***Challenge***

*******************Be a part of the challenge!*********************

KIds, Kids, Kids, Kids! Are the reason we get up in the morning, to see their shining little faces look up at you. We clean, cook, (even me lately), get them dressed! (somedays) enterain them, teach them, love them, bath them & by the time our hubby's get home we are tired! Ready for a long bath and a nap! But..yet we still have more to do.

This challenge is to get you to remember what you love! Take your camera's get all doll'd up and set your timer. Take some great pics of yourself! With things you love, or love to do, or just of you! Take those pictures you want your daughter to have of you when she is your age! Showing how vibrant & beautiful you are! En-list your hubby to help! Post some of your favorite shots on blog! This is suppose to be a fun challenge! & all about you!
I am going to try to curl my hair and take some cool 50's shots! those girls always look sooo glamorous!

I know I know, he is a boy! :)

But Riley had fun too! I was painting my toes, and he wanted his painted to :) Then later...he wanted them painted more.. while we weren't watching! OOPS! But It cleaned up ok. Oh those little moments! That make you scream, then laugh..... (hopefully)

It's 2:30 in the morning!

Ok, thats my usualy schedule, but I was sooo tired at 10:30 I was going to go to bed! Until.. I started Digital Scrapbooking! OMG I have been on the computer for hours! I made my first page, It was soo much fun! & & & You can get them printed, or put in a book at shutterfly.com! I am so excited that I know how to do this now, It took along time to download, and find all the free stuff on the web, fonts, papers, buttons, riboons ect..

But it was worth it! Here is my first page! Lt me know what I could do better next time, Yay!

Here are a few more pages I completed, I cut the paper down to 8x10 so I can get them printed from walmart for $1.98 a piece Which is alost 6 bucks cheaper then the other guys who print "scrapbooking pages" I just download them as photo's,

they turned out amazing! I am so happy. Cool new hobbie! & cheap too!

Up 2 lately.....

This is a dorky pic of me, but.. the kid & cake are nice! :)

Riley had his 2nd birthday! :)

I can't believe they grow up so fast! Its amazing..
We had a little party at our house :)

It's the first time allot of our family and friends got to see our house! :) The kids had a great time playing on the swing set.

The cake was awesome! Made by my friend Trina at work, she has so much talent!

It was fun, but I hate being so busy I dont get to spend time and talk to people. Or eat!,


Speaking of eating, my hubby is right now getting his picture taken at some pizza place in Chandler! He and his friend jason ate an entire 24' pizza by themselves, & most people can't do it, so he got a t-shirt and his picture on the wall. I always knew my hubby had talent, I just wasnt quite sure what it was till now :)


On Sunday we went to Elmo Grows Up! Which is a stage show, It was super cute, there were hundreds of kids and 1/2 the amount of adults, the whole theater was full of laughing,screaming, singing,shouting and crying. it was crazy! Riley loved it! :) It was expensive though! Definetly once a year treat.



Potty training!! OH MY OH MY! What a challenge. he seems so interested somedays, and others he is not into it. I am not pushing him.. mostly because.. I dont have time.. Maybe when school is out & I can spend more time on it.
But here are a few super cute pics, of Riley... being just like his dad :)

What have you done for me lately??

Ok, I ask my husband this question allot! But... lately I have been asking myself this question... What have I done to improve the world?? Help mankind?? Make a positive change in my community??...
Global Warming, Poverty, Starvation, Crime, Waste, ect.. the list goes on and on.
I look at my child and wonder what the world will be like in 25 years. When he is in the prime of his life... With the world in the shape it is now!? what will his generation be responsible to fix, that we broke!
PICK A CAUSE! This is my journey over the next few weeks.. I am going to start making those small choices in my home. In my home, we have changed all of our lightbulbs to energy saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs. They are not that expensive and they last 7-10 years!! they will actually save you money!

I am calling tomorrow to see if our trash service has recycling bins.
http://images.oprah.com/images/world/enviro/green/action/green_checklist.pdf
Here is a checklist you can look at to see if you can make a difference in your home. Every little thing helps! :) I am also going to invest in those re-useable bags at walmart! :) That way.. If I get 8 bags, keep them in my car, maybe I will buy less when I go to the store! If it can't all fit in the bags, I dont need it! I am also going to stop wasting! I have realized that we have allot of waste in our house and I am going to make the effort to reduce the waste.
Go here to find out more about living green! Making our world better for our childen in the future!
http://www2.oprah.com/world/enviro/green/green_main.jhtml

Here is another cause I feel so strongly about! FILL THE CUP,
http://www.drewbarrymore.com/philanthropy-wfp.html
http://www.friendsofwfp.org/site/pp.asp?c=7oIJLSOsGpF&b=4051201

Join Drew Barrymore in helping the World Food Program feed millions of people all over the globe every year. WFP has a dream: to feed 10 million more hungry school children in Africa by Thanksgiving Day. A gift $50 will help fill a child's cup for a year, and that dream can be realized.

Even a small donation will go a long way. It takes just 25 cents to fill one of the Red Cups that WFP uses to give hungry kids a school meal. This food will not only feed bodies, but also minds, and will help transform lives. Help us Fill the Cup.
I made the donation! Will you??

