Painted from Life

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Today is Mother's Day and it was a good one. :) The kids brought home some papers from primary today that talked about their mommy and what they think I like and what they like about me. I thought they were so cute! And knowing me and my lack of organizational skills, I decided I should type out the things they wrote so when I eventually lose these cute little papers, I'll still have the memory. So here is what they wrote about me:

EVAN

I love when my mother helps me.

I love my mother because she's nice.

My mother likes to make cakes.

My mother is happy when I do something good.

The funnest thing I ever did with my mother was her helping me.

My mother is sad when she doesn't see me.

The funnest thing I ever saw my mother do was go to a concert.

The color my mom likes best is a rainbow.

If I could give my mother anything I would give her a card.

The first thing my mother does when she wakes up is make breakfast.

I like when my mother when she wakes me up for me.

I like to draw for my mother.

My mother's favorite food is Potato Salad.

My mother does not like to eat olives on sandwiches.

My mother works at Frosted Fantasy Cakes.

The color of my mother's hair is blonde.

My mother is 78 years old.

My mothers shoe size is 50.

DALLIN

I love when my mother makes cookies.

I love my mother because she makes food.

My mother likes to watch me on computer.

My mother is happy when she had a baby boy.

The funniest thing I ever did with my mother was when she tickles me.

My mother is sad when she is hot.

The funniest thing I ever saw my mother do was tickle me.

The color my mom likes best is pink.

If I could give my mother anything I would give her a drink.

The first thing my mother does when she wakes up is hop.

I like when my mother makes pancakes for me.

I like to clean up for my mother.

My mother's favorite food is cereal.

My mother does not like to eat coffee.

My mother works at making cakes.

The color of my mother's hair is blonde.

My mother is 8 years old.

My mothers shoe size is 9.

MEGAN

I love when my mother makes me clean up.

I love my mother because she's my mommy.

My mother likes to do the dishes.

My mother is happy when she gives me a birthday dress.

The funniest thing I ever did with my mother was play 'ring around the rosy' fast.

My mother is sad when she falls.

The funniest thing I ever saw my mother do was tickle me.

The color my mom likes best is purple and pink.

If I could give my mother anything I would give her a hug.

The first thing my mother does when she wakes up is gets the blankie off.

I like when my mother makes a picture with dots for me.

I like to keep my brother safe for my mother.

My mother's favorite food is ice cream.

My mother does not like to eat garbage.

My mother works at home with Daddy.

The color of my mother's hair is black.

My mother is 5 years old.

My mothers shoe size is big.

And David was too little to do one. It was so fun to read them. I love the idea of it. It's a piece of their personality and thoughts that I can keep forever! So fun.

2009-05-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day Grandma Dastrup and Grandma Carbine!! We love you!

Catching up

2008-12-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

Wow. It has been a while since I posted. I am still here. I haven't had a computer for a while. But thanks to Willie and Britta and their wonderful Christmas present, we have a computer that works wonderfully and I can get back to life online.

I don't have any pictures to post. Although I should since it has been so long. My camera has stayed in the closet for the last few months. I have been very busy with cakes up until the beginning of December. I was lucky to have a break for a few weeks because I have had morning sickness pretty bad. Yes for those of you that don't know already I am pregnant. . . again. I'm not complaining I am happy to have another baby. I just really don't like being sick. Hopefully it will be over soon. I have some cakes coming up in the next couple of weeks and I need to be better.

My last cake that I did was a competition cake for The Grand Utah Wedding Cake Competition. I started getting the morning sickness halfway through that cake and I wasn't able to spend the time and effort on it that I would have liked. It turned out nice though and I entered the cake. I didn't win. I got an honorable mention though. It was a little disappointing after getting third place on a national level but you win some and you lose some. After that cake I have spent most of my time just trying not to get sick.

So, as for the pregnancy, I am about 10 weeks along now. Hoping that the end of the trimester is the end of the yuck. I have my first doctors appointment scheduled on New Year's Eve and my due date is July 17th. I'm hoping for a girl but I'll be happy with a boy too. Megan would be really happy to have a little sister. Even the boys think it should be a girl since Megan is so outnumbered. Besides, we have a name decided for a girl but not for a boy.

