Paper wheel napkin rings!

For Young Womens we are doing a dinner for our bishopric and their wives and we were in charge of the centerpiece for the table. I decided it would be cute to do some cute little place cards for each member of the bishopric and his wife. Well, then I thought it would be cute to make them into napkin rings. So I am going to have the girls (my beehives) make these paper wheels into napkin rings for the dinner next week. Isn't it so cute? I think I have decided to use that decorative paper as a place mat for their dinner too. Super cheap and super cute!! I was pretty happy with the idea it all!!

This picture is not the finished product of the centerpiece or the layout of the table, but you can get an idea of what it will look like. I did the centerpiece colors according to each bishoprics wedding colors too. I will post pictures with it all finished when I get that done.

Mint oreo crunch cupcakes!

I have seen lots of oreo cupcakes and mint oreo desserts lately, but I decided to just experiment and make some chocolate cupcakes with some crumbled mint oreo cookies on top! They were so easy and turned out really good!!

"You're one of our favorite "chicks."

I saw this idea to get some "chick," peeps and put a tag on it that said "You're one of our favorite chicks," to use for the Young Women. I wasn't going to do it at first because the lady that did it bought the smaller packages of peeps for each girl and I did not have money to do that. So, I came up with a better solution that fit our needs. I decided to add a stick to each peep and wrap it in cellophane and tie the tag on. It was a lot cheaper this way too! I am so glad I did this. A huge thanks to http://lifedesigncraft.blogspot.com/2012/03/for-our-favorite-chicks-yw-easter-treat.html for the inspiration!!

Lemon crunch cupcakes ?

I made lemon cupcakes the other day but before that I was thinking it would be so good to make some kind of lemon crunch cupcakes. I looked on Pinterest to see if there was even such thing as a lemon crunch cupcake (because Pinterest has everything and it's my go to site these days to find what I need), but they did not have a lemon crunch cupcake on there. At least I couldn't find it. So I decided to make up my own recipe for it. I just used brown sugar flower and butter and a little bit of oats for the crunch part and put it on top of my cupcakes. I thought it was quite tasty. I also don't have the exact measurements because I just eyed it.

So, here is my version of a lemon crunch cupcake. I made one with frosting on top and one without. I think it tasted good both ways.

Flip flop refashion

I am in the process of making the girls Easter skirts. It's not going so well. For some reason, me and sewing do not understand each other. :) Maybe one day we will be able to communicate better. Problem is, I see all of these super cute things to sew and I think I am better at sewing than I really am. :) I just need to learn to be patient and start by practicing the small things first and then move my way up to the harder things.

So because I was frustrated at sewing and I needed to keep my brain from thinking too hard about the skirts, I decided that it would be really cute  to make the girls matching flip flops to go with their skirts. So I did. :)

Here is how Audrey's turned out. I don't have flip flops for Gracey yet, but I will get some and they will look the same. If I ever get these skirts done, I will post pictures of the girls with their skirt and flip flops.

Here's a before and after shot. Doesn't it look so much cuter? Audrey will be so happy to wake up to this! I can already predict her reaction and it's going to be great! I bought these flip flops last week and look how worn out they already are. She definitely loves her flip flops!

Here is what they look like all finished:

Spotlight of the week- Chrissy

Chrissy was the lucky winner for the spotlight of the week last week. There are so many things I can say about Chrissy. So here we go:

*Chrissy is incredibly incredibly smart! Seriously!
*Chrissy is soooooooo creative!!!
*Chrissy has a knack for making people feel better!!
*Chrissy is a confident person! I love that about her
*Chrissy is so kind
*Chrissy is so thoughtful
*Chrissy has such a strong testimony of the gospel. She served a mission in Florida and changed so many people's lives!
*Chrissy is always thinking about others and is always interested in others lives. She really cares!
*Chrissy is a great listener
*Chrissy has a great style.
*She is the best Mom!
*She always tries to find a way to make things positive.
*She is very understanding
*Chrissy is BEAUTIFUL!!! Really!
*Chrissy has a lot of energy and I love it!!!
*She can always help you with whatever problems you have. She is a great person to talk to when you need help with anything
*She is really funny!
*I love her motivation to learn anything!
*She always wants the best for others. She really does.
*She always has great ideas for anything!
*I can really confide in Chrissy.

