HSM3

Okay, if you don't know what the title of this post means you :

A. Have never heard "Fabulous" sung by little girls pretending to be SHARPAY (who is not a dog, by the way)

B. Live in a household that doesn't revolve around the Disney Channel

C. Are not aware of the tween fixation involving Zac Efron (AKA TROY)

D. Have been living under a rock!

My oldest has had a countdown to High School Musical 3 going on pretty much since HSM2 premiered last summer. The only distraction to her obsession with all things Zac was all things Joe Jonas and the Jo Bros. Disney is not a stupid company. They have all parents scrambling for tickets to their latest teen sensation(s) almost weekly! Last year I joined the zillion other whacked out parents by shelling out BIG bucks for concert tickets, then concert memorabilia, then the 3D movie of said concert (which we saw in person mind you), then the DVD of the SAME concert...Hannah Montana/Miley anyone? We also own not one, but THREE Hannah wigs. CRAZY! It was at that very concert that Liv's devotion to all things Jonas began, but I digress. Back to HSM. The movie was fun, the dancing was awesome, and it had it's share of cheesy lines. My girls were loving it. I, being a high school teacher, sat there wondering where this version of high school exists?! You know ~ tons of Wildcat school spirit filling the stands with red, acceptance of a basketball/drama star, a trash free lunch room where even the popular kids stay to dine, and the list goes on and oN and ON! But, even though Disney is cashing in, I appreciate the message and hope just a little of it rubs off on the generation getting ready to enter my classroom:).

P.S. Due to some flack I'm getting about spoiling my kids a little too much...I just want to point out that the concert tickets were an early Christmas gift, one Hannah wig was a gift (is now a ball of hair), and the other two were buy 1 for $20 or 2 for $10 (I know, it didn't make sense to me either).

More Halloween Fun...

Last night my mom had her annual feast/pumpkin carving for the fam. She is Blackfoot's own version of Martha Stewart ~ if Martha were a Mormon mom:)! Anyway, I forgot my camera in my rush out the door. Luckily I have a sister who is just as blog-happy as the rest of us, and she has all of the little details on her blog: http://web.me.com/sarahthompson5/ so check it out. However, I do have to display my girl's pumpkins. They went for original designs this time. Abby wanted Minnie Mouse, which I got to try to carve. Can you even tell? I guess it's sort of a Minnie. We wanted to put two little mini pumpkins on for ears ("like at Disneyland" as I heard 223 times!), but all stores were OUT! So, I carved ears, to Abby's utter disappointment. I drew a few Minnie faces on paper before carving and I'd ask, "Abby, does this look like Minnie?" She'd examine it and say, "UGH! NO MOM!!" It was a FUN project for me. Olivia roped my grandma into helping her with a design she drew. I think it turned out pretty well...


it is Jack Skelington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. She loves that weird show. She's a pretty good little artist! I, for one, am soooooooo relieved that all of the carving is D-O-N-E!


I personally preferred these little Mr. Pumpkin Head type things featured on the left. The kids did them all by themselves in like 6 minutes! That is some sweet Halloween cheer! My mom found these, and I was impressed! I just used three exclamation points in a row, which must mean that I'm WAY excited about the ease of the Mr. Pumpkin Head parts.

My Other Blogs

Did you know that if you click in the Recipe Box and Decorating & Creating links at the right you will find my two other blogs? I just posted a yuuuummmy cookie recipe! Check them out when you have a sec...

Punkin' Carvin' Contest

Each year my mother-in-law has a carving contest at her house. This year she even grew the pumpkins herself! The kids (and some of the adults) look forward to this all year. I thought it was adorable that my nephew told me it was a "punkin' carvin' contest." Kids between the ages of 2 and 4 talk so cute! I was Abby's partner, and she was ALL about cleaning out the pumpkin. She lost interest after that, but hurried back to show off when Grandma was ready to judge!

Olivia's partner was Uncle Haizer. They got REALLY creative and their pumpkin was voted most original...

Liv thought this was funny because they used a template. But, it IS pretty cool! Coyotes are original, and she had fun watching Haizer do the detailed work while she jumped on the tramp with her cousin:).