The kids are doing great. Evan has been so excited to know that there's a baby in mommy's tummy. He makes sure that he tells everybody. He's always asking when the baby is going to get here. He also can't stop talking about how BIG our family will be. Five kids! He asked me yesterday if we could have 18. I told him that that is physically impossible as far as I'm concerned.

Dalllin is the same as he's always been. Mischievous but loving. He's been sick for the past week. I think he's finally kicking it. It's about time. That little boy sure knows how to get sick. He's had croupe multiple times, pnemonia several times, RSV. . . you name it. He knows how to do sick.

Megan just moved into her own room. We decided that David is ready to move to a todler bed and Megan is ready to go downstairs. So, we made a cute little room downstairs next to the boys room. She loves her room and her bed. She's done really well downstairs too. I worried a little since she is only 3. But I think knowing that her brothers are there too makes her (and me) feel safe.

David is growing up too fast. I cut his hair yesterday and wanted to put it all back. He's got a little boy look and not a baby look. His favorite things to do are talk on the phone, eat, read books, and play with his brothers and sister. We haven't gotten him into the todler bed yet. We're waiting until I feel better so I can chase him down for that first week of him knowing he can get out of bed whenever he wants to.

Bobby is doing great. He's lined up to start classes at Utah State in a couple weeks. He's getting back to it, which I really am happy about. He's in St George right now. I guess some snow bunny wanted them to do some work in their winter home down there and he got picked to go. It's hard not having a husband around when you don't feel good. He'll be back tomorrow night though.

Wow, I could just about print that out and send it as a Christmas card letter. But I think I'm a little late for the cards. We missed last year too. Oh well, next year for sure. Right? If only it worked that way.

So, to all of you that read this, Merry Cristmas!! This is your "card".

Evan the Little Poet

2008-10-14T09:09:00.001-07:00

Evan was reading the label on a sock package and saw that there were six pairs of socks. He decided that he liked the sound of "six socks" and was inspired to write a poem. There is some misspelling but I thought it was really cute.

Translation for those that can't read it:

Six Socks

Six socks I have.
I wear them every day.
I am a camel.
Clever me.

My Little Girl

2008-10-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Last night Megan didn't want to go to bed when it was time. We sang a song and had family prayer, and then after hugs and kisses, all of the kids went and got in bed except for Megan. She insisted on telling me a story. So, I humored her by telling her that she could tell me a very short story. I'll tell the story the best that I can remember.

Once upon a time, there was a light bulb that fell and broke. Then there were two more lights. And then a giant came and ate them. Then the giant stepped on the house and smashed it. And there were dead people. Then the people ran away. And then the giant saw a fire and he got his feet in a fire and and he said "ow" and then he got dead. The end.

Where did that come from?? Shouldn't she be telling princess and fairy stories? Seriously! Giants and dead people. She's mostly such a girly girl. She loves pink and princess everything. Where that came from is beyond me.

My Cake World

2008-10-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted. My website and the competition and media have taken up all of my time. In fact, I shouldn't be posting right now either. I should be making a cake for the teachers at Evan's elementary school. But I really want to catch up.

Just a warning; If you've read Vilate's or Lexie's blogs, I apologize for the use of the same pictures. Vilate was the photographer on this trip.

So, for those of you that haven't heard, I went to Tulsa, OK in the end of September for the Grand National Wedding Cake Competition. I entered a cake entitled Love Letters.

The theme for the competition was, "The Language of Flowers". I had to pick flowers that had the meaning that I wanted the cake to portray and then design a cake around that flower and the meaning that went with it.

I chose magnolias and oak leaves. The magnolia symbolizes perseverance and the oak leaf means strength.

I originally wanted to use the title Steel Magnolias but due to copyright issues, I decided to name it "Love Letters". The cake ended up being a tribute to my grandparents. I was able to copy some excerpts of their love letters that they wrote while my grandpa was in WWII.

I absolutely loved these letters. My grandparents were so sweet and romantic. And they fit so perfectly with what I was trying to accomplish. (the letters are sugar)

This was my inspiration piece that I used to show what I was trying to accomplish with the cake. I used the patterns on this needlework for the cake. Vilate worked so hard to make this for me and I appreciate her help so much.

These are the judges. They had a hard job. There were some extremely beautiful cakes there. I actually watched while they judged my cake. How unnerving. I couldn't hear anything they were saying. They just pointed a lot and whispered and pointed some more.

