Just being a domestic Goddess!

I do believe that I am a crafty person. I make cards, I scrapbook, I decorate the house, I love to crochet, but sewing is not one of my strengths! I have sewn some baby crib bumpers and skirts, and I have sewn a blanket or two. I have even hemmed some pants and sewn a tear in a little girls dress here and there, but nothing that is complicated or would need to look nice. So you can see my concern when I started talking to my sister and sister's-in law about the upcoming wedding and they were all buying fabric and patterns and sewing their girls dresses for the event! Naturally, I just thought I will go to the store and buy something cute, however as I started looking around everything has moved on to the back to school selections that are all fall colors and Amber's wedding colors are bright raspberry and chartreuse green. So after no success one afternoon I was walking through my trusty old wal-mart on my way to buy some milk and passed the fabric section only to have a bolt of fabric jump out at me- not only did it contain the exact colors I was looking for, but it was a pre-ruched top and the bottom was even hemmed!!! Now that was a dress I could make!! Upon further inspection I found that it was two remnant pieces the exact amount in one to fit Abby and the second was big enough to make both Liv's and Eva's- It was meant to be!!! I then went over to the ribbon section and found some green to make the straps and streamers as well as some fantastic pink ribbon to go around the waist that was beaded. Pairing that up with a cute flower at the waist and I believe I have made some pretty great dresses for the wedding!
(Eva is missing because she is napping, but it looks the same!)
Abby thinks she looks like the perfect garden fairy and I have to agree. Now I just need to find the perfect shoes...

Oh, and I have forgotten to post the pictures of the Sign in book that I made for Amber and Trace, sorry to leave you hanging, I know you have just been dying to see it!!! :)
Turned out pretty cute huh?!! It has been suggested to me several times that I should start selling these books. It is very appealing to me, what do you think? Do you think people would pay to have me create them a one of a kind, bound book for their wedding?

Three Cheers for the Red White and Blue

Because of our uneventful 4th, no party to go to, I didn't really get very festive and ambitious enough to take the annual photo shoot of everyone dressed up in our holiday attire. So, when Paulene invited us up for a party on the 24th, I pulled out all the stops and to my utmost delight the girls actually cooperated! Thus here are the photos from the day and I am VERY pleased with them (never mind the fact that I am wearing the same shirt as the previous post, it has been a week people, and it is clean and matched everyone else, not to mention my great little jeweled flip flops!)

Paulene always puts on a fantastic party! Abby loves to go to her house for a celebration because she always has a fabulous party table to eat at!! (sorry I forgot to take a picture but it was great!) Mix Will and the boys (so sorry Kelly is so sick this go around, you were missed!), Larry and Lisa, loads of fireworks and some very fun neighbor kids with blowing up Grandpa's garbage can and you have one great party! Abby is already asking when the next 24th of July is because "I had so much fun!" Here are a few pics:
All of that fun aside I must give a shout out of complete awe and love for my most talented Husband and Brother-in-law Will. This past week they did a complete engine swap on my dad's car! Really, who can do that!!! Well Paul and Will can! Not only can they do it, but they can do it fast (one day people!) and without a snag and have fun at the same time! My dad is going to be in complete heaven when he gets back from his trip and drives his "new" car. Good job guys!- Seriously such smart and talented men, my Dad and I are so lucky to have them!!!

Just the 2 of us...

having a FANTASTIC time!!!! I think that I dub this the Summer of Bree- I know that it is selfish, and not that responsible as a mother of three, but I just feel like I have earned it, not really for any specific reason, but isn't being mother of three and wife of one enough!!! I deserve to check off a few things from my list of "Things I Want To Do". So next on my list of things I wanted to do this summer was go to a park and ride some roller coasters! Being that Lagoon is the only one in the state, it became our destination choice. Thanks to my absolutely fabulous, what am I doing to do without her next month when she marries my brother and he moves her away, Amber's invitation to watch previously mentioned girls for the ENTIRE day, I was able to do just that, accompanied by my best friend and hubby Paul. It was HEAVEN!! Just the two of us, I can't remember when we spent an entire day and evening by ourselves just laughing, giggling, screaming, running around like teenagers, racing go-carts on the track and giving each other whiplash in the bumper cars! By the way, we were so wedged into this go cart I really didn't think we were getting out!We rode just about every ride they had to offer, there really weren't any lines, with the exception of the Spider because it kept breaking down until they finally closed it. The very first ride I had to go on was of course the Colossus Fire Dragon! Oh the memories of my childhood! I can remember standing in line with my dad (he LOVED this ride) and just sweaty palming it, almost chickening out but getting strapped in and making the climb to the top only to scream bloody murder as it plunged to the ground and then proceeded to go upside down through the two loops! Yes it is still that good, and I still screamed my guts out!! Although it was discovered that they have changed the seating restraints and now Paul's 6'7'' legs REALLY don't fit anymore!! Let's just say he has the bruises to prove it!!!
They have added to the park since my last visit (that would be senior sluff day 12 years ago!) and the new rides are GREAT! Paul's new favorite is by far Wicked!
It shoots you out like a cannon into a completely vertical ascent which immediately turns into a completely vertical decent and then proceeds to corkscrew! FABULOUS!! It is only made better with the design of the car, just two rows of four people and the front row has NOTHING in front of it so you really feel like you are shot straight up in the air and then you are immediately plunging face first to the ground- awesome! Paul was able to get a video of this great thrill during one of our rides(we had front row each time, lucky us!)- it is pretty good, oh and don't mind me screaming in the background or the fact that there is a 6 year old girl sitting next to me who loved it!!!

