We Heart Valentine's Day

Nothing says Valentine's Day at our house like homemade heart-shaped pizza and a colossal, creative mess due to Valentine's box imagineering. I will miss this when all of my kids are too old to want to make Valentine's boxes. Luckily we have a few more years in our box-making bank account.

Hooray for messes!!!!

Sunny's darling "Love Bug"

In the thick of it all! Beware Sunny is armed and dangerous with the glue gun.

Panda-rifically Perfect - Great job Beata.

Hank's Man Cave

Eight blankets, six pillows, four pillow pets, and 29 stuffed animals later, Hank declared that his "Man Cave" was ready for him to go to bed. Apparently, Hank feels this elaborate collection of warm and fuzzy items will serve as a protective talisman against all sorts of real and imagined dangers. Sorry Boogie Man you are out of luck - there is no way to penetrate the protective magic of the Man Cave.

So Proud of my Beautiful Daughter!

Once again Rin has achieved a 4.0, while taking harder classes as a sophomore than I did when I was a senior. Great work Poppy!!! While maintaining her amazing grades Rin has also been on the Red Cross Youth Leadership Council, the Utah Youth Philharmonic, the Bountiful High Swim Team, the Bountiful High Debate Team, the Viewmont girls lacrosse team, the unofficial Bountiful High Alta ski team :), and most importantly, acting as the "lead dog" on a dog sled team with four younger, excited smaller dogs watching her every move as our family moves along the "Iditarod" of life. Thanks for being so helpful and such a great example to everyone in our family. Love you. xoxoxoxoxoxo

Gingerbread memories :)

This year we didn't get around to making our gingerbread houses until Christmas Eve. I actually don't feel like Christmas is complete until I smell the tell tale aroma of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger filling every nook and cranny of my house. I must say that the results were more darling than ever this year, with each of the kids having their own house to let their creativity fly. To me, gingerbread houses represent everything I love most about Christmas - something homemade, something yummy, time spent together and a celebration of creativity and individuality. I know that it is January, but I just simply had to post a couple of photos of the 2011 creations. Enjoy!

I Love Surprises

Sometimes people surprise you in ways that you think they never will. For instance, my nephew, Matthew Edwards, recently married a darling girl who I just adore, Mary Beth Small. While I am still getting to know Mary Beth, one thing I know is that she is very athletic, way into sports and a bit of a "Tom Boy" - if that is still a term that people really use. However, on the morning of their wedding, Mary Beth emerged from the temple doors in an absolutely divine soft pink wedding dress - a color that evoked the just emerging pale, blush petals of the most tender early June peony. Frankly, this was unexpected, but applauded and admired by me. Mary Beth you have spunk and you could not have looked more beautiful on your wedding day. xo

I am Thankful for my Family!!!

Twins!

Twins!

Cute Siblings

Drooling over my delectable pies!

The snowmen and their creators.

Love this boy

Yep - "The Cat Came Back"

He's da Man

Great article about a great attitude of a great boy, ooops - Man. Way to go Matthew!

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/cougars/52970252-88/edwards-byu-matt-career.html.csp

Oh My Pie!

Thank you to Glenda McFarland for sharing her wonderful pie recipes. Tonight I made five pies (pecan, apple, pumpkin, coconut cream and chocolate cream), and one bundt cake (carmel - inspired by Minnie in "The Help"). There is something absolutely pleasurable about baking something that I know will be simply enjoyed by some of the the people that I love the most in this world. I believe that there is a little bit of the baker's spirit in each creation. My spirit tonight was full of gratitude and love as I mixed, chopped, whipped and rolled - hopefully, everyone will ingest a bit of that felicity with each slice. Happy Thanksgiving.

We Love Wreaths

Darling wreath made with variegated yarn and fun felt!

Sunny's wreath - she is so creative :)

Showering Mary Beth with Love & Family Traditions

Everyone loved tying ribbons from their gifts in Mary Beth's hair. She was a great sport!

What a wonderful group of women. There was just a great feeling of love and family tradition today at Mary Beth's shower. I love the Waggies and the Prices! Proud to be part of both families. It is exciting to continue adding new members to this crazy, wonderful brood.

No cuter girls in the world than these :)

We are missing Nicole!!!!! We are smiling, but crying on the inside.

A great family tradition - tying a wedding shower quilt. Becky and her girls did a great job of sewing this puppy up.

Happy Halloween!

The house is all dressed up - awaiting the arrival of goblins and ghouls.

Boo-Scat Halloween Cat

It is Halloween and the kids did not have school today. The official reason for this is so that the teachers can enter their 1st term grades in the school district grade book. But according to my kids, the real reason is so they can run around like wild banshees all day, eating candy, messing up the house and yes, even having a lemonade stand in the front yard. I tried hard to convince the kids that indeed, Halloween is NOT a national holiday, but they are not buying it. They have argued that it would be a great injustice if I made them do homework, work in the yard or practice their instruments. So far I won on the yard and instruments, but caved on the homework front. Two out of three is not bad. Trick or treating is still on the docket, so the night is young. I am including below three darling sites I found today.

www.ziggityzoom.com - great activities for young kids.

www.ohthelovelythings.blogspot.com - the name says it all.

www.themotherhuddle.com - a bunch of ladies' cute ideas, recipes, etc.

Pumpkin-Palooza!

We had a few families over tonight for pumpkin carving - great night. I absolutely love carving pumpkins - gutting them, using the little tiny saw-like knives, creatively channeling some inner demon/fantasy on the bright orange pumpkin flesh. This year my creation was a visual ode to Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go's, circa 1982. It turned out pretty good. Of course, this party is really just an excuse to eat and drink more fun, fall food/beverage - carmel apples, hot apple cider, toasted pumpkin seeds, hot cocoa and hot scones with homemade honey butter, which just reminds me of a billboard I drove by today that is in front of a gym in downtown Bountiful that said, "Beware, average holiday weight gain is 10 lbs. Get started today". Well, I am going to get started today, but not to get killer abs, buns o' steel or cut biceps. I am getting started with making great memories with my kids, enjoying fun experience and eating a donut whenever I darn-well please. Have a Boo-rific Halloween.

These girls look really intense!

Me and "Belinda" and Rin with what looks like to me is a Bush Baby :)

Don't know if you can tell, but Hank is in the giant pumpkin.

Steve and Hank's masterpiece.

The goofy goober crew.

Darling, Devilish Duo!

Beautiful girls.

No severed fingers or cut tendons - phew!