My Birthday

My birthday celebrating began with this....

Treyson made me a Captain Crunch cereal, toast and milk breakfast-in-bed.

Started my sugar rush early...it was a FREE day!
For lunch, I went to Red Robin with some friends from the ward. I had a yummy burger. I can't remember the name of it, but it had a fried egg in it. I was a little scared to try it, but the waiter said it was good, so I went for it.
It was good.

We were also celebrating Stacey's birthday.

We're Birthday Sistas!!!

Weeks earlier, Stacey had told me she loved skulls. So when I saw this, it had her name written all over it!

She said, "I don't have one THIS big. Thanks."

Good Food + Good Company= Good Lunch!

I received a text from Jason, it said, "I'm getting off at 5. I will pick you up at 5:30 and we are going out!"

When I got home from lunch, I took a little nap. I was feeling a bit under-the-weather and wanted to rest up before the evening events began.

When Jason got home he showered and rushed around. He asked if I would hang out in the room for a while because he and the kids were doing something.

No problem..... I'll just take a little longer nap.

In my sleepiness, I heard scuffles, bumps and glass clinking together. Couldn't figure out what was going on out there, so I didn't try and went back to sleep.

Finally, Jason came in and said that they were ready. He escorted me to this quaint little Italian cafe, "Smullini's".

We were greeted by this lovely hostess...

"Hello. Welcome to Smullini's. How many will be in your party tonight? We have a table over here, next to a window, does that sound good? Great. Right this way. (Lead them to their table.)

I found her script, behind the sign, after dinner. Too cute!

We were seated and noticed the nice view of the broken trampoline, in the back yard. :)

Our waiter then greeted us...

"Hi, my name is Treyson and I will be your waiter for tonight. Can I get you something to drink? We have cherry Kool Aid and water" (said in the cutest, kind of robotic, voice).

He then took our order and poured our drinks. Next, he brought out our Caesar salads.

As he was walking back to the kitchen, he stopped (probably thinking to himself, "I should say something"). He then turned around, nodded his head and said, "Enjoy!".

So funny. We couldn't contain ourselves and started laughing. He was trying so hard to remember everything he was supposed to say and trying to be the best waiter ever.

He WAS very attentive. He kept our water glasses full. He also kept asking, "Does everything taste ok? Can I get you any thing else?"

Rylee the cafe manager.

I later heard her say, "Wow, being a manager, you've got to do a LOT of work (she prepped all the food and kept the kitchen running smoothly)..... I thought that I'd just be sitting back and watching!"

Abree the waitress.

She brought us our garlic bread, hung out in the kitchen and eventually brought me gifts to open.

Smullini's menu

When we were finished with our meal, Treyson said, "I heard it was some body's birthday."

All the kids came over to the table with a chocolate cream pie and candle and sang "Happy Birthday".

Next, it was time for gift opening.

The best gifts EVER!

"This coupon entitles Alisha Smullin to a 'get out of jail free card' from a weeks worth of laundry by your awesome Hubby."

"This coupon entitles Alisha Smullin to one full day (8am to 5pm) of honey do's (arrange with J) for a day."

"This coupon entitles Alisha Smullin to a sink free of dishes for the rest of the month of October. Happy Birthday!"

Can't wait to use my birthday coupons! I always tell Jason he doesn't have to buy anything big or expensive for gifts. All I want is a mile-long list of Honey Do's ....DONE.

He would rather buy the big or expensive thing. :)

Rylee is becoming the rich one in our house. She bought me these cute flats.

Taylee gave me this. She actually made it with a kit and a mold.

She said, "Do you get it?"

Me-"Uhhhh, no."

T-"It's a cricket..... you know a CRICUT."

Me-"Nice!"

Do you get it? "Cricut" is a scrapbooking die-cut paper cutter thingy.

She really knows what I like. :)

Treyson gave me a Bronco sport poster.

Abree have me a colored princess picture, sack puppet and a piece of gum.

She said, "Since I ALWAYS give you a sack puppet, I thought I should give you something else too, so I made you a princess picture."

To end our evening, I was escorted upstairs for a movie..... including a concessions bar; popcorn, cookies and pork rines. We all started watching the movie, but when it got too "kissy" we sent the kids to bed and finished it ourselves. They were not very happy about that.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable day. I felt loved, appreciated and remembered by the phone calls, texts and Facebook messages.

Thanks for making my birthday so nice.

Cross Country Districts 2010

Yep, it's that time of year again... Cross Country Districts.

These girls were all smiles BEFORE the race.

Paige Simpson, Sarah Bruneel, Rylee, Alexis Patten, Kirsten Forester & Melissa Brown

I estimated that Rylee finished in the first 1/3 of the pack.
She said she came in 60th out of 200+ girls.

