Winner

I put everyone in the contest who posted a comment or who commented in Facebook. The winner is Susannah. I will be mailing her my “Celebrate Today” stamp set (unless you want a different one, just let me know!)

Messy Meals

I’m glad Lily is self sufficient and insists on feeding herself... but it can get pretty messy.

Leprechauns have sharp dolphin teeth

Many of you know that Ella has difficulties in large groups. She cried almost the entire 2 hours of her birthday party last year. In an effort to get Ella used to larger groups (hopefully in time for Kindergarten.) I’ve decided to have a series of “Mini-Parties” for her. The parties will only last 1 hour, and we will invite a limited number of kids each time. Yesterday we had our first Mini-Party. Ella invited her preschool class over to go on a Leprechaun treasure hunt. We read a St. Patrick’s Day book, colored some pictures, ate green snacks, then it was time to look for the clues. Unfortunately the little guy was way too fast for us to catch him, but he did leave the kids a treasure before he ran off. I think the kids all had a great time. Searching for clues was the highlight of the party. The kids were also excited to share their knowledge of Leprechauns, for example, did you know that they have sharp dolphin teeth? I’m happy to say that Ella did very well at this party, and is getting ready to invite her cousins to an Easter Egg hunt next month.

Win a stamp set on this blog too!

My post below is kind of confusing. (Sometimes I don’t make much sense) I blame it on my lack of sleep. I meant to say that you can visit my other blog to try and win a stamp set, but seeing that I already have over 160 commenter’s on that post trying to win those stamps, and another 2 days to go, I’ll host another contest on this blog for friends, family, & etc. To win, just visit my website: http://www.mycutestamps.com look at my stamps, and leave a comment below to let me know which your favorite set is. (You can leave a comment on this post, or the post below this one). The contest will end this Sunday at Midnight. I’ll pick a winner randomly (probably from a jar) on Monday morning... but I may not post the winner until Tuesday. I will mail the winner a stamp set of their choice. Isn’t the card above cute? My sister Emily made it using my new “Eeek! A Monster” stamp set. Oh, and be sure to let your stamping friends know about my stamps!

Win

I'm giving away a free stamp set to a random commenter on my other blog. Enter if you'd like!

Boring Toys

Scenario: Ella, Lily, & I waiting in the car for Tyler while he runs into the bank to deposit a check.
Ella: Why is dad taking so long? He’s been in there forever!
(a minute later.)
Ella: I bet him [he] stopped to play with the toys.
Me: You think he is in there playing with toys?
Ella: Yep, I played with them one time. They were boring, but I still played with them.
(as Tyler is walking out the door towards the car.)
Ella: Yep, I can tell he’s been playing with the toys. He looks all bored.

Tasty Kitchen Trail Mix

Tasty Kitchen Trail Mix
from the kitchen of Lily Jones

Using a clean kitchen floor,
mix or drop 1/2 cup of everything from breakfast.
Throughout the day, add several snacks including cereal, dried fruits, & raisins. Moisten each Cheerio in your mouth before adding to mix.
When your finished eating your spagettios or ravioli for lunch, throw the remnants directly onto the floor.
Add splashes of juice & milk (for taste).
Let dry for several hours.
Make sure to scoot your mix into the middle of any walking areas so that everything gets mashed together real good.

Enjoy this easily accessible snack anytime of the day. Mix is especially yummy when mom sweeps it up, and leaves it in a dustpan while taking important phone calls.

Vote for Lily Noel

Our local newspaper is having a baby contest. Vote for Lily here. If you have a baby too, you can enter for next months contest, and I'll vote for your baby in return. You can vote once a day. Thanks for all your votes!

Family pictures

I told my cousin Courtney that Tyler and I hadn't had a professional photo taken of ourselves since our wedding day... but I forgot about this picture that was taken at the Stampin' Up! summer party one year. Tyler dis-agrees with the fact that I called the photo above professional. Do you like how the photographer made Tyler hold a pitch fork? When Courtney offered her $75 photo session, I thought it was a great deal, and although I was a little worried about how Ella's behavior would be during the photo shoot, I thought it was about time for a new family photo.



Luckily Ella didn't throw any temper tantrums, but she wasn't very cooperative either. Courtney did a great job despite the fact that Ella frowned and hid her face from the camera most of the time.

Ella finally smiled after we promised her a toy dinosaur from All-A-Dollar.
We will use Courtney's services again! Thanks Courtney!

