Getting ready for the Shows, a birthday and I turned 100

I love these vintage wooden girl clowns I picked up. I put this little vignette in my kitchen to remind me to always be grateful for my beautiful girls.

So today is special for many, many reasons............

First off it is my number one dotter's birthday today! She is 11 and I can hardly believe it. I really do believe that time goes by faster when you have children. I am so proud of her. She is so smart, talented and just fun to be around most of the time :) Below is one of my favorite pictures of her. Happy Birthday Bronwyn, love you so much!


Secondly, I just realized this my 100th post! It has taken me a few years to get here, but I am so grateful for this blog. It has really allowed me to document things that I normally wouldn't do. I just published my posts at the end of the year in book format and it has been fun for the dotter's and I to read through and look at pictures. Our own little family journal.

I want to do a GIVEAWAY for my 100th post, so look for details on the 101st post. I need to come up with something really cool.


So on to what is occupying my nights lately. In previous posts I have mentioned two upcoming events that I am really looking forward to. The first is FLEAOLOGY which is this Saturday, April 30.  I have been gathering my collectibles and handmade items for the show. It is going to be awesome. We have 16 vendors who will be there and I'm sure there is something you can find. Let's hope for good weather, and if it is a little cold as we say in theatre "the show must go on". Trust me it will be worth it. Go to our FLEAOLOGY blog for spotlights on the vendors.

I am also getting ready for the Beehive Bazaar which is mostly handcrafted items. That will start on Thursday, May 4 and run through Saturday May 6. It is at the Women's Center in Provo and is one of the best shows for handmade items. Come and visit my booth!

I can't stop with the crowns! I love making them so much....and who doesn't need a crown?

Just sweet lemon drops and lollipops in a jelly jar. A perfect gift!

So I've laid out my items to price. Can I tell you how much I hate this part of the job? I love to create, but to do the "business" part of it, it just makes me want to watch TV. (and I really don't watch a lot of TV!) I've created some new tags which has been easier. I want them to be cute but not take a lot of time, so I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

I better sign off, I need to go get things priced and tagged.

My tags just staring at me, waiting to be put on all those items you see above.

Hope to see you at Fleaology or Beehive Bazaar.

My sweet orphans made these for me on opening night of Annie. I love them so much! Better than real flowers! (and I do love the real flowers)

Also if you live in Utah, come see Bronwyn in Annie at the SCERA. She is in the title role and performs on Saturday and Monday nights!

Bronwyn

I had the chance to take a photography class right before Christmas. I'd like to say I am now a brilliant photographer....... yeah well I would like to say that.
Right before Christmas my teacher took us to Wadley Farms in Lindon for a photo shoot. I dragged Bronwyn along to model for me. It was fun just to be together and I just snapped and snapped with my teacher giving me pointers here and there. Here are some of my favorites, and I love them becasue they are just pure Bronwyn.


I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful and beautiful dotter in my life!

If you want to take a wonderful photography course with a great teacher I recommend:
A Photo School the owner and teacher is Jed Colledge.

My Little Oompa Loompas!

I know I haven't had much time to blog, but I wanted to post a picture of the girls from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It is a cute production and the girls have had a blast being part of it.

We went opening night and invited Michelle and L.J and little Garrett. It was his first show and he loved it. It is so colorful and there are tons of kids in the show. Kids always love to watch other kids. It has 3 more performances this week. If you are Utah check it out. A great show for the WHOLE family.


More info here.

Making Big Moments Special

Today was the first day of school....which went great if you care to know. The girls looked adorable in their new school outfits and shoes. Brooklyn also made her lunch which was exciting to do, being in the first grade and all. But what I really want to talk about is last night. Nat and I really wanted to make the last evening of summer vacation special. We wanted to create a "moment" that our girls could always remember. Now I'm not saying you have to go to a lot of work to create special moments. Sometimes they are so natural and spontaneous that they are magical. Sometimes, like last night you need to create magic. I want to share our magical moment with you. Most of my close friends know I have an insane schedule. I have many things going on in my life, but my children, they are my heart and I always want to try and create special moments that we can share together. Now about last night........

I made this really cute garland that I hung above the kitchen table (it's still there because it looked so fun.) It instantly transformed the room into a magical place. I made each of the girls crowns to wear during our special dinner. Each crown had their name and what grade in school they were going into. I stopped at Sweet Tooth Fairy Cupcakes and bought them "a to die for" treat. They are so pretty too! Nat took care of dinner and had a wonderful idea. Our kids favorite restaurant is Sweet Tomatoes, (a salad bar place) so Nat created Sweet Tomatoes at home for the girls. They loved it. It really struck me what a simple idea it was and yet they were giddy about it. Why have we not done this before? We set a pretty table which included wine glasses, that they love to use. They were upstairs in the room as we prepared the special feast. When the girls came down the stairs there were audible gasps and then giddy sweet laughter. They were so excited and gave us huge hugs and thank-yous. We all sat down with our salads and talked about the upcoming school year. I also gave them clipboards of things that they need to accomplish everyday throughout the year. We clicked our glasses and cheered each other good wishes for the upcoming school year. The evening ended with some beautiful Fathers' blessings given to them by Nat.

