Pirate Pizza Party

I am regretting that I already used the title "Black, White and Red All Over." It would have been perfect for this post!

Ry Ry turned five this weekend and we threw him a pirate pizza party.  Ryan has had an obsession with pirates for years.  He has been a pirate for Halloween the last two years so a pirate party seemed like a no-brainer.  The only thing he cared about doing at his party was playing the candy bar game.  He loves to eat. (He is very big for his age.  He weighs 8 pounds more than Sammie and she is three years older and three inches taller.)  But he makes up for it in sweetness.  He is my big teddy bear.

Anyway, we invited 13 little boys and only one didn't show. Sam came and helped and the whole thing went off without a hitch.  The kids were really good.

Ryan had to have this door cover for the bathroom...potty humor is huge at five!

Sammie and Luke dressed up and were my big helpers at the party!

We had pizza (BBQ chicken is Ryan's favorite):

We played the candy bar game:

Ryan opened presents:

We hit a pinata:

We kept this little boy happy with lots of Diet Coke:

I made this fabulous cake...isn't it impressive?  just kidding, I bought it all Walmart. I have had some disastrous cakes in the past (here and here) so I got smart this time and bought the cake.

And we ran out of the time or the kids would have gone on a treasure hunt to find these hats and swords.  They just got them on the way out:

All four of my kids were born in the spring.  My b-day is in March too so it is birthday craziness this time of year.  Glad the first b-day is over with!!  Happy Birthday Ry Ry!   Mama loves you more than the whole sky.

A Tale of Two Bags (and two sisters)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  In February, 2011, I was walking through Dillard's on my way to the mall and saw the cutest handbag I had ever laid eyes on.  It had cool colors and a darling print and best of all...it was wipeable. 

I purchased it on the spot, with no coupons, no sale, nada.  This is so rare for me.  But I was so glad I did.  It was Fossil brand and it sold out quickly.  I got compliments on it everywhere I went.  Ashley saw it and had to have it.  My mom devoted hours to calling stores across the country until she located an identical one for Ashley. 

Fast forward a year.  The bag got a rip.  I took it to a shoe repair place by me and the little Asian man who runs the shop said he could sew it up.  It would cost me 13 dollars.  No biggie.  Problem solved.

Fast forward another year.  Beloved bag rips again.  I take it back to little Asian man.  This time he says to me "me no fix.  You buy new bag."  Oh silly man, there is no new bag to buy!  (This is the same man who told my friend Susan "You get fat" when she asked to have him let out a pair of her pants.  He has no time for diplomacy.)  He  stubbornly refused to fix the bag a second time.  I thought all was lost.  About this same time, 1000 miles away, Ashley's bag ripped as well.

Fast forward until tonight.  I was cruising through Walmart, talking on the phone to Ashley.  I cut through the purse section and stumbled onto this beauty:

Darling right?  AND WIPEABLE!  I sent Ashley a pic and of course she wanted one.  $16.88 for these babies!  Take that Walmart haters!  Once again we have matching bags!

Black and White and Red All Over

old photo from Christmas

My last post was about slowing down.  That hasn't really happened.  I don't think the word slow is in my vocabulary.  So as my life continues at a break neck pace, let me update you.  I was looking at the photos on my phone and I noticed how many are black and white and red-hence the title. 

Here is what I have been up to lately:

I bought the Sorel jrs in Black.  Yeah I know I told y'all I was keeping #4 boots--the Call of the Wild .  I changed my mind, which will surprise no one.  After clomping around the mall for one afternoon in the other boots, I knew they had to go back.  I decided I needed the lightest snow boots I could find. Behold the fifth pair of boots I purchased:

It was the right decision.

Ryan's birthday is coming up and I am throwing him a pirate pizza party on Saturday.  13 little boys.  I am insane. 

Here is a picture of me and Ryan right before church a few weeks ago..thrown in because it goes with my black, red and white theme.  My nose is getting better every day.  Thanks for asking!:

Ashley had the cutest baby ever a few days ago.  The big news is that he is NOT a red.  I love her little red heads but it is fun to see a blonde from her. 

Both of us have babies with tons of hair and seeing this little guy made me baby hungry for about ten minutes.  Then I got over it.  But doesn't he have the cutest face?

John and his kids spent President's Day weekend with us and we had a great time.  My kids were in Heaven..6 kids might as well be 16 though.  We felt like the Duggars trying to go places.  We don't even all fit in my car!  Things are great but John and I have decided to keep dating but date other people as well and not be as serious.  We will see how that goes.

