Making old shoes look new!

For my sweet little diva 2 year old, I decided to soup up some of her old shoes and give her what she wants. Glittler, and bows. If you have ever had the "princess" type daughter, you will appreciate these shoes. This is how her shoe started, I was such a dork I forgot to take a picture before I got out the sharpie markers, so this is the shoe after I colored the flowers red, (they were off pink before), and I colored in the red stripes that were already there before, but looking really grubby.



<-- Right here I used a cotton swab to apply Elmer's glue to the front of the shoe, only on the white panel. Then I added that really fine powdery glitter (sorry I don't have an exact name for it.) For the flowers on the shoes I did the same thing, used a cotton swab and added the glue to the petals of the flower, not the middle, and added the glitter.
Last I tied a red ribbon into a bow and hot glued it onto the back of the shoe under that little loopy. I know the ribbon is probably over the top and a bit cheesy, but you should have seen her eyes pop out when she saw her new shoes!
The bow was the finishing touch, so I sprayed the glitter parts of the shoe lightly with hairspray for some extra stick, and wiped off the shoe with a clean cotton swab to get rid of the extra glitter that was hanging onto the shoe.

When I was sure they were dry I let her try them on, and her little gasp and point, "Shoes!" told me not only that I have a mini woman on my hands, but that she approves of the new look of her shoe. :)

Making an old backpack look new!

Okay, so for the new school year, I always want my kids to have everything new- however this year it wasn’t possible. So I decided to soup up the kids old backpacks to look new, and why not? Thats what we should be doing anyways right? So, I got out the backpacks, ran them through the washer, and got out my favorite secret box of sharpie markers! Did I mention I loooove sharpies? I wish I had some before pictures on the backpacks but I was an idiot and didnt think of taking them! But you can imagine the grubby old look that an old backpack has. Here is my sons backpack that had some stains and scoffs on the grey strips on both sides of his hero’s in the middle- so I drew the crazy flames in blue and colored them in with orange and yellow, then filled in the background with red. I did this on both sides and it even though they were just two small parts of the backpack it really did make it look new and the marker hid the stains that plain grey didn’t.
My daughter’s backpack was all pink and white, and I should mention she is ALL done having pink anywhere around her. Now that she’s ooooolder she refuses anything that may come across as “little girly”. Luckily, she doesn’t mind purple, and has a love for kokopelli’s so thats what I went for.

Easter fun!

Eggs!  Yum.  Its a good thing Zach and I love hard boiled eggs, because this year we ended up with five cartons of them!  Ha!  Luckily my kids love them too. 

Family came over and we had a great time on Friday, dying eggs and making chocolate Easter nests.  Oh! And we watched Charlie Brown Easter….

The kids are getting so much older and so creative. 

Austin had fun making movie characters out of his…

Sydney was very delicate and thoughtful with hers

Zaida ate half of her eggs before she was done dying them!

Hannah was very careful and creative…

Ammon got more dye on his hands than on his eggs but had a wonderful time…

Zachie (who had a surprisingly great time)

Lizzy had a wonderful time painting eggs by dipping paint brushes in the dye. 

Bring on the bunny!

My #1 Bean…

Ever since Hannah was little we knew she was different from the regular kid.  From her sweet spirit to her desire to learn more, she has always been such a shining light in our home… alright, cheesy “mommy” moment over. 

Hannah went to an Achievement Days event at the church and it was SO awesome.  They did all the girls hair and gave them a flower and poem. Each girl got to stand up and tell what their favorite things are and what they love to do.  Then they walked a red carpet and posed for pictures.  The leaders in this ward are incredible to say the least!

A few days ago Hannah begged me to teach her how to make french toast.  She did a wonderful job and now begs everyday to make it again.   She’s a natural!

I love this little Bean!!!

 

Life by the inch is a cinch…

In the garden yesterday and today… what a wonderful way to spend the day!!!

 

Zach and I worked on 2 garden beds and 3 garden spots, in addition to a small stream we are making. 