That's just a few of them! lol!! Thanks for being who you are Chrissy! You have been such a great example and friend and sister to me! Thanks for always loving my girls too! Even if they are being monsters, you still manage to love them. I love that you get just as excited about the funny things that they do as I do. It really makes me so happy! We love you!!!!

Love,
Audrey and Lisa

Spotlight of the week- Gene

My Brother-in-law, Gene was the next spotlight of the week. I have known Gene since I was about 17 I think it was. That is when he met my sister Jamie. We are so grateful Gene became part of our family. I really love it when Gene is at our family parties. I really do. I was just saying to my family today how grateful I am for all of them, especially the brothers-in-law and sister-in-law. They all really bring so much to our families.

Just like my other brothers-in-law, Gene is a really smart guy. I especially love Gene's testimony of the gospel. I love that he is so strong in the church. I really do. There have been some things that have happened in our life recently and without Gene's faith, I don't think we would have been able to experience those things.

Thanks Gene for being who you are and for always being a great example to me! I know I can be kind of weird sometimes, but thanks for putting up with me! haha! We love you!

Spotlight catch up!

Okay, so first of the last three spotlights was my brother Mike. I really love my brother Mike! When I was little, maybe not so much! Haha! Just kidding. I only say that because Mike was the meanest to me out of all of my brothers. Seriously, he woke up one day (and I specifically remember this by the way) and was just so grumpy towards me and was annoyed at everything I did. Thank goodness that phase didn't last forever! haha! Since we have grown up, Mike really has stood up for me. He would not take it if somebody said bad things about or to me. He is always so happy to see me and the rest of our family. It makes me feel kind of special. :)

Mike really is such a great guy! He is such a great daddy, and husband to Melissa. He has taken full responsibility to take care of his family and would do anything for them. He really is so nice too. Anybody that meets him or knows him, knows that this is true!

I have seen a huge change in Mike since he met his wife Melissa and since they had their little boy. He has changed for the best! He was still a great guy before, but is even better now!!!

Love you Mike!!

Kid craft- Easter topiaries

So I saw this idea to make an Easter topiary. I decided it would be fun for the girls to make one too. I just bought mini pots at the dollar store (3 for $1.) and some sytrofoam balls at Walmart and some Jelly beans. The girls decided to take a different approach with them, but that's okay. I was okay with letting them doing it the way they wanted to do it. K, so mine isn't supposed to have the topiary ball at the bottom but I forgot to get some foam stuff to be able to keep the topiaries from falling and this was the best way I could come up with.

Anyways, the girls had fun making these and so did I. I think it would have looked cuter with more pastel colored jelly beans. Oh well!

Multi-tasking

I discovered the best way to be able to play and give my girls some attention and clean at the same time
Turn on music and dance!!! We turned on the radio and danced to a song. After that song was over we would hurry and clean up during the next song. Then, after that song was over we would dance again! So every other song we would clean up and the girls didn't fight me on it!!!! It was the best! I know it's hard trying to find time to play with your kids and wanting to get the house clean all at the same time. Most of the time I would let the cleaning wait, but this way we all have fun and we all get our chores done together!!! It's a win win situation!

That's my tip for the day!!! :)

Valentine marshmallow pops

I found this idea off pinterest to make Marshmallow pops and they had some really cute Valentine versions of them. Audrey decided she wanted to make these as her valentines for her friends at school. They turned out really cute.

Before we made them I decided that we needed something to put the marshmallow pops in. I took an empty pizza roll box and wrapped it up and tied a cute bow to it. Then I poked some holes in it and stored the pops in it! It was super easy and it looked super cute!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE! I HOPE YOU ALL GET TO SPEND IT WITH THE ONES YOU LOVE!  I GET TO SPEND MINE WITH MY CUTE LITTLE FAMILY!!! I LOVE THEM AND ALL OF YOU WHO ARE IN MY LIFE!