Although I'm not able to spend as many "moments" with my children as I would like, I try to make as many as I can special. I want my children to have great memories and to feel how much they are loved by their parents. I know that we accomplished that last night. In my kitchen on my wall is a saying, to remind me daily about "moments". I know it's used often, but it still is my favorite.

"LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE BREATHS WE TAKE, BUT THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY..."

On a side note, yesterday was also my 14Th Wedding Anniversary. I am so grateful to have a loving, kind companion in this life journey together. He is also a wonderful father too! I love you Nathaniel! To many more amazing years together......you take my breath away still.....

Our festive table

Bella's crownBrooklyn's crownThe daily clipboard assignments....
We love these special "moments" with our girls!

3rd Graders Meet Shakespeare

Last month Bronwyn read "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for her book report. They were allowed to do anything for their presentation. Nat has been developing his Shakespeare marionette show and we thought it would be fun to have her present it to the class. The show is based loosely on Jay Leno and is called "Shakespeare's Half Hour Comedy Hour". The show starts with Shakespeare and his opening monologue. He also does a top ten list, headlines and ends with the "mechanicals" community theatre presenting Prymus and Thisbee. This was perfect since that is taken directly from "Midsummer". Nat usually uses a different puppeteer but taught Bronwyn the show. I came and did some props and sound. The class was great and very responsive to the show. It is always good for Nat to do the show for an audience as he is trying to add and refine it. Bronwyn did great! She really enjoys puppeteering as well. After the show the kids asked lots of questions and wanted to work the puppets. Nat also stayed and helped them make their own paper cup marionettes. I think the class had a great time, hopefully learned something and Miss Russell (Bronwyn's teacher) was very appreciative of the event. Hopefully Bronwyn got an A on the book report!

My Little Artists

I love that quiet time when I can pull out supplies, treasures, etc and create something new and beautiful. Most of the time this happens in the quiet hours of the night when kids have been tucked in for the night. The girls however, always seem to be aware of the projects I am working on and beg on a weekly basis to do something too. Now, I have to be honest and admit after working a full day, running a household, doing homework.......you get my meaning..... the last thing I want to do is make "crafts" with my kids. Now understand, I have a room in our house full of projects and supplies that they try and enter on a daily basis. I could put them off no longer and we hunkered down Sunday afternoon to CREATE. I went in my room to find something. I had bought these little chipboard flower books really cheap and I also pulled stickers, ribbon and misc. paper to bring to the crafting table. They were so excited and went and found some pictures to use. I made them do all the work, Brooklyn traced, cut and glued everything. Bronwyn being more meticulous took her time to make sure the flowers were cut to perfection. We spent all afternoon working on the project. It was so nice being able to spend time this way with them. They love to create, just like I do and I realized I needed to allow them the resources and time to work on projects to allow their creativity to flow.It was the kick in the butt I needed and I have vowed to spend more time"creating" together. I leave you with the very wise words of Pablo Picasso:

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

A Birthday Party that Cooked!

I love parties, I love to plan them. I probably would be a party/event planner in another life. For Bronwyn's 9th birthday party we decided to have a cooking party. She invited 5 friends and we had so much fun! It was the perfect age to have a party like this. This is what I did:

1. Made matching aprons for all of them. (Thanks Mom for all your help!)
2. For party favors, I bought measuring cups at the $1 store and filled them with lifesavers and sour patch kids.
3. We dipped chocolates and they loved it. We dipped strawberries, carmel pretzels, rice crispy treats and oreos. YUMMY!
4. They each made an individual lasagna in a bread pan. We also made little salad kabobs with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and carrots.
5. For the invitations, I made a recipe card.

The party lasted about 2 hours and they each took home a plate of their dipped chocolates. Six was the perfect number. The party was a great success and I would recommend doing it for a fun birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRONWYN, MOMMY LOVES YOU!

The measuring cup party favor.

The recipe card invitation.

The girls dipping chocolate!

Bronwyn and Milly taste testing the chocolate strawberries.

Skyllar and Sarah dipping up a storm.

Bailey dipping her fingers in the chocolate!

Milly stirring the ricotta cheese.

Bronwyn and Bailey cooking the meat.

She Can't Be 9 Already!!

Tonight we celebrated Bronwyn's 9th birthday. We had Grandma and Grandpa Moss and Great-Grandpa and Grandma Hawkins, and Michelle, LJ and Garrett. I made Bronwyn's favorite meal: lasagna, green salad and corn. It is hard to believe that my little girl is turning 9. Time seems to go by faster as you watch your children grow. Nat and I are so blessed to have such a beautiful sweet spirit in our home. She is growing up to be such a fun and talented girl. We are so happy to be surrounded by our family and to have them celebrate these "milestones" in our life. Bronwyn, we love you.

Bronwyn with Great-Grandma Hawkins, she gave Bronwyn a card with money!
Bronwyn loves Great-Grandpa Hawkins!
Michelle made this cute apron for Bronwyn. She can use it when she cooks!
She opened this present first. Why does she need a helmet???
Because she got this cool electric scooter!
Blowing away 9 years. (Don't you love the 8 and the 1 singe candle? :)