She ran 1 1/2 miles in 10mins 33 secs.

I have no idea what a "good" time is, but it would be a VERY good time for me! :)

I'm proud of how Rylee improved her position and time each race. She said she FINALLY experienced what it meant to "hit your stride". Her goal was to not stop and keep her friend Melissa in sight.... she accomplished both.

Way to go Rylee!!!

Matchy-matchy

Not to be outdone by my cousins, here's my own version of, "Matchy-matchy".

For Abree's birthday, I sewed a skirt for her, ballerina doll and Barbie.
She was so excited she wanted to wear them to school the next day.

Ballerina doll and Barbie would have gone too, if I hadn't convinced her it was probably not a good idea.... maybe "Show and Tell" day.

Abree Turns 6!

I can't believe it... Abree turned 6 years old on Tuesday!

If your baby is 6, then what does that say about the mother?

When I asked her what she wanted her cake to be like, she had discussed it with Treyson and they had come up with... a round cake with a CROWN.

My version is quite simple, but she was happy.

In the morning, I had my "Positive Parenting" class. Abree usually comes with me and is watched in the gym of the institute building, along with tons of other kids and lots of crying babies. She is compliant, but doesn't love it.

For her birthday, I wanted to make the day special. I called up Marianne and asked if she could have a play-date with Emylie. Marianne being so sweet of course said YES and offered to take the girls to McDonalds and even gave her a cute ballerina doll as a present.

Emylie and Abree are taking dance together.

After class, I picked Abree up from Marianne's and she was all sorts of excited. She had to tell me about the NEW McDonalds, what she ate, what they played with and showed me the cute ballerina doll.

Next, I took her to school. She got to bring a snack to share in class. I put 22 Capri Suns and 22 packages of crackers in her backpack. It was so heavy, I wondered if she would tip over before reaching her classroom. Later she reported she had made it. Whew. :)

For dinner, Abree had requested BEEF hotdogs and chips.

Go figure.
After dinner, we opened presents.

She LOVED her new PINK Zhu Zhu Pet named Sweetie.

Gifts- Hooked on Phonics reading games/activities, Silly Bandz, VSmile Lion King game, Zhu Zhu Pet purple bed/blanket and pink carrier/blanket, and her ballerina doll from Emylie.

Make a wish.

Her kindergarten class sang to her and she got this crown and a pencil from her teacher.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweet Abree Autumn!

I love you!!!

New Birthday Tradition

Just over a week ago, Jason approached me with an idea. He wanted to start a new family birthday tradition. ---The week before your birthday, would be an appreciation week. During that week, our family would write notes, make little gifts, be extra nice to the birthday person (including not fighting with them), do their chores, etc. --Abree overheard Jason and got really excited. She thought it was a grand idea, with her birthday coming up next. I too, thought it was a great idea..... and not just because, my birthday is right around the corner. :)

The next day, at my "Positive Parenting" class (taught by Carleen Tanner), we talked about TRADITIONS. Jason's new idea fit right in with what we learned that day.

Sister Tanner feels that celebrating birthdays, should only be second to, celebrating Christmas. Celebrating birthdays gives us an opportunity to focus on the individual, who is an important part of the family group. I totally agree. I LOVE birthdays! Some of the things she's used over the years are; birthday balloon wreath, quilted birthday banners, birthday pillowcases, special dinner plate, birthday survey and a birthday chair cover.

I liked the idea of making a birthday chair cover.... doable and simple. It would also serve as a visual reminder to appreciate the birthday person, during their week. With Abree's birthday fast approaching, I got to work on it right away.

I printed out letters and a cupcake, traced them to Wonder Under, ironed them to fabric, and then cut them out.
Next, I made a slip cover out of pillowcase we had and ironed the letters and cupcake to it.
Then I sewed around everything, with these results.
I'm very new at applique. My stitching around the letters has room for improvement...although it's hard to see in the photo, it is quite uneven and funny looking in places.

I'm happy to report, I finished it before Abree's birthday and it works quite nicely.

Happy BIRTHday to our new Birthday chair cover and new tradition!

Gang Bangin'

Maybe "gang bangin'" isn't quite what I mean, more like Taylee is now a part of the gang WITH bangs.

First Rylee, then Abree, now Taylee.

BEFORE

AFTER

Taylee doesn't usually have an audible opinion when it comes to her hair, but just recently she decided that having bangs would be cute. She gently nudged (strategically begged)me into finally cutting them for her.

She loves them, but says one drawback is when she gets sweaty in PE, her hair looks dirty. Nothing a shower can't cure Taylee. :) Funny.