My Project

I have been looking at different rooms in my house thinking of all the things I want to change. I have been inspired by Jamie, to start thinking about doing some home improvements on my own. Meaning, not thinking of what I want done and then telling Trent to do it. I couldn't do anything that cost much money, so the first project was making my bathroom look a little more like the kid bathroom that it is.

Here is the inspiration for my project. The polka dot shower curtain. I love it and it actually went with the green on the walls so I didn't have to purchase paint. Score.

And here is the space that needed a little something. I really had no decorations what so ever in this bathroom.

Then I got the kids involved. What better way to make a kid bathroom look childlike? Kids and paint.

And here is the result. I didn't like it at first, but now I LOVE it. I had it sitting on the towel rack for a few days waiting for Trent to hang it up and then I thought...'What would Jamie do?' So, I got the hammer, level, and nails and hung it myself. I know this may sound so simple to most of you-do it yourselfers, but this was a big step for me.

And to finish off the bathroom I wanted a picture to document the fun and to know whose hands were which color. I tried a few different patterns with the frame and the stipes won. Now my bathroom makes me happy and the kids love to look at their own masterpiece!

Oakley's Turn

Oakley has been needing a haircut for the longest time. She looked like an orphan. And it didn't help that I never did her hair either. Poor Girl. I thought if I could cut Paige and Morgan's hair, I could do Oakley's. It turned out fairly well, but it was much trickier cutting a bob. But it saved me $15 which makes the slight unevenness of the cut worth it.

Before:

I think her hair resembles a mullet too. Not cute.

After:
I love her cheese ball grin in the bottom picture. She looks pretty cute if you ask me.

Our 24th Celebrations

We have had fun for the past few day. I always loved the 24th growing up. I look forward to the food and fun all year!

First up, the Fireworks!

Trent and I being the not fun, worn out parents that we are, didn't want to hassle with the parade and our Hoard. We decided to just stay home and enjoy the festivities from our roof. It is a perfect view if you ask me! And actually Trent went to bed at 8:00 because he had to be up at 3:00 to run the Deseret New Marathon. Once again, I didn't want to deal with kids and downtown Salt Lake, so we just stayed home while Trent ran. He did well and got a time of 2:57 and came in 11th!

Next the Fair!

It is a lot of work to go anywhere with this group. Thanks to all the family that helped control the chaos. It was HOT, but a good time. Although, Trent was complaining at how much everything cost...

The boys favorite was the Shark slide. I don't know how many times they went on it. And it was 2 tickets per one trip down the slide. Wow. I guess Trent had every right to complain.

A classic, the Fish Pond. I used to love this when I was little. And now I love watching my kids get so excited to fish for their prize. Now if we can just figure out how to get the kids not to fight over what they get.

The swing. The kids loved this one as well. My favorite picture is the top left one. All the kids were corralled like a bunch of cattle.

Finally the Food!

I love fair food. It makes me happy. And the food was actually pretty reasonably priced...compared to the rides anyways. My fave is the BBQ sandwich and it did not disappoint. My kids favorite were the scones. Just 364 more days until the next fair...

Sadness

Jill moved out while I was at girls camp. It worked out nicely because I don't think I could of handled it if I was home during her big move. I was getting ready for church on Sunday and I my first thought is I need Jill's opinion on my outfit of choice, and seeing how she was gone it made me sad. Not only because she wasn't around, but because I rely heavily on her opinion when it comes to fashion. I have actually been living in denial all week, telling myself Jill is just on a trip or something. Today I finally made myself go into her room and it made me even sadder (I know thats not correct grammar, but I am using it). She has been living with us for just over 3 years and I actually don't remember living in this house without her being here too. Lets just say that I am a sad person these days. So goodbye, basement dweller. You will be missed...

Just Call Me Betty

I made my first pie yesterday. Well, I have made those chocolate pudding pies before, but those don't count because I buy the oreo crust and the filling is just the instant pudding. Anyways, I had 2 full Costco bags of apples left over from girls camp and seeing how I can't just sit down and eat an apple, I knew a lot of them would go bad. So, I had the brilliant idea of making an apple pie. I went and got my mom's recipe (my mom's pies are the best for those that don't know) and her apple peeler corer slicer. I went to work making the pie crust, with my 5 little helpers of course. Then I started putting the apples through my moms magical apple tool, which the kids loved. I made the apple mixture, put the top layer of crust on, pieced it back together after Paige tore some of the crust off, and put it in the oven. I tried it last night and it actually turned out!!! I was surprised and so happy! It did have a lot of juices inside that I had to pore out, but other than that it was delicious. The flavor was so good and the crust was so flakey....but the real question is....is it worth ALL the work???

Lava

We had our Allred Reunion on Saturday. After a long week at girls camp, we headed out to Lava the next day. I was tired and Trent was tired, but we had a good time. There were sooo many people there it was insane! We only lasted a few hours, but it was good to see everyone. Some of my favorite memories are with the Allred Clan. However, I was the only one out of 'my group' of cousins that made it. I missed you Stephanie, Mandi, and Autumn!!!

Girls Camp!!!!

What a week! I think everyone will agree, when I say girls camp rocked! We had good food, good fun, and good friends, although, I have never been more tired. I need more than 4 hours of sleep per night to function. Here is a quick recap of my week. I have over 250 pictures and narrowed it down to these:

And we're off! We had a total of 23 girls and 9 leaders and multiple priesthood leaders during camp. We have a great group!
We were able to do a few cute crafts up there. We decorated water bottles, made journals, magnet boards, and magnets. Everything turned out awesome!

