Moments

Popping in ...

2012-02-15T00:20:00.001-07:00

Just popping in to say hi. I appreciate all your thoughtful comments and emails. Thank you so much! We are so close to getting back home to be with my sweetie and having my cast removed. That will be a sweet day.
You are all so wonderful. I have a great surprise in store for you in the coming weeks. Stay "tuned" so you don't miss out. (Hint: exciting guest blogger and sweet giveaway!)
We'll chat soon. I'm sending you hugs! Hope your valentines day was as lovely as you are my friends!

My one arm life

2012-02-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! It's me. Jenn-Lee.

I promise I'm alive. Boy do I have a story for you. I'm going to do my best to type today using one hand. My left hand. Many of you may already know and many of you do not. I'll explain. I love girls nights. I love going to the movies, or eating at a yummy restaurant.Well, after the crazy holidays past I thought it would be fun to gather a few gals together to meet up.Except this time, I suggested we do something silly and active.Like trampolines, or bowling, or roller skating.

We decided on roller skating and had a blast until the very end when I fell hard and ..... drumroll.... broke my elbow. At first when my feet flew out from under me and hit the floor on my tailbone/back I thought I broke my back. The pain was indescribable. I had my right arm out behind me to catch my fall. My arm was straight out and I hit my wrist which later we learned gave me a radial head fracture in my elbow.

Cara and I, minutes before the fall.

After laying there in pain my sweet friends and some employees helped me get up. The moment I went to move my arm I knew I broke something. I felt as if I broke my wrist, elbow and shoulder. Luckily not all. It could have been much worse. My sweet angel friends were so helpful. My friend Cara took me to the ER and stayed with me the entire time even after My Conan Man got there. My friend Mindy drove my car home and Kendra stayed at our place to watch the kids until we came home. Then Cara stayed a while after that to help me with baby Tobin while Daniel helped me get settled.

At the ER one nurse had to cut off my top (brand new Christmas present top) :( I was sad to part with it. We actually asked the nurse if he could cut along the seam so I could re sew it up. His answer " oh- well, It's not my job to worry about that. Its not going to be nice." Then he chopped it up. That was the least of my worries though. I was angry. I was angry that I had allowed myself to fall and get hurt. At the very end too. We were about to go play laser tag and I had been slowing down to get off the rink for good. I was angry, upset and extremely worried how I would take care of my children. Specifically my highly active and strong willed Sophie and my two month old.Cara and My sweetie were so kind to calm me down and remind me that everything would be ok.

The ER sent me home with a sling, a prescription for pain reliever and a referral to an orthopedic DR. This was a Fri. night. The earliest appointment I could get was the following Wednesday morning. It was not my favorite Dr. experience but I won't get into that. I got a full arm cast and was told to come back in 6 weeks to get it off. I have a very long road ahead. Lots of physical therapy and hard work on my end to get full range of motion again.


my cast and my baby boy.

We were so blessed to receive lots of help that week.Friends (aka. angels) brought us meals, stayed at my home to help me clean and take care of Tobin and Sophie. Some also picked up my girls for playdates, book club etc. I saw miracles. I felt so loved and so grateful for all the service rendered. My awesome in laws offered to take the girls and I in for the duration of when I have my cast on. Daniel couldn't leave work to help me and relying on friends and my girls help is alot to ask for that long. We took the long trip here to New Mexico. We have been here a few weeks without my sweetie pie. We miss him terribly but are so grateful for the time spent here receiving help and enjoying time with Grandparents and cousins.

missing my Conan Man!

Being away from my amazing man has been so hard on both of us.

The reunion will be sweet.

As time goes by I am able to do more and more everyday.Sunday I was able to help get the girls bathed, braid their wet hair and help them get prettied up for church. I loved that. Right now the pain is mostly gone. I get achy if I go a while without my arm in a ling. The most frustrating thing is how difficult it is to take care of, hold, nurse etc my sweet little Tobin.Sadly the sweet little guy has had his head bumped on my cast a few times. I'm getting the hang of it more and more but its never easy. I miss just snugglin' him in my arms. Both arms.

Well, my left arm/hand is pretty achy now after typing all this.

I want to share with you my thoughts on some lessons

learned through this ordeal and some fun photos as well.

Chat with you soon.

PS. as you can imagine life has been a bit crazy. Thank you for your emails or comments. I have not forgotten you and thank you for your kindness. I am working on getting back into the groove and should be able to reply shortly.

Hello. Hello.

2012-01-12T23:25:00.004-07:00

Hello Hello.

Stopping in to share a few photos and thoughts. Promise I am still alive. Just trying to figure out the balance of taking care of 5 kids now, being a great wife and still doing things I love to do. Not easy but I am sure with the Lords help I can find that balance one of these days.

Tonight we went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. Tobin loved it. Especially the peanuts.

While looking through some photos the girls took while playing "modeling" with their friend I found this cute pic of Kailani. I love it because it shows so much of who she is. Changing outfits. She changes outfits so many times a day. She is always trying new looks and makes me smile. Though the piles of clothes she leaves behind are not my favorite I try to be patient while she finds her style and learns to be better at putting clothes away. Although I can imagine it would not be very motivating if every time I had to hang clothes up I needed a chair to reach the bar.

After we came home from Texas Roadhouse I was taking a few photos of Tobin not really focusing on him because i was telling Daniel about these 'super cute' jeans I saw for little boys at Target and how I couldn't wait to dress Tobin up. Then I looked down and Tobin was all cheese smiles at the camera without me even noticing. I just adore his smiles. He is turning out to be one very smiley kiddo. Even today while Anakha-Marie and I were doing math, she started to laugh and it made him smile. She freaked out and was so excited at his smiles he started to laugh with her! His first baby laughs were with his big sis.


seriously so boy here! Look at that face! Love it.

Have a great Friday! Love you all!

Baby Smiles

2011-12-27T13:44:00.001-07:00

We hope your Christmas was wonderful! Ours was. We were very blessed.

Today I was able to snap a pic of baby and his cute smile we get to see every now and then.

We just adore him!

The girls have been enjoying their many gifts as always.I am working hard to clean up the messes along with their help of course. Hubby went back to work. :( I miss him. We had so much fun having him home. I cannot wait till this weekend when he gets more time off again

because I kinda like that guy.

I recently got some blue hair extensions. I wanted to die bits of my hair but I was told it wouldn't last very long because my hair is so dark. I didn't want to have to re do it every few weeks so I opted for extensions. Aside from the annoyance of having to be so careful when I do my hair I love it. The blues is way fun and I have wanted blue in my hair about 10 years. It's about time I finally did it.

Well, I have to go take care of baby. He was smiling a few minutes ago and now is crying.

Mama is busy but I promise I will eventually get more pics and updates in soon. Maybe even another fun giveaway. Wouldn't that be fun? Who doesn't love a fun gift this time of year?

K. Have a Super Happy Day!

Love,

Jenn-Lee

Oatmeal goodness.

2011-12-23T11:50:00.002-07:00

Want to know what one of our favorite breakfast to prepare is?

Oatmeal. Just plain ol' Oats. Not the instant crap. I buy it in bulk at a local store and find it a much better price to feed all my little ones then to buy the instant packets or cereal etc.

The only problem is, It is kind of yuck. Really. Oatmeal can be healthy but its flavor is blah.

SO we need to add something to it to make it tasty.

Our answer is Coffee Creamers!

Have you ever looked and saw how many flavor's there are?

Especially during the Holiday season!

I don't drink coffee but walking past these yummy looking things, how could you not want to try them? I think it was around the time of when we moved here that I first grabbed one and tried it on oatmeal. SOOOO good!

Other favorites,... egg nog, cinnabon, Almond joy (we add a tiny bit of cocoa powder, and a handful of sliced almonds and it is just like the Candy bar!) So yum!

So, no more sugar. No more honey.

We just add a few small teaspoons of creamer to a bowl of hot oatmeal and it is delicious!!!

My girls usually hate oatmeal but when I have creamers on hand they gobble it up and ask for seconds. I checked the labels and it is more healthy then me dumping sugar on.

Other ways we use coffee creamers ,

Mix a teaspoon in a large cold glass of milk for a fun flavor kick. My girls love this treat!

Mix in a bit with milk and make steamed milk when you crave a hot drink.

Merry Christmas! Hope you enjpy your weekend full of fun!

ps. I am not paid by any of the creamer companies to write this. (though they should.) I just love this stuff and wanted to share with you a yummy idea!

My sweet Challenge

2011-12-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

When Kailani decided today she didn't want to do math:

She said,

"mom! Mom! You don't understand. I don't remember how to do math. See. I lost my memory mom. I lost my memory. Just ask me. Whats 2 plus 2? Ask me mom. Whats 2 plus 2? Its 3! Its 3 mom. See. I lost my memory and shouldn't do math today mom."

lol.

She cracks me up. She frustrates me. She is such a silly girl but such a challenge sometimes. Today was a challenge. I sure do love her though.

Another funny thing she did today was her freaking out about a small tiny cut on her finger. Red, but not bleeding. She was wanting a bandaid but I ran out of them. She begged and begged and I kept telling her she would be fine/ She was so upset about it.

"Mom! Its going to be flooding blood in two minutes Mom. In two minutes blood will flood out of this cut and I have to have a bandaid now!"

-------

Merry Christmas! Hope your week is full of stress free fun!

Love to all!

All things Bacon

2011-12-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Olea is our little carnivore. She absolutely loves meat. Especially Bacon. Bacon is her favorite food. At a young age she loved eating hot wings alongside her daddy. She has always chosen Cheeseburgers over little dinky nuggets or fries. She loves steak, bbq, beef jerky etc. It makes her daddy smile for sure.

That being said here is a funny story for ya.

As we were climbing our 3 flights of stairs to the apartment my oldest decided to ask me a question. One of those questions you don't even want to answer as a parent.

"Mom, If Tobin (our 5 wk. old) was suddenly turned into a pig, would you kill him and eat him up?"

What kind of a question is that? Gesh.

After my shock, I replied,

"No. I would love him and take great care of that cute little piggy."

Olea chimes in and says,

"Well, I can tell you one thing. All I know is if I had 76 pigs I would kill every one of them for bacon."

haha!

She cracks me up. So with that I will end this hello for today and share a few bacon inspired pics I found on Pinterest.

Thanks for following Moments!

I hope you know:

Baby Boy.

2011-12-11T16:20:00.001-07:00

Loving my baby boy today.

So thankful he is in our family!

I have alot to share with you.

Its been a while and I have so many photos.

We blessed little Tobin last week.

Had lots of family in town and my girls even

had a quick little trip to Cali. with Grandparents.

Stay tuned for pics and stories!

Much love to you all!

They will never be you.

2011-12-07T13:22:00.001-07:00

Just a thought for you today via a collage I made recently.

We are doing great here with new baby Tobin. (not the baby in the pic)Its harder to adjust my brain that I have 5 kids then actually having 5 kids. I cannot belive we have this many. Feels like yesterday I had my 1st baby girl. I love our sweet little blessings. That is for sure.

Much love to you all! Thanks for reading Moments!

Have a great day!

CUTE and FUN Sewing projects

2011-11-17T20:43:00.001-07:00

Need some sewing project inspiration? Have you been on Pinterest yet? Many of you have. I know because I have seen some of your amazing pins. Some of you have probably not. So I am here to share with you a few awesome Sewing projects I found using pinterest.

If you sew, you will be delighted.

If you don't sew, you may want to start. :)

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LOOK at this STINKIN' CUTE bustle tutorial from no big dill blog. So adorable. Now, my question is, would all 4 of my girls agree to wear this if I spent the time to make it for Christmas? Or in spring time colors for Easter? Or heck, in 4th of July colors , for ,..ok that's probably pushing it. lol

Source

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I love this skirt! Looks so comfy to wear. A maxi skirt inspired by Anthropologie's Lengthening Rays skirt. This pattern download is designed and created by Lorenna Buck. You can find the blog post about it here. She has a link to the pdf at the end.
Lorenna has alot of cute sewing projects on her blog. I have enjoyed scrolling through it and its a keeper of a blog to visit often. Adding it to my google reader for sure!


Source

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This dress also has an adorable bustle. Cami at TidBits blog calls it the Business in front, party in the back dress. Its simple adorable and looks comfortable in knit. Her tutorial is step by step and looks to be very helpful. I have TONS of b&w polka dot knit in my fabric stash. Maybe with some white and pink added I could make a cute one like this.

Get this,...If you don't sew but would love one for your special little girl Cami sells them now! She had this dress published in Altered Couture magazine and now has versions in different colors she creates and sells! Her blog post with those adorable creations and that exciting announcement is here.

source

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Ever seen Taggie mini blankies for baby's?
Check this idea out. Monogram taggies. Found at SoSewLovely Etsy shop.
Would be so simple to make right? Also so easy to buy if you don't sew or don't feel like it. lol

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Ok. So I really want to make this for my kiddos for Christmas. Except one problem, I live in an apartment with someone living below us. I try really hard to not be such a annoyance to her. The girls naturally bounce, and stomp and run around and so when they goof off it gets really loud . I have to remind them to calm down because I don't want to bother our sweet neighbor so much and/or get reported. So, something like this would be fun but would have to go outside our apt. in the hallway which is open and breezy but carpeted (I have no idea why!?)

The tutorial is on a fun blog A girl and A Glue Gun. She has so many creative little projects and just as the blog title says, she has many you don't have to sew, but just use a glue gun.
SO EASY right?
On the back of the hopscotch she also made other felt games tic tac toe and a dart game.
check it out.

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I have to share one for our little Mr. This is so adorable and looks super easy. I unfortunately was not able to find the source of this photo. If you know who created this please email me the link so I can give credit where credit is due. I have some fresh blank white onsies. I think I might just have to make a church outfit soon for our new little one.

