again Jake and Amy for such a wonderful time!! We love you guys!

The art gallery???

Dear Abbie, (they still have Dear Abbie columns in the newspaper-don't they?)

Our son has taken up the art of drawing and might I add that he is an amazing artist for the age of two! Now if only he could find a different form of canvas to create his masterpieces on!!!

SERIOUSLY can I tell you how white trash our home looks right now?! And here is the BEST part...it is all permanent marker! I have tried everything to get it off, even the Magic erasers and it is just taking paint off the wall....but not the marker! QUICK, does anyone out in blogging land have a secret that will take it off? I know the obvious answer, to just paint over it...but what happens the next time Mr. Vangough decides to strike again?

Signed- Helpless is Trashville

I added some pictures for your enjoyment...keep in mind that each picture is a DIFFERENT wall! These pictures just don't do his 'artwork' justice. SIGH.

It's great to be....DONE!

As you all know, I am in charge of baptisms this year, which means I am also in charge of our baptism preview, which was tonight. I really wanted this to be a great night for everyone, so I tried to do things that would make them feel special. I tried to take pictures of all the things that I did and I am posting them not to brag, but to remember, so that next year I can try to copy myself or improve and do things better.

Our theme was 'It's great to be...8', so I tried to incorporate that in all the things that I did. Here is the invitation, which is what my inspiration was for everything I did. Everything I did was in white, cream and beige shades so it had a nice simple, but elegant look (in my opinion).

The band with the 8 on it slid off, so that the invitation could be opened and looked like this when opened. A special thanks to my good friend Donna who let me use her cool paper for these!


When I delivered the invitations I took my camera along. I wanted to get a picture of each child so that I could use it to decorate with. I made each child (yes, I had to force some of them to do this) do a nice smile and then a funny face. Then, keeping with the 8 theme, I cut out the pictures and put one at either end of the eight. Then on the top picture I put "It's great to be..." and on the other picture I put their name. It was simple, yet it turned out cute. I put these all over the doors to the font, which was at the front of the room. We have 18 kids getting baptized, so it nearly covered the doors. Here is what one of them looked like.

Then I made a little favor for each child. I made copies of the following poem

"I am making some important covenants on my Baptismal day.

I'll wear these socks to remind me that I'm choosing the right way.
As I go into the Waters of Baptism, these socks will be first to enter in.
Just as these socks are clean and white, I too will be cleansed from sin."

I bought each child a pair of white socks (girls had lace around the cuff) that they can wear on their baptism day. I put them in a white chiffon bag and tied a bow around it. Since I discovered this Christmas, how to make cute hair bows, I decided that I wanted to make some white ones for the girls getting baptized, so I made some and clipped it onto the bag. I didn't have anything for the boys and Chris announced that it was unfair; at this point I had nothing else for them. Well today at church, I was going through our Primary cupboard and found some white CTR brackets...not girly ones, but the thick rubber band type, so I attached them to the bag as well.

This is how the girls bag looked...sorry you can't see the socks, but they are in there!Here is a picture of the clip up close, but I decided that you just had to see it on someones head to do it justice, so I asked AnaLeigha to model it... she was only too happy to oblige!

Then I made the programs, I tried to keep them simple and in the color scheme of choice. I am not computer savvy, so I am pretty proud that I figured out how to do a '8' watermark on it. LOL

For the program, both the Primary President and a member of the bishopric spoke to the kids, then we had the cub scout leader and activity days leader do a little blurb about those activities. Chris 'lovingly' agreed to sing a musical number...which by the way was so beautiful (of course) and really brought the spirit into the room. Then we did a small spotlight on each child...which was so fun. We really have such a great bunch of little ones! It was a short and sweet program (my kind of program) and then we ate refreshments.

And now for the best part!!! My friend Lesleigh, who is also in the ward, has a cake business (you can find her link on my sidebar!) and she made us these TWO AMAZING CAKES! They were definitely the hit of the party! When you walked into the relief society room, the aroma just hit you in the face...plus they looked so BEAUTIFUL! Really, these pictures just do NOT do them justice. She went above and beyond for us with these two beautiful masterpieces and I am so thankful for her and that she was so willing to do this. THANKS LESLEIGH!

