All in a day's work

Lexi had a busy day today.

I was so shocked and proud of her this morning. After eating her breakfast, she took her plate which had some leftover dry cereal on it. She dumped the cereal in the garbage and then put her plate on the counter next to the sink. Wow! What a great little helper.

Then later in the day, she took off her own poopy diaper and left it in the family room for me. Well, you can't blame a girl for trying right?

Sort of an eventful weekend...

This was a pretty eventful weekend, by my standards anyway.

First, I got my hair cut way shorter!

Nice picture, huh? Lisa did a great job, but I don't think I was quite prepared for the shock I felt afterward. It is soooo short! That's what I asked for, but you know how sometimes you do these things and afterward go "what was I thinking?!" I had one of those moments yesterday. Well, the shortness is growing on me. I think that it's going to be a fun haircut and way, way easier to deal with. My hair is ultra thick and not very manageable so short will be good.

By the way, doesn't my smile in this picture remind you of that Jell-O commercial where they paste those huge, fake grins on people? Sort of scary! Note to self: no more self portraits.  

Lizette and I had a fun outing together on Saturday. She went with me to get my haircut. We shopped for shoes for her. We did some more shopping for the house. It was a fun girls outing! She is such a good little girl and so fun to hang out with. She makes me smile every day with the new little things she says.  She's been on an "actually" kick lately. "Actually, mom, I don't think I want any milk right now."  Her other new saying is "You might want to think about".  "Mom, you might want to think about changing Lexi."  "Mom, you might want to think about taking out the garbage."  It cracks me up.

The other sort of eventful thing we did which was not really planned, was to decorate our bonus room. It's been "done" as far as painting and furniture now for a long time. I've never done any more to it because I really didn't know where to start. We received some really fun old sheet music from Jeff's Grandma Hill a while back that we had framed and hung in that room. The colors on the covers were mainly blue and orange. I thought it would be fun to pick up on that and go with some more blue and orange in there since we are part of the Bronco Nation and all. But we're not die hard enough fans to have BSU posters hanging everywhere or anything like that.

I was at Target on Saturday and they had some lovely pillows and throws on sale in their clearance section. (Yes, another sale! ) They were the perfect color blue and I just got inspired. So, I walked around the corner and there was a perfect orange side table. I finished up with bean bags, storage tubs and a few accessories from Wal-Mart and voila! It went from a pretty much all brown, drab room that we hardly ever spent time in, to feeling cozy, fun and inviting.  I love accessories!  :)  

Shopping Addict or Savvy Bargain Shopper?

Let me just preface this post by saying this: Yes, I know I have shopping issues. I love a bargain and I get sucked in to sales and "deals" all the time! I rationalize spending on things we don't absolutely need by telling myself it is such a good bargain.  When it comes right down to it, I think I just love to shop.  

I think this is one of my qualities that Jeff loves the most. :) Actually, he is very nice about it.  We sort of have an understanding.  I spend $30 here and $20 there on things like soap or clothes or little decorations for the house, and he spends his money less frequently on things like iPads or software. 

I honestly don't know exactly why I love to bargain shop so much.  Since we are a single income family, maybe it's my way of getting a little spending fix in. Or maybe it's because I was raised by a mother who loved a good sale.  She loved to shop. Love may not be a strong enough word!  :)  The woman was a blast to shop with.  So, what can I say? I come by it naturally.  

Speaking of bargains, here is what I purchased at Bath and Body Works yesterday for $34. 26 items for $34. 

Twice a year they have their semi-annual "Hello, Yellow! Sale".  It's a good one. They have many things marked down to 75% off and they also have coupons online for $10 off if you spend $40 or more.
I look forward to this sale every year because it's a great time to stock up on whatever you like at Bath and Body Works.

I personally load up on soap because I love having great smelling soap in all of our bathrooms and kitchen. To me it's a little bit of a luxury. Sure, I could get it cheaper at Wal-Mart or wherever, but it's fun to have soap that smells like Coconut Lime or Sweet Pea or Crisp Linens or Mango Margarita.

So if you are interested, I think this sale runs through either this weekend or next weekend. My receipt printed another coupon for $10 off $30 too.  So if I need a gift or two in the next while, I can hang on to that and use it to treat someone else.

