Just call me Betty...

I love home made bread but lets be honest - it is time consuming, complicated, and down right hard to get it right. So I stock up on Granny Bread every month at Costco and call it good.

Now, enter Amie, - my sister in-law/HERO{for sooooo many reasons} she had all of the "sisters" over to teach us how to make bread today. Can I just say this was the easiest/best tasting bread - EVER! We made 5 loaves, 3 pizzas, bread sticks, rolls, blueberry turnovers and strudel all in under 2 hours - including baking and eating it all! So awesome!

I am now saving my allowance {do I have an allowance?} to save up for this coveted appliance at which time I will be oh, so happy to make each and every one of you a loaf of yummy goodness!

{razzing Mike and/or donations would be much appreciated:)}

I will end with these cute pictures from today... 4 of my sis-in-laws and their new babies!

Rock on!

As promised, here is the update on our super rock star party!

We headed to Justice for the party {rockin' out to Hannah, of course}. This is the girls in the beginning...cute but not your typical rock stars.
This is Mari, our party-girl and the girls receiving their party bags. The girls got headsets, arm socks, make-up and a camera for the "birthday girl" to document the party!
Next, they all got the "rock star" hair do! {I love these pics of Adi, so cute!}

Adi and Bailee took a break to dance to the Hannah Montana song playing overhead. The girls also got to make their own treat bags filled with goodies like lip gloss, eyeshadow, bracelets and key chains - plus, they all made the "birthday girl"{we weren't allowed to use Adi's name or else we had to sing - so funny hearing Mike and Cassidy bust out the Snowman song} little scrapbook pages.
After hair comes make up - I loved it when Bailee looked in the mirror and exclaimed "Ohh, I really do look like Hannah Montana!" making grandma refer to her as Hannah for the rest of the party :)!
The look just wouldn't be complete without sparkly nails!
And here are the "Rock Stars" making their first appearance{paparazzi and all} at the Justice fashion show!

Aren't they stylin'?

We finished it off with a yummy trip to Smart Cookie and gifts!


And there you have it - one rock star party! G'night!

Six, going on sixteen!

Just wanted to do a quick post about this birthday girl!

Here are 6 things we love about Adilynn...

♥1. She is a super good sister! Both Luke and Paislee adore her and she loves to help them with "motherly" tasks and she is very good at letting them tag along!

♥2. She is getting so smart! She loves school and is reading like crazy now! A couple weeks ago, she went with Mike to Paislee's dr. appointment and while they were waiting she read the WHOLE 'If You Take A Mouse to School' book to Mike.

♥3. She is a social butterfly! {another reason she loves school} She loves playing with her "girls" and Logan. She loves to plan outings, parties and playdates and is very creative! Her friend Bailee's mom called me laughing one day because Adi had suggested that they have a 'girl party' when they couldn't decide what to play. When she asked Adi what they would do for a 'girl party' she said "Well, we could put on a Barbie Princess movie, pop some popcorn and eat some chocolate"

♥4. She is into anything girly. She takes after grandma with a love for purses and flip-flops. She is way into fashion too - she dresses herself each morning and loves to put on makeup and lip gloss. Music, dancing, friends, Pollys, and Little Pets make for a perfect day!

♥5. She is a HUGE helper. She is a great sport about cleaning the playroom over and over even when she didn't make the mess. She makes us proud by being the best cleaner upper when playing at friends house too!

♥6. She is a lover! My favorite thing about Adilynn is the random "Mom....I love you!" or "Mom, you are the best mom ever!" She does this with everyone and helps us all feel special!

Adilynn, we love you and we are so happy that you are YOU! Happy Birthday!

Par-tay!

Over the past 6 years, I have quickly learned that having 2 of your favorite people{Adi and Mike} share a birthday can make celebrating pretty tricky at times. I am a sucker for birthdays - I find nothing wrong with going to extremes to make sure the birthday girl/boy feels special at all times! So, this year when Adi asked early on "if she could have her birthday on the 19th instead of the 20th because she did NOT want to have a party with all of dad's friends" I {laughed} and then felt the pressure rise, not because I was worried about Adi's party but because I was reminded just what a BIG year this would be for Mike - he's turning 30! So, with the help of several great people {thanks again Chaddy,Steph, Angie, and Mom} the following party was planned! Never, ever, ever in my life did I think keeping it secret would be as hard/stressful nor did I realize just how nosey my cute hubby is...but in the end we succeeded!