I will end on the silly.  I won this skirt in a facebook drawing and had already bought it.  So I am giving away the extra one!  Check back to my blog in the next couple weeks for drawings to win this skirt and a Hapari swimsuit! (Sorry for two lame mirror shots in one post!)

Life Moves Pretty Fast. You Don't Slow Down and Look Around Once in Awhile, You Could Miss It.

Wise Wise words from Mr. Ferris Beuller.  I am always in a hurry.  When I get in my car, I go 80--even if I am not late.  I get annoyed with people going 70 in the inside land.  Move over and let me by!!  I have two speeding tickets in the last year to thank for my lead foot.

I'm in a hurry at home too.  I gotta multi-task.  I gotta get stuff done.  I gotta go from one obligation to the next and then get annoyed when the kids actually want lunch or dinner.  I rarely sit down.  And then January happened.  I forgot to pay my health insurance premium because I was too "busy."  I broke my nose because I was in a huge hurry to put Christmas away at 10:00 at night and tried to walk through a door as I swung it open.  Breaking my nose ended up being a good thing for me.

It resulted in surgery which resulted in me lying around for two days watching the boob tube and then four days at home, ALONE.  No carpools, no scouts, no dance, no piano, no food to make, no gym, no diapers to change, no church...NOTHING.

Sam took my kids to Disneyland for the week so I could recover.  He is a brave man. Thank you Sam! 

And I had a few moments to breathe.  I seriously was almost paralyzed with what project to do first.  I had so much to do and only a few days to do it in.  I started working on Buster's baby book.  The child is almost 3 so it was time to throw something together.  I HATE scrap booking.  But I did scrapbooks for my older three and they love looking at them so I decided I had to do one for Buster.

And you know what?  I loved the quiet time, putting that thing together.  I cried over old pictures and remembered how cute he was--this tiny little preemie with tons of hair..a little monkey.  I decided to do the book in bright colors because that little boy has been such a bright spot in my life.  He literally got me out of bed for the first year of his life when I would have rather stayed under the covers and not faced my challenges.

He still gives me hugs and kisses and loves and is the sweetest little boy.  Since he got back from Disneyland, I have spent a lot of time just holding him and reading books and playing choo choos and telling him I love him.  Something I didn't do nearly enough a few weeks ago.  Here is he is modeling his new rash guard from Grandma:

Today, I took my kids shopping and we found Sammie a cute Easter dress at Gymboree.  In the past I would have stressed to find my boys matching duds.  Now I don't care.   If I find them matching stuff..great.  If I don't, they will look cute whether they coordinate or not.  I am trying to simplify too.

And tonight, I made cookies with my boys and played board games.  (love how the tv is always on in the back of my shots with someone comatose in front of it=Real life.)



I am making a conscious effort to say no to things. I am going to be cutting back on obligations, and even lunches with friends.  I need more time to focus on my kids and just slow down my life.

(Except for driving.  I will still go 80--so move over!)

PS. Thanks to everyone who commented on my boots post. After much fasting and praying, I went with #4.  They are lightweight (very important to me) and still have some cool styling with the fur. Now I've got three humongous boxes to ship back.  Woo hoo!

 

I'm Giving Winter the Boot

This post is going to give you a glimse into my insanity.  But this is how I operate people.  I decide I need to buy something and I smother it.  At times like this, when I have four pairs of Sorel boots on my Am Ex card, I am glad there is no husband in the picture!

Let me start at the beginning.  This winter in Utah has been BRUTAL.  I am talking bitter cold with tons of snow.  I have a really really old pair of snow boots that I have been wearing to shovel snow and do other outside activities.  They are completely thrashed with no insulation.  When I went tubing, my toes were frozen solid. 

I decided I needed to buy a really good pair of snow boots and wear them the rest of my life.  No pressure or anything to find the right pair.  I am not normally a brand name person (except for jeans) but when it comes to snow boots, I know Sorels are the gold standard.   I ordered a pair.  And then another pair.  And then another and another.  I wasn't quite sure about any one pair.  That's where you come in Dear Reader.   Help me decide which pair to keep.  Let me introduce you to each pair.

1.  These are the JOAN of ARC boot.

Truth be known, I first got sucked into the Sorels because I saw someone wearing these.  Love the fur.  Love the styling with the waterproof suede.  But these bad boys are HEAVY--like my legs were tired just walking around my house.

2.  So I ordered these.  I'm calling them BLACK ICE.  They are much lighter and more feminine. 

Compare the toe box to the Joan of Arc. 



I wish they had fur at the top.  I also worry that the black is not enough contrast with my jeans.

