Thanks Mom!

 Decorating on a dime part two- thanks to Mom.  Way back in when we lived in Rexburg when we were first married, Chant worked at BMC West.  They were changing out their displays and Chant was able to get these door knobs and cupboard door.  He created this cool wall hanging.  I've used it in almost every place we've lived, but I've had it in storage the year and a half we've lived here.  I decided to pull it out.  Mom was at Porter's Craft and found these cool glass jars for $1.50 a piece.  Perfect.  I am on the hunt for something to put in the jars, but I think they look pretty cool by themselves.

 I found these Mason jars for 75 cents each at Deseret Industries.  Mom sent me a few limbs cut off of a tree in her yard.  Looks pretty awesome I think!  Especially with our unique, twisted candles.   

 Mom also cut these vinyl letters for me.  The tiny letters say Pablo Picasso.  I love this quote.  We had this green rope and I got a few sheets of scrapbook paper that I mod podged onto clothes pins to hold up the kids' masterpieces.  The girls were so excited about it.  They got drawing right away to have something to hang up.  So fun!

I love all these things that we were able to do for cheap.  It's added a lot of personality and changed things up. 

Only Just Beginning

 May 2 was the one year anniversary of our business.  This year has been one of the hardest of my life, but also one of the most rewarding and testimony building.  We have been so blessed, both personally and in our business.  I know we are being watched over by our loving Heavenly Father.  We wouldn't be where we are without the love and support of our family and friends.  I am so grateful to all of them for all they have done for us. 

We wanted to celebrate, and celebrate we did.  After all, I think it's a pretty big deal.  The guest list included us, Teran, Jess (our massage therapist), Kyndel (our licensed clinical social worker), their families, and our family.  It was quite the party!  We were lucky to have some beautiful weather.  I was grateful for that because our party wouldn't have fit inside the house!  See, that's not even half the crowd and my kitchen is full. 

 We set up all the chairs in the garage and put the BBQ in the driveway.  Worked perfectly!  Then the party migrated out back for some jumping on the trampoline and cupcake eating races.  I didn't get any pictures of that.  I was too busy laughing my head off.  So what they did was set cupcakes up on the sidewalk behind Jen and Kerry's heads (in the picture below).  They started at the house and ran to the sidewalk.  They had to stop and completely eat the cupcakes before racing back to the house.  So funny!  And we had cupcakes aplenty (I made 60+ in strawberry, mint, peanut butter, and coconut frosting).  I was glad they were put to good use!    

 Above:  Jen, Porter, and Kerry
Below:  Kristy, Mike, and Margi

 Jess and Teran

Chant had to show off his flips for everyone.  He's still got it!

The party didn't completely wrap up until 9:15.  Sorry neighbors! 

It was the perfect evening.  The only thing that could have made it better was to have my parents there.  Thank you so much for making this a fabulous year.  And it is only just the beginning.  We are ready for what's to come in the next year! 

Decorating on a Dime

 So I am seriously addicted to Pinterest.  And not just for recipes.  I am getting some great ideas that I have been tweaking to make my own.  Both of these frames we got at Deseret Industries for a couple bucks each.  Then we bought the sample size of paint from Lowe's for a couple bucks each.  The top quote was actually done opposite on Pinterest.  The original idea was to find an old framed picture, put the letters on top, then paint everything white.  Then the letters are peeled off so only the letters are in color.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I thrive on color.  So I chose to do it opposite.  Plus the scrapbook papers was 25 cents a pieces, half off.  Yay!  I love the way it turned out! 

The family photos in this frame where framed in their own individual 8x10 frames.  I like the frames but I had them standing on top of our entertainment center and a shelf in the kitchen.  They took up all my space for decorations, so I needed them to move.  I love the way this turned out.  The original "pin" was to have the pictures still framed in their own frame and then mounted inside the larger frame that has no glass.  I like that idea but this frame wasn't big enough for that.  I still like the way this looks.   

 Last Labor Day weekend my mom, sisters-in-law, and two of my nieces went to Midway for the craft fair.  I found these rosette decorations that I fell in love with.  There were two, one larger than the other and much bigger than these.  I asked how much they were.  $400 for the large one!  I about died!  No way was I going to pay that.  I made up my mind I could do it myself.  I have this extremely crafty friend that knows how to make rosettes, so I asked if she could show me.  So that was back in September and I just finished these beasts Thursday.  Now I understand why the craft fair ones were priced so much.  Totally worth it!  Even though some of them are not perfect, this was my first time making them and I feel pretty proud of them!