Etsy,.... Bitsty.. spider??

More little things to LOVE

I wonder where etsy got it's name? Humm, I never heard of this site till my hubby's cousin's blog had it on there, and then I started seeing the little tags on everyone's blog! the pledge or promise to buy homemade! What a great idea, There are so many fantastic things out there that people make, not made in china or india, although I believe those people should have jobs too :) One of the coolest things about this site is you can click on the color wheel, pick a color and a selection of products that are that exact color come up on your screen! From pictures, to coasters, to signs, clothes earrings, scarves, shoes,necklaces & belts..ect
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5757075
Perfect gift for mother's day! Or anyday.. or.. when your hubby gets you something lame, this is a great treat for yourself! Which.. is what I did. They are so cute! & made out of scrabble tiles, which is awesome since its my very favorite game! :)

They are a great price and the creator of these delightful little things is awesome! :) She is great to work with, and really nice!
Here is a sample of her work :) Of course this isnt my kid, but he is still cute, I will take a pic of mine when I get it, and I got a few more! Right now she has a great deal! Buy 3 get one free! :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5810271 Heather's little shop :)
YAY! Heather has her own etsy shop, this is perfect! you can pay buy using your paypal, she ships or delivers, My house is full of things she made, she takes custom orders and is quick getting them to you, I wish I had her talent.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5607140 Cute custom barbie clothes. Here is my hubby's cousin's site. She makes the cutest little barbie clothes!!, I am so amazing how she can do this! and have to patience for it. The perfect gift for the little girl in your life, or.. for youself if you are a collector. She has fantastic prices too! :)

A little paint, a long way

So.. my weekend project was painting! :) I spent weeks thinking about colors, and figuring out what wall to paint.. I got it just right, but now I need curtain ideas??? I Have no idea what color curtains to put up. I was going for the 50's look, but what to hang panel curtains like the ones in my living room, should I do black, white? another color?
I painted Riley's bathroom yellow, well.. not the whole thing, just this little part by the mirror and the whole wall by the toliet/tub.. so its not to overwhelming, just enough to go with the ducks :) which I have to put bubbles and ducks on the wall still but.. that might have to wait a few more days.


Painting is hard work, I fell twice and have a huge bruise on my leg, & i got paint all in my hair and on my elbows.. I have no idea how I did that. Oh well. burns calories and relieves a little stress :)

I am in LOVE !!!!

With shutterfly!!!
What a fantastic site! They have this great plan too. Its an annual savings plan. It's $29.99 for the whole year. When you join you get 25 free prints, a free BOOK! Which I have some pics of the one I made for Riley (value of the book is $29.99) and you get 30% off prints and collage posters for the whole year!. Plus you get lots of other free bonus's like I have already earned another book! & a free 11x14 print :) Here are some things I have done.

They have hundreds of page colors and style!

You can pick how many pictures on each page! & the standard book is 20 pages.

I made this book for Riley's 2nd birthday! the next book I am going to make will be of friends and family. I love it because I dont have to get all the pictures I take printed and then put them in a photo album, and scrapbooking is expensive and so time consuming (plus I suck at it)



The book is a hard back book, looks just like you would buy it at a store, I also got one of our family pictures blown up to 20x30! and put a quote on it, Its a huge piece of art work and it was only $20.00 less acually with that 30% off :)


Every time I log on they have some special going on. Save on cards/magnets/t-shirts/large prints/books ect. So if you love taking pictures and have $30 :) This is the place to go! Oh yeah! Shipping is sooooo fast! I ordered my pics saturday at 1am! and they were here on tuesday :)


I didnt frame it very well :( But I am still learning that :) I couldnt figure out how to keep it from wrinkling the back layer under the picture :P But.. You can't even tell unless you shine a bright light on it :) So I guess thats good!

2..2....2....2....2...

This is a funny video, We are working on counting.. but the only word my kid can say is two! Which is great when you ask him how old he will be he says 2!!... or how many eyes does he have! 2!!! at least he seems interested :) My friend Dee went to mexico and got Riley a super cute hat.. I would use the correct term for it.. But I can't spell it.... hehehe.... I was wearing the hat when I came in the house, he saw it and freaked out! He was so excited! Loves to put things on his head, such a character. And here is a tattoo from Mcdonalds... I had to hold him down to put it on him... but after he saw it he said "oh no"..."cool"! Kids are nuts

I Cooked!! no, Really!!

We had a couple of our friends over last sunday. Everytime we go to dinner at their house they have a beautiful house, and the food always looks so.. put together.. so I studied pork chop recipes on rachel ray! which is a groovey website! I started with all of this stuff!


The potato's were super easy! & they were awesome! Mini-red potato's cut them into 4's throw them in a baking pan with EVOO and sprinkle them with Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning! 25-30 mins @ 400 degrees.. They were awesome! I even put the seasoning on the pork chops and they came out great! Mike was really impressed and so happy that I am becoming more domestic!

For dessert... did you know that if you freeze cool whip light .. it tastes just like ice cream! :) YUM-O!! with some cut up strawberries in a bowl, its fantasticly amazing and low calories! :) WooHOO!
Crap forgot to take a picture of that.. but it was pretty!