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Need cute hand towels? These won me over at The Creamer Chronicles. She did a great job on them. I love the idea of how they hang with the button snap and how little fabric it would take to make a few. I want to make some asap. Just way cute and looks super easy.
Check them out here and for the link to the free pdf pattern.

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That's all for now. You can check out more inspiration on my Pinterest board SEW simple. If you want an invite to join Pinterest simply send me an email with your email addy and I will invite you along. Its addictive, I warn you. But so fun and such a great place to file away great ideas and super easy to search for them.

Little Mr. and flu, sweet and not so sweet.

2011-11-17T11:24:00.001-07:00

Hello friends!

Just checking in to say hello. Its been quite busy around here as you can imagine. Getting life back in order with a new addition in the family. I tell ya, having a baby boy is much sweeter then I realized it would be. He is just adorable and has won our hearts forever. I love that I can call him "Mr." I don't know why. Just holding him and saying "Hey, little Mr." is just so fun!

We have the flu bug passing around this week. NO FUN AT ALL! When I got my sweet Sophie out of bed this morning she was in the corner saying "its a no no, its a no no" over and over. I looked and quickly realized she had thrown up in her bed all over. It wasn't as bad because she refused dinner last night but it was still yuk. So as I took her to the bathroom for clean up she started to say in her sweet baby voice way "I'm farry, I'm farry" which means " I'm sorry"

I realized why she said sorry. Lately she has been spitting her food out and getting in trouble at dinner for it. She does not understand what happened, but knew it was food getting "spit up" and that she was not supposed to do that. So sad right? It's hard to explain the difference of throwing up vs. spitting food out on purpose to a 23 mo. old. Well, we all learn eventually I guess.

That's all for now. Wish us luck that the flu leaves our home soon. The Lord has been so good ti us though. It has been a lighter "flu" experience and I luckily got over it in a day 1/2. Hopefully the last two don't get it and we can be done. Not an easy thing with a newborn.

I hope to be back to normal blogging soon. I still have lots to share with you including some new exciting books I have been reading!

We have a little Dragon!

2011-11-06T20:48:00.002-07:00

He is here! Our much anticipated baby boy! We finally have a little Dragon for the "Uncle Dragon"! (Daniel has his nieces and nephews call him Uncle Dragon)

I want to blog the birth story but for now since I am all drugged up on pain meds for my back, I will share pics and then blog later when I am feeling better about how everything went sparing details most people don't want to hear. All in all though, it was a wonderful experience. I am feeling great (except for my back pain from the epidural site) and so happy he is out so I can walk and do normal things without hip pain.

We came home today and he is just a joy to have in our home.

Such a sweet spirit we are so blessed to have here.

Thank you for all your love, prayers and support!

I love you all and thank you for stopping by to check his pics out.

All ready to go home!

Have a great day! We will share more photos soon. :)

Hugs,

Jenn-Lee

Yummy Crock Pot Chicken

2011-11-01T11:36:00.001-06:00

This chicken is so yummy! I had a bunch of chicken I was afraid would go bad when I thought I was in labor the other day. (yah- still no baby boy yet...)

I searched online for a recipe using Yummly. (I LOVE that website!)

This recipe turned out to be a winner. The only sad part is I wrote it on a scrap sheet of paper and now do not know the source. I do not claim this as my own but had to share it with you. It made the juiciest chicken breast that pulled apart easily for sandwiches or stayed nicely together for a great meal with some rice.

Seriously try it. It is that good.

I used about 5 large chicken breasts.

Take all these ingredients and mix together in bowl and dump over chicken before setting your crock pot on low or high depending on how fast you need it to be cooked.

1/2 Cup. chicken Broth (I used Chicken stock instead)
1/3 Cup soy sauce
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup honey
1 tsp. Worcestshire sauce
2 tsp. balsamic Vinager
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Sesame Oil
2 Tbsp. minced garlic

ENJOY 4-8 hours later!

Have a great day! I wish I could have baby today.

Wouldn't 11-1-11 be a great birthday?

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T19:58:00.000-06:00

Hope your Halloween was a great one!

We took the girls to our church parking lot for a trunk-or-treat activity.

Anakha-Marie was Cleopatra.

Olea was a pirate.

Kailani was belle.

Sophie was a fairy.

My favorite was taking Sophie car to car and seeing her catch on to what was happening. At first she looked confused. I had to put her candy in her huge bag. Then she caught on and did that all by herself. Then she started to say Thank you in her own baby way. Then she became VERY protective of her bag which she called "baggie" and would not let anyone hold it for her even for a second.

Once at home she had a blast when I dumped it out in front of her and let her pick some out to eat. She was one happy little camper. I think she is a fan of Halloween now.

She is a doll and even though I was at the hospital last night (and then sent home, mad as heck that baby didn't arrive) I was so happy I got to be there with Sophie tonight and let my girls have fun going around together without mom or dad. Its fun having bigger kiddos too!

Here are a few pics from the night.

Hugs to all!

Guest bloggin' day!

2011-10-28T12:00:00.000-06:00

Hi wonderful, amazing friends!

I am a guest blogging over at Shannonmakesstuff today!

http://shannonmakesstuff.blogspot.com/

I met Shannon at Deseret Book corp. offices when we had our bloggers meeting with Sheri Dew.

I tell you what, I am so blessed to have met her and

her blog is packed full of crafting goodies, tutorials etc.

Need some fun craft ideas for your front door this holiday season?

check it out!

A French themed Baby Shower

2011-10-27T15:10:00.000-06:00

Recently three amazing friends, Brittany, Wendy and Laura

threw a baby shower for Baby Tobin & I.

It was a sweet simple shower with a french theme.

See the "Chanel No5" sign below except with his name. SO CUTE!

My friend Laura is amazing at styling parties and baking the most yummiest and beautiful party foods. She is a bit of a perfectionist. (Learned that having thrown a few parties with her.)

Her perfectionism definitely pays off though!

The Menu:

French Baguette,

Nutella Choc. cookies,

puff pastry stuffed with melted chocolate,

pears slices, grapes,

Gouda and provolone cheese,

Vanilla cupcakes with frosting and raspberry on top,

melon wrapped in prosciutto.

Absolute 1st class.

I tell you what. She spoiled us for sure!

My favorite was having the pears with the Gouda cheese on a slice of baguette. Yum!

Don't they look absolutely professional and fancy?

They were just as yummy as they look!

I have to admit, I was not very good at taking photos and am SO VERY sad I have no photos of me with the other amazing ladies there. I also missed getting a photo with Wendy, Brittany,and Laura, the three that threw the shower for us! So sad.

Guess we will need a girls night out again soon for that.

My sister and I! check her new blog out!


Laura and Olea.

We played 3 fun games. One, was a slideshow of celebrity babies. We had to guess who's baby it was, and what their name was. If we could get both parents and the baby's name we got 3 points. She would give us a hint with the baby name to see if we could get the 2 points after.

It was challenging but fun.

The next game we played was basically name that tune/artist. Every song snippet played was from a song that had the word Baby in it alot. I did not know very many of them. I never was good at memorizing those kinds of facts. lol

The third game I loved. Everyone wore a sticker label on their forehead with a french word on it. These words were famous French places, people, things, foods etc. We could only ask yes or no questions to figure out who we were. I was one of the last to get mine. I was Naploeon.

Wish I had pics of this! We all looked so cool with those labels. Too fun!

Tobin was blessed with new adorable outfits, diapers, wipes, bath stuff, and cute handsewn baby "baprons", (mix between a bib and apron)

My close friend Cara gave him this ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE newborn baby hat in the mix. It is gray knit with a tiny brim. I seriously screamed when I pulled it out.

Why are tiny clothes just so cute?

It is definitely going to the hospital with us.

It was a wonderful evening and I am so thankful for all those who came and for my amazing friends who threw the shower for us! I am also so happy my sister happened to plan a trip to be in town the same week they ended up throwing this for Tobin and I. I have only seen her 3 times in 10 years. Mainly just for weddings.

I also loved having my two oldest girls with me. They were so cute hanging with all the older ladies on their best behavior. It was very sweet.

Thank you!

Don't worry. As soon as little Tobin arrives, you will know! I will bring the comp. to the hospital with us so when I am coherent and hanging out in that bed I can blog a pic or two.

I cannot wait!

Have an awesome day!

Pumpkin Patch field trip

2011-10-26T09:00:00.000-06:00

Some photos from our sweet field trip to Black Island Farms. I love this place! It is very close to the Great Salt Lake. They grow huge pumpkins and amazing produce that thrive in the sandy soil left from the ancient Lake Bonneville.

We start our day out with a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. The girls chose their pumpkins and then we were off to play in the courtyard. They have animals, tire swings, corn "sand" boxes, HUGE slides, pig races, little choo-choo train rides made out of huge barrels and pulled by a tractor, corn maizes for little kids or the brave and many more fun things! '

My close friend Cara and her sweet little boy met up with us while there.

We loved spending that time with them!

Enjoy the photos! The girls and I had a blast!


I had to sit down alot towards the end. My hip just didn't want to work right. :)


A-M took Sophie on this ride tons of times. They were great buddies and A-M was a huge help!


A good way to end the day. A sweet little ride on the wagon with Pumpkin's Cara bought. Have a great day! Happy Halloween!

Hillary Week's New video, Beautiful Heartbreak

2011-10-25T21:34:00.002-06:00

Hillary Weeks is one of my favorite artists. She is releasing her new album this week and just released this new music video. You can purchase her new album, Every Step, here.

Purchasing it this week will help her hit the billboard charts to spread her music to more people impacting more lives. I was told this video would make me cry. At first it didn't. Then at one spot I just burst into tears

I am familiar with the stories of the two women featured in her video having followed Stephanie Nielson's blog and seeing Mariama Kallon speak at Time Out For Women.

Both women have amazing stories to share.

Enjoy the video! :)

Thank you for stopping by!

Please take a moment and click on the poll on the top right corner of Moments too!

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Look forward to meeting you!

Never Assume....

2011-10-25T11:12:00.001-06:00

Never Assume you know where your 22 month old is.

If you think you might need to check on her... you should. right away.

Funny thing is, She came to me running down the hallway holding her apron on her dress showing me the mascara on it saying "uh-oh" Then she looked up ......

What do you think? Should I try the new fad? Mascara as lipstick?

Happy Tuesday everyone!

17 Miracles Giveaway Winners!

2011-10-21T09:58:00.000-06:00

It's time to announce the two winners of the 17 Miracles DVD!

I am so excited!

I had no way to snip a copy of the random.org generator this time.

But I do have witnesses that watched me do it. My daughters and their friend. They were quite impressed with how that random number generator works.

First, THANK YOU SO MUCH for participating!

Thank you for following and Thank you for being such amazing friends!

{Ok, insert drum roll here...}

CONGRATULATIONS!

PAM

and

Tiffany!

I will contact you both for a way to get the dvd's to you.

Thanks so much!

You are all so awesome!

Now, For a wonderful weekend.

Enjoy!

37 weeks and a little Hello.

2011-10-18T11:47:00.000-06:00

Finally have a sweet prego shot of me.Thanks to my amazing friend Cara!

Now I can have this baby. :)

We went to a fun family farm yesterday for a sweet little school field trip. I have a bunch of photos to share but do not have the time to upload them this morning. Just wanted to say hello and Thank you for your participation in the 17 Miracles DVD giveaway! I am so excited and cannot wait to see who the lucky winners will be.

So, about this baby....All my girls came 3 weeks early. That would be this week. So baby boy could arrive this week if he decided to keep with tradition. I am feeling ready.

Today I did something to my hip. Honestly feels like a pulled muscle. Walking around the farm for hours with the kiddos. I cannot move my left leg very well. So when I walk, I drag my foot.

I look quite funny and now am a big slow poke according to Kailani.

I have been busy creating a new car seat cover for the infant car seat and hope I can get finished in time. I cannot wait to share with you the pics. It is quite a sewing project to do, especially for someone like me who is scared of cutting my beautiful fabrics and does not sew very often. Thankfully the fabric is cut so now I really have to finish the project. :)

Anyhow. I promise to share the news of the new baby as soon as he arrives. Ok. So not right after he arrives but after I get some rest and have some down time in the hospital to use their wi-fi. :)

Have a great Tuesday!

PS: Don't forget to enter the 17 Miracles DVD Giveaway if you haven't already

17 Miracles Dvd GIVEAWAY!

2011-10-13T09:14:00.002-06:00

It's Time!

Time for two lucky Moments readers to win a 17 miracles DVD of your very own!

If you haven't had a chance to read my thoughts on 17 Miracles right after seeing it for the first time, definitely do.

Here is the amazing and wonderful trailer, I could watch over and over again.

It is worth leaving a comment for, trust me! You will love this movie. It is a great family movie and makes you think about all the little miracles in your life as well. I know it did for me.

We have a copy and have passed it around my husbands work for some of his coworkers to see. Their kids have claimed it to be one of their new favorite movies. Some of them have watched it multiple times. Yes, it really is that good.

Thank you T.C. Christensen and your team for creating a masterpiece! Thank you Deseret for the opportunity to share this with Moments readers!

Now, on to the details. To enter, All you need to do is leave a comment sharing your favorite part of this movie if you have seen it, or telling me how much you want it.

and leave a 2nd comment telling me you have become a new Moments follower. If you are already, then just let me know. This will give you TWO ENTRIES! :)

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Thanks for stopping by!

Good Luck!

CONTEST ENDS MIDNIGHT, THURSDAY, OCT. 20th.

I will announce a winner on Friday, Oct. 21st by noon.

Winner will be chosen at random using random.org number generator.

Spread the word! You have friends who may want a chance to win too!

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(note: I do not receive any compensation for reviewing products and hosting giveaways. I do however receive the product at no expense for my review and the opportunity to express my personal opinions about it.The opinions shared are mine alone and are not representative of any other person or company)

Fall Fashion makes me giddy

2011-10-12T09:32:00.005-06:00

Its that time of the year again!