And this is my "freed-up" shelf in the kitchen.  I had two Fossil tins and found the other 2 at D.I. for 50 cents each.  Love it.  I am on the hunt for more to add to my collection. 

Levers

Tuesday I was in the bathroom doing my makeup.  Porter came in and went to the bathroom.  When he went to flush the toilet it wouldn't go down (it is a very hard handle to push!).  He got so frustrated and said, "Mom!  This lever won't go down!"  Chant was in the bedroom ironing his clothes.  I looked at Chant and he looked at me and we started laughing.  What three year old says lever?  Porter, that's who.   

Trampoline!

 About a week ago Grandma and Grandpa got the kids a trampoline.  They were so excited to get it set up.  We started early in the morning and had it up a few hours later.  This week has been wonderful!  The kids have been outside jumping for hours every day.  It is amazing!  There has been way less fighting going on between the kids since we got it.  I think they are using their energy having fun instead of fighting.  Every day the kids have taken their lunch outside and sat on camping chairs underneath the trampoline.  It has been so fun to watch them.  They have played many games on it.  One day Ainsley and Porter took out a bunch of stuffed animals and they played like they were on a soccer team while jumping the animals all around.  The favorite game so far has been to play Wild Kratts.  Brinnley is always the animal, usually a Bengal tiger, and Porter is either Martin or Chris.  I have been dubbed Aveeva.  My job is to make the power suits that Martin and Chris have to wear to rescue the animals.  SO fun to watch them.  I think this is going to make of an even better summer.  Hopefully there will be no more "I'm bored!"  I know, I'm dreaming with that one!  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!    

Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails. That's what little boys are made of!

 Saturday, April 14th was Kristy's baby shower.  We held it at the clubhouse of her apartment complex.  I was in charge of decoration, and I was really nervous about it.  But I think it turned out nice.  Jen and a friend of hers made these amazing cake pops.  They looked so pretty and tasted so good!

 The girls were so excited to be invited to a big girl party.  I curled their hair and they wore their fancy shirts. 

 The theme was cartoon animals.   I found a few of these snack containers and thought they were perfect for the table. 

 Aunt Jen

And Aunt Kristy opening her gifts.  She made me cry when she read the note I wrote and started crying herself. 

She got the cutest Yoda hat from one of her friends.  I cannot wait to see our tiny nephew in it.  We are so excited to welcome a new little boy to our family.  Not much longer now!

Easter

 Easter was a little sad around our house this year.  Porter and Brinnley had nasty coughs and I had a horrific head cold.  But of course we still had to dye eggs! 

 It cracks me up how one color per egg is never enough.  The girls keep dipping them until sometimes the eggs looked gray.  But we still had some pretty awesome looking ones!  And they kids colored on the eggs first with glitter crayons.  That looked pretty awesome!

 This year the Easter Bunny brought awesome colorful dresses.  The girls loved them!

 Porter didn't get the traditional dress shirt this year.  The Bunny knew he'd love this awesome Avengers shirt.

 Even though the kids didn't feel well, they woke up excited to see what was in their buckets.

 Ainsley was the only kid that went to church that day.  She didn't want to wear her dress without Brinnley there to match, but she did throw on a fancy necklace.

When they got home I hid the eggs in the yard and they ran like crazy to gather them all up.  It was a very good day even though half of us didn't feel well. 

After all the fun, we made sure to talk to the kids about why we celebrate Easter.  They knew the importance of it and we talked about Jesus being resurrected.  It was a great day!

Conference Weekend

 Conference Weekend my brother Kasey and his family came to stay at our house.  It has become a bit if a tradition for them to come and we love it!  The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins.  And Lance and Lacey were good enough to watch the kids so the adults could go to dinner one night.  It was really nice! 

(Kasey, Porter, Luke, and Lance)

 The night they came Tracy, Lacey, and I went to Gordman's.  We were there 2 1/2 hours and could have stayed longer but the store was closing.  Gotta love that store!

 Mom and Dad came Saturday and stayed till Sunday.  We had 14 people in our house!  Oh boy, bodies were everywhere!  Mom's birthday was the 28th so we celebrated with a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake and presents.  The kids all made cards for her.  I think she felt the love.

And what family party would be complete without a dog pile?  Not one of ours! 

And of course listening to Conference was amazing!  I cannot wait for the Ensign to come out so that I can read what I missed.  Love the spirit during Conference!