They spent a lot of time talking about my magnolias. That's one thing I did understand that they were talking about since they pulled out a flower handbook. They talked about how the flowers open and the way the flowers were colored. It seemed like an eternity.

This was Kerry Vincent handing me the Third Place Award!! I still can't believe I accomplished something so huge as to be one of the top 5 in the nation. I am honored to be a part of such an amazing group of master cake decorators.

Here's a picture of me and Kerry Vincent after the award ceremony. Ms Vincent is quite the woman. I love her candor. It's what makes her so respected in the cake world (that and the fact that she's extremely talented).

This is a picture of me with some of the judges after the award ceremony. I enjoyed getting to talk to them after the judging and hear what they had to say about my cake. And I really appreciated the scores they gave me. :)

This is Dianne Holgate. She won fourth place. What a fun person! I'm so glad I got a chance to get to know her. She's a fellow Mormon from the Four Corners area.

This is Edith. She had a lot of good advice for next competition (yes, I'm gonna do it again). She's a talented woman. I loved her cake.

While the competition was going on, James Rosselle, Marina Sousa and Dawn Nemec did some demonstrations. While they had some free time, Vilate and I asked them to take some pictures with us. They were fun to talk to and get to know. Can I tell you how 'celebrity shock' I was in throughout this competition?

This is Leanne. She was the one that jumped in to save all of the cakes that were in danger of spectators. She was a lot of fun and she had a beautful cake as well.

This is Mark, Cindy and Paul. Mark had the cake next to mine. His flowers were beautiful and the cake was grandiose. They were such a fun group to hang out with. Cindy was such a hoot.

This is Rebecca Sutterby. She won Grand prize. Her cake was absolutely perfect. I loved it. She's a really nice person also. All of these guys were so cool.

This is Kim Payne and her husband BJ. Kim won Second Place. She had a georgous cake and she was such a sweetheart. She was the first fellow cake decorator that I really got to know. She is so easy to talk to and such a great friend.

I actually had real fans. There were a bunch of people that came every day to see my cake and and me and to see how I did. It was so fun to get to know some of these people. They were so nice and had such nice things to say.

This was the cake that stole the show. Rebecca Sutterby- Grand Prize

I loved her bamboo. Loydene Barrett- First Place

Georgeous cake. Kim Payne- Second Place

The detail on her cake was amazing. Dianne Holgate- Fourth Place

Thanks for bearing with me through this long blog. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this competition. And from all of this has come a few articles in news papers and even a segment on a news show. Now if I can translate all of this into money. :) I expect that I will stay busy. Things haven't started to slow own yet. And I don't imagine they will anytime soon.

If you want to see more of my cakes you can go to my website. It's looking pretty great thanks to Mike, Lexie and Tricia. Come check out Frosted Fantasy Cakes!

2008-08-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

Jack Johnson and the First Day of School

2008-08-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Bobby and I went to a Jack Johnson concert. We had fun being out on a date.

I snapped a picture while he was driving. Isn't he cute?

This is us at the concert. We got there really early so we could get good seats. The gates opened at 5:00 and the concert started at 7:00. Although, Jack Johnson didn't actually come on until about 9:00. So, really we waited for 4 hours to hear Jack Johnson.

I couldn't get a good picture. My camera doesn't function the way it should at concerts (probably operator error). But that's Jack Johnson.

It was fun for the first few songs and then people started pulling out their joints and lighting up. It wasn't fun after that. There was a group right behind us and I really worried that we'd end up high. So, instead of trying to hold our breath for the rest of the concert, we decided we'd be better off to just leave. I just can't believe that illegal substances are let into a public venue. And it wasn't just a couple people her and there. It was all over. I think USANA has a big problem and something needs to be done about it.

Ok. Off my pedestal and on to something exciting!

Evan started school today! First grade. He was happy to be back in school and excited to meet his new teacher and classmates.

This was the only picture I got. We were running out the door because I had to get all of the kids ready to go to take him to school. The only day that Bobby had to go to work early just happened to be today. So, it was a rush getting everyone up and ready to go. Then the traffic was so bad by the school because of construction. So, we parked a couple blocks away and walked. He was barely on time but there were others that ended up late for the same reason. We'll plan better for tomorrow and Bobby won't have to go to work early.