These pictures dont show it but the kids were really helpful and even helped Grandma Lin with her yard! 

I’m so thankful for today :)

Garden Therapy…

Plans for my yard and garden are coming along really well.  Its tricky finding time between kids and strange Utah weather, but I can see the future of it in my head and its breathtaking! 

Mom helped me get boards for 2 raised garden beds which i’m really excited about. 

*side note* did you know there is a clearence section in Home Depot with boards in it that go from $2 to $6?  Awesome. 

Making plans and working on this yard has been a really great relief for me.  The other day I planted a rose bush in the front yard all by myself and just in that alone time, me the rose bush and the soil, it was perfect. I would have taken that one moment over a Spa treatment any day. 

Dear Zach,

Hey babe.  I cant belive how much we’ve been threw.  I cant believe we made it threw the year of all evil.  And yet, somehow I always knew we could.   You are all I want.  From the beginning of the glow stars in the hallway, and the deaths saved by a kiss, until now, swallowed in autism and fighting off debt, you have always been the only one for me.  True stable and unwavering I know you are the only one I want to have in my life.

I love you very much. 

I cant wait for our date night this weekend. I cant wait to make many more- I dont care what it takes.  I cant wait to bond with you again and grow with you more than we already have.  Because right when we think we are at our wits end we always find we are just at the beginning and I cant imagine anyone else I would rather have by my side than you. 

I love you.

Candy

Free Hugs... my hero's.

With LDS Conference coming up I've had this on my mind for a bit and wanted to share- however the youtube video that is the Salt Lake City one had a problem with the song on there so I posted a different video with the same idea. 

Every six months people of the LDS faith head to SLC, to be close to their prophet to hear his voice, take it in and be comforted.  The get council on many things to help guide their lives, from emergency preparedness for your family, to how to help your friends and neighbors by serving those in need. 

Every six months picketers arrive holding up degrading signs and shout horrible things at these people.  

Then one year a small group came with signs that said "free hugs".  That was it.  They didn't care what the mormons believed in or didn't believe. They just knew that this group was being harassed for attending something they loved and believed in.  So they gave out free hugs.  Many laughs were had and good tears were cried because this group went out of their way to make people feel good that day. 

Wouldn't it be good if these things could happen more often than those people who only want to cut others down for what they believe. 

 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FREE HUG GROUPS!!! 

PUT YOUR SHOULDER TO THE .... DECK...

I'm more than excited for all the plans I have for my yard to get out of my brain this year.   I've planted so much in my kitchen window seal that there is almost no more room on it... I would like to thank Zach for being so patient with me.... ha ha.

Mom has been helping me figure out the best plan of action for my yard and i'm so glad!  Its hard to tell what things would grow good where and what grows good in the enchanting Utah clay... hee hee.  That's where she comes in.  As a "Master Gardener" she can say stuff like "Candy that's stupid because vegetables wont grow good there, however they will grow great right there!"  I've got so much to do before I can start planting my newborn plants in the yard.

I started today with the deck and taking down the fence around the "lower" deck.  It seemed fun when we moved in- like a little child area or something but last summer none of us went under it.  Its nice for the shade but if you sit down there you cant see the kids play because of the fence and the kids would rather play on the grass than in there,   so, buh-bye fence- hello more sunshine and welcoming roominess!

Here's the deck before...  Nice, but another thing i'm excited to get rid of is all the grey.... grrrreeeeeyyyyyy!

Here is the deck now- 45 minutes, lots of rusty painty screws, and one angry spider later, and WHALA!  A much more functionable lower deck! : )

All right I know there's lots of crap in the yard- but just wait till I get going!

 

Howdy neighbor, Happy Harvest!

 

Here is an update on some of my little spring ditties….

This is a pic of my pumpkin seeds about 4 days after I planted them. 

 

 

This picture was taken the same day as the last one..  look at the little bugger go!

 

 

 

And the same one two days later…  If you want a fast growing little seed, I would suggest pumpkin for sure!  Ha ha!

OoooowwwwwwwWWW!