Love it!

First Swim of the Year

We've had some bad luck getting our swimming season started this year. For one, the weather here in Boise has been very hit and miss since Memorial Day when our community pool opened. On two of the nice days, we've gone to the pool only to find that it was closed. This is a major disappointment for a four year old!

We finally got our first swim in last week and the girls had a blast. I think this is going to be a very fun summer of swimming for both of them. Lizette has suddenly become a little fish. She wants to swim in the deep end (with floaties of course), jump off the side, and practice all of her underwater tricks. This is a huge contrast to last year. Lexi loved the water last year and this year is no different. She is testing out her floaties and loves splashing around all over the place.

Here are some cute pictures Jeff caught. You may want to put your sunglasses on because I am in a few of them and I am WHITE! Oh my goodness. It almost makes me want to go to the tanning bed when I look at these.  :) The girls look cute though! It's just not fair that having white, chubby legs is so cute when you are two. But it's somehow just not cute when you are 38. Whoever decided that anyway?

The Girls' Room

A while back I told Jeff that I would like to re-do the girls' room. Over Memorial Day weekend he was a little bored so he just out of the blue decided to start the project.  I love it when he gets bored!  And I love that he is such a handy guy.  You'll see what I mean...

BEFORE PICTURES:

After Jeff did his handy work and installed wainscoting.  

LOVE it!  

And here are the AFTER photos:

                                         

        

These are my favorite elements in the room.  I love these baby pictures of both of them and I like how they turned out with their names above.  Cute!  (If I do say so myself)  :)  

        

I put my Cricut cutter to work again to cut out this saying around the picture as well as the girls' names above their beds.

This picture is so cool.  Lexi just happened to be standing in the right spot so you can see her reflection in the mirror.  

I love the lantern.  Might not be the most practical thing because Lexi will probably yank it down one of these days.  But, it's cute for now!  

Jeff did the construction.  I did the painting and decorating.  And Jeff took the cool photos for me.  Team work is great!  I love doing projects with Jeff.  We have so many planned for our house now that we know we are going to probably live here for the next 20 years.  Should be some fun times ahead!  (I hope Jeff feels the same way.)  ;)

A Happy Father's Day

Father's Day was fun yesterday.  The girls both picked out cards for Jeff with a little help from Mom.  Lizette was so excited to give him his cards and wanted us to read them over and over again.  Each time we read them she squealed laughing.  Too cute.  Everyone especially liked Lexi's card and thought it was very fitting given her age and personality.  :)  

We started the day right with Jeff's favorite breakfast, pancakes.  Then ended the day with a fun barbecue with Thayne and Angel's family.

Jeff is a wonderful father and the girls are so blessed to have him as their Dad.  Happy Father's Day honey!  We love you!!

Utah, Utah and Utah

I've made three trips to Utah (Salt Lake area) in the last couple of months.  That means three road trips with the girls!  I might just be crazy. 

Our first trip was to visit Aunt Abby in her beautiful, new apartment.  We went to help her get settled in her new place.  Well, I don't know how much help we were because my little girlies wanted non-stop attention.  Imagine!  But we did have fun.  Here are a few fun pics Abby snapped while we were there. 

Lizette was pretty enthusiastic about the unpacking.  :)  

Abby's new landlord just happens to paint faces.  Lizette was in heaven.  

 Loving that shower!  :)

Abby's new place is beautiful!  Lizette wants a shower just like Aunt Abby's now.  I do too.  It's huge!  I'm so glad she has found such a lovely place to live.


My next trip was a girls weekend.  Yes, you read it right.  I went on a girls weekend!  To Utah!  My first ever girls weekend since I've had kids.  I think I'll do it more often.  :)  I think we gave a new meaning to the phrase Shop 'til You Drop!  It was so fun.  We went to the Park City outlet mall which was fantastic shopping.  Tons of stores.  Great deals.  Awesome.  We also hit Tai Pan Trading, DownEast, Forever Young Shoes and probably some others I can't remember.  We ate at Cafe Rio twice.  Yum!  And discovered the goodness of the Sweet Tooth Fairy.  If you are ever in the Salt Lake area, look up Sweet Tooth Fairy on your GPS and drive there.  Buy at least a dozen cake bites and thank me later.  Best things in the world.  My favorite flavor is coconut.  I didn't take pictures because I was way too busy shopping and eating.