Beautiful Bloomington

2008-08-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

This all happened almost a week ago. I'm a little slow. I have some catching up to do. There was a Findlay Family Reunion (for Bobby's mom's side of the family). So, we packed up and headed up the canyon to Bloomington, Idaho. We spent a few hours there.

The kids had fun playing with a bubble blowing toy Grandma and Grandpa brought up for them.

We had lunch and hung out with family. It was a lot of fun.

David's favorite thing to play with was Sprite. He soaked himself with every can he could get his hands on.

When the reunion wrapped up we headed further up the canyon to Bloomington Lake. As we loaded in the van I saw all of the kids faces and had to take pictures. They all had some Cake Bites that I had brought up to the reunion. So, they had chocolate all over their faces. So, this is cleanest to messiest.

Evan managed to be the cleanest. That's expected since he's the oldest.

Megan came in second place. This is also another given. She's younger than Dallin but. . .

we're talking about Dallin here. He's actually surprisingly clean.

And lastly is David. He really enjoyed his chocolate.

It was about a mile hike to the lake and then we played and hiked around the lake. The kids had a blast.

On the hike in, David had to get down on the ground and play in the trail. He saw a big sandbox and couldn't help himself.

When we got to the top of the trail, we took a little family picture. The scenery up there at Bloomington Lake is so beautiful.

The water was pretty cold. The kids didn't venture out very far. Dallin didn't get in at all. He sat on the bank and threw twigs and rocks and leaves into the water playing sink or float.

David spent the most time in the water. He loved it. Even cold.

The kids splashed around a bit and then we climbed around the rocks and cliffs for a little while. We went as far as I was comfortable taking the kids. Then we stopped for a few pictures and went back.

These are the rocks we had to climb over to get to the cliffs. Dallin "helped" me across them since he was too tough to let me help him.

Back at the start, Bobby took a few flips off of the rope swing. If you follow the picture of Bobby up the cliff about halfway, that's where we climbed to.

And while he did that, the kids played in the dirt some more. I'd say David won hands down with the messy this time with Dallin a close second. (No David is not wearing pants. That's all dirt.)

Along the trail we saw some creatures.

The local wildlife. . .

Overall it was a really fun day. The kids loved the hike and the water and they especially liked playing on the rocks.

Countdown

2008-08-15T11:36:00.000-07:00

Evan is getting really excited for school. I told him today that there are 5 days left and he's super excited!

First grade here we come! All day school. I really can't wait for that. Not that I want him gone. . . but if he's got to be gone, give him a few more hours to learn something. Not to mention give me a few more hours to get something done. It'll be good for him to be back in school.

I am sad to see the summer coming to an end though. We've kept ourselves too busy. We still haven't gone camping. We'll go in a couple weeks but I want summer to last longer. Swimming has been fun. I don't want to give that up.

Is This Really Happening??

2008-08-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

It really is happening. I am going to Tulsa, Oklahoma on the 25th through the 30th of September for the Oklahoma Sugar Art Show!! Anyone that follows cake decorating competitions knows that this is huge! This is the competition of all competitions and I'm going to enter a cake in it.

Wow!! I'm so excited! I have my cake designed and all planned out. I'm starting on it in the next few days. I love the idea of my cake and I think it has the technical skills that I need to get the wow factor. I just want to impress the judges and that's going to be really hard to do since one of them is Kerry Vincent.

Oh my goodness! I can't believe this is happening! Can you tell I'm excited?

Cake Contest

2008-08-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Evan's and my birthday and we had a wonderful one. Bobby gave me tickets for us to go see Jack Johnson next week! I'm so excited. We're big fans in this house. It'll be fun for Bobby and I to go on an actual date. Those are few and far between when you have four kids.

Evan got some fun presents and had Curtis and Tricia's kids over for cake and ice cream. Although the cake was store bought. :-0 I know! Me buying a store bought cake? It's almost unheard of. I did have a good excuse though. The first reason is that we are having a big family party for him in a couple weeks and I'll make a cake then. The other reason is that I made a cake for a competition in Salt Lake and I didn't have the time to make one for Evan.