My niece and nephew and their parents really did get original and designed SpongeBob and pineapple under the sea in their pumpkins:And my sis-in-law and my other nephew did some original designs too.
You can't really tell in these pictures, but they are all carved out and then accented with paint. I think it is funny that the pirate and the little guy seem to be eyeing one another! So, everyone lined up so that Grandma could judge their work, the grand prize was a Department 56 Halloween village set. But, how could Grandma choose one winner? Each pumpkin was given a title and each child an XXL bag of M&M's; the grand prize was given in a drawing. "Grandma's are ALWAYS fair," at least that is what Abby said on the way home:).

Tomorrow night the carvin' fun continues at my mom's house...

Wee Witch's Weekend

Last Saturday,Robyn (my good friend from high school) and I took our girls to Gardner Village for "Wee Witch's Weekend." Our oldest girls are a month apart and our youngest are a couple years apart, so it is always fun to get together to do things. The girls opted not to attend in full costume, but had fun getting sprayed down with colored hairspray and sparkles; the older two also delighted in liberally applying some BLACK lip gloss.

I got a late start (imagine that) and didn't leave Blackfoot until 9:20 AM, but arrived in plenty of time to pack in the SpOoKy fun...check out the site: http://www.gardnervillage.com/ . Halloween is a ton of fun because the whole little village is all decked out and there are oodles of life size witches to delight everyone!

Some are riding flying bicycles across ponds, some are dancing around brew, and others are going to the bathroom!! It's so funny...not so much sCaRy. This was the first year that they put on an official weekend for the kiddos, but I have taken my girls for similar fun for about five years now. If you live close enough to go, you really should! Even if it's not a posted event, the witches are up through October ~ and it's sometimes more fun to walk around and look without all of the crowds! One little shop had witch hats you could purchase for $5 each and then the kids got to go out and decorate them. Our girls had a ton of fun doing this.

Livvy and Alli enjoyed the fact that they could do it without the hoovering of their moms...the little girls needed help, but didn't necessarily WANT it. I had to remind myself that it was Abby's hat and that it didn't need to fit my standards of perfection! I have to say that it was a challenge for me...can you say, "CONTROL FREAK!" Hey, at least I admit it and am trying to let go! Anyway, here are some pictures of the wee witches:

Ashlyn is loving making her hat...

and then there is my camera lovin' Abbylicious.

Ash is making her best witch face...

and Abby's chatting it up with a pink witch.

We also got to have candid photos snapped in one of those silly photo booths...the results?

The girls thought it was hilarious! Rob was all,

"Let's put our witch hats on for the pictures!"

Then after the first SNAP!, she said,

"Let's take them off!"

Viola! The great hat hair I sport in the final pic...and then when I got home Michael said,

"Hey, I really like your hair in that last picture."

WHAT??? Robyn and I couldn't stop laughing at how sick it looked!

I have to thank Michael. While I got to sneak away for the day to make memories with our darling girls, he was slaving away in the sun painting the outside of our house. He was adamant that I take the girls, assuring me that there was nothing I could possibly do to help in his task. Did I mention that one of the best things about having my sister live next door was that I have a constant spy lurking? She called me to see how the witch fun was going and let it slip that my sister-in-laws and my MOTHER-IN-LAW were at my house helping to tape off and fill holes in the siding so that Michael could paint. I was SO embarrassed! Here I was in Utah witchin' it up, eating goodies, giggling with the girls while my family was home slaving away on MY house! Luckily, they claimed to be having fun together and didn't seem to hold it against me. They showed up to help finish the HUGE task yesterday early in the morning. I did make everyone homemade pizza for lunch to show my appreciation yesterday, so maybe they will know that I'm sooooooo grateful for all they do for us!

TAGGED!

Amy Thompson tagged me! Who will I tag? Read on...

Four TV Shows I Watch:
1. General Hospital (I know, pathetic, but I'm addicted)
2. Lipstick Jungle (Watch it so they won't cancel!!)
3. Brothers & Sisters (The only family more dysfunctional than your own!)
4. Sponge Bob (My kids and husband LOVE it...I'm dealing)

Four Favorite Restaurants:
1. Olive Garden
2. PF Changs
3. Bubba Gumps
4. Kneaders

Four Things That Happened Yesterday:
1. Spent Time Learning About Investments and Life Insurance
2. Finished my midterm grades.
3. Kissed and hugged my girls.
4. Folded tons of laundry :(

Four Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1. Family Pictures with Miss Kayla Evans
2. The end of the week
3. A smaller size
4. Spinning

Four Things On My Wish List:
1. Health for my family
2. More time to read and sleep
3. My students will rise to their potential
4. A laundress!!