Next trip was to see Aunt Abby and my BFF for 25 years, Kim.  Lizette had a fun sleepover with Aunt Abby while Lexi and I went to visit Kim.  I had a few hours to myself on the way to Kim's so I stopped at IKEA in Draper.  Love it!  The place is overwhelming because it is so huge, but it is so fun to shop there.  I bought the girls new bedding for way cheap and tons of fun kitchen gadgets.  Kim and I had a fun visit and also ate at Cafe Rio.  (I'm so glad that my friends are on the same page as I am about Cafe Rio!)  Kim lives in Alpine which is beautiful.  She has a beautiful home and family and it was so fun to hang out.  I can't believe we've been friends since 8th grade.  So grateful to have a lifelong friend like her.

Lizette had tons of fun with Aunt Abby and Lexi did too.  Here are some fun pics of them playing ring around the rosey.  And Lexi let Aunt Abby hold her!  Big milestone for this little girl.  She's not exactly warm and snuggly with many people.

Thanks Aunt Abby!!


After leaving Utah, we drove to Pocatello so that I could go to Time Out for Women with Marsha (my mother-in-law) and Angel (my sister-in-law).  This is put on by Deseret Book each year.  They have come to Boise in the past and I've attended several.  This one was very good.  Jenny Oaks Baker, a violinist, performed and she was amazing.  I love violin music and to hear it live was such a treat.  The rest of the speakers and performers were great and I came away feeling very uplifted.  Again, didn't get any pictures!  It was a wonderful memory with some lovely ladies.  Thank you Marsha and Angel!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 8th anniversary!  I can honestly say every year just gets better.  Jeff is my best friend and I really believe divine intervention brought us together.  I couldn't imagine a better person to spend the rest of eternity with.

Things I love about Jeff:

Of course, his sense of humor.  He makes everyone laugh.  He's the fun dad and uncle.  He's always fun to be with.  I love that he and I can laugh with and at each other and keep the humor going in life.  Sometimes we need it!!

He tears up when I am either in pain or feeling sad.  He truly loves me and wants me to be happy.  I love him so much for this!  There have been times when I've opened up about missing my mom and he gets so sad for me.  I so appreciate that.  

He does things for people.  He serves through our church a ton.  He helps people move.  He helps people with house projects.  He's tech support for many friends and family members.  :)  I love that he's a go to guy in all of these situations.

His daughters adore him.  They both squeal when he comes in the door at night.  They will both grow up to be stronger and better women because they have a dad like him.  

He works hard.  He is well liked at his job and is also the go to guy there in many situations.  He has been able to move up in his career because of this.

I love you Jeff!  Thank you for eight wonderful years!!!!

Above all, we must discuss cake

There are many things I need to blog about.  Three trips to Utah in the last six weeks.  Time Out for Women in Pocatello.  Our neighborhood barbecue (that we hosted!). Some thoughts on Lime-A-Way.  My improved HDL and LDL numbers. And of course, the many happenings in the lives of my sweet little girls.

I will get to all that very soon.

Tonight I must share a secret with you.  You will thank me later, trust me.

Have you ever tried this?

If not, stop what you are doing right now and go get it.  I'm serious.  Go do something crazy right now and get this cake!  I found mine in the freezer section at Wal-Mart for $2.68.  It is perfection in a box.  For $2.68.

By the way, I mentioned earlier that I need to blog about my improved HDL and LDL numbers.  I was able to get my blood screened through Jeff's work a couple of weeks ago.  Interesting that my HDL and LDL numbers came back much improved over last year.  They were really good!  I guess working out and losing a few pounds has paid off.  (Imagine me patting myself on the back right now.)

Well, I didn't get all high marks.  My triglycerides were high.  The goal is to be less than 150 and my number was 142.  Last year it was 83.  Oops!  In case you are like me and don't know what triglycerides are, it is the amount of fat particles that are circulating through your bloodstream.  Hmmm...this high number might have something to do with the fact that I go on these little binges where I eat lots of yummy treats as shown above.

This cake is worth every triglyceride.

It is GOOD!  Go get some.