And the Winner is.......

Yea and the winner is number 9....which is Kimri!!!! YEAH for you! Thanks to all of you who played, and sorry for the delay on getting the results and prizes. (I blame the whole pregnancy thing mostly). Anyway, please contact me and I will get your address and send you your cool stuff!!!!! Just remember, now you get to have your own "Pay it Forward" contest, and pass the love on! Enjoy!

Pay it Forward

I just love contests (I don't really know why, because I rarely win!) This time, however, I just happened to be the lucky winner! Woo-hoo!!!!!! A while back my Uncle Rob won a pay it forward from his daughter's blog and then I won his pay it forward contest!!!!! YEAH!!! So now I am going to "Pay it forward." So what does this mean for you????? I will continue on the contest and have my very own pay it forward contest! You have until Saturday, January 3rd to leave me a comment, and I will randomly pick a winner and send you your own package. Then, when you get the package I send you, you have to have your own contest and pass along the love. Hence the pay it forward concept. So comment away! If you can't think of anything to comment on, I would love to know what Holiday traditions you and your family has. Good Luck everyone!!!

p.s. Thanks uncle Rob, I did get the email and I am already deciding what to get with my Food Network Gift Certificate!

Escape to Midway

We wanted to get away for the weekend, and it just so happened that Tony's mom volunteered to take the kids overnight, and my dad let us use his timeshare in Midway, Utah. So we packed up and drove to Midway. Tony had to work late Friday, so the kids and I drove up, saw the beautiful scenery, ate at the Train restaurant in Heber and then spent some time relaxing at the condo before Tony got there to join us. We got up, went swimming (the kids loved that!) and then ate at the Train Restaurant again. Rylan loves this place because he is totally into trains and Alana enjoyed it just as much because of all the toy trains to play with there and the restaurant has a train that moves along the ceiling. It is pretty neat. Then in the late afternoon we took the kids to Tony's parents (Thanks Dave and Gayle for watching the kids). I got a pedicure and then we went to dinner at The Claim Jumper. After dinner we wanted to look around at some shops, but it was getting late and they were closed, so we ended up going back to the condo and watched a movie and we both fell asleep (yes, we're old). It was a very fun and relaxing weekend. I love Midway, because it has so much charm, darling shops and old houses and flowers in pots and baskets along the streets. Many of the houses look Swiss or European. It is a fun quaint town to visit and I love how it is nestled in the country. It is perfect for a weekend getaway!

Favorite Things Swap

I had a friend tell me about this Favorite Things Swap. (Thanks Dorey) What you do is gather up a few of your favorite things and then each person participating in the swap, gets a partner and swaps things. It sounded really fun, because you get to put together your favorites (home-made or store bought) and send them to someone else. In return get some cool, random, favorite things. I think that it will be fun to find out about someone else. Here are the things that I am going to send. I will post pictures when I get my package! Totally cool, fun, different, and so exciting! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Here are the pictures of the package I sent to my swap partner

And here's what I got from my partner.

The best part of it all was recalling my favorite things and being able to share them with someone else. Although it was pretty exciting to get the package today and see what was inside for me (it was a little like Christmas). I needed a little excitement! Overall it turned out great! Thanks Rosa for the great stuff and it has been fun getting to know you! Maybe I'll try this again in the future. It was pretty cool!

A Classic

I love crayons! As a child I loved to draw and color. I was always doodling something. I loved getting new crayons. Who dosen't remember the excitement of opening a brand new box of crayons? I remember sometimes at Christmas I would get a new box of crayons, and it was exciting! As an adult I still get excited over crayons. (Only now I buy them for my children).

This year the Crayola 64 pack turned 50.

Just some fun facts I want to share about crayons: (I thought they were totally cool)
*About 3 billion Crayola crayons are produced each year.

*Sold in 80 Countries (Packaged in 12 Languages)

*The average kid in the United Sates will wear down about 730 crayons by his or her 10th birthday.

*Has a distinct smell--one that Yale University ranked on the most recognizable smells. It ranked 18 out of 20. (I love the smell of crayons)

*Over the years the 64 pack has changed some. Some colors have been retired, some have had name changes (like Flesh color changed to Peach color) and they have added some new colors. For the 50th anniversary Crayola asked children around the world to pick color preferences, and eight colors were given new names. Some of the new names include "super happy" and "best friends".