Four Things I'm Grateful For:
1. My husband and girls
2. My family
3. My friends
4. My Life!

Four People To Tag:
1. Sarah Jo (my blogstalking best friend)
2. Audrey (the gifted goddess)
3. Robyn (get a blog already)
4. Lorraine (you're always sending me these things!!)

Mike the Builder

My husband and I are in the midst of finishing our third home...and this will be the last time we build. It has been the never ending project. The inside is pretty much done, but the outside has taken forever!! Michael was the general contractor, and I was over the draws. He has put in hours and hours of work, and I know that I am not an easy gal to work for! This time around, he made me help prep, paint, sand, etc. and it was NOT my favorite. He likes to have projects and would probably build 10 more houses if I'd let him...but this is IT! Several of my friends and family who live away have asked me to send them pictures...so here is my effort.

The outside is James Hardy siding, which is NOT maintenance free.Michael really liked it and wanted to use it. He did all of the siding himself and will now paint it himself. We are testing colors and waiting for the weather to cooperate. It snowed yesterday. :(

I will post another picture when and IF we ever get the outside done...

This is the entry and the living room when you walk in the front door.

I obviously love yellow. If there ever were a happy color, yellow would be it. I wanted the sunny color to flood my home, and maybe it would positively influence our family...
Michael does live with 3 girls and having them happy is key.
If you turn to the right when you walk in you will go down a short hallway to our bedroom...

I love our doors!! I begged Michael for them and also whined until he cut out the windows above. He is the BEST! He likes them too, but he just didn't see what was so important about these doors in my mind. They remind me of older homes, and I just fell in love with them.

Anyway, the pics below are a few of our room. Again, another shade of yellow. Michael thinks I went a bit crazy with all of the shades of yellow, I may have...but I had yellow on the brain I guess. I have an armoire on the wall facing the bed and then we have built in cabinets in the area between the walk in closet and master bath in lieu of dressers.

This is a pic of the master bathroom. There is a soaker tub opposite the vanity and the toilet is in it's own little room. I really like our bathroom because we both have lots of room to get ready and I love my little vanity area! I sit there and primp and the girls primp, it's a useful area!!

From the entry, you enter the living room. It is kind of combined

with the kitchen, so we have a really nice big open space there for our family to spend time together, or to entertain our friends.

Kitchen...we have a dining room to the right of the bar area (looking at the above pic), but I couldn't get a good picture because of the large window. I'll put one up later because I LOVE the braided rug I bought to put under the table. It has all of the colors I've used to decorate and it really pulls the whole area together. I got it at a pretty decent price at Country Furniture & Gifts located at Gardner Village in Utah. Check it out ...http://www.gardnervillage.com/shops/index.php?ID=25 There are a ton of fun shops there and it is amazing during Halloween!! We are headed there this weekend to celebrate Wee Witches Weekend.

Kent VanOrden did my cabinets, and I think he did an amazing job! His shop did the oatmealish color custom for me. I choose the granite to pull it together with the contrasting black. Let me tell you how awesome distressed cabinets are. Your kids beat them up and it looks intentional! Although, the black can be a challenge...

The pic on the left is of our guest bath across from the kitchen. I LOVE my sink! I got it at Home Again in Utah. (A furniture store that is so fun ~ you need to go!) A friend from high school owns it, and I wish I could buy nearly everything there! She has used and refurbished pieces, new pieces, unique pieces, great accessories. It's right around the corner from Gardner Village. If you are interested, let me know and I'll get you the info. Anyway, I also put marble in this bathroom. I got it on a sweet closeout sale. I bought it and when I showed people, they thought I was nuts. Every piece is different and it is unique and fun.