  Tonight I should have worked on the ever breeding dishes and laundry once my little ones were in bed. But instead, my 9 year old convinced me to have fun and learn the “thriller” dance with her and her brother. 

yes, I confess I am one of the lone people from the 80’s that failed to learn the dance while wearing my neon and ratted hair pulled up in a scrunchie… 

I kinda suck at it, and we bumped into eachother pleanty, but let me tell you it was one of the best parts of my day by far!

Jumpin’ the gun on Spring…

When I hear my kids getting impatient with winter weather and snow flurries I’m always such a good mom and tell them things like, “Winter is a good time to see beautiful snow, and time for the ground to soak up the moisture from it… blah blah blah.”  But in my mind i’m thinkin’… “GEEZE TELL ME ABOUT IT, will spring come already?! Lets get plantin’!!!”

I’ve got so many wonderful things I want to do and plant in my yard, COME ON SPRING!”

So about a week ago I took some seeds i’d been saving and planted some in a milk container, and some in a jar. The ones I planted in the milk container (pink hollyhock) sprouted up super fast!  Uh oh! HA! Now i’m going to have to trasplant them soon into something bigger before they can move outside… tee hee hee…

            ^My beautiful little Pink Hollyhocks.. LOOOK how CUUTE!!!  Helloooo little babies!!!!!! ^ 

Have you ever had 10 surgery’s?

in 2004 my sister amy was in a car accident that broke all the bones in her right leg… left leg?  sorry amy!  her ankle took the brunt of the accident which left her with 10 surgery’s under her belt!  #10 was today. 

So to enjoy the bliss of this wonderful day we celebrated by throwing her a “surgery” party!  - by far one of the best parties of the year!

^  The decorations were spectacular! ^

…Our first game of the night was to make your barbie a fashionable cast…. 

Then we had a trivia challenge in which team “destroyers” were trying to influence the other team…. 

After that, we had an awesome game of pin the needle on the leg… 

 

I have so many more picture but they would take up this whole page!  The night was super fun and the best “surgery party i’ve ever attended!

for any concerned, my sisters surgery went well and she is at home chilling out while my niece makes her healthy microwave meals… 

What goes in must come out… or get stuck along the way and then forced out!… ewwww.

 Well, grandma, the add extra butter to make everything better idea nipped me in the gall bladder!  last sunday I was admitted to the local er for some heart check-ups and a morphine drip! 

Having attended cpr training a few times in my daycare days, I feared the worst as I was experiencing EVERY symptom of a heart attack.  chest pain, back pain, shortness of breath, and sweating… theres your formula for a beautiful picture huh? 

Luckily my mom and hero zach saved the day. 

since last sunday’s fun events i’ve been eating what they tell you to…  take  what you have and cut out white flour, sugar, fats, salts, and dairy. 

It has been hard and fun to be creative on what to make and what actually tastes good when i thought it wouldn’t. The hardest part is looking at the food that is still in the house and smelling and watching other people eat it! The hardest food to give up so far is chili. Buh-bye chili!  Waaaaaaa!  How am I going to live with out chili?!?!

My new mission…. Save the gallbladder!

So many people telling me to get it out and thats that. so many others telling me to keep it.  there were good points to both sides… whats a gallbladder to do?

With many many conflicting ideas from googling i was happy to see my step-moms nutritionalist, Denise, who explained it is totally possible to not have your gallbladder removed, and live healthy, which sounds good to me. 

 

Things i learned from seeing miss denise:

*brown rice is better for you than wheat bread

*the fewer steps your food took to get here the better

*your body might try to tell you that you are hungry often if you arnt getting the right nutrients.  So you keep eating to fill the hunger but until you eat the right thing the hunger wont go away.

*the little place where denise works is in a super cute area with a childrens store near by that I have to go to soon!

 

My fresh blog o’ life….

My blog is different from any other blog you’ll read because mine is like a recipe for humble chaos.

   If you already know me, add a singing husband, a diva queen, a soft spoken hyper princes, a muscle man and a very skinny tasmanian devil.