At exactly 7:25, Mike was officially surprised! (see the clock - haha) We rented out a couple rooms at this really cool new place called Noah's - we had 2 raquet ball courts, a couple pool tables and Jeremy brought his wii (the hit of the night) and we just hung out/played/ate all night!

The "gift" part of the night was tons of fun! I asked everyone to bring 30 "things" for Mike! He got so many cool things...30 frozen burritos, 30 suckers, 30 pepsis, 30 quotes from the "other" Michael Scott, 2 daquiri mixes-14 cups-14 drink umbrellas, 30 bajio bucks, 30 pennies-nickles-dimes-quarters, 30 socks, 30 treats, 30 tax returns - complete with goodies inside, 30 mtn dews, 30 skittles/bugs and the funniest of all - my mom made Mike a book of 30 pictures - of her! Every gift was so thought out and showed Mikey just how much he is loved!

So, there was no Strawberry Shortcake Cake with Mike's name on it, no Care Bear cake without his name on it and there were no dolls/girly things to be opened at this birthday party...it was all just for Mike! Happy{almost} 30 years! We love you!

*Stay tuned for Adi's Rock Star Party update as soon as photoshop/blogger and I make-up and become friends again! urrrg

feeling spech

Looky what I got in the mail today....my 1st {maybe only}♥valentine♥ of the year! Pretty excited about this and the reminder that I have such great friends! Thanks Jenn!

*Also, a great reminder to get Adi's cards all signed and the cookie dough chillin' in fridge! Are you ready for ♥ day?

pigtails, bruises and a new word

We are LOVING the piggers!

Not the yucky bruise/bump so much!

Oh, and good news - Paislee added another word to her vocab yesterday....DUDE! {go figure!}

Better left unsaid!

A couple Fridays ago, I got a call from my visiting teacher. During this call she kindly asked about our family, I quickly replied that we were fine and she asked "everyone been healthy?" This surprised me..."Yes!" and the little voice inside my head got kinda excited, it was almost February and not one of my kids had been sick this winter. Opposed to last year's six month cough for Paislee, multiple trips to the dr. office, and several days of missed preschool - this was great! Of course, once I got off the phone I quickly forgot all about it - that is until 9 o'clock that night when Paislee woke up crying, only to be found covered in puke...that was the end to our sickless winter and {unfortunately} just the beginning!

Since that sweet phone call {just 14 days ago} we have had countless pukings, runny noses, runny diapers, and coughing fits. We have had 6 doctors appointments, 2 double ear infections, 3 shots, 2 prescriptions, Dimatap, Motrin, Benedryl, skipped naps, bedding changes, restless nights, early mornings...oh, and one very onery mom! I only write of this now because things are looking up - the noses are not quite so bad, the coughs aren't so nasty, the ear aches are gone and Paislee hasn't thrown up since Thursday night! Whew!

I just can't help thinking - What if that question had never been asked? What if those thoughts hadn't popped into my head? So...next time you start to ask, remember, some things are better left unsaid! :)

P.S. I must give a HUGE thanks to my wonderful husband who took his fair share in all of this and dealt with ALL of the sleepless night stuff! Thanks hun - I love you!

Let's go, G-N-O!

Have you heard "Girls Night Out" by Hannah Montana?

{or is it Miley}

Definately thinking this could be a new fave of mine - it sings straight to my heart!

As you can see, Ads and I had our own G-N-O tonight accompanied by my cousin Tiffany and her daughter Lainey. We started out with dinner at Red Robin -yum!

The girls were so excited to see the 3-D Hannah Montana movie they were a little dissapointed when they learned we had to eat first but finally agreed when the other option was just waiting for 2 hours.

The 3-D glasses were super hip and topped off their matching Hannah Montanna t-shirts!

(gotta love walmarts awesome $6.50 t-shirt selection)

Aren't they cute!

I have to say I quite enjoyed the "concert" but watching these two dance and sing the entire movie was even better! They had us laughing pretty hard at times and what better experience as a mom than to see your little girl squealing with delight for 2 straight hours! She is quite the rock star!