Fancy Photos

While at Bassett Furniture to pick up our new couches I spied these photos hung up in one of their faux display rooms.  I am always drawn towards the monochromatic look.   Plus with the gold frames these were right up my alley.

I immediately knew I needed them.  {Ok maybe not needed but really, really wanted}  The sales lady told me the price at which I was even more excited and I snatched them up as quickly as I could before Clint noticed.  I shoved them into the truck while he wasen't looking, brought them home and hung them up while he was away on a trip.

Now I don't know why I felt I needed to "secretly" buy them or "secretly" hang them up. {Obviously he was going to see them.  They are hanging right above our bed.}  My C-Thomp does not care when I buy things for the house-never has.  In fact he is always so supportive of my decorating.  I guess I felt guilty for already getting couches and adding some pictures to the mix.

I really should have had Clint hang them up though.  He is much better at getting things even and straight.  Plus I hung them a little too high for my liking.  I guess I'll leave the hanging to my husband from now on.

Little Helper

While cleaning up the kitchen I caught this little helper assisting in unloading the dishes.  She still could use a little work learning where the dishes go.  Most items just landed on the floor which landed them back in the dishwasher to be washed again.

  The Easter decor has made it's debut for the season.

I love placing a different seasonal item beneath the glass cloche.   A little bunny from the thrift store and a nest with eggs make the cake stand ensemble complete for Easter.

I figure you can never have too many rosette's {or too much toile but my husband would disagree on that one.}

A simple rosette garland hung on the mantel.

St. George

I could live in St. George.  The weather is beautiful, the landscape is gorgeous and every store you could want is within a short drive around town. 

Easton, Marielle and I enjoyed visiting Clint while he worked the gun show {the reason for the trip}.  Here we are checking out the big army tank.  Actually the tank is not as big inside as it looks on the outside.  I learned this by bonking my head several times on the hard metal interior.

My beautiful best friend Holly drove up from Las Vegas to see me!  I love spending time with this girl. 

Miss Marielle managed to not sleep one wink on the trip down or back.  Most babies are lulled to sleep by the car- not our little Miss.  She prefers to be onery and stay awake the entire time.

Now that she is 9 months old she weighs 17 lbs 7 ounces putting her in the 21%tile for weight and in the 88%tile for her height at 29 inches.

While in St. George I did a little coupon shopping.  Sometimes I get tired of shopping in Utah County because there are SO many coupon shoppers and if you want something on bargain it's usually gone. 

At Target I purchased 5 instant oatmeals, 2 razors and 2 packs of gum paying $11.59 after coupons.  I then received $10 back in gift cards.  So if you consider the gift cards that's only $1.59 for all my items.

At Rite Aid I purchased 3 packages of diapers and 2 packages of truffles for a total of $7.88 after all of my coupons.  I then went online and requested my $5 rebate.   Bringing my cost to only $2.88 once I receive my rebate check.

Coupon shopping is fun when you get good deals like this but sometimes it's very tedious and time consuming.  However, I'm sure I will keep doing it. I've got to stick to my $200 monthly food/diaper budget and using coupons is the only way I think I can do it.

To recap-we had fun in St. George.  We swam, ate lots of food, {I pounded a whole bag of circus peanuts by myself}, shopped, enjoyed the weather and saw lots of guns.  What more could you ask for from a romantic Valentine getaway.

Clapping

With the wonderful warm weather we've been experiencing I can't wait for spring.  These little rosettes I made sing of spring. I thought they would be perfect to decorate for Easter with. 

I placed them in my milk glass vases purchased from the thrift store.

Little Miss started clapping today.  If I say 'yea' she will clap for herself.  She is nine months old now and I just can't get enough of her.   Easton loves to drag her around the house and make her play with certain things.  Little Miss is a scavenger and is constantly on the lookout for little crumbs of food on the floor.  Needless to say she only needs to look under Easton's chair to find a smorgasbord of snacks.

The boy and I made yummy sugar cookies for Valentine's Day.  Actually, I made them while Easton ate the dough and icing.

{Happy Valentine's Day}

New Couches

The new couches have arrived and I am throughly enjoying their presence.

We purchased these from Bassett Furniture.  The store in Orem is remodeling so everthing in the store is currently 35% off, including special order items such as our couches.

I sold our former set on the classified ads and within a day we had a buyer.

                              
                        Thank you for the birthday gift Clint.  You sure know how to spoil a girl.

A Mini Trip

The little man adores a good trip so when Clint mentioned he had a voucher for a free night stay we decided to get out of the cold and go to where it is even colder-Park City.

There was swimming, more swimming, eating pizza, cupcakes and candy, staying up late, and shopping. 

Even though we were gone for only one night, it was a lot of fun and satisfied the boy's insatiable appetite for trips.  Oh wait, it didn't.  Before we had even left Park City he said he wanted to go on another trip.  To that I say- sure, in two weeks we will go to St. George.