I absolutely love fall/winter fashion.

My two favorite places to look are Anthropologie of course,

and online I love ShopRuche.com

It seems I don't get as excited about Spring/Summer lines but as soon as fall is here I am giddy excited about what I see and want to share my favorites with you!

Who doesn't love a little fashion eye candy ?

ShopRuche has amazing and inspiring lookbooks.

The one I am sharing from today is called Wanderlust.


Gentry truffle coat by Darling UK $147.99 shopruche

ShopRucheWanderlust,trainstop8

ShopRucheWanderlust,trainstop17

ShopRucheWanderlust,trainstop22

ShopRucheWanderlust,trainstop29

ShopRucheWanderlust,trainstop34

Can I just have them all? Every accessory and piece of clothing?

They are put together in style and color so perfectly. I love how feminine they are! I love the colored tights! I love the shoes! I love the coats.

I am so ready to have this baby, (3 weeks to go if he waits that long!)

lose weight, and start trying out some of these looks.

A Halloween Themed Birthday Party!

2011-10-11T09:00:00.000-06:00

Happy 9th Birthday to our Anakha!

We had a fun exciting week with our sweetface turning 9. She had her Birthday earlier in the week with just the family and then a party with her friends on the weekend.

Her Birthday Meal wishes were :

Breakfast: donuts

Lunch: Lunchable pizza

Dinner: Thai Peanut Sauce chicken

She also requested to decorate on her own cupcakes for dessert.

Her Party on Saturday was a Halloween Themed costume party. The girls showed up all decked out in great costumes ready to have yummy pizza, treats and make a craft.

For her Birthday cake I used my white cake recipe for the cake mix, then followed a recipe in The Lion House Cakes and Cupcakes recipe book I received while at my Deseret Book Meeting. The recipe Anakha-M. chose was one called "Lemon Surprise". It was SO GOOD! We are not big on cakes here and it was the best cake I have ever made and even my husband loved it. The recipe used a cook and serve lemon pudding on the top covered by the whip cream. I made two cakes, and put the pudding in as a filling as well. I am craving more of it now! So yummy!

The girls had a blast preparing these by dipping the marshmallows in candy chocolate coating I melted in my fondue pot and tinted orange. They then dipped that in sprinkles or ice cream nut topping. Those were my favorite.

I LOVE this Popcorn! Kernel Free Amish Popcorn I found at the local farmer supply store. I popped a few batches and used a few recipes I found on popcorn.org to spruce them up into tasty deliciousness.

Good ol' butter and salted popcorn! yum!

Recipe here

Recipe here. (except we used rasberry flavor)

Daniel is the king at crepe paper decor!


Because, who doesn't love to eat worms?

For their craft I sewed each of them a Halloween Trick o' Treat bag out of some black canvas material I have had leftover for years. They used foam and cut out Halloween themed shapes to glue on their bags. This was alot of fun watching how creative they were and how unique and adorable each bag turned out.

Craft fun!

Cake time!

The finished bags just before the girls were to go home.

They all turned out so fun and cute. I loved all the costumes too!


After presents, a bunch of very happy girls!

It was alot to clean up. I was exausted but I am so happy my Sweetface was able to have a party with her closest friends. She is amazing and growing up so fast. Happy Birthday again to my sweet Anakha-M. !

Impact week

2011-10-10T09:22:00.000-06:00

Hi friends!

Hope this lovely Monday morning has been a blessing to you.

I am excited to let you know my post for today is over at House of Sarager blog!

I met Jackie on this day and have been blessed to do a guest post over on her blog for her very special annual IMPACT WEEK.

So what are you waiting for?

Click on over to see my post :
Friendships Make an IMPACT.

Be sure to leave a sweet comment as well!

You can also have a chance to win a copy of 17 miracles on her blog.

(Perfect chance before you also get to enter my 17 miracles dvd giveaway over here this next week! )

Hugs,

Love is spelled T-I-M-E

2011-10-02T20:25:00.001-06:00

Found this photo of Sophie and Conan Man playing a game of Go. She loves to sit with him and most of the time places her pieces in the correct spot. After she lose attention span for it he will mix up all the pieces and put both containers on either side and ask her to clean up. She will happily sort the pieces into the correct tub. Sometimes he will tease her and throw a black one in the white tub or vice versa. She always catches it and fixes it. It is adorable.

Something I heard this weekend during General Conference that I wrote down and loved,

“In Family relationships LOVE is spelled T-I-M-E.” – Elder Ian S. Ardern

"I just Looooovvvveeeee...."

2011-10-01T16:23:00.000-06:00

I sure wish I could remember who it was and find a clip. We watched a comedian for a brief time the other evening on netflix. He joked about his wife and how she says she loves things. It would be so easier to post a clip of his act. He mimicked how she said "I love you" vs. if he brought her a cupcake home. She would then say "Oh-my goodness! I looooovvvveeee cupcakes!" In an exaggerated way.With the eyes rolling back and the most feminine excited face. I laughed so hard.

After watching this I joked with Daniel at the new Kneaders bakery that if he brought me home a key lime tart that I would love him, but "looooovvvveeee" that tart. Saying it the same way the comedian did. A few weeks later, guess what he showed up with at the door from work? A key Lime tart!

Of course I had to let him know how much I loved key lime tarts. :) It was delicious. I think I loved it more then flowers. Its just not everyday your hubby stops by a bakery to bring you a treat like this?

What would you just "looooovvvveeee" if your husband surprised you with it that is not the normal flowers etc?

App-balls makes me smile.

2011-09-30T15:46:00.000-06:00

So I started thinking. (good thing, right?) What little things bring a smile to my face? And then I looked over at my bowl of apples. I LOVE a huge bowl of apples. We love apples....and bananas. But we really love apples. We can easily go through 15 in a week. The girls love to snack on them.

Olea has loose teeth and not many there so she has to have hers peeled and sliced. Today she peeled it herself. You will see below the photo. That made me smile. It surprised me. Never seen shavings like that. But it was her first time so she did a great job. Got the job done and that's what counts right'?

Olea's first time peeling an apple. Love all the little shreds? too cute.

Sophie, (not to gross you out but...) has had some very ucky diapers for 4 weeks now. She has no other symptoms. We have concluded it is a issue with food. We are trying her on Soy milk to see if that helps. Olea hit the same issue around this age but eventually grew out of it. Hence the plethora of bananas. Except the tricky thing is, the bowl is near her chair. She loves apples. When she asks for one it sounds like she is asking for a ball. But we all know she wants the "app-ball".

Today, she begged and begged for an apple. Knowing the fiber her system did not need I tried to get her to eat a "nana". Finally I gave in. An apple it is. I thought she would just take a few bites and throw it to the side. She hasn't eaten alot of them lately. Boy was I surprised.


like the teeth marks?

Because what I found about 20 min later was her gnawing on the last tiny bit of it. It was a large apple.

Needless to say, we will be "surprised" by some fun diapers later. But she got some vitamins. And she made me smile. How cute is that? A little 21 month old, eating a huge apple. How can that not give you a smile?

Think about it. What recently in your day was simple, yet made you smile?

Menu Planning

2011-09-29T21:37:00.001-06:00

My dear friend Ruth inspires me so much! She is such an amazing homemaker. She helped me can 40lbs of pears the other day. It was so much fun having help and someone to show me what to do. I have canned once before with my mom. Green beans from the garden. I was not so sure what to do with the 40lbs of pears I randomly bought through church a month or so ago. She was a lifesaver!

One thing I wanted to share with you that she does is a magnetic menu planner. She created a super cute magnet board weekly calender for her to plan her menu. Then she took all the favorite recipes they enjoy and made magnets for each of them. Put them under categories and when she meal plans she just stands in front of her fridge and moves magnets around!

When I menu plan, I thumb through magazines I have saved, binders with recipes, a card file box of my favorites and books. It takes so long and often I never really decide on things so usually end up doing the same ol' boring cop out dinners. Taco night, Spaghetti night, chicken and rice, soup with bread and brie, etc etc etc.

So for months since seeing her cute idea I have wanted to share it with you and make one for myself. What do you think? How do you make menu planning an easy task for you? I would love to hear your ideas as well!

Meeting Sheri Dew and thoughts on trust.

2011-09-28T22:55:00.001-06:00

I feel humbled to have been able to spend some time at Deseret's corp. offices downtown in a meeting I was invited to. A few of the amazing and wonderful that were there, Sheri Dew (CEO of Deseret Book), Emily Watts (Senior Editor of Deseret Book), as well as Gail Halladay (Director of Marketing), A.E. Jones the publicist I have been working with to bring you the previous giveaways from Deseret, Director of Time Out for Women.,Chrislyn Barnes Woolsten and Editor for LDS Living Magazine, Erin Hallstrom. There were about 9 bloggers in attendance as well as 3 on the phone. We were catered yummy Lion House Bakery cake balls,vegetables, water, and had a lovely stack of books in a bow sitting on the conference table in front of our chairs to take home.

(WAY comfy chairs too!)

After introductions were made we had great discussions on blogging, Deseret book and their interests in the blogging community and how we can work together. Honestly, I was nervous for this meeting. I saw the list of bloggers to be in attendance and felt humbled to be counted amongst them. I sat next to CJane, just as sweet and down to earth as I imagined her to be. Met other bloggers I had not previously known about but am super excited to start following too.

My favorite part was the Q&A with Sheri Dew. If you are LDS then you probably know who she is. Previosly served on the General Relief Society Board as well as CEO of the publishing company owned by the church Deseret Book. I have only seen Sheri speak through broadcasts on tv or at church conference. I have read her words as a distinguished author and admire her wisdom. Today sitting 4 chairs away from her taught me many things. Some things she shared I will keep to myself. She spoke candidly with us answering a few questions. She was real. Just like you and I. yes, her circumstances are different. Yes she even meets with the Prophet often. But she is still so much like women all over the world.

I was inspired by this meeting realizing how so many of us do not fully understand our capabilities. So many of us women do not see how truly wonderful we are. I left this meeting feeling inspired that all of us really can make a difference in the smallest ways and be just as important in the Lords eyes as Sheri Dew is. He needs all of us to fulfill his work. One thing Sheri did say that I can share and that resonated within me was that the Lord needs to be able to trust us. That he speaks with those he can trust.

So what does this mean to me? Trust? Trust us to be serious about our standards. Trust us to be firm in our foundations. Trust us to strive always to be the very best we can be. Not the best someone else can be. It never helps us grow if we compare ourselves with others. I think often how I want to be a tool in Gods hands yet when thinking about it, I have to really ask myself, what have I done to earn Gods trust with his sheep's care?

Today was definitely an eye opener to me. It was a door opener as well. I am excited for the opportunity to work more closely with Deseret in sharing with you more wonderful books and media that can help lift you in some way. Stay tuned for more giveaways! I have two DVDs of the amazing movie 17 Miracles to give away to 2 of you lucky Moments readers shortly.

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to enjoy all of the little moments with your family and friends. To see the beauty in it all and be available to the Lord to help someone in need.

Hugs,

PS....Only about 6 more weeks until our little baby boy Tobin arrives! We are so excited and I am SOOO ready! :)

Photos again...

2011-08-14T19:15:00.000-06:00

I realized how quickly time is slipping by without me sharing many of the photos we have hiding on our camera cards from this summer. Today I am here to share just a few and will be back to share more soon. Hope you have had a great week!

When Daniel was overcoming strep he was resting and Sophie fell asleep right next to him. It was just too sweet to not snap some photos.

These next two photos are how my children got caught messing with my vintage glassware from inside the forbidden hutch and playing around with the school netbook and cell phone. (oh- also while playing with the camera without asking) Never knew they did this until I found the photos on the camera.Amongst these photos were others I will not put online but will definitely archive for a good laugh with them when they are mommies themselves. Lets just say my girls think it is funny to take photos of each others bums (with clothes on of course). Guess this is what they did for fun when mommy wasn't looking on this particular day.

A blurry photo but I thought I'd share it anyways since it is currently the only photo right now of the new little top I made Sophie a few weeks ago. The pattern is from Sewinginnomansland blog.(The Bali Break tunic) She has some really cute patterns for free download and her little girl happens to be about the same size as Sophie which works out perfect for me not having to re size any of the patterns.
I really should take some cute photos of Sophie in her new top but just haven't gotten around to it yet. will share when I do though. :)

In an effort to spruce up Sophie and new babys room I grabbed a dresser at DI for $40. Its a 9 drawer vintage dresser with ornate detailing on the front of 6 drawers. I Love it and decided to paint it an apple green matching the green in this fabric shown above. I found the fabric at Hobby Lobby and love the colors in it. I plan to make curtains with it and a pillow for the rocking chair. Baby Boys quilt made by his Grammie Pammie will also be made with the fabric except she is using only the boyish colors and leaving out the fuchsia. Sophie will have accents on her toddler bed with the fuchsia. That way the room works for both but Baby boys stuff isn't too girly. The dresser is almost finished and I will share before and after pics of it when it is totally done. I have already finished the main part and moved it in the room. The drawers need a light black glaze to distress the edges and detailing a bit and then clear protective coat. Then it will be done! I cannot wait to fill it with new baby boy clothes and Sophies cute little outfits that have currently been living in plastic drawers tub.

A little bit of what things looked like around here through the process. Thankfully the girls were great about not touching and a few times I was able to get painting done while they played at friends houses.

That's all for today. I revamped our homeschool blog which I plan on using as a tool to keep up with the details on our upcoming school year. If you would like to take a peek the address is http://momentshomeschool.blogspot.com. I have many more fun little summer photos and project photos to share with you. Until then, have a great day!

