A Brother Date...

I've heard of a "Daddy Daughter Date" and a "Mother Daughter Date" but this week I was introduced to a new kind of date! My boys looove their sister. Carly is a natural born leader with a contagious energy and love of life. She is exciting to be around so when she's home, the boys are usually not far away. Their play usually revolves around her and I love to hear their squeels and laughter and schemes.

One day, the boys wanted to play and uncharacteristically, Carly was too busy for them. My heart caught for a second and I felt a twinge of sadness for them. I love that my kids play together. I waited a second to see what would come of this odd change to their day...then Ridge came up with a brilliant plan: "I know! Let's have a "Brother Date" and off they went!

Picture Tag.

This is a fun little tag from Sarah and Diana. Here it goes.

This picture is the fourth picture in my fourth picture folder:

We were working in the back yard after school one day, when Sean sprayed the kids with the hose. They had a blast as you can see on Carly's face! Somehow when Sean and a hose are involved in the work, the kids always end up wet! I think they anticipate it because they know Dad is a little mischevious! But hey, the family that works together and plays together stays together. Right? Right!

I tag all my sisters! I know you girls have a ton of picutes! Open your fourth picture folder and select the fourth picture and tell us about it.

Have a great day, Lisa

Halloween in Utah

We had such a fun Halloween in Utah with my sister Keri. We all dressed up and went around the neighborhood trick or treating. When we were done, we went back to their house and sat in the driveway and watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfeman". (A projector is a fun investment!) The porches were all decorated so beautifully and the weather was awesome! The leaves were changing and dropping and the kids had so much fun playing in them. What a beautiful Fall experience!

Happy Birthday Grandma #90!

Recently we were blessed to tag along with my Mom and Cindy on a trip to Idaho. We went to celebrate a very special pretty lady in our lives. Our Grandma Denning turned 90! We grew up with our Grandma singing songs to us. Our all-time favorite, hands down, is the Little Fishy song. My Mom and Aunts threw her a fun Birthday party and they even sang several of her special songs. She took a turn and sang to us as well. What a treat!

For some reason, I forgot to bring in my camera. I got a shot of her the next day. Isn't she a pretty lady?

Some random memories of my Grandma:

My Grandma has the most positive outlook on life. I have never met anyone like her yet. This is a quality I hope I can grasp. Especially during this challenging time that we live in. So, if you hear me complain, punch me in the arm and remind me of my Grandma!

I lived at Grandma and Grandpa's house one summer after High School. It is one of my favorite memories. I had a blast living with them. It was such a great opportunity to get to know them, since they lived in Idaho and I lived in Florida. We sat up and listened to old western music with them. Grandpa even found a tape my family sent them when we were little. (It was fun hearing our tiny little voices singing them songs and my Mom sang to them.) They had tears in their eyes.

One day that summer, my sister Keri and Cousin Shalee were working out with me upstairs when we heard Grandma yell up from the bottom: "Hey Sha, how many situps did you do? I did three!" and then we all giggled like a bunch of school girls!

Shortly after I had Ty, my Grandma was here for a visit, and she would sit and hold him an hour at a time, singing him songs and rocking until they both fell asleep. Sweet.

Grandma was a home ec. major and she liked to cook in the kitchen. She was always worried about us girls "taking care of our men." I can't remember being at a party with her when she didn't ask me if Sean got enough to eat and requested I go fill his plate up one more time. I have to admit, it rubbed me wrong sometimes, being the modern girl that I am. I'd think, he's a big boy, if he's hungry he can get his own plate. But I was wrong. She was right. Her generation knew how to take care of each other. Sometimes it seemed a little lopsided to me, but if I take a little of what I know (or think I know) and mesh it with what she knows, I think that would be considered progress. I am lucky enough to have a husband who puts my needs before his. He will offer to get me a drink of water on the way to fill his own cup. He doesn't expect me get up to go get his. If we both look out for each other, as Grandma asks, I bet our relationship will last 70 years as well. A little unselfishness goes a long ways. (I hope that made sense.)

I love you Grandma. Hope you had a wonderful Birthday!

Thanks for letting us tag along Mom!

Cute little apron.

I made an apron last week for my sister Cindy (http://www.lilypstudio.typepad.com/) to use as a prop for some pictures. I included an old lace hankie from a store my sister Keri use to own. The hankie was stained and I used a patch of old jeans and a fabric swatch I have been saving. I used some tea dyed fabric for raggy ruffles all on top of a faded rose background and I love the way it turned out...But I didn't take a picture. (Darn)

This weekend I went to a garage sale that had some vintage hankies. I thought I would purchase them and make some more. Today I made an apron for my cousin's darling little girl. It's a different pattern, but I think it turned out cute. I can't wait to see her in it!

Hope you had a great day. Lisa

I bet they know something we don't!

I love kids. Look at these boys. I love how they study this snowglobe. This globe really is fascinating. It has little flecks of glitter and black bats that whirl around in the liquid. It made Ridge so happy he couldn't contain himself and had to jump on the couch...at least that's what I'm telling myself! Maybe I should try it next time I'm really happy. I bet they know something we don't!

Handmade Halloween...

Just a few cheap Halloween ideas. (Sorry if you're sick of the salt dough projects.) We decorated with some of our ghosts we made from the last two years. I was curious how they would last in storage and so far so good. They still look great. Last year, we made these cute candy corn pieces. I was going to make a wire garland with them, but never got around to it. But they look cute on our leaf garland.

Those cute wood blocks above the mirror were made by my talented friend Diana. My kids love to change the words, but Carly usually wins out because she's the tallest. Thanks Diana!

Bought the frame at a garage sale last week for $1! Added our own chalkboard.

Some vintage Halloween postcards we printed out and clipped to this wreath. Simple, cute and cheap!

Tomorrow is the kids Fall Harvest Festival at school. They are excited for it. I am too. I love this time of year! Hope you're enjoying it. ~Lisa

Autumn is here!

The weather has cooled down and we couldn't resist a walk tonight. It was so beautiful! I love sweater weather!

I love my little goofballs too!

Life is beautiful...so much to be thankful for!

Camping

This weekend we had a fun adventure going camping with some of our friends. The kids had so much fun together. It was awesome watching the little boys play. I think it was a never ending sword fight!

Sean had a slight misadventure when the suburban caught fire while trying to find firewood! Scarry! It melted some wires, but he was able to fix it. Man, I'm so grateful for a handy husband! (And I'm also thankful to Jason for bringing the brickettes so we could cook dinner...minus the firewood!)

The kids saw HUGE tarantula spiders! They were walking across the road and we stopped to study one. They are so beautiful and graceful...once you get past the arachnaphobia! Scott actually caught one and brought it back to camp in a plastic container so we could look at it up close. I have to admit, I got spooked by it a couple of times! It was on the picnic table and I would forget it was there and my hand would brush by it making the spider move and it would make my heart skip a beat!

The weather wasn't as cool as we thought it was going to be, but it was so WINDY! It made it interesting sleeping in the tents!

Saturday we were able to go fishing for a little while, but Carly wasn't feeling well and the fish weren't biting, so we called it a day. But what a beautiful day it was!

Thanks for the fun camping trip P's and R's. It was fun getting to know you guys better and we look forward to doing it again sometime...Hopefully you do too! :)

I like this last picture of Scott and Emilie. It fits them! Laid back, taking in the moment and enjoying life!

Hope you all had a great weekend too!