We love Edward!

In celebration of the newest Twilight movie (New Moon, for anyone that lives underground:) we had to have a party, of course. If you know me, any reason is a good reason for a party. I had fun planning and decorating for it. Thanks for coming, ladies!

The invite. Inspiration taken from examples found online.

Tribute to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga. The quotes are courtesy of Hostess with the Mostess.

New Moon-themed candy to stuff in purses on the way out the door to the movie.

Can't have a party without the guest of honor; Edward waits to welcome our guests at the end of the entry.

I was going for the forest look here with the scattered trees. My SIL painted them for a school Halloween carnival and I snagged them from her for my party. I loved the look and feel they lended to the decor.

Drink table. Drink labels, again, courtesy of Hostess with the Mostess.

Food table. We had Italiano, of course, with salad and bruschetta and French bread. My very talented SIL designed the display.

For dessert we had a candy apple bar, with caramel, red and milk chocolate, and seven different candy toppings to choose from. This idea came from Studio 5.

Had to have cupcakes, too. They are just too cute! Cupcake toppers courtesy of Maggie's Dinner Dates. (They were supposed to have forks in them, but I ran out of time and they stood too tall to use in this arrangement. I kind of like how these turned out instead...) Love these generous, creative women that share their designs! Thank you ladies!

The partiers with the man of the evening.

Me and Ed. I can almost believe he's real...

The countdown is on for Eclipse. Mark your calendars guys! Party at my house!

June 30, 2010.

And, miraculously, Brighton had nothing to do with it...

Wow, what to say about this one... Several weeks ago, I was enjoying a late lunch, reading my Ensign and listening to the sounds of the twins playing in the kitchen. Usually not a scary thing. I heard them go into the pantry; again, not usually a scary thing. WRONG! I'm not sure how much time passed; I was really into my article. But I heard Waverly come out and looked over to see her slipping and sliding on the kitchen floor...followed by Keaton (still crawling) on all fours which kept sliding out from under him and landing him on his belly. It was like a cartoon. One short investigation later, I realized these two little darlings have almost emptied an almost-new bottle of Crisco oil on my pantry floor!!! Let me repeat in case you missed it, they have dumped about 21 ounces of cooking oil on my newly cleaned kitchen and pantry floor, and coated themselves entirely in the process. Non-water-soluble OIL!!! AAACK! There was only one thing I could do at this moment. So I laughed and laughed, and then I grabbed my camera. It was too funny to see neither one of my babies able to stay up on feet or hands and knees. (Not so funny once I realized the extent of their curiosity).

I grabbed Waverly to put into the bathtub first. Do you know how slippery a wet baby is? Multiply that by a thousand times if said baby is also coated in oil. It's amazing there was no brain damage. Keaton went in next, only to realize, as I dropped him into the soapy water, that he was poopy. So add wet, poopy diaper to the list to clean up. Sound fun yet? Once that was done, he went into the water too, a second time. They were drenched from head to toe in oil. I had to empty and refill the tub a second time to even begin to get them clean. Needless to say, they did not require lotion for a few days.

The pantry was not so easy (though "easy" is a relative term when it comes to doing anything with or for 2 babies!). I looked online to find a smart way to clean up so much oil; most people suggested throwing salt down on it. Note to future self: salt does not soak up oil as promised. Instead it made a bigger mess to clean up. There may indeed be a smarter way to clean up oil, but I opted for the old fashioned method: lots and lots of hot soapy water and a roll of paper towells. Two hours later, and the mess became just another memory and story to tell their future spouses. Luckily for me, I learned from my mistake and the oil is now stored on a very high shelf.

This picture just does not do the scenario justice.

This one's about right...

If you've done laundry before, and had to try to get out an oil stain, you know what I'm talking about when I say I hope you're not too attached to the clothing. But lucky for me, they completely coated their clothing. So instead, those particular outfits just turned a slightly darker shade than before The Incident. Also, my pantry floor squeaked for weeks after I cleaned it. I have to admit, I am getting nervous for what these two will get in to together, as they approach two. If this is any indication, I'm hiring a nanny right now...