Hugs,

A close call and the lesson learned

2011-08-05T10:15:00.001-06:00

We were all buckled up in our car on the way to a fun field trip. Our first school activity of the year. A trip to the Planetarium to explore exhibits and see our first 3-D movie, an IMAX movie on the space hubble telescope. Kids were all excited chatting in the back like any other normal day. I was driving on the highway when all of a sudden a white Cadillac starts merging in my lane. Ok no problem, I honk my horn frantically. Usually that stops them. Well, yah, it didn't.

I realized this person was changing lanes right on us and wasn't going to stop. I had to make a quick decision. My first reaction was to swerve. The moment I did it I knew that was very risky. It went in slow motion. I almost expected that we would collide with whomever was next to us.Putting me in
the same wrong that the other driver was in. Moments pass, I was now in the right lane with no collision, the other car was happily driving along in the middle lane as if nothing happened. I however about had a heart attack. My heart was racing, I felt like my stomach decided to take a quick detour to my throat, I was shaking with tears quickly filling my eyes.

When I swerved our car, (a larger suv) it went on two wheels. I felt it. I literally came so close to rolling our car from the way I reacted to this mans driving. It took a few seconds of controlling the car to keep it on the road and straight. At first I was grateful my car didn't hit someone else in that lane. The lane was miraculously empty for a good amount of distance. Seconds earlier I had semi trucks surrounding us. Then I was overwhelmed with gratitude that our car did not roll. Going about 68 mph on this highway and rolling our car with my precious 4 princesses on board would have been a disaster.

The girls screamed when it happened. They were mad at me then I had to tell them what happened. The next few minutes seemed surreal. I passed the car that pulled in my lane. I had to look. Who was driving this car? I was mad at them. Until I saw it was a very very very old man. I looked for only a second and still was able to see his large hearing aids. That's why he didn't hear my honks. He was looking dead straight as if nothing happened. Then I wasn't so mad at him. I was more sad. Sad that he was on this road, so old, so unaware of what just happened. How many times had this happened to others?

My thoughts raced. Any mother knows, how much your love for your children is. How devastating of a thought it is to feel like you came so close to something that could have easily taken their lives. The thought of anything harming them is a nightmare. My eyes swelled with tears, my heart still racing I was overwhelmed with gratitude that even though we came so close to that nightmare we were protected. I know my Heavenly Father cleared the way so we wouldn't collide with another car, or worse, a semi truck. He helped my car get back on all 4 wheels and helped me gain control of the car. He also helped guide my thoughts. Reminding me how precious life is. How much I love my children and how much a blessing it is to have them in my life.

I would never wish the moment we had upon anyone. Unfortunately many are not as fortunate and do have terrible accidents rather then close calls. I believe the lessons we learn from them are very similar if we allow ourselves to see it. Each lesson is different. But one thing is the same we are all loved and watched over by our Heavenly Father. I believe miracles and disasters all provide us with time to think. Time to slow down and reflect upon our lives and what we can do to improve ourselves, bringing us closer to those we love and closer to our own hearts and what they have been missing.

Our field trip to the Planetarium turned out to be a great experience. After a phone call to my ever supportive and loving husband I was able to calm down in time to enjoy it. The girls loved the 3-d movie even though to them it was "a little boring". They loved exploring the hands on exhibits and the gift shop science themed toys and trinkets. We drove home under a huge ran cloud. If I looked up the clouds were dark and gloomy. If I looked out I could see beautiful white clouds spotted throughout a blue sky. I remember thinking how I had never driven in a heavy rain pour wishing I had sunglasses. The sun was shining through the storm as bright as the sunniest of days.

Like the dark rain clouds, my scary close call loomed over me. Then quickly after the rays of sunshine shone in no matter what was going on around me reminding me of what was so beautiful and special in my life. My kids, my husband, our safety and the blessing to be on beautiful earth.

A few cheese smiles

2011-08-01T22:45:00.000-06:00

Watching Sophie eat a bowl of cereal is one of my favorite morning moments. I let the milk soak a bit to soften the cheerios and then drink some of the milk for her to keep the mess down. Then I give her a sippy of milk and a spoon and let her have at it. She loves it and this morning she felt happy enough to give me a cute smile.

Then of course she has to sip the rest of her milk all by herself.

She usually does a pretty good job without much spillage too. SO adorable.

Recently I pulled my older digital camera out for Anakha to use for her blog pics and videos. It has a bright green light when you are about to take the pic. Anakha figured out that Sophie LOVES to smile for the green light. She never would smile in photos with the other digital camera. Now that we use this one she smiles for us so easily. I love all these cute cheese smile moments!

When Daddy is home everyone is all play.

They love to wrestle and play rough with him. Daddy back rides are their favorite.

This is Sophie saying "Look at me! I'm getting bigger!" She is actually in a brand new outfit and was so happy to take some pics in it. She is getting so big yet still looks so small. What will it be like when little baby boy arrives? She will grow on us overnight into big girl life. I will miss her baby days but her toddler stage is coming out and is so much fun to watch.

(PS: The dresser behind her is one I am painting an apple green with a black glaze for the room with Sophie and the new baby. I started today and LOVE it so much! I am so excited to see it finished. I will share before and after pics for sure. I have wanted a vintage 9 drawer dresser for a while now and am so happy I found this at DI for $40. Not bad for a good sturdy piece of furniture I will LOVE even more once finished.)

Orzo salad and a new recipe search site!

2011-07-24T17:24:00.000-06:00

Today I was looking for a new recipe and found a great site to help me! I went to Barnes and Nobles yesterday with my family and spent some time looking at vegetarian magazines. Daniel has expressed interest more then once of wanting to eat more vegetarian meals. He isn't against meals with meat but we both have found when we look for recipes in vegetarian cookbooks, magazines and blogs those meals always turn out to be the yummiest healthiest meals. I saw a recipe with orzo pasta and immediately went out to buy some on the way home. I found a great recipe on this site called Yummly.

It searches through many of the most popular recipe sites for you.The search options are the best I have seen too! I made an account "frenchmama" and will be using this site from now on. It is seriously that easy to find recipes. I even set my account up to automatically avoid search results with ingredients I hate. I couldn't think of many but I knew that lentils and Blue cheese are my least favorite. (ok...I know, lentils are a big vegetarian staple but I have always hated them! )

Look at their awesome search options!

It is so automated as you click on preferences it automatically changes the search results for you!

The recipe I ended up using as a guide for tonight's dinner is the Zippity Dooo Daaaa Orzo salad. I say as a guide because I didn't have the olives or capers. I also only had green bell peppers and I chose to add shredded zucchini and chick peas. I tasted it before it went in the fridge and I loved it! It is supposed to be even yummier when it has been in the fridge for an hour or so.

Try it! You may like it too.

I was not paid in any way to share with you this site. Yummly does not even know who I am. I just love this new site and thought you might too. Happy cooking!

Photos and an update for you.

2011-07-17T23:30:00.000-06:00

Where has time gone? I cannot believe it is already mid July! I apologize my 2nd half of the 17 miracles list from my life has not been posted yet. We had some very exciting guests arrive to stay for a few weeks. There has been no time for blogging. We knew Grandma (my mom) was visiting but the dates got moved up and she brought my sisters kids up with her. We had a blast. They stayed almost 3 weeks! My sister has two girls and a boy. The oldest girl is 9, The middle is a boy and he is 6 and the youngest girl is 4.

The day after they arrived Olea had her dance recital. We had so much fun watching her dance on stage for her very first time. It made me cry. I was so happy to see her start fulfilling her dance dream. She was so happy! This photo below is one of my favorites. She was to the side of the stage stretching and warming up all by herself.She took jazz/ballet class. She is happy it is over so she can take classical ballet. She (and I) were a bit disappointed her class did not do any ballet. They just focused on learning her routine which was more jazz. She still had alot of fun and loves her jazz shoes and costume. We are looking into a school near us that focus's on classical ballet only. I am excited for her to get started on that this year. Will be so fun to see her dance technique and talent bloom.

As you can imagine having 7 kids in our 3 bedroom apartment was a bit crazy. We had alot of fun and I loved it! We stayed very busy going out for different activities and alot of swimming. To keep things under control when we were trying to get out the door, the kids who were "Ready" were told to sit at the door. Grandma or I took this shot one day when we were on our way out to the Air Force Museum. Twizzlers are a lifesaver for little ones. Last longer then fruit snacks and easy to hand out without any messes! They chose to use them as mustaches.

A few activities I can remember that we did with the kids:

Visited Temple Square (twice)
Spent an afternoon at the Air Force Museum
Swimming, lots of it!
Went to Antelope Island at the Great Salt Lake. Played in the mud and salt water.
Watched Olea's Dance recital
Went to a show at the library of African drums/drummers. (WAY COOL!)
Played at the park
went to my NY Nanny Reunion picnic at Liberty Park in SLC. (Such a fun park!)

Oh yah. This is how we roll around here. Bathing suits and snow/rain boots. Kailani insists on wearing her boots to the pool when she sees them easily accessible. I had to share with you my two favorite photos of her lately in her new bathing suit getup. She is is just so funny some days and reminds me so much of my stubbornness with clothes and dressing myself when I was her age.

I have not had much time to browse through photos we have taken in the past few months and edit them. This was so much fun posting a few I think I am back on it again. I have LOTS more to share with you. I figure while I am uploading most of them to snapfish to create some photobooks and order prints I might as well share a few of the best ones with you.

I'll be back. promise. Sometimes the time lapses these days on my postings but I will be back! Always am. Hope your summer is awesome!

Quick update on little baby boy:

Due 11-11-11 ! How cool of a due date is that? So fun! He is a very active baby boy too. He squirms and kicks and punches more then the girls ever did at this early stage. (I am 5 months) Usually I felt them this strong around month 7, and before that it was light and nothing major. He is definitely an active one! Makes me a bit nervous. The good news is he is healthy and strong. We had his ultrasound the other day and everything looks great! I am so grateful the Lord is sending us another sweet little one. I know how much of a blessing that is and do not take it lightly.

We do have a name but I am not going to announce it just yet on the blog. Its a cute one. :)

My 17 Miracles (part one)

2011-06-11T23:49:00.000-06:00

17 Miracles in the life of Jenn-Lee (part one)
(in no particular order, just as I think of them)

Writing these down was very fulfilling. I thought it would be a simple list but each one ended up being longer, each one so special. Read a few or read all, I share this as an open book but mostly so it is written down for my posterity.

When I was 10 yrs old my dad was hit by a truck going 65 mph. while performing lifesaving aid to an accident on an Atlanta highway. He sustained fractures all over his body and was on the brink of death. We were not allowed to see him for months. He was an avid hiker, marathoner, ice climber, and rock climber. He was told he would never walk again. Family, friends and strangers prayed for his recovery. The Lord preserved him and today you would never know he was literally a walking miracle. My dad is a miracle.
One summer while staying at friends house when I was around 16, we decided to sneak out. For no reason other then to meet two guy friends and innocently just hang out. We thought nothing of it. We were walking on a dark road going back home when a car with two obviously drunk guys pulled slow and close to the side of the road hollering at us. I could feel their intentions were evil.My heart pounded in my chest and my spirit screamed. My friend and I pulled close to one another and walked as far along the fence as we could shaking and telling each other "its gonna be okay" holding hands as tight as we could. I remember praying to my Heavenly Father silently for help. I knew I put myself in danger but I also knew we needed help. Eventually a few cars sped along the road behind them forcing them to speed up and leave. We took a shortcut through neighborhood to disappear and got back home safely. I knew God had performed a miracle for us that night. We had not seen any cars in sight before that. It was about 3am. It was a miracle they showed up. I will never forget it.
There is a popular summer youth conference called EFY. Especially For Youth. Some of you may be familiar with it or even may have attended or have been a counselor at one. I attended a few and always looked forward to it. I remember one particular summer I got rocky mountain spotted fever, from a tick while at girls camp. I soon found myself with a rash all over just days prior to EFY. I had a rash on my face and ankles and feet. They were swollen so bad I could not walk and looked very horrifying, (specifically to myself as a teenager) The rash then spread through out my body. Alongside the rash came intense muscle pain,chills, fever, the light bothered me, I was constantly thirsty, very weak, had intense headaches and felt like I was literally dying. I remember after receiving a priesthood blessing and after many prayers, all I could think about was not wanting to miss my EFY. I am sure I promised the Lord everything if he would just heal me to be able to go to EFY. I looked and felt the worse I could ever imagine and within 24hrs of the blessing and prayers I was back to my normal self. I went on to EFY with a bunch of meds. and had a blast. Since that experience I have learned RMSP can be fatal. It can also lead to numerous other major health issues as well as loss of limbs. I know this was a major miracle in my life.
When I was younger my friend Tori and I, and a few siblings were at my home alone for a sleepover. I do not know where the rest of my family was. Maybe a church event. All I remember was us on the sofa bed trying to stay awake for a movie. We were all so sleepy. We had heard a noise in our laundry room. We lived in a Queen Anne Victorian Style home. My mom had this wonderful huge laundry/mud room with a door to the front porch. We were so scared we thought someone had got in the home thru that door. Some of the details have left my mind but I do know it took us a long time to get the guts to go and check and see what it was.What we found was a box of envelopes had fallen off a shelf out of a cabinet I swore I remember it being closed. The envelopes were all over the floor.As we saw the door was still dead bolted and had the extra lock up top closed we knew no one had gotten in. We then noticed the iron was on and VERY HOT and there was paper right next to it also VERY HOT. Probably moments from starting a fire. We felt we had this amazing miracle happen to save us from a fire. We then went back to the LR. and promptly fell asleep. Soon we were awaken by my parents coming home and my mom yelling for everyone to get out of the house. We gathered in the middle of the culdesac in our jammies a little weary of what was going on. My parents had come home to smell the strong odor of a gas leak. Had we not found the iron on, would our home have burst in flames? Had my parents not come home then would we have slept peacefully on into Heaven silently being poisoned by the gas? I am sure you can see the miracle of this night.
Meeting my friend Chrislyn in NY my first week on the job as a live in nanny. I was a little crazy, a little spastic and super excited about living a short 20 min train ride away from the Big Apple. She picked me up to take me to a Church activity for the Single LDS members in the area. She and I quickly became close friends and I consider her a miracle in my life. An angel for keeping me on the straight and narrow. For helping me not lose my crazy way while in NY. I could have easily lost my way in NY if it was not for her friendship and amazing example to me. She was a blue and I was a yellow. She saved my life in a major way! I consider her one of the main reasons I was able to meet my Hubby.She is a miracle, an angel to me.
My friend Julie. Best friends in Highschool. Not quick to meet. She and I were in Musical Theater together for many weeks before we first talked. She passed some notes to me from a boy in her ward (LDS church congregation) that had a crush on me. Over time we became best friends. Some of my fondest memories of those years were goofing off with her just being silly. Many moments became inside jokes only she and I would ever understand. Through her friendship and example she helped me through many hardships and trials that could have easily written my life a totally different story. Julie is a miracle in my life.
My parents love story. How they met. How I became me. Dad served his LDS mission in France. 1st area met my mom. She was 18 and the choir director.They briefly spoke here and there but thats it. Two years later my dad is home in the states and feels impressed to write my moms father. To see how he is doing. My Pepe does not want to write back and so my mother does. They correspond by mail, fall in love and he proposed by mail too! She flew to the US to marry him and the rest is history. :) A special miracle they met and later fell in love to have seven children, one of them being the middle child me. :):)
Meeting my husband.Our story is documented here on the blog in 3 parts. Part one is here. I think often how I felt when I knew I was supposed to marry him. An amazing feeling guided by God. I am so happy he is mine for eternity!