Next would be my favorite ride- the Rocket! I have been telling Paul for years that he needed to join me at the top of the Stratoshpere in Vegas to ride the ride on the needle at night. That ride is still better, only because you start 15 floors in the air and then go up 200 feet, but this is a pretty good recreation!! It is a two part ride- Blast Off, and ReEntry. We started with Blast Off which straps you in around one of these towers and then shoots you up 200 ft in the air and then drops you back down bouncing several times to a stop. Now I must say that Paul is afraid of heights, a lot actually, and I was so proud of him to face his fear and ride these rides with me because he knows how much I love them. After the first half he said, "that wasn't so bad, it was fun". Then we went over to get strapped into ReEntry. This time they start by slowly raising you up to the 200 ft height, only to let you hang out there for awhile and then, without warning, drop you to the ground and then proceed to bounce up and down to a stop- Scared the crap out of him!!!!! I was laughing so hard and it is only better that he recorded himself during it- don't worry that is cuts off abruptly because in the panic of the whole thing he hit a button and it turned off, but it is great!!!

Wouldn't you know it though, because he is so wonderful, and loves me so much, he even rode it again before we had to leave the park at closing!
It was such a fun day, I love that Paul and I were able to go together and it made me remember again exactly why we got married in the first place- we are best friends and we have such a wonderful time together- My only regret, we should have validated to bounce back!!

Yes!!

Just a quick pop in to share my total and utter excitement- I got on the scale this morning and saw that I had hit my goal weight!!!!! I have finally lost the entire 20 lbs. that I had left over from carrying sweet Eva around inside. I know that 20 lbs. doesn't seem like a lot of weight to loose, but let me just tell you it has been such a struggle this time around. With each of my girls I gained different amounts during pregnancy, but each and every time I started the long road back to my normal self I had exactly 20 to loose. Now the amount of time it took to get the weight off has definitely changed as I have gotten older, at exactly one year I was three pounds below my goal after having Liv, this time it has taken me 18 months to get there but it feels SOOO good. So, just to help motivate all of you who are amid the same struggle as I, with a lot of work and sacrifice (I just love food so much!) it can be done. Now I just have to be able to keep it off- this is a road I have yet to travel since in the past I have become pregnant right as I get to my goal weight, not going to happen this time people!!! I WILL enjoy my smaller self this time and I hope I didn't just jinks myself- knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder...

Somebody help me please!!!!

My camera has officially died!!! This is quite possibly the worst thing that can happen to a photo-aholic and scrapbooker that I most certainly am!!! It has been acting up for a while now and I have just been crossing my fingers that it would hang on. To be honest, I would like a new one. If I were REALLY honest, I would like a REALLY good one, with lenses and super sonic shutter speed and mega pixels (can you see me tilting my head and my eyes glazing over and the drool), but I need the portability of a point and shoot, and lets be honest, price is key! So as I sit here, Paul and I are IMing back and forth shopping around and I think we have found a good one at a good price. So don't you all worry to much, I shouldn't be too long without my photo lens!!!
Thank heaven that I went ahead and took pictures of swim lessons last week! Abby and Liv have been going every morning last week and will continue through this week as well, much to Eva's dismay.She wants so much to get in the water also and out of the heat! Next time I think I will sign her up for a mommy and me class. I just wasn't thinking when I signed up the other two.
The girls are doing well, advancing some in there abilities (we still need to get Liv to put her face in the water, she probably will need to repeat Level 1, I am just happy that she has stopped crying every morning before we go, and now looks forward to getting in the water!) Thank goodness she has a fabulous instructor that is so gentle and sweet with her! She can now float on her tummy while the instructor pulls her around and she will put her mouth in the water and blow bubbles, progress!
Abby is in Level II and is doing well with her front and back floats and is now starting to put the stroke with the float. She wants SO much to be able to swim like the Mickelson kids when we go to the pool and that alone makes her do things, like holding her breath under the water, that scare her a little. Sometimes you've got to love peer pressure!!!
I was going to post up pictures of Amber's Sign in book for her wedding (she had a great little Bridal shower over the weekend and I gave it to her then) but alas, the pictures are stuck on the camera that will no longer turn on, let alone download. Those will have to wait until my uber talented husband comes home and somehow magically extracts them for me- really what would I do with out him!!!!
So check back soon and I will show you those, It turned out so great, I am very pleased with it!
Love you all!!