So, this cake I made for the competition won a High Blue ribbon and Best In Show! I was so excited! This was my first time entering a cake competition but I don't think it will be my last. I want to find bigger and better competitions to enter. I did it mostly for the status though. Being able to say I'm an award winning cake decorator is a big thing. I just need to get the business on it's feet and this is a really good start. It was a really great birthday present too. :)

Fun Summer Night

2008-07-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

We haven't been doing much outside during the day. It has just been so warm that the kids don't even want to go out. So, last night I wanted to get the kids out of the house. We got on our bikes and rode around a bit. Then we rode to the park and had a picnic dinner and played at the park.

It was a lot of fun for the kids. Bobby was working really late last night though. So, it was a lot of work for me. The start of the ride was rough. Evan had to be in the lead and he threw a fit whenever he wasn't. Then Dallin crashed and scraped himself up pretty good. Needless to say, there was a lot of crying and grief.

We got things smoothed out before the trip to the park though. That part was nice. Dinner was fun and playing at the park was great too. But then it was time to go home. It was dusk and we needed to make it home before dark. The boys were very agreeable and got their helmets on. But Megan wanted to stay and play.

I ended up buckling her into the bike trailer with David and hanging her bike on the back of the trailer. It was a bit of a climb on the way home too. So, I definitely got my workout for the day.

All in all it was a fun little outing.

Bear Lake

2008-07-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday night was rough. Bobby and I stayed up REALLY late. Bobby was working on his Crestron test until all hours of the night. I new I should have gone to bed because of all that was going on the next day but I also knew that if I went to bed, Bobby would too. He doesn't like to stay up if I go to bed. So, when we finally climbed into bed at 3am, Megan decided that she needed to wake up. Then Evan had a bad dream. Needless to say, we were really tired when 7:00 rolled around and we were supposed to be getting up.

But we got up and going because we went to Bear Lake for Bobby's company party. It was a lot of fun. We got to go out on a boat and play around on the water. Evan and Dallin loved being pulled in the tube.

Bobby and I got a chance to go out on a wave runner. It was so cool. I even got to drive. :) WooHoo!! They are fun toys.

So, with all of the fun we had and the little sleep we got the night before, our beds looked very nice last night when we got home. Thankfully, all of the kids slept through the night. Today has been just trying to get back to a schedule. I don't think my kids remember what a schedule is. Wish me luck.

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa on the Farm

2008-07-14T01:23:00.000-07:00

What fun we had last week. At least the beginning of the week. :) It has been an adventure to say the least. Bobby went to Texas for a Crestron training for the week. So, not wanting to be home alone, I packed up the kids and we went to Grandma and Grandpa Dastrups.

My parents have been getting little baby chicks and goats and kittens, so the kids had a bast playing with and feeding them. They were outside all day every day. I didn't take pics of them with the animals. I figured I had more time than we ended up with. I did get pics of how dirty they got playing outside.

Then on Wednesday night Dallin gave me a scare by very suddenly coming down with pneumonia. I was concerned about the health of my Grandma Dastrup, so I started packing at 3:00 in the am and headed out. On the way back home, we stopped by Bobby's parents' to give Dallin a blessing and they wouldn't have me going home to deal with this sickness all by myself. So, we finished off the week at their home.

Oh, and Megan developed cellulitis from some mosquito bites she got in Sigurd too. It was a real vacation. But now we're back and Bobby is home. Yay!! Dallin is much better and so is Megan. All has ended well.

Too many Snowballs!!!!

2008-06-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

Boy it's been a while! I need to do better with this Blogging business. I have been pretty busy though. For me, life seems like snowballs rolling down a hill. Each thing you take on in life (children, work, activities) starts out as a little snowball and you think, "this will be great and easy". Then it starts rolling down a hill. So, you star running with it. Then you add another and another and pretty soon you have hundreds of giant snowballs that are rolling in all different directions and your job is to keep up with them all.

Can you tell life is a bit overwhelming at the moment? I have so many things to do to get a business going and life keeps me so busy that it's going awfully slow. I guess, I need to schedule and prioritize things a little better. I haven't sat down and done that yet because I have felt too busy. But I now realize that it will help me to free up time to do the important things. So, that's my goal for today. Make a very specific schedule and goals that I can accomplish in a specific time.

Some fun things that have happened:

Memorial Day- We went to Sigurd for Memorial weekend and spent time with my mom and dad and Grandma Dastrup. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to be there for the flag service.

