A Perfect Day for a Parade!

I have to say I'm usually not a big fan of parades. When someone says parade I usually think of way hot weather, Salt Water Taffy melted all over everything, and BIG crowds. I have to say though that today we went to our city's parade and it was perfect. It was a little over cast so it wasn't to hot. And, for the first time in my life that I can remember we actually got my dad to come to the parade also. My mom came too, but we can usually talk her into things easier than we can my dad.

We had a great time and even managed to haul our butt's out of there before the water parade began, except for my daughter and hubby who wanted to get wet!

Here are the kiddos before the parade.

My kids and their cute cousins.


Just the girls (in their designer t-shirts).

Waiting sooooo patiently for someone to throw them some candy.

Sorry it's so blurry (anyone know how to fix that in photo shop?), but it's still a cute picture of my Dad and the little guy!

He's so excited that he caught a stuffed animal!

Love this picture!

Here they are after the parade showing off all their goodies!


The 4th of July pennant garland that I made last year!

Gotta love it when you find cute fabric and Wal Mart!

I think ladder back chairs make anything look cute!

This is the cute little pillow that I won last year from Amber over at the Mcillece spot.

I hope everyone is enjoying their 4th of July. Especially all those who have sacrificed so much for out freedom, THANK YOU!!!

It's a boy!

Found out yesterday that we get to add a baby boy to the family!!!

4th of July T-Shirt Tutorial

I was cutting it close on making this shirt with the 4th being right around the corner. I don't know why it put it off, once I get sewing I realize what a quick and easy project it is. It was so fun to put together that I even made one for my two nieces. Just in case your wondering how it washes up, it washes up great. My daughter is still wearing the one I made her for Valentines day, and it still looks great, I put it in the dryer and everything.

Pick out 3 of your favorite 4th of July prints. These happen to be from the Zippity Doo Dah collection by Moda.

This is the star pattern I used, but just Google star clip art and you'll find lotsFirst you will want to trace three stars onto the paper side of some Wonder Under.

Then iron a piece of fabric a little bigger than the star onto the fusible side of the Wonder Under. Then cut out the star. Do this with all three fabrics.

Peel off the wonder under and place them on the shirt where you want them and iron them down.

This isn't the greatest picture but I like to sew around the stars with stitch #22. It does a good job holding the star in place after many washings.

Start sewing. When your done sewing around the star, there should be two threads on the back and two threads on the top. I tie the two on top in a know then clip and the two in back in a knot and then clip.

And waa laa your finished. A super easy and cheap (I bought a $3 dollar shirt from Wal-Mart) and cute 4th of July Shirt.

I'm feeling a little jealous!

Ok, so yes I am a little jealous, but mostly I am way excited for my sister n' law and brother n' law. They are just days away from owning this beautiful house. They live in Nevada and bought this home at a incredible price, not only that but they offered 1,500.00 for all the decor and furnishings (it was a model home) and their offer was accepted, seriously, how would it be!

So, I thought I'd take you all on a tour!

Front Porch

Entrance way (I love this staircase)

Upstairs

This will be one of their kids bedrooms. Too bad they have triplet girls and both rooms are decorated for boys. Hmmm........I know someone with two boys and possibly one on the way!

This is their media room / guest bedroom.

Master Bedroom

(I love how the decorator created the look of a headboard with the paint pictures and decorative molding)

Downstairs - Formal dining room

Laundry room

Family room

Kitchen (Who wouldn't love cooking in a kitchen like this?)

Congrats Linda and Jason! Your soon to be home is gorgeous. I'd give you a house warming gift, but well, I think it's already pretty much perfect!

Rainy Days of Summer!!!

You'd think we lived in Oregon or something, but it has rained here in Utah almost everyday since the kids got out of school. I actually like the rain, but the kids are so sick of being stuck inside!

Somehow it seems ok on rainy days to sit and watch cartoons with the kids in the morning and not worry about getting up and getting the house cleaned. I don't even feel guilty about letting the little guy sit in my basket of clean laundry that needs to be folded.

I even made chili for dinner, not really a normal summer dinner, but it works for rainy days like these.

The best part of the day is always rocking this guy to sleep. I know, he's probably getting a little old for this, but I don't care. It's my favorite part of being a mom, and I'll keep it up as long as he'll let me.

I did spoil myself the other day and buy this green and black piture for my kitchen. I'm not feeling too guilty about it either. Now it just needs a little something else!

I actually dusted off the sewing machine and have been doing some sewing also. Hopefully I'll have a couple projects done to blog about next week!

All in all it's been a good start to a summer vacation. I was dissapointed yesterday when I couldn't take the kids to the park for playgroup. The park is soooooooo much better than Mc Donalds. I'm finally starting to feel the baby move, that always makes the first trimester of nausea worth it all, I should find out in a couple weeks weither it's a girl or boy!

Hope you all are having a great summer!

I'm feeling spoiled!!!

I'm kicking myself for not taking before pictures. Then you would have seen how truly hideous my bathroom floor and laundry hallway floor really was. Trust me, they were bad, not only were they ugly linoleum, but I was really worried we would have to replace the sub floor because my kids had drenched the floor so many times will bath water.

Luckily for me I have one handy dad and brother n'law. They had

some left over tile from their business and offered to come and

tile for me.

This tile is something I would have never chose, but I love it. No, my bathroom is not always this clean (rarely, to be honest). I snapped a quick picture the moment I was finished cleaning it. So now here is my question, I'd really like to paint these cabinets similar to what we did with my kitchen cabinets, but what color???

Here is my laundry hallway. They even put a little lip/ledge, just in case my washer leaked, oh and a drain underneath. I love that this tile hides EVERYTHING, if I had the money, I'd tile my entire house in it.


Soooo, if you get a minute, give me an idea on what color to paint those very pretty bathroom cabinets. Now I'm off to watch So you think you can dance. Is it just me or is the blond woman judge really mean this season?

Our Family Trip to Nevada!

It started out great, the kids slept (for about 1 out of the 7 hours of the drive).

The next day they took us out to eat and the kids had a great time in their mini bowling alley.

And the little guy got some driving practice!



They let us play on their Wii fit. I know this is a bad picture, and that's exactly how I like it.



They took us swimming at their community pool.

My very white Utah legs, and I'm not telling ya which are mine.

Monday we went and visited Hoover Dam. My husband being a Civil Engineer REALLY wanted to go here.

The MASSIVE bridge that they are building.

The family!!!

Who knew they had my FAVORITE Ice Cream in Las Vegas. I shouldn't even call it ice cream because it's soooooooooo much better. Nelson's Frozen Custard......heaven!!! And to make things even better we went to Cafe Rio before this!

My Sister and Brother n' law's beautiful triplets!l

My beautiful kids (carried in my belly one at a time, thank goodness).

My daughter wanted me to get a picture of the palm trees in St. George.

The clouds on the way home. I love when it's raining and thundering outside, and we are safe and sound all together in our home or car!

We had such a wonderful time. Thank you Linda and Jason for spoiling us with your incredible cooking and fun activities.