9-17 will be posted tomorrow! Stay tuned! Enjoy your Sabbath day. :):) Thank you as always for reading and stopping by. Please leave a comment below to say hi and let me know you were here. :)

17 Miracles, the film

2011-06-10T10:54:00.001-06:00

Some movies make me laugh, some make me cry, usually though I'm just casually entertained. It's been a long time since a movie has made an impact on me that was beyond entertainment. That is until I saw the movie 17 miracles. T.C. Christensen's film is beyond entertainment, it is inspiring.

17 Miracles is a film based on true events of the Mormon Pioneers in the Willie Handcart company. As well as the miracles that they experienced along their migration pulling handcarts across the great western plains towards Salt Lake City. I have heard about the handcart company's before but knew little.The immigrated mormons had not enough money for the usual covered wagons pulled by oxen so they made carts that would carry just a few necessities and pulled them by foot across the plains.

The Willie Handcart company being one of the more famous groups because of the extreme circumstances they faced by leaving too late in the season. While I knew miracles happened along their trek most were unknown to me. The miracles portrayed in the film are actual experiences that have been preserved and passed along to their posterity. Many accounts were pulled exactly from the journal kept by Levi Savage across the trek.

One such miracle I remember well was a mother pleading to God for food for her starving, near death family, and the Lord turned her two rock hard biscuits into a pot full of food to feed 8. Reminds me of Christ feeding thousands with just two fish and 5 loaves of bread.I wanted to tell my husband of every miracle I saw in the movie. They were truly that amazing.

I have wondered how this can apply to my life now? What is the purpose of these miracles anyways? The purpose of these miracles is confirming the faith of those in the company, reinforcing the faith of their children, and confirming to all who are exposed to them that there is a higher power that brings miracles in all our lives. There are miracles not just in the pioneers lives, but for each and every one of us no matter who we are, where we live and what our background is.

Each one of us has a story to tell. While we may not have to trek across the western plains on foot, it doesn't make their trials any less significant then the trials you or I face today in our own lives. Since seeing 17 miracles earlier tonight I have reflected on what I have believed in the past to be a hardship in my life and how I have handled them.

17 miracles was not only 17 miracles to me. It was 18. 18 because I felt a small miracle take place in my own heart as I watched it. One I must never forget. I urge you to go and watch it sometime soon. You can find a list of theaters it is playing at here. I also urge you to come back here to Moments on Sunday for my personal list of 17 miracles in my own life.

17 Miracles is a film distributed by Excel Entertainment, a division of Deseret Book Company.

I was given tickets to view the movie in exchange for blogging about it here.

The thoughts expressed above are my opinions upon viewing the film

White cake with strawberries and whipcream recipe

2011-06-08T20:08:00.001-06:00

I attended a wedding dinner yesterday evening. It was lovely to walk on Temple Square and be all alone. Just enjoying the beauty and feeling the quiet. Oh the quiet.

How I love it!

My friend Cara was married to a wonderful man, Shayne. They are such a sweet couple and I am so happy for her. This was her 2nd marriage. I was so teary eyed the whole dinner watching her little boy Julien and his little girl Carly. How happy it is for their mommy and daddy to have each other now. How special it is Cara is no longer a single mommy. Too many single Mommy's out there. It saddens my heart. They are amazing wonder women with how hard they work to provide for their sweet or sometimes sour kiddos. They all seriously need to be swept off their feet like Cara has been.

So So happy for her!

Her cake was beautiful and even had a glass cake top of the SLC Temple. I love glass cake tops as my Grandpa was a glass maker and pre made wedding cake tops for all his grandchildren. Mine was a trellis with humming birds.

I am not a huge cake fan. Although I do love wedding cake. Mainly because it is a surprise. A surprise to see what the bride and groom chose for the flavor and filling. Caras was amazing! A dense chocolate cake with a creamy coconut filling. As far as my taste buds could tell.

So after the dinner at home in front of our home I twisted my ankle. :( Today I was stuck at home craving something yummy. I had strawberries and whip cream in my fridge and decided I needed a white cake to go with it.No box cake in sight so I took to the wonderful Internet and found one to make from scratch. I was so excited to try one that way using things I always have on hand.

I searched for a recipe and found one that had rave reviews on Allrecipes.com and tried it.

Seriously SO GOOD! I will never use a cake box again. It was so easy and so yummy. It was a dense cake with the perfect amount of sweetness. It was so yummy I had to take a photo and share with you the recipe!

Enjoy!

Simple White Cake

with Strawberries and Whip Cream

What you need:

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk

---------------------------
What you need to do:

Cream Sugar& butter, (beat this really well, like 8 minutes)
Beat in eggs with cream mixture ONE @ a time .
Stir in vanilla (yum)
Combine flour&baking powder, add to creamed mixture
mix well (beat the heck out of this too!)

Finally,

stir in milk until batter is smooth (per reviewer recommendations I added an extra 1/3 cup milk)

Pour in un-greased pan (honestly, I asked my sister who is great at cakes and she said parchment paper is all I need, I didn't have that and greased it with flour on top and it did great! Didn't stick or anything all over!)

Bake at 350 degrees 30-40 minutes

(check by inserting toothpick, if it comes out clean, its done.

should spring back when pressed upon a bit)

Cupcakes bake 20-25 minute

Strawberry topping

For that I used my food processor and pulsed strawberries with some sugar and voila!

A yummy topping!

It really is that easy!

Top with some whip cream and it is a light dessert sure to please all.

(unless of course they hate strawberries or are allergic. Then that would be sad. )

Todays thoughts

2011-06-06T16:32:00.000-06:00

Today we went swimming with some friends. It was windy, overcast but very relaxing. My favorite part was watching Olea snorkel for the first time. She did very well and was so cute. AM and her friend played in the deep end most of the time. Kailani was needy. She always is at the pool.

Usually her pool experience is well documented in words " I am cold, I am hungry, I need a towel, I need to pee, never mind, wait I need to pee again, I want my floaties off, I want to swim again, I am hungry, I am thirsty, I need more towels, I'm too cold, can we go home now? No, I don't want to go home now, etc. etc. etc.

Sophie's bathing suit was MIA and I forgot to buy swim diapers so she was in a onsie and dangled her feet with me in the hot tub. Then we dangled our feet in the cold pool. (It was not sunny enough and too windy for me to brave the water.) She loved that then was content to sit in the stroller an watch the action while sucking her thumb and snuggling the tag part of her blankie.

I forgot to take pictures but we will swim again. I think. :) The weather here has been so sporadic. We have weather that ranges from 59 to 70. Chilly to semi warm. Sunday was amazing. It got up to 87 I think. It was a good teaser. Today the wind is stronger then ever and this week we get rain and 60s. Its funny how much I miss the warm spring and hot summer yet I still love Utah no matter how crazy the weather has been. I also know as soon as it gets really hot I might not love it so much. I will do my best to love it and remember how I missed it and begged for it.

I am going to see a movie this week called 17 miracles. I was sent some free tickets to see it and blog about it. I am taking two great friends along. Who doesn't love a night out without kiddos? I am excited to see it. It is about the Pioneers trek, specifically the trials AND MIRACLES with the Willie Handcart Company. Tough stuff I tell ya. I wish I lived in the 'olden days' of the 1800s but I do not think I could have endured such trials as the LDS saints did across the country during those times.

Well, those are my simple thoughts for today. Trying to get back to blogging more often.

Hope you are having a great summer so far where ever you are! Or winter maybe if you are in other parts.

Hugs,

Great News

2011-06-02T20:06:00.000-06:00

No photos today. Just my thoughts. Sometimes you just don't have a photo to fit your thoughts. Today is one of those days.

Its been one of those nights. I was cranky and losing my patience. I felt like all afternoon there was always one of my girls not listening or someone fighting. Sophie was for the 1st time in a major way getting into everything. I got to the point where I fed them dinner and sent them to their beds at 6pm. They got ready to sleep first and I told them they could read quietly. They did okay. Olea and Kailani chatted up quite a bit and AM wrote the cutest little children's story book. One so cute I'd consider letting her :"sell it" as she begs all the time. So maybe a mock up will be made and sent to some publishers.

Then the time came where it was time for eyes to close and girls to sleep. I told them that they could earn candy if they closed their eyes and did not say a peep. Kailani came out a while later to tell on AM.
She starts out whispering as to not wake Sophie who is asleep in our LR in the portacrib. She says the same line she always says every night after we have tucked her in.

"Mom- I have something to tell you"

Most times its nothing. She has to think of it before she can even tell me. It's just an excuse to get out of bed.
Today she continued,

"Anakha is coloring."

She gets sent back to bed. I am frustrated with her disobeying me to tell on her sister disobeying. Though AM is a night owl and she never ever falls asleep before 10 these days. It is only 7:30 by now.

A little while later Kailani comes out again.
whispering,

" Mom, I have to ..."

I interrupt her.

"Kailani, don't say I have something to tell you. Just tell me and you better not be tattle telling on someone."

Kailnai walks up to me and says as quietly as she can with a little smile,

"No mom, Its not bad I am actually really happy to tell you something so great."

Though I was mad, it was too cute to hear those words the way she said them.
She continued,

" Mom, Olea is asleep. So I took her little bear and put it by her face to snuggle with. She didn't grab it because she was asleep but it was so cute. She is so cute sleeping so sweetly"

Kailani went back to bed promising she would not come out again. I am sort of happy she came out the 2nd time. To tell me some good news for once. I needed that. It was a sweet little moment I knew I had to write down right away or it would be lost.

Sometimes days seem so long and like a snowball that cannot be stopped. Sometimes the frustration seems to just get worse. Most of it probably being my fault. Then sometimes like today you get a little something reminding you of their sweet little spirits and how special your little family is.

Thank God for those moments. It's those moments that keep us parents going.

Introducing the world of Blythe dolls!

2011-05-31T09:35:00.001-06:00

We have a new friend in town! She is a Blythe doll and arrived this week as a Birthday present for me from my friend. My friend Carole, who also happens to be the wonderful girlfriend of my Uncle. She and I first met when I flew to France for my PePe's funeral. Carole and I had alot of fun in Paris as she took me to Montmarte to check out some fun fabric shops as well as eat crepes in a lovely piano bar. Yum!

Carole introduced me to the wonderful world of Blythe dolls. She collects and creates amazing little clothes for these dolls. The Blythe doll phenomenon is huge all over the world, especially in China and Japan and Europe. Here in the USA Blythe showed up around Christmas time this year in Littlest Pet shop boxes. Mini Blythes. Oh so cute. Olea received one for her Birthday.

I may be off on dates but in general from memory here is a bit of history with the dolls. Blythe was first created in 1972 and were only made for one year. After that they were popular really only with doll collectors. Until around 2000 a commercial in Japan used a Blythe doll and she became an overnight sensation! Then she was created and sold and now a popular friend that travels the world with many. My friend Carole has a fun photo stream you should check out. These pics will give you a great idea of how fun these dolls can be! Miss Sushy's flickr photos

These little dolls have such a fun unique look about them.

So, to my surprise Carole and Lionel sent me one for my Birthday! I have not given her a name yet. We have had fun playing around with her. She has a string in the back of her head, when you pull it her eyes can change colors. My dolls eyes can be pink, orange, green, and blue. They also change the way they look as well. So far my girls love the green and I love the blue.

The orange freaks them out a bit. LOL!

So, here is her debut on Moments! She came in an adorable box with a super cute Mod dress, shoes, and tights as well as little earings. I forgot to take a pic of her in that but I will soon.

Her first new outfit was made by me last night. Its funny, I thought making doll clothes for American Girl dolls was hard! whew. Sewing tiny clothes is tedius and very challenging but I think I did ok for my first time. I cannot wait to design a few new outfits. My mind is ful of ideas! I am thinking some outfits fitting to different time periods. Can you say "SEW FUN!"? :)

I took a few photos of her and I promised her she could help with the captions on the pics.

"See my new dress? Isn't it lovely?"


"Jenn-Lee spent one hour in front of this thing and made my lovely little dress! I feel so happy!"


"I found a stash of Jenn-Lee's fabric. I have begged her for more outfits."

"I made a new friend and we had a tea party.She is a little person!"