David's Birthday- David turned 1 yesterday!! I can't believe my baby is so big. We went to Salt Lake and spent the morning at Steve and Amy's ward. They blessed their baby Adam. Then we went to Bobby's parents' for a party for David. It was lots of fun. I made a cute Jungle Safari cake with a little safari hat on it that was David's own personal cake. It took a lot of time to do but I was so happy with the way it turned out. I'll put up pictures as soon as I can.

Swimming- We've spent a little time swimming this summer. We bought a season pass to the pool that is just down the street from us. We hope to go often. Hopefully, we can fit it into the schedule. The fun part about that is that the Hancock family got a pass also so we can all go together. How Fun!

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there has been a lot more fun had by us. I just have less time to think about it. :) Life is great and I'm happy to have all of my snowballs. Every one of them is a blessing. I just need to learn to manage them better.

Frosted Fantasy Cakes

2008-04-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days since my last post. I've been working hard at getting a business up and running. For the last few years I've been wanting to start a cake decorating business. Every time I thought about it though, it just didn't feel like the right time.

Well, now it's time. I have gotten forms that I need and I'm filing recipes with the state food program. A website is in the works. I have a business email address. It's coming along. Not as fast as I would have liked but these things take time.

The hardest part is deciding on things. Designs, logos, pictures, business card info, slogans. So, I ask for opinions and everyone has a different idea of how things should be. That makes it hard too because I am not a confrontational person and a people pleaser so, I have an even harder time choosing. I can't wait until this part is over and I can start making cakes. That's what it's all about.

Questionnaire

2008-04-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

So, I got a questionnaire forwarded to me so here goes.

Welcome to the 2008 edition of "Get to Know Your Friends!". Hit forward then, Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to your friends including the person who sent it to you.

The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!

1. What time did you get up this morning?
6:45 a.m.

2. Diamonds or pearls?

Diamonds

3. LAST MOVIE YOU SAW?

101 Dalmations

4. What is your favorite TV Show?

Good Eats

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?

Breakfast Taco. (corn tortilla, egg, salsa, sour cream, cilantro, chorizo if I have it) Yum!

6. What is your middle name.

Amelia :)

7. What food do you dislike?

Macaroni Salad

8. What is your favorite CD at moment?

I listen to Jack Johnson the most

9. What kind of car do you drive/

2002 Dodge Grand Caravan

10. Favorite sandwich?

oooh! I made a grilled Turkey and Provolone on 'stuffing' bread. Tasted like Thanksgiving. MMMM

11. What characteristic do you despise?

selfishness

12. Favorite item of clothing?

a cheap pair of Jordache pants that are the smallest I have and I just got to the point where I can wear them again!! yea!

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?

Bermuda

14. Favorite brand of clothing?

I really like Calvin Klein pants

15. Where would you retire to?
Wherever would be closest to my grandkids. :)

16. Favorite birthday?

the year I turned 21. I had my first baby that day.

17. Favorite sport to watch?

BYU Football

18. Furthest place you are sending this?

Arizona

19. Person you expect to send it back first?

I don't care

22. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Night person

23. What is your shoe size?

about an 8

24. Pets?
a dog, Buster

25. News you'd like to share with us?
I've lost 65 lbs since having David! (That does include baby weight)

26. What did you want to be when you were little?

How little are we talking? When I was really young, a mommy. High school/ college age, a musician

27. How are you today?
a little sore and worn out from working in the yard

28. What is your favorite candy?

anything chocolaty. . . but not plain chocolate

29. What is your favorite flower?

right now. . . cymbidium orchid

30. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
I'm a bad planner. I never think ahead

33. What are you listening to right now?

Bobby downstairs watching Craig Kilborn and Evan at the table complaining that he doesn't want to eat and wants to go to bed.

34. What was the last thing you ate?

Baked Potato with cheddar and broccoli on top

35. Do you wish on stars?

no. I just like to look at them

36. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
bluish greyish

37. How is the weather right now?

getting a bit chilly. It was pretty nice today though.

38. Last person you spoke to on the phone?

Bobby

39. Favorite soft drink?

Fresca

40. Favorite restaurant?

Cafe Rio

41. Hair color?

dark blonde

42. What was your favorite toy as a child?

Wendy Walk-Along

43. Summer or winter?

summer

44. Hugs or kisses?
hugs

45. Chocolate or Vanilla?
chocolate

46. Coffee or tea?
neither

47. Do you want your friends to email you back?
I don't care. It would be fun to see your answers though.

48. What is under your bed?

clothes, shoes, my room is a mess.