Spirit week at ALA

Every year ALA has a Spirit Week, near the beginning of the year, where they have themed days for the kids to dress up, and not wear uniforms. The girls get so excited to be able to show their personalities and deviate from normal dress standards.

This was rock star day. Yeah, I know, very tame rock star. THink Hannah Montana goes shopping. Savannah was sick this day.
Pajamma day. Please disregard my mud room. The dad bus was leaving and very impatient with photographer mom.

70's disco day. This was fun. Dig Savannah's lampshade shirt. All she's missing is a pull chain...

Ok, so it's finally happened...Hell froze over...

...and we got a dumb dog! Scott's parent's neighbors were getting rid of their schnauzer (I really need to learn to spell it if I'm going to have one), and him and the girls, and he even got Brighton in on it, bamboozled me non-stop until I gave in. Girls, you are not getting presents any time soon. We brought it home on "a trial basis only" for one month, and the girls told everyone we had a loaner dog. I wish. Needless to say, over one month later, the dumb dog is still here. No, I do not love the animal. I have yet ONE MORE living, breathing, needy thing following me around all day that I'm tripping over, cleaning up after, and yelling at. Ok, I don't yell at my twins, but I do sometimes trip over them. I went from "boring mom" to super cool mom in an instant. The girls are ecstatic to FINALLY have a dog of their own. Can you just see it in Savannah's facial expression? She is the only reason that dog is still here. What we do for the love of a child. SHeesh. Now my mom won't want to visit.
I did however, grudgingly have to admit that it was cute on the next morning the girls went off the school, Brighton, Waverly, and the dumb dog lined up at the window to watch them off. Oh, did I tell you the dog's name is Molly? To me it's just "that dumb dog".

Brighton's at it again

I had a small respite in Brighton's "curiosity". But, alas, it is not over. I found him with the twins in my bathroom, smearing their heads, and his own, with lotion. I think he thought he was doing me a favor, as we have put hair gel in his hair to control the curls lately. At least that's what I tell myself to keep from going all Andrea Yates on him. At least this one's very washable. A bath was next on the list...
Dontcha just love that mischevious grin on his face?

Movie night al fresco

Our good friend Dave Bentley owns and operates an outdoor movie business, and graciously offered to bring it down for our friends night for a movie. It was awesom! Think, your own private, drive-in movie, without the annoying couple in front of you whose kids won't shut up the whole movie. We watched Escape to Witch Mountain, which I remember loving from my childhood days. The kids loved snuggling up in the grass to watch it. Hopefully our neighbors weren't being blasted out of their homes.

The twins cleaned up the chip bags after our BBQ. They were so cute, sharing the bag between them, and were in salty heaven.
Thanks Dave for a really fun night! Call me for his info if you are wanting to book!

Happy Anniversary to us!

We celebrated our 14th anniversary in Park City this year, sans the kids, thanks to my very generous and awesom in-laws and Scott's sister Shawna. (And a business relationship that loaned us their nice condo in Park City for free!) Thank you a million times over! I got to remember what joy it is to eat a hot meal, sleep in, and just sit and do nothin'. Scott came down with strep throat for the first time in his life the day before, but thank heavens the antibiotics kicked in and he was mostly tolerable to be around:) You'd think the guy was dying, the boob! Just kidding, love you honey! We hit the slides, the outlets, and Cafe Rio, of course.
THis is going up the ski lift. Do I look fraggle-toothed, or what?

COming down the roller coaster. That is so much fun!!

Scott got some road rash when he flipped his car not once, but twice. hee hee. DOesn't look too bad...

...til it scabbed over. Took forever to heal and he was in pain. Poor guy. Not a good month for Scott.

W is for waterworks

Wow, this feels so long ago. This completed the last of our ABC's of summer 09. We made it through the entire 26-lettered alphabet. Whew! Scott put this Family Fun-inspired contraption together using simple pvc pipes and attachments. The girls and neighborhood friends loved it, and got several hours of fun out of it. Brighton wasn't crazy about it, and Keaton hated it. Waverly kept detaching it and making her older sisters mad, but it was fun to watch them all play in it. They enjoyed filling buckets and having a water fight amongst the older girls.