3.  Next I ordered these.  I'm calling them SOREL JRs. 

They are shorter and the light weight.  In high school, I used to tromp around in a pair of my dad's Sorels. (This may shed some light on why I wasn't dating much)....but anyway, they were great boots and these remind me of his old school Sorels.

4.  Finally, I ordered these.  I call them CALL of the WILD. 

These were supposed to be the solution to all my problems and the answer to all my prayers.  I like the saddle color with the fur.  The fur is a bit fake looking and odd.   I just don't know folks. 

Just to add to your confusion, I also like to wear leggings with boots.  So here I am in boots #2 and #3 with leggings:

And boots #1 and #4 in leggings:

Finally, all the boots lined up..#1 Joan of Arc, #2 Black Ice, #3 Sorel Jr, #4 Call of the Wild.  Pick your favorite pair.  C'mon ladies don't be shy.  And if there is a guy out there who wants to weigh in, more power to ya!



ps.  I got my nose cast and splints off today.  Hallelujah!  I still have some bruising and swelling but I am a happy girl with a straight nose again until Buster kicks me in the face.

 

Update: Check new post to see which boots I chose!

Christmas Gourmet Dinner Night

 

I promised a post on my Christmas Gourmet Dinner Night and dang it, I am going to deliver!   Everyone except my gourmet dinner night friends can leave now.  It is their duty to read this.  So let's get rollin'.

I LOVE Gourmet dinner night when it is at someone else's house.  Who wouldn't love showing up to a nice dinner with appetizers, main course, side dishes, fun beverages and a delicious dessert?  It is all fun and games until it is my turn to host.  I can decorate a pretty table:



But the food is my problem.   This year, I got smart and brought it my mother to do everything be my sous chef.  I helped throw her a birthday party the day before where I made vats of chicken salad so I figured she owed me.  Or at a minimum, she would come help because she is  my mom.  Here she is at her party the day before:

She came to my party and made the main course--Parmesan Crusted Chicken and rice.  She also brought leftover shrimp and fruit from her party.  All of this made me look like the Hostess with the Mostess. 



We had Ashley's hot artichoke dip to start.  yum.



I made my famous salad.  My friends had all had it before but no one complained:


I bought rolls from the Lion House Pantry at Deseret Book and tried to pass them off as my own.  They were disgusting and dry and in the end, I didn't even want to take credit for them. 

I was going to wow my friends with a fancy dessert but sometime around 3:00 in the afternoon, I found Buster sitting on my bar going to town on the sheet cake.  The aftermath:


Luckily, I was using a cookie cutter to cut out little cakes and the crisis was averted.  Here I am piping on frosting with a Ziploc bag:

The finished product:

The best part of the evening is our annual gift exchange.  Everyone brings three identical gifts that cost ten to fifteen bucks and we put them under the tree.  Then we each draw three names and we give our gifts to those people:

The gift giving:

Here is some of the loot:






I gave the Mindy Kaling books and lip glosses.

Everyone stayed until 1:00 am talking and laughing so I figure it was a success....



 

even if my kitchen looked like this the next day:

 



Party of One

It is Superbowl Sunday and I'm sure most of you are watching the big game.  I couldn't care less who wins.  I am just happy to be to be getting a little alone time.  I had surgery a few days ago to repair my broken nose.  Sam took my kids to Disneyland for the week so I could recover.  I had big plans to get some projects done around my house but so far there has been a lot of this:

I have some pretty sweet black eyes and a cast on my nose.  It's a good look.  But that's okay because I am not in a lot of pain.  The best news is that my new insurance actually covered my surgery.  It took three straight days of me hounding them about exceptions to pre-existing conditions, letters of continuous coverage, and other legal nonsense but they finally agreed to cover it.  Thank you IHC Select Med Preference!  I am a loyal customer for life! 

My parents have been so good to take care of me along with other very kind friends.  I feel very blessed.

I got other good news too.  Someone turned in Sammie's skis and we found Luke's poles in the garage so I no longer have to pay for those.  And my car insurance paid for my accident without increasing my premium.  I must be living right.  We even had some sunshine and days that got up into the 40s last week.  And I worked out at the gym several times.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Also, in my downtime, I caught up on all the Downton Episodes I have been missing.  This show is so good people.  It is the best thing on tv.  If you are not watching, you really should get your hands on the dvds.  Start at the beginning.  You won't be sorry.

Here's to February!  And nicer weather!  And good tv!  And looking like hell but not caring because my surgery was covered!  And brighter days ahead!