"I love America but Jenn-Lee has promised to take me back to Paris one day! Yay!"

"new friends! I am so happy here!,..now I wait for her to give me a name!"

That's all for now! I promise to share new outfits and adventures of hers on the blog in the future! Do you have a Blythe? Have you ever heard of Blythe dolls before the Littlest Pet shops started selling minis of them? What do you think?

Pioneer Village!

2011-05-25T08:37:00.000-06:00

Remember how I mentioned we went to Pioneer Village on my birthday? I thought I would share a bunch of photos from that day with you. Mainly I wanted my mom to see all the antique's we got to see. I was in love! I love antiques these days so much. We explored all kinds of little shops and museums and even had ice scream from the old drug store shop. So yum! Olea picked all her gumballs out to save for later.

medicines from the drugstore. Original jars shipped in from an old drugstore in Illinois.

We went inside an old cabin. I almost cried. I want a home so bad this was like heaven to me. I was in love with the simple life this cabin had. Sometimes I dream of life being simple like the 1800's again.


In the old printshop.


Antique dolls with stories only they know.


The shoe cobblers place.


These dolls were sooo old! They were made out of peanuts!


I wanted this French doll. So pretty and so much hostory with her,	Who owned her? Who played with her? Who baught her?


details on the doll above.

There was a carriage house that had about 30-40 different original carriages. It was so old smelling yet sooo fun!


an educational toy. Very old and very cool.


more ice scream moments. :)

more views of the drug store. These cabinets were from the 1800s Utah Univ. old medicine school and the meds inside were original from the 1800s. It was so cool to see so much preserved so well. The shop was fully stocked it seemed.


I loved this peddler wagon. Just cute!

Near a circus display AM stands next to a life size photo of a very small old man.


The day wouldn't be complete without getting soaked in the huge spray ground fountain at Lagoon.

We had a blast and I hope to take my mom there for a visit one day. I could of spent hours more looking at every little antique they had displayed. The girls moved quite fast but we learned alot and had a great time.

Change, and a 30th!

2011-05-24T15:37:00.000-06:00

My heart is full right now. Have you ever felt you had so much you needed to change about yourself and yet it felt impossible to do? I feel like that right now. I am happy, don't get me wrong. I love my life right now. I love Utah. I love my girls. I love watching my baby grow up and change every day. I love that our family will be bigger by the end of this year. I love my husband. He makes me laugh and is so silly and just lights up our home. I love my friends out here.

I just feel there is so much I need to change to be a better me.

Someone I know I can be. It just feels so hard sometimes.

I know that change is possible though.

Teeny Tiny baby steps is how I'll do it.

Speaking of change, I had a Birthday! The BIG 3-0 !


of course a 30th bday pic wouldn't be complete without a little laundry on the sofa right?

My hubby surprised me with birthday balloons! I especially loved the earth one! SO COOL!

Yes, that also is my sofa still not yet reupholstered. :( I did however find fabric for it finally!And on accident at Ikea of all places. It just will take $200 to go get it. That's all. :)


carrot cake that looks good but sadly, was too dry and ucky to me. :(


Zupas cafe panini! yum!!!!!!!


my favorite salad these days! Zupas cafe Pina Colada salad!

I enjoyed a quiet evening with my family. I originally wanted to go to SLC and shop at Gateway and meet up with a few friends but when it came time for bday week
I felt like just staying at home that evening with my family.

oh- How could I forget? The girls and I took a fun field trip to Lagoons Pioneer Village. I splurged and had us take a fun old fashioned portrait.Not too shabby for a 30th birthday memory.I can't stop staring at Sophie in the little white gown. Too sweet! She sat so still the entire photos shoot too. It was perfect!

Birthday presents made my bookshelves a bit more full and my brain happy!


Tales of a Female Nomad by: Rita Golden Gelman


Essential French Grammar by: Seymour Resnick


On Rue Tatin, living and cooking in a french town by: Susan Herrmann Loomis


The illustrated Cook;s Book of Ingredients by: DK Publishing

I Love them and am so excited about finally finding a book that I can simply understand French from. The book of ingredients is full of facts and info and lots of photos! So fun to read all about cheese or olive oils or exotic fruits and spices etc. I have started reading the Female Nomad book and love her adventures so far!

I hope wherever you are you find sunshine and happiness this week!

Thanks as always for reading Moments!

Hilary Weeks book giveaway winner!

2011-05-14T12:02:00.000-06:00

Its time to announce the Giveaway winner !

Your comments were fun to read. We have quite a few readers who share the common love of chocolate! Family seems to be on top of the list too. I loved it!

Thank you to all those who stopped by to enter the giveaway.

To be fair I will answer the question I had you answer as well,

A few of my favorite things are:

My family

globes and maps

traveling

shopping at Anthropologie

finding cute new fabrics & patterns

eating jellie bellies

Visiting my family in France

finding a cute new blog to read

throwing cute parties

finding vintage glassware

Le Creuset cookware

rootbeer floats

cute napkins and straws from Ikea

My list could go on and on and on. So fun to think about though.

The Giveaway!

I used random.org to generate a random number for the winner. Below are snips of it.

We had 12 entries to win a free copy of Hilary Weeks book Bedtime and Naptime.

The numbers were placed next to the name of who commented 1st, 2nd, etc. In order of received comments. Blogger accidentally erased comments made after a certain time during maintenance but don't worry.

I get emailed your comments and had them all in order of received that way.

So you see only 5 comments below but in total we had 12 enter.

And the winner is ....

Erin!

In case you didn't know Erin has a wonderful blog, Sutton Grace.

She inspires me to be more creative every time I read her blog.

Congrats Erin on winning!

Thanks for entering and please email me with your address

so I can have your book shipped to you.

momentsbyjennlee at gmail dot com

Update on Giveaway!

2011-05-13T16:50:00.000-06:00

Just a little update on the giveaway of the most awesome Hilary Weeks book/cd!

Blogger was down yesterday and in read only mode. :( It then had an issue and all comments made after a certain time were deleted. :(:( So, I know some of your entries are not showing in the comments section but I still have record of them in email.Your entry will be counted in order of when received when I choose the random winner. I did keep the giveaway open all day today so you still have till midnight to enter if you'd like.

Thanks again for your comments and support! I have much to share with you in photos and events. See you tomorrow for the announcement of the winner!

Hugs to all!

More info from blogger on the issue below if you are interested:

Blogger posted this on their website with details:

We are very sorry that users are unable to publish to Blogger right now. We have rolled back the maintenance release from last night and as a result, posts and comments from all users made after 7:37 am PDT on May 11, 2011 have been removed. Again, we apologize that this happened and our engineers are working hard to return Blogger to normal and restore your posts and comments. We will post a report once this work is complete.

-The Blogger Team

A Hilary Weeks Mothers Day giveaway!

2011-05-08T06:00:00.003-06:00

For years I have enjoyed the music of Hilary Weeks. Her music has both inspired, soothed, and comforted my soul in days when I felt like all I was good for was diaper changing. I first met Hilary at a Time Out for Women Event. Her personality is so fun and laid back. She has confidence and grace about her that shines not just through her music but through her when she is just sitting there, when she is talking with a fan or a longtime friend or coworker.

Recently, A publicist from Deseret Book approached me about a giveaway on my blog for Hilary's new book. Upon hearing what the book was about I knew I would love it enough to share with you here on the blog. Years ago Hilary decided to adapt the lyrics of the song " My favorite things". I saw her perform this fun song live and posted the deseretbook video of it here on my blog back in 2008.

Her new book "Bedtime and Naptime and bedtime and naptime" is as joyful as watching her perform that song.

After thousands of requests from fans, Hilary has pulled all her stories and songs together in a witty collection. This unique book also includes a bonus disc featuring the same delightful songs fans have come to know and love. Below is a video sampling of some of the songs included on the cd. I LOVE these songs! They make me giggle and help out when the task at hand is feeling too much to bear.

All you need to do to win this lovely book by Hilary Weeks is leave a comment below letting me know what are a few of your favorite things are. That's all! You can get an extra entry if you are a Moments follower or by becoming a new follower, or share this giveaway link on twitter, facebook, or your blog.

Leave the 2nd entry as a separate comment with a link to your tweet, fbpost, or blog. I will choose the winner at random and announce the winner on Friday May 13th! (winner must be in US.) Then your very own free copy of Hilary Weeks "Bedtime and Naptime...bedtime and naptime" will be directly shipped to you from Deseret Book! So easy right? Good Luck!

I hope you have a wonderful Mothers day and get to enjoy it with those you love.

Hugs to all,

My little disclaimer : I was approached about this giveaway for my blog. Product was provided by Deseret Book and Shadow Mountain Records for my review. All opinions shared are my own. Giveaways, product reviews, links and such shared on Moments are only because I love them and think you will too. :)

I am alive. Promise.

2011-05-07T14:22:00.000-06:00

Hello friends! I am so happy to be back on the blog. I am about 15 weeks pregnant now and thankfully the awful nausesness is sneaking away moving on to the next prego lady in town.

This little one in my belly has tested the patience on my family. Every time Kailani prays in front of me she says "Please help my mommy feel better and have the baby today." Thankfully The Lord only answers 1/2 of her prayer in this case. I explained to her that even though me being so sick is annoying, it is better to let the baby grow bigger and stronger so he or she can survive when born. That the baby would die if born this early. Her simple and sweet four year old response : " Thats okay mommy. I don't want you to be so sick anymore so we can just have another baby another day."

If only life were as simple as a child thinks. My sickness with this baby is worst at night. My Conan Man has begun to wonder if I am allergic to him. He comes home just in time to rescue me from stinky diapers, dinner, and bathtime, bedtime etc. I am so grateful to him and his wondeful patience.

Most of the the time, my evenings leave me so sick and tired that I can only hide out in bed and fall asleep. Thankfully I am regaining energy, and less nauseous so I can stay awake longer.With this lovely spring weather finally dropping in, I hope I can spend more time in the evenings blogging, sewing, crafting, and getting out of the house with some girlfriends every now and then. (Once not so sick of course)

I have so much to share but think I should share in moderation rather then dumping it all on you in one super long blog post. So for now, Happy Mothers Day ! I have a fun giveaway to kick off my new blogging season and Mothers Day starting tomorrow. Hint: Its something you will really like and has music involved! :):) So stop by tomorrow when you are not busy with Mothers Day fun and see what surprise I have in store for you.

Hugs to all!

Important Life lesson from Kailani

2011-04-15T15:11:00.003-06:00

same pic as last post but I just LOVE it too much. :)

Walking into the store today Kailani says,

"Okay Olea. There are two really important things to always remember. Don't step in dog poop and always be careful about bird poop falling from the sky"

As she said this a man about my dads age was listening and started to laugh so hard. It just was so funny she sounded like she was sharing important life lessons. Really, she was if you think about it.

Just made me laugh. She likes to give advice to her sisters and today's advice I knew I just had to share with you here on the blog.

Hope your weekend has started beautifully. We have had lovely weather. Not as warm as I would like but sunny and no coats needed! Hooray!

Happy Spring,

2011-04-13T15:58:00.000-06:00

Okay. I have been saying that here in Utah there is no Spring. We had three days of straight snow last week. The weather has been cold and from 30's to 50's. After the snow finally stopped we have finally some hints of spring. Pollen filled daffodils, bumble bees, and green grass! Even though the weather is not the warm spring we would feel in the south, we are starting to see Spring. Utah's version of spring.

Yesterday the girls went out to play. Little Sophie looked just like AM did in that same orange outfit her grandma made 7 years ago and I had to snap up some photos.

As for life here, I am about 12 weeks pregnant. Very sick. Every smell bothers me in a very bad way. I can hardly hug or kiss my family without gagging. It is just plain wierd. I can eat most meals but I am not able to cook like usual. I do not like any wind, or fan or air or breath blowing on my face in any way. AM's whistling closeby has sent me to the bathroom. I let Sams club today so sick with my mouth still tasting like tires from their tire store that is in the very front.

I hope I get past this stage soon. With Sophie I was nauseous and sick for about 5 months. That is no fun! At first I was not so ready to be prego. I am getting more excited about it though. Little babies are such a sweet addition to a family. The girls want a baby brother really bad. We shall see. We have a few name ideas for a boy but none for a girl. I kind of hope it is a girl. I have all girl baby clothes. Sharing rooms stays simple. And my Mom had 5 girls 1st so why not have one more just to stay with that trend?

I will keep you posted as we find out more. In the meantime , have a great day! Enjoy your spring!


Playing with sisters is the best!

enjoying some grass play.

She makes this face all the time!


AM with her sweet friend.

Everyone loves a fish face every now and then.

COLOR, COLOR and more COLOR

2011-03-27T22:09:00.000-06:00


Before. All clean and white. Ready for some colors!

Yesterday we joined thousands of crazy fun seeking, color throwing people in the celebration of The Hari Krishna Holi Festival of Colors. It felt funny to think we were celebrating the coming of spring when really it was more like we were calling Spring here. We had snow a few times this week. We need Spring to show her face to us Utahns.

Though the weather was a chill 50's we felt the sun shine through the low clouds and were grateful we had a mostly dry day. Originally we had booked a babysitter. We were excited for a day out. Then some details on times changed, leaving us without one. Not going wasn't an option so I ran to DI, our local thrift store and grabbed a few super cheap white tops for the girls and we made the best of it. I am so glad we did.

Even though we missed being in the huge crowd of young twenty somethings, we enjoyed seeing our children laugh and play throwing the colored powder on eachother. Smearing it on the backs of strangers only to run away giggling. I had an advantage too. Those mainly dumping colors on me were now way shorter then me. They could not reach my face, keeping it mostly clean. Which I did not mind.

Below are some photos from our adventures. If you are relatively local and can drive a few hours, it is totally worth it. Don't miss it next year! The website to the Hindu Temple that holds this and many other festivals throughout the year can be found at utahkrishnas.org


view from the street on our way in.