I love this picture with him framed in the opening on the porch.

Baby girls in swimsuits are one of my favorite things. All that chubby goodness, squished into a small, tight piece of material. So adorable!

First Day of School 09

Thus begins another school year. Irelynd is in school all day this year and I am so giddy I can't stand it. Ok, I probably shouldn't say that as a mom, but, hey, I tell the truth! Savannah is in 5th and I can't believe it. She started kindergarten when we moved in this house 4 years ago (I know the math doesn't add up, but she skipped 3rd. Our little genius:))

Hey, where'd she get that cute bag from? Oh, that's right I made it! I can still admire, can't I?

AACK! My girls are growing up WAY too fast!

Back to school traditions

I am a tradition freak, and try to add them in every opportunity I can. Perhaps it's the competitive side in me coming out as I look down the road 20 years, and I'm trying to compete with future in-laws. If I have more traditions than they do that my kids enjoy, they'll (my sons and daughters and future spouses) will choose to come to my house, right?? Ok, it's pathetic, but there it is. Anyway, we started a new tradition this year. We made school bus cupcakes and put a candle on them for the girls (Brighton got one too, since he wants to be like his older sisters). When they blew the candles out they had to make a wish and/or goal for this coming school year. They both made similar wishes--that they'd have a fun year and make new friends. Irelynd qualified her wish by saying she'd "have fun every day in school."

I love this mischevious face of his.

This was Brighton's own creation. Looks like a school bus/tornado massacre, if you ask me.

Irelynd took one to school the next day too.

Not as cute as Family Fun, but good enough.

Gotta love Savannah's expression. A little scary, too.

If only this was permanent...

Last Sunday Brighton went missing for a little while. Scott found him on the potty, books in hand, doing his duty. He had put himself on and actually pooped in the potty! He did this four times this day! All on his own. I was SO proud and excited at the implications. Alas, it did not last, and we are still in diapers. But it's a start, and gives me hope.

Fireplace in the making

We started a remodel 2 years ago that's still not quite done. By the time we were supposed to do our part, I was pregnant with the twins, and then we ran out of time and money after they were born, and it never got completed. Scott bought an old antique bed at a garage sale a few years ago that's been waiting for a purpose. One day he pulled it out of storage and made it into our new mantel and surround. I think he did a fabulous job! There's still work to be done, as you can see with the incomplete paint and brick, but it's progress! And my painting finally has a home! Yippee! It'll be awesom when it's completed. Someday. Anyone know how to appy brick?

Cave for two

The twins have taken over Brighton's "man cave." They like to sit here and ponder life and it's deep meanings. Actually, they're just looking for dropped food, and it's just the right heighth for them to sit their chubby diapered bums on. Twins are so fun!

Tea for two

A few weeks ago, we had a bout with croup. That Sunday, only Scott and Savannah were well enough to go to church. Irelynd, on her own accord, made a tea party for the two of us. We had sugared water "tea", yogurt, and a roll. We tried to speak in our best English accents and spoke about the weather. Irelynd was like, "mom, why do you keep saying it's such a lovely day?" What else did they talk about in the time period of Jane Austen??? She even put on her best dress up. Brighton was irked not to be included and insisted he be allowed to join us. I was ok with giving up my warm sugar water. It's moments like this that I hope I will remember one day when they're grown up and I'm all alone with my rocking chair and knitting needles...

Trash to Treasure

Irelynd loves to create. She loves to make beauty out of that which was trash only a few moments ago. I can no longer throw out string, cardboard boxes, egg cartons, etc. If I do, I will find them in her art drawer the next day. She's very creative in what she comes up with. Here are her two latest creations:

This is a cell phone, complete with number buttons, and an image on the front cover.

A comb or elephant you say? No, a caterpillar. (Notice the bug-eye thing?)