Pink Shoes & a Package

I adore these shoes on Little Miss.  Even though they don't stay on they are so very cute.

There was a knock on the door the other morning and much to Easton's surprise and excitement a package lay waiting for him on the front step. 

The little guy was squealing and jumping all around.  He loves getting anything in the mail.  I give him  my junk mail and he'll play all afternoon with the credit card terms and conditions pamphlets. 

This was much better than a credit card pamphlet though.  He tore into the box to discover a cache of treats and goodies sent from Grandma Connie.  Marielle tried to get in on the action but she was not quick enough.  Easton ate her share of the treats as well.

We made peanut butter kiss cookies with the chocolate kisses Grandma sent. Easton unwrapped all of the kisses for the cookies.

 I caught him sneaking a cookie before breakfast. {I'm sure it couldn't have been because he saw me eat one moments before.  oops}

The Blah Bathroom

This little Miss has now mastered the art of crawling up stairs.  She has not mastered coming down the stairs however, unless you count trying to go down head first.  It is now time for one of those obnoxious gates to be placed in front of the staircase.

{ I can't get enough of this smiley face.}

Several months ago I gave my bland, builder beige bathroom a mini makeover.  I was so tired of looking at this:

With a tiny budget {enough to buy a can of paint and a shower curtain rod} and some fabric I had on hand I transformed the blah into this: 

{slightly less bland bathroom}

The tiebacks are hooks I purchased for $2 a piece and originally planned to use them in  Marielle's room to hang a few things on but I never did. 

I love a good apothecary jar or two.  Not only do they look fabulous, they are functional as well as inexpensive.  I purchased mine at various places, Roberts craft store {using a 50% off coupon}, yard sales and Ross.

I have a list in my mind of  many more things to do to the bathroom such as add a mini chandelier above the tub but husbands and $$ prevent such things from happening.  For now I will just enjoy not having a beige bathroom any longer.

A New Year a New Me

As I type this post I am in my room having a time out.  Easton sent me to my room  because I wouldn't let him have a treat.  I really like time outs.  He should send me to my room more often.

Although I always dislike taking down the Christmas decor because our house seems so bare afterward, it always engerizes me to clean out unwanted items throughout our home and organize things a bit more. Easton assisted me in getting the hearts out for "heart day" and placing them around the house.  With each new year brings new goals.  I decided to try a new format this year with my goal setting and set a few goals in five different catagories. 

1.  Family: Go on a family vacation.

2.  Personal:  Become more organized.  This is one of my goals every year but there are so many areas to become organized in.  This year I am focusing on schedules.  I have scheduled  my daily goals for cleaning and playtime with the kids.

 Example:  Thursday- Dust & vacuum the upstairs

Craft time

3.  Health:  Run two times a week.  {Many of you are probably thinking- that's it, only two times a week.  In my defense I  have not run since high school and so I thought I would ease into things a bit.  I actually went running for the first time a few days ago and managed to run 1.8 miles without stopping or dying.}

4.  Social:  Call or send a card to each of my friends on their birthday.  I am the worse at keeping in touch so this will help me.

5.  Spiritual:  Read scriptures and say prayers with Clint each evening.

The new year also brings a new age for me.  I am now a thirty something, celebrating the big 3-0 last Friday.  My family as well as Clint's gathered at our home for a pizza party.  Easton really wanted me to have a roller skating dance party.  I wanted to as well but when you have a little one that loves to go to bed early, it's hard to do things like dance parties.  I guess I'm showing my age.

                                        
Clint took me shopping for my birthday.  I've been wanting new couches.  I've debated about getting new ones  because I don't worry when Easton plays on them or takes off all of the couch cushions and bounces around on them.  However, our couches have become so worn they are no longer comfortable and you sink when you sit on them.  So in three weeks these beauties will be gracing our family room. 
                                          
I can hear Easton calling me now- telling me my time out is over.  It was nice while it lasted but I don't think I got a full 30 minutes.

I know it's January 6th but I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  (One of my goals this year is to be better at blogging.)  We went to Grand Junction to my parent's home for Christmas.  All of my siblings were there.   If you notice Easton was really excited to eat the ham at Christmas dinner.

New Year's Eve all my siblings and cousin came over for the traditional appetizer party.  Clint and I barely stayed awake to welcome in 2010.  On New Year's Day, Easton awoke to find a present under the tree that Mrs. Claus brought to him.  She always visits New Year's Eve and brings the one present Santa forgot to bring at Christmas.  The tradition of Mrs. Claus has always been a part of my childhood and I'm excited to have Mrs. Claus continue the tradition with my children.

Little Miss is moving all over the place.  She is a proficient little crawler and pulls herself up on everything.  She had her first run in with the coffee table and received a little shiner. (I wonder if I could say little a few more times.)

She is exactly 8 months old today.