Anakha said we looked like we were attacked by a rainbow.


My sweet niece. She had a blast dumping it on her dads head.

My brother in law, Marcus.


Little Sophie loved it. Her sisters attacked her and it was too cute to say no.


After, the event. Pretend my eyes are open. :)


MY sweetie and I.

That's all! Be sure to leave a small comment to let me know you stopped by!

No more blog lurking you sneaky ones. :) I sure love ya!

oh- and one last little video to make you smile. Olea in her dance world like she always is.

It is always ballet or this everyday all the time.I love it!

Field trip, photo op and eating dirt

2011-03-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

We had a field trip this week to the Living Planet Aquarium. The girls both took their American Girl dolls along on the trip. That was cute! Sophie tried to grab at the school of fish in the tank above. My favorite was seeing penguins and the jellie fish.

Some friends gave us this box that used to hold teacher reading materials. We used it to hold coloring books up until last week when I reorganized. Sophie thinks it is the best chair/sofa. She loves it.

Last night we took the girls to the park to play and get tired. I got some great pics of Sophie. She played in the vollyball sand pit and started digging in the dirt. Next thing I know as snapping pics she ate a handful of dirt. She liked it. She kept going for more. yuk!!! So I snapped a few pics and got her out of there! gross!

Finally, a photo I love but needed some tweaking.
I wanted to try and use Photoshop CS5 and get rid of the homes.

BEFORE:

I used Pioneer Womans free actions, boost, and sunshine, then I used the new content aware fill tool on CS5 on the homes and voila, gone! It doesn't look seamless but for just a few minutes time its pretty good.

AFTER:

Love your roots.

2011-03-09T07:00:00.002-07:00

I saw this on Facebook and just had to share with you. It definitly made me smile. There are so many things I love and miss about the south.

"proud to be from the South ... where accents are sweet ... summer starts in April ... front porches are wide and words are long ... macaroni and cheese is a vegetable ... pecan pie is a staple ... y'all is the only proper pronoun ... chicken is fried and biscuits come w/ gravy ... everything is darling and someone is always getting their heart blessed ..."

and just for fun. I pulled up a few photos that remind me of the south.

a common sight in the south.

curious what soul food is? Here is a great example!

Commonly served as Soul food would be mashed potatoes, fried chicken, corn bread, collard greens, coleslaw, mac and cheese, fried okra etc.

My favorite soul food would be coleslaw, and fried okra.

Both are things I have never made myself.

My husband loves Soul food. I tried making collard greens for him one time.

uh, yah, didn't work out so well. Turned out more like seaweed. Too salty! oops.

infamous Kudzu vine, seen everywhere in the south.

Other things I can think of is hearing my neighbors growing up calling their children in for "suppa"

Having a mother from France and a father from California I didn't get too much southern drawl, or habits. We did live in the south most my years so it still is home to me. Dinner was not fried chicken and bisquits and gravy. It was more like stew, and couscous. Thanksgiving always had dijon mustard or homemade mayonaise to dip my turkey in. not gravy.

Amazing tree lined streets. Especially near old plantations.

Funny thing. I did not realize this was not the norm until I was 19 having Thanksgiving with my now in-laws. No mayo or dijon on the table? what is going on here? So funny looking back on it now.

Now I see how much my growing up has so much French to it. More then I realized. I love it though. Wouldn't have it any other way!

Love your roots! I am a born in the west, raised in the southeast, have a mother that is French and a Dad that is from Ca.kinda gal.

Gotta love it!

She kept it on!

2011-03-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hello! Just a quick post to share these two new pics and why they make me so happy. Little Sophie has never let me keep bows. hair clips, headbands or anything cute on her head. Recently she has toyed around with putting random things on her head at home while playing. Never for very long though.

This past Saturday we ran out as a family to run some arrands. Sophie kept this little french beret on the whole time pretty much. It was Heaven for me. My Meme (Grandmother in France) made this dress and matching hat for my oldest daughter before she was born. It is by far my favorite little outfit I have for my babies. It even has knee high socks that match! I wish I had this same outfit in many more colors.


cruising along at DI.

She doesn't look very happy here but she really was. promise.

Hugs,

Our snowy view and other great news

2011-03-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

Good Morning friends! This is what we woke up to this lovely Tuesday. I love our view of the Mountains. You can see juts a tiny part of them here in the photos. For some reason the Mountains just don't look as big in my photos.

Great News! Moments blog is now up to 38 Followers! To me that is super exciting!
THANK YOU!

Another super exciting thing for me to share with you is...

I am reading an amazing book right now that a publicist from Deseret Book sent me. I will be telling you all about it and you will get a chance to win a free copy! Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading ! Thank you for subscribing! Thank you for following. Although I do think that word seems funny. Thank you for your kind comments and emails. They mean so much to me.

Hugs to you on this cold March day!

My little Innocent crush

2011-03-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

Recently I found myself in North Ogden. A part of town I rarely end up in. I passed one of my favorite fabric shops I went to last year when we first moved to Utah. I knew I had to make a stop before heading home.
I went in with this giddy happy feeling. I felt like I was a kid in a candy shop. I felt SEW HAPPY!

I browsed all the beautiful colors, prints and inspirations. I drooled, I dreamed, I was in Heaven.
My favorite Fabric designer is Anna Maria Horner. She is so inspiring of a woman and her sense of style is so fun. Her fabric is difficult to find in a store. I can find it online and have drooled over it for years but have never bought it. How silly is that? I love it but I love seeing and feeling fabric before I purchase. Designer cotton fabrics are not cheap so the leap to buying online is a bit more difficult to me.

I asked, like I always do and I felt like I had one the lottery! They started carrying one of her lines Innocent crush. They had only a handful of fabric s to choose from but instantly I was all alone in this store with this fabric It became my little innocent crush..I began to understand the name of the line just a little bit more.

I ended up leaving the store having bought two yards of one print and two yards of another. Absolutely having no plan whatsoever for them other then the fact that I LOVE them. I love this print. Id put it on my sofa if My hubby loved it enough too. ha.

So, My fabric and I see each other once a day. I hold it and tell it how pretty it is. I dream of it as a funky pencil skirt. Then I dream of it as a fun sundress. Then I imagine a few new pillows. Then I fold it up neatly and it gets sad. It wants to be used for something, I just don't know what that something is.

In the meantime, I'll share with you what I bought. Maybe you can help me out with an idea.

print #1. The print I'd put on my sofa in a heartbeat.

Anna Maria Horner also has a great blog you may enjoy. I love it!

Have a great day! Thanks for your emails/comments!

ps. a few new giveaways are coming soon! You will be excited about them!

goodbye "Happy" neighbors. Hello clean clothes.

2011-03-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

When we moved I handed over my washer and Dryer to my baby brother. He had just moved out on his own and we were not going to haul them across the US. My Brother and Sister in law were selling a rental home and graciously gave us when we arrived a washer and dryer to use. I am very grateful for them. They also gave us a few other things to help us get settled easier. It was a huge blessing.

The washer was very old and made a very funny squeaking noise when it was in agitate mode. The kind of noise that would make visitors blush because it sounded like super happy apartment neighbors with a very squeaky bed if you know what I mean. It was funny. I got used to it. Then the sound gradually left. The agitating gradually stopped. It then required me to go in and swish my clothes by hand. Obviously our clothes were not getting washed properly. This also was not very fun so laundry was getting done less and less.

We refused to buy a washer on credit so I waited.I also did not want to pay to rent one from our apartments for such a steep deposit I might as well wait. I waited patiently for the new year and a sweet tax return. My sweet hubby took me down to the store and we picked a washer. I batted my eyes and he gave in, getting me the one I really wanted.

This baby is my new favorite friend. Its my sweet companion during the day when the kids are crazy. It babysits. It makes fun beeping noises.It does not squeek like a super happy neighbors. It is quiet. It doesn't shake. It cleans my clothes so good. So good that my mans white socks no longer need to be replaced.Now tell me that isn't amazing.(and gross at the same time...to think my old washer wasn't working that well is gross! yuk!)

I am so grateful I can throw in about 6 loads of laundry and know exactly how long each load will take. The digital screen tells me. It works so efficient it hardly uses any water. It has a window on the top loader so that's where the babysitting comes in. My Sweet Kailani gets her stepping stool and stands there and just watches the clothes wash. Its magical. Honestly , I find myself watching it wash. Our clothes are the cleanest and brightest and whitest they have been in a long time and its amazing how little water it uses.The options feel endless with all the buttons and modes I can use. The hand Wash mode is heaven sent. I finally washed some some hand wash only clothes that kept getting thrown back into the hamper. Today they are all clean, and happily hang drying in the bathroom.

This machine is so amazing I had to tell you about it. It has great reviews and its a great company to buy from anyways. Now I just cannot wait for when Maytag comes up with a machine that folds and puts laundry away. Now that will be a dream come true!

Just for your info: The washer is the Maytag Bravos series. Top loader with clear viewing lid.

* This was written from my experience & opinion only. Maytag did not sponsor this blog post. (though that would be nice)

Googling dreams and Virtual Tours.

2011-02-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

Last night I was writing my Meme a letter. My grandmother (Meme) lives in France if you didn't already know that. I miss her terribly. Last night I found my self googling "How to move to France".Yup. That's right.

I am a dreamer. I love adventure. I wish I could be a constant traveler. I dream of just picking up and moving to France. (not because of their government.) Because I love my Meme. I miss her. The life is slower paced where she lives. It is sweet.

Though I know what I googled is not going to happen. At least right now in this season of our life. I did however come across an interesting website, Americans in France, for Americans that want to move to France.

Other reasons I love France. I LOVE the French country side and the old French homes you pass along the way. I LOVE the smell of the local Boulangerie. (Bakery). I love the walks near the Loire River. I love the history. To be able to tour castle and after castle after castle. Amazing. Whew. I could go on and on.Of course for a French person life is not lived like a tourist. To have the options is what is amazing.

One of the things I found alongside that website, his blog was Google Art Project. This is amazing stuff.

You can choose to walk your self virtually through multiple famous museums around the world. Not exactly like being there but pretty darn close to it.


Google Art Project home page screen shot

This morning I was able to let my oldest daughter walk herself through the Palace of Versailles.

Later, I walked myself through the MET museum in NYC. For old times sakes. I have been there many times but my favorite time was on my first date with my sweet Man.

Amazing places you can take a virtual tour are

Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin - Germany
Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC - USA
The Frick Collection, NYC - USA
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin - Germany
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC - USA
MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art, NYC - USA
Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid - Spain
Museo Thyssen - Bornemisza, Madrid - Spain
Museum Kampa, Prague - Czech Republic
National Gallery, London - UK
Palace of Versailles - France
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands
The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg - Russia
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow - Russia
Tate Britain, London - UK
Uffizi Gallery, Florence - Italy
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands

Some of the street view images are blurred due to individual copy right rules. Mostly you can scroll through the museums and see amazing pieces. I think traveling is the best way to see these. Standing in front of the wall size painting is much more of an experience then using your mouse pad and computer. But for many, travel is for another season in life. I would rather homeschool my girls in actual real life experiences then from only photos, websites, and books. But this is pretty darn amazing to be able to use in the meantime.

*all images are screenshots from my experience on Google art Project.

Google Art Project visitor Guide

Google Art Project home page

Have fun!

Week update with pics and a video.

2011-02-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

What a week! It first started with amazing weather. In the mid-high 50's with lots of sunshine. I LOVE no coat weather. For Kailani, that is everyday. All year. She hates her coat and will quickly take it off and try to go out anywhere without it when I am not looking. Its quite amusing actually.

The girls and I enjoyed a wonderful Sunday walk that ended us up in a part of our complex with huge rocks and trees to play around. They had a blast digging under rocks for little rollie polies. Some of you may call them pillbugs. They took a few home. Then they died. When I told Anakha-Marie that they died because they were taken fromt heir enviroment and had no dirt. She looked at me in all seriousness with total surprise, "Really? wow. I thought they all must have been the really old ones in their families" So funny!

This week I enjoyed vertigo for a day. That was no fun. Daniel is convinced it came to me from being overly tired. I think it came from my cold the week before. I am sure happy it is gone though. Feeling like the house is a ship at sea in a storm all day is no fun. Especially looking after little ones.

I prepared all week for a fun fondue 70's night we hosted. My friend Laura and I have started a once a month couples date game night. Each month we have planned different themes.Its awesome to have a friend who loves parties, and making things cute and fun as much as I do. Last month it was homemade pizza night at her apt.. This month it was 70's theme fondue night at our place. We had some outragous costumes show up here. It was a blast! Next month is St Patricks day poker night. Except we will be using the chocolate gold coins that are easy to find that month. The apartments are small but having it pack out with 4-6 couples is so much fun. We have amazing friends here. I love it!

We were blessed to get the girls bunkbeds this weekend. Being delivered tomarrow. They are so excited. Kailani is so excited she will finally have her very own twin size bed. All these years she went from a crib, to a crib mattress ont he floor then she wanted to sleep on this little fold out Dora sofa A-M baught her for Christmas. She has defintly ourgrown all smaller options and needed her own big bed. She will be on a bunk loft bed that has a slide and a castle tower.(see pic below) Underneath she will play behind curtains in this fun little hideout. A-M and Olea will then share a bunk bed that is white wood. I am so excited for more floor space in their room. I am so thankful! We took measurement of course and it will all fit just perfectly.

Kailani's bed.

When we were at the furniture store purchasing their beds the girls found a row of fancy massage chairs to entertain themselves. This video below pretty much shows you what a riot it was.

Love you all! Thanks for stopping by! (oh- just remembered- AM had her Liberty Girls book club Friday too! I want to share more on that in a blog post of itself. )

Fire dragons, baby flyin' and geek lovin' MOMENTS.