It's a long one, buckle up!!!

We have been up to a lot this past couple of weeks, let me just fill you all in!!!

June 21st- Strawberry Days 5k.This was my final event for this race season. It was such a great experience to finally participate in this event with my family!! They have run this race together for years and I have always been out of shape or pregnant- so this year it was one of my goals and I am happy to say that I did it- with my best time on record- 25 min.! To some, this is not impressive but for me it was the fastest race so far, I have improved with each of my events.It placed me at 9th in my division again, but that is not the best of my family, oh no, they all did so well! My dad took 1st place in his division (he ALWAYS does!) finishing in 20 min.(yes he is 58 and beat me by five minutes!), my brother-in-law Steve took 2nd in his with a 21 min finish, my sister-in-law Bethany took 2nd in hers with a 23 min. time, and my little nephew Kobe (who is 10) took first in the under 12 division, coming in at 22 min.!! Yes, we pretty much cleaned up at the awards ceremony!!!

Strawberry Day's Parade
After the race we took our seats on the Parade route. I have been to this parade every year for as long as I can remember, it really is a tradition in my family. Of course it is much shorter now and not as many floats or bands take part and it is basically a big line of car advertisements, but they still throw candy and the fire trucks still squirt water on everyone and my girls LOVE to see the royalty on the floats- good times!

City of Fun Carnival
That night we continued in our new tradition with our friends the Conroy's and made our way to the carnival. This year Abby was brave enough to go on the Farris Wheel and it turned out to be her favorite of the night. It is so much fun to see the smiles on these darling faces as they ride these rides. Liv's favorite ride was this car one- she wanted to ride "the blue one, WITHOUT fire on the sides". Of course snow cones and cotton candy all around and our evening of fun came to an end.

June 30- July 3- Bear LakeThis past week we loaded up the car and made our way north to the Griffiths Family Reunion at Bear Lake. We stayed at The Inn at the Lake Bed and Breakfast which is a HUGE place complete with pool, hot tub, movie and game rooms. Last time we went, it was a total rain out, but this time it was absolutely beautiful!! We spend most of our time down at the lake playing in the sand, making sand castles, looking for shells, skim boarding, floating on crocodiles, rowing boats and riding the wave runners! Paul and I decided before we left that we would switch off on morning kid duties and I would go biking with Shamae one morning around the lake and the next morning he would go golfing with my brother Cory, cousin Brock and Uncle Stan. This proved to be very fun for both of us. The bike route around the lake at 6:30a.m. was so beautiful and pleasant, I just loved it! Paul came home from his round and said he had his best game of the season and was just thrilled. It was kind of a short vacation but we loved every minute of it! It was really good to sit up at night and visit with all my Aunts, Uncles and cousins that I haven't seen in two years, but I have grown up with. We are now heavy into the third generation and there were sooo many kids running around- our group totaled at 77 people! I loved to watch the smiles on my Grandparents faces as they spent time with all their GREAT- grandchildren. Hopefully it won't be that long before I see most of them again!! The Reunion came to a close with the traditional Saw Dust hunt for money and candy! This is one of my favorite family traditions, I can vividly remember doing this as a child and being thrilled to find all those quarters, nickels and dimes!! Thanks for the great memories everyone!

July 4th- Independence DayWe had a pretty calm 4th this year, with pretty much everyone we know out of town!!! We slept in(which was heaven!) unpacked from the trip and invited my brother Randy and Megan and their sweet girls over for a BBQ and to watch the fireworks from our backyard (they had been moved to the Jr. High this year because the High School is under construction). It turned out to be really fun and the girls loved playing with the pops and sparklers and watching their dad put on his traditional fountain show (although paired down this year due to lack of fan count!).

Yea! You have made it though this enormous post- Thanks for reading!

Oh, because I forgot to take my camera to the beach the first day, I don't have many pics of the trip so if any of my relatives read this (and I know you are!!!) email me any good ones that you have, I would appreciate it, you know that I need to scrap this event!!!
bree at choicetelephone dot com

Love you all!!