The Can Can

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Maya Maya Maya

This was another procrastination project. But really, this was so much more fun than laundry or cleaning the house.

Reece is starting to feel a little left out, and rightly so. So, next time I have a few things I don't feel like doing....I'm sure Reece will be getting some fun new things in his room.

Before and After

I'm a big time procrastinator, don't get me wrong. I'm one of the worst. But, when I procrastinate, I don't sit on the couch and watch TV, I don't go shopping, I don't talk on the phone, I don't read a book.

I start a new project.

Here is a recent procrastination project. I got this dresser/mirror combo for free from a friend, it has sat in my garage for months. I haven't had any desire to do anything with it all those months it has been occupying valuable real estate.

I have a few things that I was supposed to get done. But, I really convinced myself that painting an old dresser and mirror was WAY more important than my obligations. I mean really, Maya does need a dresser with a mirror. She is a girl for heavens sake. The almost identical white dresser she has right now just will not do any longer. Painting this dresser became my number one priority.

I finally got it finished, thank goodness...just in time to finish another project for Maya's room.



Ta Da....


It is really cute, huh?

Happy Turkey Day!

In the 9 years Michael and I have been married, this was the first year we have cooked a 'real' Thanksgiving meal. Every year we have spent Thanksgiving at a family members house and just had to bring the drinks or a pie or something.

There was the one year that my sister was living with us, my little bro Cam was at BYU and we wanted to have a Thanksgiving meal that didn't involve a turkey. So, we had an untraditional Thanksgiving at our house. We decided that we would make the items that we liked, and not feel obligated to have the other items.

Michael and I were in charge of the main items. Instead of turkey we had a rotisserie chicken, we like rolls, so we had those, but cranberry sauce was forbidden. Mashed potatoes are always good. We put my little brother in charge of those. He didn't have a mixer, so he made them in the blender. Never heard of doing that, but I applaud him for his creativity! I can't remember what else was on the menu, but it was all food that we liked.

So, this year, we were going to do the same thing. That was UNTIL I went to a Holiday Cooking class and tasted how amazing everything COULD be. So, little by little during this class, I decided that I really did like everything involved in the traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Luckily I have an amazing cook for a husband, and he made just about everything. He woke up at 5 am to get the turkey started. He mashed the potatoes, made some amazing yams, and the most flavorful gravy I have ever tasted. I felt like a failure with my lame attempts in my homemaking skills. I microwaved the stovetop stuffing, microwaved the green beans and poured the french fried onions on top of them. Luckily, my saving grace was the rolls I made from scratch the day before. They actually turned out! They were soft and flavorful, and they weren't burnt on the outside and raw on the inside! I did buy Rhodes rolls and have them waiting for me in the freezer in case my rolls didn't turn out.

All in all, we had a great Thanksgiving meal, and I have so much to be grateful for.

This was the kids after dinner craft yesterday. They turned out cute, huh?

Reece made this turkey at school. Oh, how I wish I could spend my day gluing beans, macaroni, and paper.

Speaking of girls camp.....

I don't have many pictures from my earlier years at camp, so I will show what I do have.....


Those famous braids that started the braid revolution at Camp Liahona.
It started with just one little first year named Marisa with her hair in braids. Each year more and more girls caught the spirit of the braids, until it almost became part of the dress code.

See what I mean?

And I think that everyone who has ever been to girls camp went on a "snipe hunt". Kathy is being attacked by those snipes, you really have to watch out for them, they are dangerous!

Dee Jones- what a trooper!

Me and Kathy, I'm not sure what is on her face. Why aren't we in the pool, it was probably like 110 degrees outside.

Oh, and it never got old to TP someone's cabin. But, I think the highlight of our camp experience was the search for the largest bra in camp, find a way to get it, and run it up the flag pole. Boy, that was ALWAYS funny. (Notice the bra hanging with the toilet paper)

My sister Lins. Notice my "shady ladys" shirt. I loved that shirt.

Sorry to sell you out ladies:
From left to right, Theresa, Meghan, Stephanie and Kathy (the 3 on the right comment on this blog)

My sister on the right with her buddies.

Oh, and the great skits our leaders came up with. Seriously!!! We had amazing talented leaders who helped us rock the house down.

Not sure what the war paint was for, but we probably were about to make some trouble, or we just finished making trouble.

OK, I can't believe I don't have ANY pictures of Megan A., Cathe J., or Christine R. in here. They were my main partners in crime. But, Like I said, I don't have pictures from the early camp years.

Here are a few of my favorite moments at girls camp...

Cathe and I broke into the mess hall and got on the microphone that broadcasts over the whole camp and sang this song.
Grow little boobies bigger bigger,
I want a brand new figure figure,
I want to look like Marlyn Monroe
Grow little boobies, grow grow grow.
I think at that point Sister Caruth sprinted into the mess hall and confiscated the microphone.

Another great moment was when Cathe and I decided to scare the girls that had to be in tents. So, we were running from tent to tent shaking the tents and screaming to scare the girls. When we were running away from the tent we attacked, I tripped. I was laughing so hard that I wet my pants. I think I won the "depends" award that year, and was given a few diapers when we got home.

I think all the Young Women Leaders of Kingwood First Ward from the years to 1991-1997 all have a huge castles waiting for them up in heaven, just for putting up with all of us.

Ma and Pa

Michael and I got a call from our church leaders and we have been asked to be a "Ma and Pa" for the youth of our church as we go on a Pioneer Trek. We will be pulling handcarts like the one shown below, and will be traveling parts of the handcart trails the Pioneers traveled in the 1800's. We will be given about 8 "children" and will act as a family during this trek. We will be traveling about 30 miles over a 4 day period. Everything we will be bringing will have to fit on the handcart. We will also be dressing the part. Michael will be wearing a long sleeved button down shirt, hat, and possibly suspenders. I will be wearing a full length skirt, apron, and bonnet. All of this will be happening in July. Wow! I can already imagine how great I'm going to look with no makeup, no shower for a few days, no hairspray, and a whole lot of sweat!

Call me crazy, but I'm actually really excited about it!

Twilight

Have you read it? What did you think of it? Leave me a comment on it, and take the poll in the upper left hand corner!

Our Halloween Costumes

I finally uploaded our Halloween pictures to my computer. Here they are, what do you think?Isn't this the cutest Jack Sparrow you have ever seen? Well, Johnny is a pretty good looking Jack Sparrow as well.

Our little princess Belle.

Reece is in the middle, he is Davey Jones from Pirates of the Carribean.

The Great Pumpkin Carve

It's officially tradition now, this is our third year carving pumpkins with our neighbors. This year Reece and Hailey wanted to be actively involved in carving the pumpkins. As I was watching them, I was convinced we were going to have a trip to the emergency room. Somehow we had misplaced the safe pumpkin knife, so we were using steak knives. Note, it's not a good idea to let a 7 year old boy carve a pumpkin with a real knife. Twice I had to tell Reece to get his fingers off the blade of the knife as he was sawing away.

Maya and Kenzie were more concerned that they each approved of each other's pumpkins. As April and I would say, "do you want round eyes or triangle eyes?" They would look at each other for validation on their choice. You will notice, they both ended up with the same design.

I'm not sure what they are doing in the pictures below, but they sure had a good time, and that is all that matters when you are carving a pumpkin.