Back from a little Spring Break ~

I'm back! It has just been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but so much has gone on. Rod had a business trip to Las Vegas and Kristine and I got to go with him. It felt so good to be warm. And it felt good to get back to our cool Idaho evenings too. Here are a few pictures:

Oh, and I was wondering if tulips were old news or if I should go take pictures of my tulips. They are finally blooming and really look good this year. You all probably have long past the tulip season, but we are enjoying it.

Happy Birthday Kymber ~

This sweet little girl is two years old today. She is such a fun little girl. We love her!!

I've been published ~

No, not any of my paper crafting projects, although that would be nice. But in the June 2009 issue of The Cross Stitcher there is a little cross stitch project that they have been saving for about 3 years. Kind of fun to see your name in print.

Wow, time sure flies ~

~ and yes we were having fun. I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted anything. We have had a fun end of semester party with 23 family and friends here. It was so much fun and dinner was delicious too. I think I need to put up the recipe for the "real" cupcakes. Or I could just make them again. Kids moving home and moving out. Grandma visiting, and another big family get together with Ardith and Brian's family. My unfinished kitchen has seen more entertaining than ever before. We went out to help Alex and Michelle get ready to add on to their new house too. It was such a pretty day. They tore down and hauled away their shed. It used to be the old Arco liquor store, and I got to bring home the neat old door and a window from it. It will be next in line after our other house projects.
I got to watch this little cutie while Michelle helped with the work.

Jen gave up her bed to Grandma and got to sleep on the couch. Candie would join her in the mornings.

Finally ~

Well here it is. Another project to check off the list. I am real pleased with how they turned out. But boy is that a lot of work. We redid our kitchen about 17 years ago in our old house and I was sure I would never paint cupboards again. At least this time I didn't have three little helpers. I just had two dogs who were trying to help. Most of the time Candie would lay on the floor by my feet while I worked, but her black tail did end up wagging into the paint a couple of times. I know these pictures still look unfinished, but picture it with new knobs, crown molding on the top of the cabinets, a new countertop, tiled backsplash and new floor.

Does it look ready for a party? I have shifted gears and am planning our Family Fajita Party to celebrate the end of the semester at BYU-I. Maybe they will just see the new paint job and cabinets and not even notice there are no countertops or an old floor. Or I can just wow them with Fajitas and Cupcakes and they will be so busy eating they won't look. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Kitchen Remodel Continued ~

I missed posting the pictures of last weeks kitchen remodel project. I didn't think everyone would want to see my cupboards without the doors on them. The doors have been spread out on the counter and the table getting their face lift. And, now some of them are back up. Yeah!! No more messy cupboards to look at. Here is a peek at what it looks like now. This weekend we will get knobs for the doors. We have been looking at fancy new range hoods so the big blank spot will get filled in soon. Then the next step is the countertop.

In case you were wondering, yes, we are having a party at my house on the 10th of April. It will be a celebrate the end of the semester at BYU-I, family Fajita Party. Two of my kids are there and five nieces and nephews. One of the girls will be graduating and my sister's family will be here too. Should be lots of fun! I wish the rest of you could join us.

New Stamp Samples ~

It's been quite a while since I took a couple of hours in the middle of the day and just made Stampin' Up! samples. But, tonight I have a workshop and wanted to show some of the fun new things from the catalog. The box at the bottom is an original. I will try and get a tutorial up later. For a begineer Paper Engineer it turned out quite nice. I will be teaching some of these projects at Hostess Club meetings in the next few months. So if you want to get in on the fun let me know.

Wish you were here ~

Just a little something I made this morning. They are Brownie Cupcakes with Mint Buttercream frosting. YUM!

Answers to your quilting fabric questions ~

I found a great explination of the fun new fabric cuts that you see at quilt stores now. On her blog Simplify , Camille shows and tells all about them. She even has a give away going on. So stop in and join the fun. Just don't get sidetracked and spend your morning looking at all of the Moda fabrics.