50. What did you do last night?

studied up on requirements to start a cake decorating business

51. What are you afraid of?

that something bad will happen in my family

52. Salty or sweet?

if it's chocolate, sweet. If not, salty

53. How many keys on your key ring?

54. How many years at your current job?

just started again. Previously about a year.

55. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday

56. How many towns have you lived in?

10 but that's counting places that in the same major area. (ex:Kearns, West Jordan, Herriman. . .)

57. Do you make friends easily?

sure

58. How many people will you send this too?

just a few

59. How many will respond?
I don't know

April Fools!

2008-04-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

This is the first year that our kids have really started to understand April Fool's Day. Evan and Dallin were playing little pranks with the Hancock kids all day today. I didn't have anything fun planned for the day. I had done some fun things in previous years but the kids were just too young to understand it all. So, when I saw their excitement about the day, I decided to try to make it a little more fun.

I threw together a meatloaf cake with mashed potato frosting for dinner and a hamburger desert made out of white cake, chocolate cookie, and frosting. It was fun to do. Evan really thought we were having cake for dinner. He made sure I knew that it's not healthy to eat cake for a meal but that wasn't going to stop him from enjoying it. He was sadly disappointed.

Dallin got it right away. He loves to be in the kitchen with me so he watched me make it all. He thought it was pretty fun. Megan and David were just happy to have food.

Come on!

2008-03-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

It's supposed to be Spring! Utah weather. It's just insane. It snowed last night. I know it's only the beginning of Spring but I'm ready for warm. The bikes are all ready to go and the kids are stir-crazy as am I. Patience is not what I want right now. I want Spring!

Needless to say, we didn't go outside today. I had plans to do some yard work. Heaven knows it needs to be done. There are pine needles to rake. Branches to pick up. Leaves to rake from clear back in the fall. Trees to trim. Not to mention all the dog mess. Buster has made a real playground of our back yard.

On a good note. . . the kids didn't destroy much and David sang to me.

Bike Adventure

2008-03-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

We had a fun little adventure today. We rode our bikes to pick up Evan from school. Dallin did really well for his first time taking a real ride on his bike. I took him out for a test ride yesterday to make sure he could handle it. We got over half-way there. So I was confident that he could make it. About a block from home he started complaining about it being too long. I just pointed to the house and he was just fine.

Evan on the other hand didn't do so grand. A couple of his little buddies rode with us and every time they got a little farther ahead than Evan was comfortable with, he would yell and cry and complain. By the time we got home I told him to go take a nap which he doesn't usually do. He needed it though. I guess everyone has their bad days.

Megan and David just rode behind me in the bike trailer. Megan relaxed and David slept. All around it was a fun ride. I'm excited to do it again. It isn't much of a workout for me since the little ones don't ride very fast but it's a breath of fresh air and good exercise for the kids.

Wisdom of a Child

2008-03-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

Each of my kids that could talk said something absolutely hilarious today. I just have to share.

Megan (2 years old)
Today I was getting Megan dressed and the subject of 'bums' came up. Without any hesitation she said, "Mommy you have a GIANT Bum". AAAHH! Then she proceeded to tell me that Daddy has a giant bum too. That's better. Either she has judged me equal to Bobby (teeny bum), or she has no concept of real size. Probably the latter although I wish it were the first.

Dallin (4 years old)
Before I go any further I have to start by saying that I don't talk bad about Bobby to the kids. I love him dearly. He is a wonderful father and husband. That said, Dallin was sitting with us all as a family. I don't recall the subject at hand but he decided it needed to be said. "Mom," he said. "You're always right." Of coarse, I had to agree with him. Then with all seriousness continued, "and Dad is always wrong."*

Evan (5 years old)
Dallin and Megan got new bikes today. Megan's was pre-assembled but Dallin's just came in a box. It was such a nice day though, Dallin just couldn't wait until Daddy came home to put it together. So, I channeled my inner tomboy and pulled my sleeves up and did it myself. After spending a good part of the day assembling and tuning up all of the kids bikes, I jokingly said, "I bet you never knew your mom was so handy". To which Evan replied, "Yeah. I guess you don't need Dad anymore."