Young Womens lesson "Finding Joy now!" and handout!

I gave my lesson today in Young Womens and it was about "Finding joy now." While I was preparing this lesson I was trying to think of an object lesson I could do but I just can't think of creative things like that. So I asked my husband if he had any ideas and not more than a couple seconds after I told him what my lesson was all about, he came up with some awesome ideas. He really is so creative when it comes to thinking of things like that. I am going to ask him for ideas more often!

This is what I did. He told me to get an empty box or a basket of some sort with a lid and put it at the front of the class on the table. They had the choice to be quiet the whole lesson and sit there and do nothing and don't participate, and if they did that, then they got whatever was inside of the box....which was nothing but they didn't know that. They would have missed out on those opportunities that would have made them happy now. They would have missed out on the special moments we really shared during this lesson.

Or...I gave them the choice to participate during the lesson and each time they were taking time to say nice things to the other girls I rewarded them for it with M&M's. Each time they were taking time to enjoy the little moments I rewarded them for it.  If they had not participated in the lesson they really would have missed out on the opportunity to make one or all of the girls happy today.
The whole point of this lesson was to explain to them that they need not sit and wait for better things to come along. They should not sit and do nothing because they "can't wait," for bigger and better things to arise. If they did then they would miss out on opportunities to serve, opportunities to love and they wouldn't enjoy the moments now because they are too focused on, as I call them, the "I can't waits."

For example:

"I can't wait to get my license."
"I can't wait until I am in High School."
"I can't wait until I can date."

Those are awesome things to look forward to, but they will miss out on the moments that will help them find joy now and they will focus too much of their time worrying about the future. They will miss out on the little things right now that matter the most. One of my beehives was telling me that sometimes she will do something and she will focus so much of her time worrying about why she said or did things she wishes she wouldn't have done...but learned that she has missed out on so much by worrying about the past and not enjoying the moments now. Ditto to that!

I tied it all together and grabbed the empty box and said that if they just sit there and don't find opportunities to serve and focus too much on the "I can't waits," they will miss out on the ("What can I do now,?")  moments (M&M complimenting activity), the moments that will help them to find joy now.  Ultimately, they will get nothing for doing nothing.

I am so proud of my girls, they all participated in the lesson and that made me extremely happy. They all were enjoying the moment and were doing nice things and saying nice things to the other girls. You could see that they were truly enjoying the moment and I love it. One of my beehives told me she wanted to cry because of how happy it made her feel to hear the kind things the other girls were saying to her!

Here is what I did to give the girls the opportunity to serve and to enjoy the small moments:

In order for them to earn some M&M's I gave them opportunities to say and do nice things for each other. I grabbed a mirror (like the lesson suggested) and gave them a turn to look in the mirror and I asked one question per girl and the other girls,  if they chose to, had to answer that question about the girl that had the mirror at that moment. The questions I asked are as follows:

"What do you like most about the girl you see in the mirror?"
"What are the talents and blessings of the girl you see?"
"What do you want most for the girl you see?"


I am not sure if that even makes sense. I have a hard time explaining things sometimes. But it worked out so well with my girls and they all chose for themselves what they wanted to do during the lesson...they truly had the "Power to bring happiness into their lives," (D&C 58:27-28) at that moment......and they did!!!

I noticed the girls were eating conversation hearts on Wednesday so I knew they would love this treat for a handout. They were so excited about it!

Showing some love Day 11 and 12

I cannot believe Valentines Day is almost here. I have definitely enjoyed doing these fun little Valentines each day for Brandon and Audrey. I will do this for Gracey next year when she understands it better!

BRANDON VALENTINES DAY 11 AND 12

Day 11- I found a babysitter for the girls all day yesterday and originally it was supposed to be a surprise to him that we were going to have a whole day to ourselves, but I ended up telling him. He didn't really find out everything we were doing that day so it was still a surprise to him to find out what I had planned.