Any way you look at it crayons are A Classic, they will never go out of style (they may change their name or shade). They are a timeless toy. I love crayons and the ideas and memories that are expressed by a simple pack of crayons. Kids can used their immagination and create something. Even young kids love to scribble, it is a great toy because it developes fine and gross motor skills. It's great for youngsters, but even adults can have as much fun as the young ones do. It's an activity that the whole family can enjoy and do together. I love crayons so much that

I think I will have to go buy a few more packages (nothing like a brand new box)....I love crayons. It just makes me want to be creative!!!

I think that crayons are a classic toy and we all have an emotional connection to them somehow.

Happy Birthday Crayola 64!!!!!

p.s. Here is a great idea to do with your old crayons. They are called "Crayon Nibbles". Many of you may remember that for valentines, the kids and I melted down their old crayons in a bunch of little heart shaped tins (like the circle one pictured below), and then we let them cool put them into sacks and delivered heart shaped swirly crayons to their friends for Valentines day. It was a fun activity the kids enjoyed, we used up all of our old crayons and it made a fun gift. (The only bad part was that I had to unwrap the crayons first.) Hope you enjoy--Have fun with your box of colors.

Crayon Nibbles

Items that you will need:

-mini muffin pan (one that you don’t mind getting a little crayon on)--Mine was little heart shapes.

-Old Crayons

-Wax Paper (to put crayons on after they are cooled)
Directions:

You’ll want to preheat your oven to 265 degrees F. Peel off all the paper from the crayons (for the new ones, and break them into 1/2″ to 1″ pieces. Arrange two to three like colors in each slot, then bake for 6-8 minutes (don’t over bake - you want them just melted so you can’t distinguish the crayon shape anymore). Let them congeal a little on the counter, then place them in the freezer until they are firm (approx. 30 minutes). They should then pop right out.
These crayons are great for little hands that aren’t steady enough to hold thin crayons. They can wrap their whole hands around them and go to town without breaking them. Hope you have fun!

Fun facts taken from the Deseret News.

Welcome Summer!

Today was the first day of summer! Yeah!!!!! We celebrated by going to a BBQ at our neighbors house. It was fun to see some of our old friends (Sam, Marcia, Paul (Guzel), Anna (Joe), Phil and Carla and Larraine) again and catch up on things. Thanks Marcia for the invite! We had a blast eating, talking and hanging out with everyone that was there. Everyone brought a dish and Sam and Marcia made Flank Steak-YUM! The kids had fun playing. Phil and Marcia even got down on the floor and played with the kids. It made my day to have someone play like that with my kids, because my mom used to do that and it's what I miss the most about her. (Thanks again Phil and Marcia for playing with them. It was just what I needed!) The adults played card games while Marcia entertained the kids. It just keeps getting better....we got to go to a movie with Joe and Anna. We saw Get Smart. It was a great movie and we laughed and laughed. It was a wonderful evening and an awesome way to Welcome Summer!

The fabulous food (the picture doesn't do it justice!)

Good friends and excellent company

Fun Stuff and Good Times!!!!

Only one bad thing.....our cooler has been broken and we have been dieing of heat! I hate being sweaty! YUCK! Just when it gets hot! HMPH! Still we are happy to have the nice weather. :)

The Zoo Crew (Members Only!)

Tonight my Dad, Tony, Rylan, Alana and myself became the zoo crew. We went to the zoo on members only night to be some of the first ones to ride the new carosel. The zoo had special activities like temporary tatoos, crafts and special animal showings. There was also a bird show. The kids loved the bird show. They loved every minute of it. We saw a bunch of birds fly right over us, and even got to see a bird up close. Next we rode the train (which is always a hit) and then we made our way to the carosel. We lucked out and ended up being the first ones for the next ride on the carosel, so Rylan chose to ride the lady bug and Alana rode the Lion. (and no, I did not mix the two up...?????) The highlight for the kids this time was doing the crafts and getting tatoos. All of us enjoyed ourselves--espically the adults. It was just a relaxing, fun family time together! We thought that we might get rained out, but the weather ended up being great! Thanks crew for the awesome time at the zoo!

Almost 23/7!

Normally for me I have the kids 24/7 (so it seems), but this yesterday I got a break. I was invited to have a weekend away with no kids, stay in a hotel and scrapbook (although we goofed off more than scrap booking). Tony's cousins Kayli, Jill, Jenna and Sarah went to dinner at Archibald's Restaurant and then did a little window shopping before we went to the Little America Hotel. It was a lot of fun and I was totally ready to be a mom again. I've decided that I need these breaks periodically! Thank you Kathy and Tony for watching the kids. I feel so more relaxed (one of my neighbors even told me that I looked more relaxed). I am thankful for the 24 hour reprieve! Back to being a mom again....24/7!