Yep, I have red cabinets in my extra bath and laundry room. Not so shocking these days, a lot of people are doing them now. I can't say enough good things about my cabinets!! I can't really believe I'm displaying my laundry area as it is always cluttered. But, it is highly functional and those bins on the end hide a LOT of dirty laundry! I HATE laundry...it's my worst thing.
I want a laundress ~

Opposite from the washer and dryer is another bank of cabinets. There are benches, hooks for coats and bags, cubbies for shoes, and baskets that I put the laundry in so that each family member can put it away. I've never had a fully functional laundry room, so this is sweet!

There is one more room upstairs, the office. It is the room in which I sit now as I type. It has a ton of storage and is always the catch all room. I refuse to show you my disgraceful messes!! So, imagine instead a wonderful office that is clean organized, and doesn't have a stack of bills sitting atop a cluttered desk

The girls live downstairs...in the dungeon. DUM,DUM, DUM. Just kidding. It's a happy place too. You guessed! It's yellow ~ but pale yellow!! Michael fails to recognize the difference in my yellows. I'll post pics of the family room later because I'm doing a few things to it right now and am sick of posting pictures tonight.

First, the room of 4 year old Abbylicious, aka, Little Miss Drama:

Can you guess what her favorite color is? Yeppers! PURPLE! Sorry, the second pic is dark. Her Grandma Wendy painted on her wall for her and she LOVES it. The little door under the "tree" is a little playhouse under the stairs. It is great for stashing all of her babies, play food, princess outfits, and whatever else she hides in there! She also has an antique vanity dressing table that matches the dresser from the picture. You know? With a huge old mirror? She sits there and pretends to get ready for a concert and then, just like that, she's Abby Alabama (like Hannah Montana). She sings in the mirror and struts around her room. She's full of something for sure.

Olivia told me when she was 5 that she wanted a Paris bedroom. I don't even know where she discovered her love of Paris, but when I found this bedding at Bombay Kids (now out of business ~ BOO HOO!) I had to get it for her. I painted things on her walls that are displayed on the bedding. The fun black toy box/bench is from Home Again, and the bed and dresser are antiques that we refinished. Oooo La La!

Abby's bedding is from Bombay Kids too. They had the cutest stuff. Still not over it obviously. There's always eBay...

I already put some pictures up of the girl's bathroom...

So this is the quick tour of my house. We are FAR from unpacked! The garage and extra room downstairs are full of rubber containers that need to be sorted. Plan on attending a HUGE garage sale next summer!

To Disney...and BEYOND

After years of procrastination, we finally took the girls to Disneyland. While Disneyland/California Adventure was the ultimate reason for the trip, we decided to throw in a few other stops. We went over harvest vacation, which is the PERFECT time to visit Cali because there are no lines and few crowds. We debated for awhile about whether we should drive or fly. With gas prices the way they have been, flying turned out to be more economical (the family car is an SUV ~ loves to drink the gas). I have to admit that 12 to 14 hours in the car was not appealing to me on any level, so finding a sweet deal on plane tickets made my week!

It was the girls first trip on a plane and they were pumped!! The flight was under two hours and then we got in the rental car and took off for LA! We were NOT impressed with the smog...but we did find the American Girl store at The Grove, and it was every little girl's dream! We ate a delightful lunch at the American Girl Cafe and the girls bought dolls (with their own $$ I may add:). The dolls pictures are not the ones they bought, but are the dolls that greeted them and ate lunch with them at the cafe. (Yes, around every turn is a ploy to ensure you do not leave the place without one of the dolls.)

It was quite the experience for Olivia. She has been reading all of the American Girl books and Jolly Ole' St. Nick was kind enough to honor her request and bring her the entire set of mini dolls last Christmas. Needless to say, she was in her own personal heaven. She has a job cleaning the office where her dad works, so she had saved her paychecks so that she could purchase Ruthie. We were proud of her for having a goal and working to achieve it. (Michael really just thought that the dolls were insanely expensive...but he was proud ~ and relieved ~ that she saved up.)

Abby loves dolls of any kind. Her Aunt Sarah had passed down her Molly and Bitty Baby to Abby, so she has a couple to love. However, she was NOT leaving that store without a doll. We tried to calmly explain that one doll like the one Olivia had saved for would take ALL of the money Abby had saved. She finally settled on one half of a twin bitty baby set...an adorable little baby boy that she named Cooper (after her cousin Ike Cooper).