The simplicity of it all. . . It makes so much sense to them. I love it.

*For the record: Dallin later retracted his comment by saying that, "Mommy is always right and Daddy is always right too."

Happy Easter!!

2008-03-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

The busy day turned into a busy 2 days. The photo shoot was delayed until Saturday. It was a good thing since I spent the whole time working on dresses. They turned out really nice though and the pictures I'm sure will be amazing. Tricia is really talented. More than anything, I had so much fun with Megan. She was so cute and the one-on-one time was priceless.

While I was busy with dresses, David cut his first tooth! How fun. He's gotten his first tooth faster than any of my babies. He crawled faster too.

Easter was fun. We didn't color eggs (although we should have). Last year Bobby bought about 10 egg coloring kits because they were on sale right after Easter. So, we're good until the kids are too old to care. :)

Busy Day

2008-03-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Today is gonna be a busy day. I probably won't find the time to put in an entry later on. So, I thought I'd jump on it now. If my spelling is atrowshus :) or if I don't make any sense, it's because I'm going off of less than 2 hours of sleep. I stayed up making dresses. Tricia is doing a photo project with the theme of "Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes". I think it is such a fun idea. So, she asked me if Megan and I could be photo subjects. I told her yes but we didn't have any white dresses. So, I'm making some. I thought it would be good for Easter too. I'll add on some cute pink iron-ons to Megan's dress as soon as the photo shoot is over.

Evan's class is having a popcorn party and I'm the room mom so I get to be a part of that. Then the photo shoot is tonight and I'm still not done with the dresses. AHHH! Bobby is home from Dallas which is wonderful, but he's sick so he won't be much help. Poor Bobby has had a fever for the last 2 days. Anyway, a busy day. I probably won't get online much today.

Oh yeah! Last night I went to the Relief Society birthday party. I had 4 sisters come and tell me how great I look now and that I've lost so much weight and they want to know how I did it!!! WooHoo!! That is so cool! That makes it so worth it.

Bad Day Good Day

2008-03-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

First, lets start with yesterday. Tricia had taken all of my kids and her two boys to the park for her son's soccer practice. I had a cake decorating class to teach. Well, Tricia left the younger kids at the playground for a few minutes to talk to the coach and when she came back, Dallin and Shane were missing.

She looked around and saw them over on the north side of the park. She called to them and Shane came running, but Dallin was walking rather slowly. As he got closer, she saw that his pants were wet. She thought he had peed in his pants. Then he got even closer and she saw that he was wet clear up to his chest. He had fallen in the stream that flows through the park.

How scary is that? Luckily, the water level is still low at this time of the year and Dallin was able to climb out. He told Tricia that he used his "claws" to climb out. Poor Tricia was in tears telling me about what had happened. I guess it's a really good reminder of how young our little ones still are and how vulnerable they are.

On the flipside. . . today has been a fun day. Dallin's preschool group went to the Fire Station. It was right after Evan got home from school I took all of the kids. It was a lot of fun. They got to sit in the firetruck and climb into the ambulance. They saw a big tank truck and got to see water spray from it. Dallin didn't like all of the loud noises. He stayed really close to me and wanted to go home. But at the end he had warmed up and was ok with things.

The preschool kids were all a little nervous at first to see the fireman in his mask. He looked a little scary, I guess. He was really nice though. He even fixed Dallin's glasses when the lens popped out. (Dallin is rough on his glasses.)

Then we came home and the kids rode bikes in the driveway. It's a little chili still but we bundled up. So, all in all. . . a really fun day.

First Entry

2008-03-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at a Blog. I've always thought it was a bit of a waste of time. And who really cares to hear about my life anyway? Then I decided that it doesn't matter so much who reads it as it is that I'm keeping a record of my life.

Part of my beliefs is that keeping a record of your life experiences is beneficial to yourself and your posterity. The journal thing has eluded me ever since I got married. I've written down a few things here and there about my children and their cute moments. However, finding those notes in my disorderly mess of papers is not easy and not the best way for me to do things.

I'm a scrapbooker at heart but I lack the time and means to do it on a regular basis. So, here I am! Starting a Blog! We'll see how things go. It seems I just might enjoy it.