I'm back ~

Sorry if you've been by checking for exciting news from SE Idaho. I took a break and went to Arizona to visit my parents. It was warm! Well, almost everything is warm compared to here, but it felt so good. It was great to have time to sit out on the patio and read and see so many new things. I really enjoyed the break from the everyday routine at home, but you know, it sure feels good to be back. I took a minute in my craft room this morning and made a cute card.

Happy Birthday Kristine ~

Kristine is 14 today. She is truly a bright spot in our family. We love the energy and excitement that she has about everything. We had a big family dinner yesterday and are continuing the celebration with a shopping trip to the mall today.

Stampers' Showcase ~

I have to show you a layout I made of Sydni. It is on the Stampin' Up! Demonstrators web site today. Isn't she a cutie!!

Remodel update ~

I've had two requests this morning for picture updates, so here you are. We are moving right along with the kitchen. We have removed the laminate countertop and backsplash. Removed old moulding from doors and windows. We took out the microwave, do you like how I say "we", actually it was Rod and Brad. (The microwave was just good for softening butter and needed to be replaced so it had to go.) And the biggest thing - we have painted the kitchen walls. I love the new color. Here are a few pictures so you can get an idea of what is going on. We have picked a terracotta tile for the countertops and smaller 4 inch tiles for the backsplash, which will go from countertop to under the cupboards and cover up the last bit of the green. We will be getting a really neat range hood too.

We also have replaced the old light in the living room. Yes, the old gold thing is gone. I don't have pictures of the new one yet, but trust me it looks so much better than before. Kristine said we should take the old one to Antiques Road Show. I don't think so, if it really was an antique it would have matched all of my antique tables and would be staying.

Picture of the week ~

see more puppies

Kitchen Remodel Step 1 ~

I guess this is the official start of the kitchen remodel project. We took down the cupboards above the bar this morning. Doesn't it really open it up? We are still deciding on final plans, but the list is started. This won't be a done in a couple of weeks job. Not al all. This will be a we hope (and will be really pleased if) it is done by Christmas. I didn't really lose a lot of cupboard space, I just made better use of what space I do have. We will get another cabinet to put on the wall on the right. Since we will be redoing the floor and countertops too, we might switch things around and do an island. Of course I need a pot hanger, because they are just really cool. So keep checking back about once a month for further updates. The row of cupboards that came down, will be moved down to the laundry room to replace the little shaky shelves that are in there now.

Picture Time ~

Look at this sweetheart! She is such a good girl. She had just dried off from having a shower and she knew she looked good. So she was ready to pose for a picture. I have tried getting a picture of both puppies together, but it ends up more of a circus than a photo shoot. I'll keep trying. I'll probably have to wait until my assistant is out of school before I try again. BTW ~ she loved the shower. Not a peep or a yelp or any fuss at all. She just stood there in the water and let me scrub her up and rinse her off. You can't tell from the picture, but she smells really good too.

Color Challenge Card ~

This picture really doesn't show off this card too well, but I love these colors together and it is gorgeous in real life. I used Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, Old Olive and Baja Breeze stamp pads from Stampin' Up! And the stamps are from the Friends 24/7 set.

A couple of cute bags ~

I took a bit of time this morning and made a couple of bags for Valentine's Day. This first one uses a bag template from Papertrey Ink. Pretty cute. I think I will put a little Valentine treat in here for Kymber and Sydni. Sorry Michelle, no peeking!

These next two pictures are of another project that we are doing Feb. 12 with the ladies from Church. They are really simple and quick to do. It should be a lot of fun helping all of the Mom's and Grandma's make their valentines. It has been terrible having candy around to make samples with, because I'm not eating any of it. If I splurge on candy, it will be fancy dark chocolate. And I didn't get any of that for this project. But these pink M&Ms are sure cute!

Double Takes ~

They did it again. About 18 months ago Michelle dyed her hair and ended up looking like Jennifer. This time Jennifer dyed her hair and now we have two Michelle's. Jen's glad her hair finally matches her eyebrows. I just think they both look cute, but it sure makes it hard to tell them apart sometimes.

Cute little family ~

Look at this cute family! We went out to see Michelle and Alex on Sunday for Sydni's Blessing Day. It was such a fun day with lots of family time and lots of good food. Kymber was such a sweetheart and so much fun to be with.