This cake was only supposed to be a small 6" round cake, just in case the other cake didn't feed everyone (we were expecting 60+ people). But when I showed up to pick them up yesterday, this is what I found! She made another smaller version of the eight cake...just amazing!

So the night is done and I am relieved that it went so well. All the hard work was definitely worth it, I got so much wonderful feedback and thanks from the parents. I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of such a wonderful thing.

How's that for fulfilling my new years resolution????!!! Oh, and another great part, there was actually a little bit of cake leftover that I think is calling my name right now. I better go and answer it...after all, it is rude to ignore something that is calling your name! So in the words of Marie Antoinette..."LET THEM EAT CAKE!"

Broken Finger???

Now before you get all excited...let me just say that it PROBABLY isn't broken, just sprained, but it sure hurts like it is broken! So here is the story.... on Friday night Chris and I were playing games at our neighbors house that lives right behind us and so when we left their house we were HIKING through the snow and of course Chris had on tennis shoes with no socks, (the snow right now is about up to our mid-calf) so I tried to grab his shirt to keep him from running to the house (thus making him stand in the freezing snow even longer...hee hee). As soon as I grabbed him he shot off like a bullet, taking my hand and especially finger with him. Well, my finger got bent back the wrong way and YOWZEERS it hurts so bad! I kept re-injuring it every time I used my hand, so I finally created a splint using a broken pencil and some electrical tape...pretty resourceful I would say. It's not pretty, but HEY it does its job. You should see me trying to type with it, I keep hitting the wrong keys. I was supposed to play the piano tonight for our baptism preview, but that was definitely out. You don't realize how much you use your finger until you can't use it. Here's to a speedy recovery!

Addicted to reality TV???

Alright I admit it...I LOVE reality TV SHOWS. So this week I am a pretty happy camper because so many of my favorites are starting. I thought that I would share my favorites....after all this is my journal of sorts and I want to remember what I enjoyed 'back in the day'. So bare with me.... disclaimer- I really am not a TV junkie, thank goodness for TEVO, then I can watch things when the kiddos are in bed.
So in no particular order here they are:

1- America's next top model. I love Tyra Banks, if I could meet any celebrity it would be her.






2- Top Chef. This is one that Chris and I love to watch together, it is mind boggling how people can just come up with recipes on the fly like that!


3- Survivor. If I didn't have to eat weird bugs and crap, I would SOOOO audition for this show. It is great! Some day my good friend Brianna is going to win this hands down (she just needs to hurry up and apply...hint hint)

4-The biggest loser. This is such an amazing, life changing show! I love watching the transformations that these contestants make!

5- The Bachelor. WOOT HOO, I am so happy that this one is back! I watched it Monday, while Chris sat next to me rolling his eyes. Wow! I can't wait to see this season! Can anyone else BELIEVE that Diana is begging for him to come back to her?! (VOMIT...she had her chance and chose the skater dude)

6- American Idol. Holy cow! Love this one!!! This is one that the entire family can get into. It's da bomb!!! Starts next week!!

7-So you think you can dance. One word...BRILLIANT! This is such an amazing show, as a dancer (especially ballroom) I am thrilled to see this talent showcased...if I was younger and a LOT more flexible....sigh.



8- Dancing with the stars. Wow, same feelings on this one! It just takes me back to my ballroom dancing days! Love the Hough siblings!!! Go Utah dancers!

9- The Amazing Race. I STILL want to go on this one. Looking for someone to partner up with me on this one...any takers? Come on, it's for a million dollars and a chance to see the world!

10- And finally, a new one. True Beauty. Did anyone else see this one after the Bachelor? It was pretty good and VERY funny. Really can anyone be THAT stuck on their looks? Finally a show that looks at how beautiful someone is on the inside and how they treat others.




So there you have it! WOW, I didn't realize that I liked that many...LOL. Does anyone else share in my reality TV jubilation's??? Oh, gotta go...Top Chef is about to start! :-)