Piggy, Toots, and Stinky. I love these girls.


Our first campfire. We all agreed that the fire pit sucked. You couldn't even see the flames and the giant cement wall blocked all the heat. Lets just say that it was our only complaint.

Canoeing was also a blast. And look how beautiful the background is. You just gotta love the outdoors!

This picture speaks for itself. I reverted back to my goofy teenage days.

They have the coolest obstacle courses up at Heber Valley Camp. The funnest was the swing!

I love most anything that is high, fast, and a little scary!

Love the butt squish I have going on here.

My first snipe hunt. I honestly don't remember ever doing it....or maybe I just blocked it out of my memory...

Our lasts campfire. Our testimony meeting was amazing. We have the most strong, spiritual girls. I loved being there with them.

The end.

The Hired Help

Oh how I wish they could actually clean my house....

The Mullet

You have to love a good mullet, right? I don't know about you, but when I see someone sporting a fantastic mullet I have to point it out to whomever I am with. They are just fascinating. Well, poor Paige and Morgan have had to endure their own mullets for a while. I just never could bring myself to cut their hair because it has taken sooo long for it to grow. But it finally came time to say farewell....

Just look at those little curls. It really was sad to see them go. It's just a shame my girls don't grow hair on the top of their heads too...

Paige:

Paige had the best mullet out of the 2. It was getting so long.

Morgan:

Morgan's wasn't quite as bad, but still needed some trimming.

The girls actually really loved getting their hair cut. It was cute to see them get so excited over a little salon visit!

The Tour

It has been a few years (4 to be exact) since we have had the Tour De France on in our home. Trent only watches it when Lance Armstrong is racing, so he was very excited when he learned he was coming back. One day he came home from his run, did his Fatherly duties, and laid down to watch the tour. He didn't even bother to change or get a blanket. He just used the kid's towels that were out from the day before. I think he looks hot draped in Tinkerbell.

Aunt Rauna's Cereal

Growing up we would always go up to Aunt Rauna's to mow her lawn, visit, play in her BIG tub, and, most often, eat cereal. It was always a treat because she bought the real cereal-not the malt-o-meal stuff we had to eat at home. Earlier this week I got a call from Aunt Rauna inviting us all up to enjoy that old tradition again. We went up yesterday and enjoyed a few bowls of cocoa puffs and cheerios. The kids had a great time playing together and eating bowl after bowl.

Most of the Veigel cousins were there (we missed the now New Yorkians) to enjoy the feast. The visit ended with a chance to raid her candy drawer. My kids really were in heaven. It is always fun at Aunt Rauna's. Thanks for having us!!!

Next up: The Big Tub...

Raspberry Jam

I had a TON of raspberries that I picked last weekend and decided to make a batch of jam. I had a few helpers during the whole process. I just love the help they give me. It makes every project go so much smoother and faster...

The 6th of July

We had our real 4th of July celebration on Monday, which worked out perfectly with family and sicknesses. We had the Jensen crew (and a few extras) up for dinner and a firework show. As always, the food was so good and the entertainment so fun!

First up were the smoke bombs. The kids LOVE these. I think we went through 20 boxes in 5 minutes flat.

Next up, parachute fireworks. The kids love to try and catch these suckers. A few of them did too!

Last, but not least, the Ultimate Firework show. We had a lot of fireworks to go through and it was a good time. Thanks everyone for coming up, helping with food, and enjoying the Holiday with us!

The Cabin with Strep

We went up to the cabin on Friday morning to try and celebrate the joyous holiday. On the way up Trent could feel his throat starting to hurt. By Saturday morning we was in the middle of a Strep Attack. Poor guy. We did manage to have some fun...well, the kids did anyways.

The kids love to go to the water tank and do "Voices." They love to hear each other talking through the pipes. I decided to join in the fun.
We took a few pics of the girls on the 'fur weelors.' I had to post these two because I think Morgan's face above is so hilarious and Paige's below is so funny. She was just super excited to be there!

And nothing beats a ride with Grandpa. Love this one.

Our Fourth

This was our 4th celebration. Trent and I both got strep throat. We did make a trip up to the cabin, but with both of us not feeling well, it was more of a survival trip with our kids. We got home Saturday, with enough time for me to go visit some patients (I wasn't contagious), pick raspberries, and take a nap. We were in bed that night just in time to 'listen' to some fireworks booming out side. Perfect.

Lazy Dayz...

My kids don't often just fall asleep anywhere, so when they do I make sure I get a picture to document the occasion. I just love my kids when they are asleep and want to remember those happy times...

Coming up the stairs was just too much for Aiden so he had to take a quick power nap to recover.
Andrew hardly ever falls asleep during the day. And even in long trips in the car he is the last kid to fall asleep. So this really surprised me.

I LOVE this shot of Oakley. In the middle of playing poker she takes a nap. So cute.

And I couldn't believe this when I saw it. Paige fell asleep standing up. Honestly, how does one do that?
And every kid has done this sometime in their life. I think Morgan just wanted to get out of eating those appetizing noodles and cheese.

And to finish off the post, a pic of the 3 older kids all taking a nap together. Have I said that I love when my kids are asleep???