It was fun, but I think Michael was ready to leave! He was a wonderful sport!





That night we went to Newport Beach so that the girls could see the ocean. It was a beautiful night, so the girls put on their suits because they hoped to hop in the water when we arrived. We left the hotel without jackets and drove the 8 miles to the coast. It was so COLD! However, we were not about to let that ruin our experience.

The next day we hit Universal Studios. Michael liked this much better than American Girl, I'm not sure why ;). There we met the Simpson's, SpongeBob and Friends, Curious George, Jaws, Shrek, The MUMMY, and much more! We also got to take a ride down Wisteria Lane (I don't watch Desperate Housewives, but hey, I've now seen where they "live"), we saw the real Mystery Machine, and drove through the plane crash from The War of the Worlds among other things. It was a fun filled day! When Michael and Livvy ditched us to ride The MUMMY,

Abby found something fun to do...

Day Three was Day One of DISNEYLAND!!!

Olivia was this happy...funny huh?

Of course the first character we HAD to meet was Liv's all time FAVORITE...Minnie Mouse! Minnie and all of her friends were all decked out for HALLOWEEN TIME at Disneyland. We met a lot of characters, princesses,and heroes. The girls loved getting their autographs and pics.

Our next stop was at THE MAD HATTER...

I LOVE Alice in Wonderland! I LOVE hats!

Obviously, Michael LOVED the Tea Cups :)

We had a TON of fun at Disneyland. It wasn't too busy, it was hot, but not HOT, and all of the food and drinks were cheap (not). It was so fun to watch the girls experience everything. They got soooooooo excited about everything. I took a ton of pictures. Of course, we couldn't go on EVERY ride, but we hit all of the major ones and all of the ones that the girls longed to ride, but our favorite was Splash Mountain. It was the only one we hit twice.

This was the second time...just before we left to get on the plane. The two tall, German men in front and our family (you can see Abby's leg...) ensured a DRENCH factor! Abby thought it was very funny to get wet and hear us all scream. she LOVES this picture because she says we look like a real family with the same mouths. She was a bit upset that her matching mouth was not visible, but assures me that it looked the same because she got, "a biiiigggg drink."

The next day we went to California Adventure. But first, we hit Club Libby Lu for make overs in Downtown Disney. Liv and Abby choose to be rock stars. They got Rockin' hairstyles (I can't believe I PAID someone to do this), make-up and nails done, accessories, a dog in a purse, AND a ton of glitter!

I thought it would be fun to get pictures of the girls in front of the first letters in their names outside of California Adventure.

O for Olivia...

and O for Abby? We could NOT convince our headstrong child that candy corn was a substitute A.

Then we were off! roller coasters, The Tower of Terror, It's a Bug's Life, Monster's Inc., a thrilling white water rafting ride, and Olivia got to talk to Crush! It was fun FuN, FUN! We stayed until it closed at 6 and then headed back to Disneyland for more FUN! We hit the Indiana Jones ride, Pirates, a few others, and saw the parade on our way to It's a Small World. However, when we arrived at the gates of It's a Small World, it was closed for repair. Apparently we Americans have gotten so chubby that the poor little boats can't hold us anymore! It will now have bigger boats and deeper water to ensure safe passage for heavy tourists. Abby was crushed; we were relieved! That song would play in my head for days if I'd been forced to ride in the little boats, plus...we'd had a lot of fast food that week!

The fifth day was our last. We went back to Disneyland to buy souvenirs. We'd made the girls wait to make sure they would know exactly what they'd want to buy. Abby chose a baby Minnie Mouse and Livvy chose a Nightmare Before Christmas bag.

After a quick trip to Endor (Star Tours Ride), Space Mountain, and Splash Mountain again...the last minute purchases were made, Mom took a few more pictures, and Dad promised he'd bring the girls back someday.

I feel so blessed to have two adorable, sweet daughters. I thank God each day for trusting me to raise them. I am also the luckiest girl on earth to have Michael as my husband. He loves to spoil his girls...and that especially includes me. He is a wonderful husband and father. Spending time as a family reminds me just how blessed I am.

I love you guys!!!