Woo Hoo!

Ella got 100% on her Chinese spelling test. You can ask any parent who has a child in the Chinese program, and they will all tell you it is very difficult to study for this test.
Nice job Ella!

What I've always wanted

I remember working at Stampin' Up! and talking with some of my co-workers about how awesome it would be if we had an indoor spray-paint booth in our homes. Well, guess what! I have one! It's true. Tyler built me one out of scraps of our plastic & some PVC piping. We already had a blower, and a hole in our basement, so it didn't cost very much to make at all. I used it tonight. It was wonderful. No dirt blew onto my project. It wasn't cold & windy. Best of all, there were no stinky fumes in my house! Hooray for Tyler & Hooray for homemade indoor spray paint booths!

Ella was not impressed

I didn't spend weeks preparing awesome April Fools Day jokes like I have in the past, but I thought the few that I came up with at the last minute were pretty funny. Ella was not impressed by them. It's hard to find a joke to play on Ella. She doesn't like crazy surprises.
Yesterday morning while making her lunch, I emptied out a bag of fruit snacks. I replaced them with a cookie, some jelly beans, and a small toy, then re-sealed the bag to look like new. I figured since she likes all of the above more than fruit snacks, that it would be a funny and happy surprise for her. I was wrong. She was not happy about it. When she expects fruit snacks... she wants fruit snacks. It totally threw her off. Lily on the other hand was quite pleased with what she found in her pack of fruit snacks.

Lily: Oh my! These are not fruit snacks.

Before Ella left for school I showed her the Easter dress I had bought for her. Little did she know, that the Easter dress came with a mini replica for her doll. When Ella returned home from school I showed her the replica and told her that I had accidentally shrunk her dress. Without hesitation, she replied: “umm mom, that's a doll dress.”

In the years past I've tried switching beds with my kids, but that too backfired. I just ended up with crying kids for the rest of the night.

If anyone has any good jokes I can play on Ella next year. Let me know! She's a tough one to trick.

3 year olds are the best

I love all the funny things 3 year old kids say.

Me: Bye, I'm going to my meeting.
Lily: Bye mom. Have fun! Try not to pee in your pants.

Sometimes it's hard to understand Lily. Here's a guide if you find yourself in a conversation with her but you have no clue what she's talking about.

Wizzywand = Disneyland
Cupscups = Catsup
Barking bot = Parking spot
when I was a widdo mommy = When I'm a mommy I plan to...
eee-wear = underwear
bybearbee = library

Scrapbook Expo

We sold our stamps at the Scrapbook Expo over the weekend. Lily came with us to help set up. She had the time of her life carrying in boxes, putting decorations on our back wall, and riding her scooter around. She was a fantastic little helper. My mom & Trisha watched our kids during the actual show. My cousins Brooke & Heather came for a few hours each to help us sell our merchandise. Although the show was ridiculously long (ending at Midnight) we had a great time.

Freak out

Me: Who's going to sleep all night?
Ty & Ella: Me.
Lily: Not me.
Me: Why not Lily?
Lily: Because I'm going to freak out in the night.
Ty: Why? How are you going to freak out?
Lily: Really loud. I'm going to freak out really loud tonight.

At least she's honest.

St. Patricks Day'

Despite my telling Ella last year that Leprechauns are pretend, she has been looking forward to finding one all year. She was thrilled when she woke up on Thursday to find prints through out the house. The leprechaun had brought her and Lily a little golden key that does magic things. For example, it's supposed to help Ella do her homework calmly each night. (If I'm already lying about a leprechaun, I might as well lie about a magic key. Right?)

Lily celebrated St. Patrick's day by painting our kitchen table green. Luckily for me, it came off... well, most of it.

We finished off the day with Green pancakes, and Green smoothies.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

3 parties in one day

First, my friend Wendy's son was baptized, followed by a luncheon at her house, then there was a baby shower celebration for my cousin Marcie, then off to a dinner making party at Susan's house.
It was a fun day... for me... I have to tell Tyler thanks for working hard all day while simultaneously watching the kids so I could have a day off. Thank you Tyler!

horses have wings

Lily: What? Horses have wings? Do they mom?
Me: No... they only have wings in Barbie movies. Real horses don't have wings.
Lily: But the baby monkey that is growing in my tummy has wings. Does it mom?
Me: huh?
Lily: I think the baby monkey that is growing in my tummy has wings, and the elephant too.

We've Been Busy

We've been busy lately. Tyler's been busy working & getting our taxes ready for the accountant. (I think with all our businesses & freelance projects, we spend way more time getting taxes ready than a normal family spends actually doing their taxes. Thank goodness we hire our taxes out. I can't imagine how long it would actually take us to do our own taxes.)

I've been busy designing new products & trying to figure out how to make more time in our lives for all of the enjoyable things.

Ella’s been busy with school her Chinese class. Just recently her teacher has started giving Chinese spelling tests to the students. It's a lot of work for all of us.

Lily is the busiest of all though. She's been busy building her interior design portfolio. You can see her work throughout our entire house.


She's also been busy cooking & trying new recipes. One of her favorites was “Pepperoni-Mint -Chocolate-Chip-Ice Cream” She ate it all, and wanted more.

She spends most of her time dancing. It doesn't matter if any music is playing or not. She dances. She dances while she eats, she dances while she decorates the house, She dances while she cooks, she dances at the store.

She’s multi-talented, she has a lot of energy, and she’s for hire. For only a few pennies a day, she’ll entertain you while simultaneously decorating your home. She can also make an awesome Raspberry-chocolate-milk-lemonade to quench your thirst. Let me know if you’re interested!

A Valentine Family Tradition

Since I was small, I've always loved Valentines Day. Even more than Christmas. You might think it's weird for a young kid to love Valentines Day so much, but my family had a very fun tradition. Each year my moms brothers & sisters would leave elaborate Valentine gifts on our doorstep. In return we also spent months preparing & making over-the-top Valentine gifts for them. It was fun to sneak around their doors, spending several minutes setting up an adorable display, then hiding so we wouldn't be caught after ringing their doorbell. I remember having all our Valentines we got set up on the kitchen counter and admiring the beautiful sparkly pieces of art for several days after wards. Each valentine was very clever with a lot of detail.

Our family has carried on the tradition. All though our Valentines to one another aren't as elaborate as I remember them being growing up (at least the Valentines we give out). It's still a fun tradition. I hope to be able to make more time next year for this fun tradition. Thanks Mom, Trisha, & Call Family for the cute gifts. We love them.

Why you should think twice before commiting to a major tradeshow

Tyler asked me what I wanted for Valentines day.

Truthfully, all I want is a day to do laundry, clean the house, do some dishes, give my kids a much needed bath, read to them, run errands, unpack from our trip to California (I know... we've been home for two weeks, but our suitcases are still left untouched.) Take Lily to the Library (she begs to go there several times a day), take Lily to dance class, cook dinner. Well at least try to cook, we all no I'm not a cook, but it would be nice to eat something other than hot dogs, crackers, & raw vegetables for every meal. Maybe we could even squeeze in a little time to make & deliver some valentines to family members?

So that's what I'm going to do. My valentines gift is to be a stay-at-home mom for a day. Well, at least until I put my kids to bed that night, then it's back to work. I have to say that I'm honestly looking forward to all the work that goes into being a good mom tomorrow. Thanks Tyler!

Don't ever sign up for a major trade show while you have young kids to care for, unless you have enough money to hire help.
That advice is my Valentines Gift to all of you. Happy Valentines Day!