Day 12: "REDEEM THIS COUPON FOR A RELAXING NIGHT. I WILL TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING!"

AUDREY'S VALENTINE COUPONS:

DAY 11: SORRY, APPARENTLY I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE. IT SAID:

"GOOD FOR ONE FAMILY SLEEPOVER." She was able to choose who she wanted to have over for a sleepover one night. She chose her cousin Hazel.


DAY 12: She gets to have a gameday!!!

Showing some love day 9 and day 10

Brandon's Valentines:

Day 9

Day 10: Yeah I wasn't paying attention to the kind of rootbeer I bought, so the tag that I wrote out ahead of time doesn't really make sense with it. Oh well. We will pretend.

"I am in "AW," that you chose me!"~ Was supposed to be A&W rootbeer.

Audrey's Valentines coupons:

Showing some love day 7 and day 8

BRANDON'S VALENTINES:


Day 7: I got him a gift card to the movies and came up with the phrase,
" LET'S FANDANGO!!!"

Day 8: I gave him the gift card to Texas Roadhouse and said

"IT WILL BE A BIG "MISTEAK," IF YOU DON'T TAKE ME OUT TO DINNER!"

AUDREY'S VALENTINE COUPON:

DAY 7: I forgot to take a picture of her coupon. But her coupon said let's have a read-a-thon!
DAY 8: "YOU GET TO HAVE ONE EXTRA SPECIAL TREAT TODAY!"

LIVY VALENTINE COUPON!

She chose to do a craft and watch a movie while Audrey was at school!

Showing some love Day 6

BRANDON'S GIFT:

I got this idea from so many different blogs.

"YOU ARE ONE "HOT TAMALE."

AUDREY'S COUPON:
I am going to take her to redbox to have her pick out a movie of her choice tonight!!

Showing some love day 4 and day 5

 Brandon's treats:
DAY 4: I "CHEWS," YOU!!
DAY 5: "PHYSICAL ACTIVITY WILL DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE YOUR OUTLOOK TODAY!"--- A 20 MINUTE MASSAGE!!

Audrey's coupons:

DAY 4: GET OUT OF ONE CHORE FOR ONE DAY
DAY 5: YOU PICK DINNER TONIGHT!

Showing some love- Day 3

Here is what Brandon got today:

"I am "HEAD," over heels for you!!!!

I did warn Brandon ahead of time that everything he is getting is going to be corny. :) But I do have to say that I came up with this phrase all by myself. I didn't look it up. I am sure most of you would probably have come up with this phrase but I always get excited when I can come up with it on my own!! Oh and I know it's corny. Don't worry. :)

This is the coupon Audrey got today. You can't really see it but it says she gets one special outing just her and daddy. AFter an hour or so after she woke up this morning she was sneezing a ton and her nose keeps draining. Looks like her date will have to wait for another day!


I felt bad too because the other day when my niece was here I was cutting up these coupons while Audrey was at school and she was a little jealous that Audrey got these, so whenever she comes over I will have a little something for her too. The one I did for her today was she got to pick out a special treat and got to pick out which movie she wanted to watch today. She was pretty happy about it!! I love that little things like that, that don't cost a lot of many, if any at all, can please them! It's great!

Valentines- Heart cinnamon chips

I saw the idea of making cinnamon heart chips on a site somewhere and thought it would be fun to make with the girls. I have made cinnamon chips before with the tortilla's but in triangles. So we just made them into heart shapes. Let's just say, these chips did not last long...they never do.

For those that don't know how to make them all you do is take some tortillas spread with butter or butter cooking spray (which I used). Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, cut out your shape and spray more butter on top of them. Cook them in a 350 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes. That's it!!!

Valentine Advent day 2

Here is what they all got today for their little surprise:

Brandons:

"I "Donut," know how I got so lucky to have you as my husband."

Audrey's and Gracey's:

Audrey knew right away where I hid these. I guess I need to make it a little bit harder next time! They both LOVE these cups. I was going to make tags to go with these and say the traditional "You are sweet," and " I am glad you will "BE MINE," forever!!" Wish I had. Oh well.