2011-02-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ive been MIA lately around here. Sorry for that. I think often about blog posts I want to share but have not figured out how to balance blogging with motherhood of 4, homeschooling, and housework.

This morning my Kailani told me I am a professional laundry woman. I am not quite sure about tha. More like a professional laundry gatherer. Like some people in villages are gathers. Others are hunters. I am a gatherer. I am good at gathering it. Before or after it has been washed. The rest I am still working on.

We have had a bit of sniffles around here. My daughters do not love blowing their nose. They actually loathe it. One child to be remained nameless, refuses. She'd rather wipe, smear or pick. I share only because I am sure every mom has had one of these kids at one time or another. This morning, while helping Kailani blow her nose she shared with me once again her fun imagination. Usually I assist and we don't actually make any progress.. Then she just started having great success. When she was done she said

"Its kinda like a fire dragon!"

Later , all I had to do was remind her to be a fire dragon and blow my house to fiery bits.

She loved that. Problem solved.

Photos here are of our little Sophie. She is a darling I tell ya. Is it possible to become more and more obsessed with your babies the more you have? I love them all the same of course but I am alot more baby obsessed with her then ever before. She has had some growth spurts. She is getting taller. Still tiny but looking bigger. She is 16llbs and wears size 9 months clothes now. She is 13 months old.

We have had interesting moments with her recently. A sister decided to fly her on the top of her feet while laying down. When I asked her to put her down Sophie sort of flew & landed on her head. Afterwords she had a mild concussion, went pale and limp, then layed on the floor screaming and wouldn't do anything. Thankfully after a lovely expensive trip to the ER she was fine. That was ever scary.

She had Roseola last week. Roseola = high fevers for 6 days following up with a great rash on the trunk. Then smiles when she is better. She is better now. Such a blessing!

She still sucks her thumb and is obsessed with finding the part of her blanket where the tag is. That part is gross. No matter how often I wash it, it just stays, well, not pink like the rest of the blanket.

School has had its ups and downs. Some days I am in love with homeschooling. Other days I wonder how in the world I could possibly do this. Then I pray. The prayers are what helps me know it is right. My husbands wisdom and encouragement helps me get back on track when I have guided the train into the woods. I love that man. He doesn't make it easy for me though. Like a parent. Giving you the ultimate choice. He understands he is not the one at home with the girls most. He wants me to be happy. He wants me to do whats best and leaves it in my hands. That is one of the hardest parts. But its just what helps me in the toughest days.

Not sure if we will continue using the curriculum we use now. We use K12 online through a local school system. It is great having the support but also can get quite annoying as well. French lessons through Rosetta stone are really starting to pick up for Anakha-Marie. She is starting to retain alot and tell us all about it at dinner. That is a sweet feeling. Especially when I look over and see a photo of me with my grandmother in France. Thinking how I cannot speak with her. How my girls need to meet her. The clock is ticking at it tugs at my heart every time I think of her. I miss her terribly. I just need to use AM as my example and study just as hard so I too can go to France and use my brain to communicate vs. a dictionary and facial expressions.

Facial expressions do help. There is something so sweet about sitting at a table peeling carrots with your grandma that speaks a totally different language as you. All you can do is smile. Silence really is sweet.

Bitter-sweet in the moments when I wish so bad to tell her a story.

Bitter when she called our home the day before Christmas to talk with my mom. I answered her cell and after saying a few basic french terms hello, how are you, I love you. etc. I had to pass the phone along to my dad. I cried. and cried. and cried. It is nice to see my girls learn french, as I sit and watch I realize I know more then I realized and am picking up on things fairly quickly. Its just a matter of practicing and learning to put words in sentences.

On different note, we will be married 10 years soon. Such a lovely season coming up. Spring (with snow) and an anniversary. I am in love with my man and so grateful I was crazy enough to agree to marry him after just 2 dates. He has tried to convince me all the time he is a geek. I refused to admit it for many years. But now, I choose to agree. He is my man, my geek. My music, dice, game, ninja loving guy. Forever.

I don't mind his geekness because he is fun and reminds me to stop being cranky and get back to my fun loving self I was 10 years ago. He reminds me to use my brain. Really, that shouldn't be hard but it is. Life is NEVER boring married to him. He makes me laugh all the time. (Even when he was stinkin' whiny with cold symptoms last night.) Would you believe me if I told you I didn't think he was funny until about year 8? Well, its true. That's around when our marriage got stronger too. Hmm, coincidence, I think not.

Laughter is the best medicine. Even for marriages.

That's all for today. Quite alot actually. Not as many photos as I want to share. You get it though, Life is busy. Moments are full of well, today,..nose wiping, diaper changing, grocery shopping, game playing, home cleaning type of moments. And all the other sweet ones in between like laughing, dancing, tickling, reading, and playing.

Hope your weekend is as wonderful as you are.

Love,

A great tutorial.

2011-01-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hi Moments readers!

I have been wanting to share this with you for a while now and figure today is a good time to.

I LOVE reading your comments and would love to be able to reply to them quickly. I used to type a reply in the comments section but find that can easily get overlooked. I never go back and re-read over comments where I left one. I sometimes can hardly remember where I commented. My google reader is full of blogs and my comments go every direction.

So, here is an amazing quick way that you could do to not only make it easier for me to reply to your comments but also easier on other bloggers as well. It's always fun to hear back from someone after you left a comment right? I have not been so good at that lately but my goal this year is to try.

Its so much easier when I can have access to your email to reply back.

Head on over to Shelley's blog House of Smiths and see what I am talking about.

Its a very simple thing that makes a huge difference!

Hugs to all!

Jenn-lee

PS. Have your kids ever made their beds with a concept called "Taco Time" ?

New stories coming soon! :)

It is possible.

2011-01-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

Recently I have found quite a few very funny moments in my life. Mostly dealing with the girls.

I used to blog more about them and the silly moments. I think I have been so stressed out in the past year that that kind of went out the door. Not just blogging about it but actually seeing moments as funny, or sweet. I think I am finally beginning to see all those moments again. It is a great place to be.

Recently , Our little Sophie has been a little explorer. She is an amazingly well balanced walker. She also loves to run. Away from me. Sometimes faster then her little feet will carry her. She is still small. Still looks about 6 months old. Walking. And running.

She also has discovered she loves to play in toilets. No matter how hard I work to make sure my darling little Princesses flush and shut the toilet and shut the door and turn the lights off they seem to forget.

Mostly Kailani.

Sophie loves to sneak in there and splash around.[ insert GAG here.]

So, when I am busy with things about the house she usually follows me and tinkers around wherever I am. But sometimes she goes missing. Not missing for a long time but just a moment where I realize she is gone and I will usually start looking for her yelling, "Do you see Sophie?"

We are in an apartment. There are 3 bedrooms and there are only so many places a baby can go without running into a sister. This day in particular I was online. I was researching out cell phones and plans. My phone broke. (suspect is about as tall as a 6 monther) I realized I didn't know where Sophie was. So I yelled out to the girls "Do you see Sophie Anywhere?" They all said "No!". Immediately I thought crap! She is probably in the bathroom. better run to find her. As I was about to get up, I looked down and realized I was NURSING her all the while. lol! How in the world did I forget she was nursing?

I never thought this could be possible. Well, it apparently is. Have you ever lost your sunglasses only to find them on your head? Have you ever lost your pen only to find you put it behind your ear?

Now ,. Have you ever lost your baby only to find she was suckling your nipple? This was a first for me. Hopefully the last.

And now you probably are wondering, How are these kids surviving that crazy mother?

I ask myself that all the time.

Have a great Wednesday!

Hugs,

Jenn-lee

Holi Festival coming up!

2011-01-19T01:59:00.005-07:00

Remember this from last year? The Holi Festival of Colors. To celebrate the coming of Spring.

Well, I am so excited it is around the corner again.Saturday, March 25th! This year I plan to wear goggles, and a mask for my mouth during the actual throwing of the colors. I will wear more comfy shoes, no hat, a creative white outfit from DI that I don't mind getting stained. ( black didn't show the colors that well) I also plan on recruiting lots of friends to go with us! Are you in?

It seriously is a blast and worth an hour 1/2 drive to get to. Lots of music, Lots of powder thrown everywhere. Its a mess and a fun one at that.

Since we cannot get to India and celebrate there, we will settle for this.

Plus, the Hindu Temple is an amazing spot for photography.

Check the Utah Krishnas site out. See for yourself the details. Let me know if you want to meet up while there or carpool down. The more the merrier!

Life without...

2011-01-18T01:58:00.000-07:00

I was thinking tonight. What if. What if we had decided to not have any children. I cannot imagine my life with out our Anakha-M. She is about 1 years old here.


Anakha-M. 1years old.

A-M, 8 yrs old

Then what if we decided to just have one child and no more. What would life be like without our Olea?


Olea, 7 months old


Olea,5 yrs old

What if we then decided two was enough for us. Any more would be too costly. Too squishy in our apartment. Maybe even take up some of my shopping money for diapers.

What would our life be like had we decided to stop there?

Then I wouldn't have my sweet Kailani. My bouncy, active, excited, 4 year old. The one who stresses me out as well as makes me laugh and smile many times a day.


Kailani , one years old


Kailani and Mommy


Kailani , 4 yrs old

What if we stopped at three? I cannot imagine life without our little Sophie.

Here we are. I am pregnant with Sophie. Maybe around 6 months I think.

Life with just three daughters. Hectic. Crazy. Busy. Active. No one would judge us if we stopped there.

The girls and I, Aug-Sept. 2010

But we didn't.

Our Little Sophie is ours forever. She is in our family and it feels like she always has been.

I was thinking tonight how I cannot imagine life without her.


Sophie January 2010

Sophie, Jan 2011, 12 months

How I cannot imagine Life without my girls.

How I cannot imagine life without my Conan Man.

Valentines date 2010

I am so thankful. I am thankful for my family. While I am not ready for another little one just yet, These thoughts help me remember how special life is. How there are precious little angels waiting for their chance to be here. One day I imagine, I will have a 5th child (probably a little girl..) and think how I could not imagine life without them. And if all goes as planned, a 6th, a 7th, and so on. (we want 12)

Its just the weirdest feeling, yet so sweet at the same time.

Hope your Tuesday is amazing.

Enjoy every MOMENT of it , especially the time with your family.

HUGS,

Jenn-Lee

Science at home

2011-01-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

Teaching the girls at home can be alot of fun sometimes. I took photos of a lesson we had over the holidays that was a big hit with them. We pulled one of my favorite 2 inch thick books all about the Universe. It has the most fascinating photos taken from the Hubble Telescope.

We placed different size objects on the floor to represent planets and had the girls be the earth, and sun and learn how they work with one another.

We also used a fun Science book we have full of all kinds of great facts and pictures.

We then wrapped our lesson up with a fun project.

We added flour to a pan to represent "moon sand".

The girls then dropped small glass rocks in it to make "craters".

This was a huge mess but so much fun.

I think towards the end their favorite thing to do was just hold the flour and feel it in their hands. They don't get to do that very often so I was okay with it. That's where the mess came in.

It is days like this one when I am happy I homeschool. When we get to spend time with one another and everyone of all ages is really excited about what we were learning about.

Hope your weekend was wonderful!

Have a Happy Monday!

Needa wanna gotta

2011-01-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

I feel I am seriously in ~~need~~ want of a good long visit to my two favorite stores at The Gateway.

Anthropologie and Sur La Table. All the other stores I could care less about. OK. Well, I do love their enormous Barnes and Nobles too. Who wouldn't?

This photo was of me on Birthday last year with my amazing long time friend Chrislyn. It was a wonderful Birthday treat. I have an Anthro gift card burning a hole in my wallet and a need for looking at pretty things to serve pretty food upon.

When shall my day be?

What shall I get with my gift card?

What will scream at me to take home and love from Sur La Table? (Though my budget probably won't allow it this time around) That's okay though. I can dream can't I?

What catches my eye at Anthro?

I am fully inspired by their clothing most seasons. This season I have not found too many clothing pieces I am head over heels in love with. So I find myself browsing my other passion. All things kitchen and home.

Though I store more eggs then this will hold , I adore this. And have for years. So maybe its time it met my fridge.

I love their dishtowels. I am to the point though that getting stains on them from people who do not care so much as to what they use for clean ups is a bit unnerving. So I am thinking one of these pretties maybe for the front of a pillow for my Living room.

Oh I could go on.

Oh--what do I drool over at Sur La Table?

This Le Creuset two in one pan. The Fry pan also serves as the lid for the sauce pan. Caribbean color is my favorite.

Image via Sur La Table

I would love to use this darling Kettle. Le Creuset of course.

Image via Sur La Table

Who wouldn't want to serve up there honey with this sweet little thing.

That's all for now. I think I could go on and on. I absolutely LOVE browsing for beautiful linens, cookware, servware, and unique kitchen pieces.

Hugs,

Jenn-Lee

ps. Thank you so much for your comments! I love hearing from those of you who stop by. I love checking your links out as well. Have a dandy weekend!

2011-01-07T08:00:00.006-07:00

I LOVE Photography! I am not a professional. I never took photography in highschool. I do not know what different films do what. I do know how to figure almost any camera out. I love playing with them digitally to change the look of the photo. However, I do dream to learn more about how to use light, different lenses, and good eye to create images that need minimal edits.

One day my dream camera,Nikon D90 and I will meet. We will have fun. But no matter what fancy camera I get one day, no matter what skills I develop I will always have fun making my photos look different.

Just for the fun of it. Why Not?

Here we are 60's style. Ok. So nothing in this photo says 60's except the color tone. It's still fun though.

Here we are a long long long time ago style.I think its rather amazing how much this looks like old family photos I have seen. Wow! We have come a very long ways in technology.

Well, That's all for today. Just a short hello and sharing the photo of us with our little new One year old on Christmas day. Isn't she a cutie?