Just for Dan

I have to admit I had a hard time with this one. I'm not very good at making things for guys. Just ask my brother or Tyler. I've tried, but somehow rhinestones & glitter make their way onto my projects no matter how hard I try to keep them off. I lived next to Dan while attending USU. He used to bring his guitar over everyday and make up songs about everyone. It was very entertaining. He also made his own shoes (out of bike tires) that he wore most days. I had quite a shoe collection at the time, but I have to admit, I was a little jealous of his. Last spring Tyler and I visited Dan and his family while we were in NYC (they live there... I'm jealous of that too!) We found out that his wife was not only very nice, but is an excellent photographer as well. I decided I could make some cool magnets with some of her great photography, but there were just too many great photos to choose from. Dan is a great picture taker as well (He even takes pictures with his kite). So I decided to make them a "Make your own bottle cap magnets kit" The kit includes 8 pre-glued magnet bottle caps, detailed instructions, and a non-toxic resin. This way, they can choose which photos they would like to make into magnets.
While in NY, we also met Hannah & Jane (their cute kids.) I was making Ella some new butterfly/fairy wings (her old ones are almost rags.) and I couldn't resist making a pair for each of them.

Along with matching "garden fairy" adjustable bracelets.

And of course, matching hair accessories.

Above is a picture of Ella getting ready to take off in her new wings. I hope Hannah & Jane have fun playing in their new wings as well.
Thanks for playing my game Dan. I'll put your package in the mail this week.

I think she knows

Almost exactly 2 years ago Tyler and I saw a cute playhouse at Cosco. It was the nicest playhouse we had ever seen for the price. There was only one left. We decided it would make a fun birthday present for Ella, so we bought it. Tyler went one night, bought it, & put it in our garage. We decided not to give it to Ella for her birthday that year however since we were planning to move soon, and it would be much easier to move in the box it came in (un-assembled.) Before Tyler had a chance to hide the playhouse, Ella (who has an eye for detail & a very keen memory.) Noticed the box with a small little drawing of the house & asked us about it. We played dumb like we didn't know what she was talking about & hid it quickly. We finally moved into the rental house we are currently living in. During the moving process we took precautions to make sure Ella didn't see the playhouse again. We've had the house 2 years now. Every now & then Ella asks about it, but as usual we play dumb. Shortly after Christmas this year Ella came to me upset.
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Ella: Mom, Santa forgot to bring me my playhouse.
Me: What are you talking about? What playhouse? (I seriously didn't know what she was talking about at this time, it had been almost a year since she had mentioned it.)
Ella: A playhouse that was in the garage at our old house. I saw it. It was in a box & dad will have to put it together. Is that so rude that Santa forgot to bring it to me? Maybe the Easter Bunny will bring it to me? Will you tell the Easter bunny to bring it since Santa forgot?
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The fact that Ella has seen the playhouse in our garage & is asking me to tell the Easter Bunny to bring it to her, makes me think that she knows that neither the Easter Bunny nor Santa are real. Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the feeling she knows, but she's playing along for my sake. She knows that Tyler and I are the ones bringing her gifts, and that we have fun saying they are from Santa & she doesn't want to spoil our fun.
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I've been so careful to hide the evidence. When she was only 2, I bought a different wrapping paper than our usual wrapping paper to wrap the gifts from Santa, because I knew that Ella (even at a young age) would notice if Santa used the same gift wrap & question it.
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I guess we'll just go on pretending there's an Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, & Santa Claus, and she'll go on pretending to believe.

This Weekend

We got to see Brian & April's new little baby boy. So cute!

We got our family pictures taken. Thanks Courtney!
Then took a stroll through Gateway.

We dropped Ella off at book club, and enjoyed dinner at Crown Burger.
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Ella got to go to Brielle's birthday party. She had a fantastic time!
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I went to meetings for church, worked a bit, then started on my next "just for you" craft.

We went to Nana's birthday party at Red Lobster (YUM!) While we were waiting for a table, Ella asked if she could draw something in Nana's birthday card. This (above) is my recreation of her drawing.
Tyler: Who is that?
Ella: My Nana.
Tyler: What is she holding?
Ella: a stick... a cane.

We were laughing, and hoping Tyler's mom wouldn't be offended by it.
Just so you know... She doesn't have a hunch back and she doesn't carry a cane. We are still wondering how she even knows what a cane is. (Ella's drawing was much cuter.)