I heart Old Navy

So I belong to this great website called Crowdtap. I participate in discussions and if I'm one of the top members in each discussion I am rewarded with money. But sometimes they offer sample shares where we are rewarded with clothes. Old Navy clothes. Love it! We've been given Old Navy jeans, dresses, and now an entire summer outfit!

I took my sisters and my mom to Old Navy last week. It was a blast walking through the store knowing that I could pick any pair of shorts, a shirt, and an accessory (including shoes!) to compliment my summer wardrobe. I fell in love with a pair of khaki capris, but they didn't count as shorts (bummer!) but luckily I also fell in love with a pair of dark brown bermuda shorts. I don't usually wear shorts because everyone, including my dear, sweet husband, makes fun of my pale legs. But I'm not going to suffer through another hot summer wearing long jeans. I'm proud of my pale legs (if I keep saying it, maybe I'll start believe it?). I mean, Nicole Kidman is pale and she's gorgeous, right?

Each of us had a great time. Old Navy has some really cute tank tops, and although we don't wear tank tops, they all look really good with cap sleeve tees underneath or a light cardigan over them. In fact, I think all four of us got tanks with this very idea in mind! Old Navy has great cardigans, too, so it was easy to complete our outfit in one shopping trip.

As for accessories, Mom and my sisters all picked out cute little bags, like this, while I went for a brown necklace because I've been searching for a cute one for months. Who knew that Old Navy carried such a cute selection of jewelry! I was like a kid in a candy store!

Here's Carissa with her bermuda shorts and holding the tank she bought. I'm pretty sure she didn't wear the tank out to show us because it didn't match the shirt she was wearing underneath (heaven forbid she come out unmatching!!!). But it's a cute tank nonetheless. I'm pretty sure Carissa's favorite part was looking for shirts. She's usually a tee shirt and jeans kind of girl so it was fun for her to look for something a little more dressy.


Celeste didn't love her first choice of tanks (she felt it was like a tux shirt gone bad) but loved her second choice. A t-strap purple tank. Celeste just had a baby a week earlier (doesn't she look great!?) so I had to try on shorts for her but she loved that the tank helped hide her just-had-a-baby tummy. And it's super cute!

Here's me! I loved this tank. I wear it with a white tee under or a black cardi over. It's very dressy and I wore it out to dinner and a movie with my husband the following night - with cute black flats, not the socks :) I'm trying on the denim "diva" bermudas that Celeste ended up getting.

Although my mom didn't model her outfit, she sure loves her shorts and tank. I think she especially loves the hobo bag she got at the store. She brought it with her on a trip to New Mexico with my dad!

T-Ball Season

This is Hayden's third year of t-ball. He barely missed the age cut-off for coach pitch, but I'm not sure it's hit him that he could have done that instead. He's just fine hitting a baseball off of a "T". It probably helped matters that his cousins were on the same team as he was.

Hayden isn't amazing at t-ball, but he definately knows the sport know and the rules of the game. Unlike previous years, he actually runs to the correct bases after hitting the ball, and he doesn't sit around picking grass and watching butterflies while playing outfield. His coach taught them some rules about teamwork, and it helped keep the whole team from running to a ball no matter where in the field it landed. Hayden's favorite positions were catcher, first base, and pitcher, because you were guaranteed to catch and/or throw in any of those positions.

While I'm not sure Hayden loves the sport, he does love to run around, throw baseballs, and be with is friends, and that was enough to keep him interested in practice and games.

I'm pretty sure those are gang signs in some ghetto part of LA. L to R: Ethan, Rix, and Hayden

I was in charge of snacks for the last game. And it was Roman's birthday. So we went for baseball-inspired cupcakes.

The team had a party at Round Table that Saturday. Hayden was beside himself with joy because he got a trophy. Like his whole life has lead up to this moment. I was pretty excited for the cute little clipboard-scrapbook-page thing another mother made each kid.

Hayden with his coach. At least Hayden was photogenic. I didn't love this coach, I thought he was a little sarcastic with the kids, but he did a good job teaching them so I guess I can't complain, right?

Best Bites

I love Our Best Bites. Carissa introduced them to me just before their cookbook came out and I was it was love at first sight. Or bite. Whatever. Everything I make from their cookbook comes our perfectly.

I've fallen in love with a few of their recipes.

Like their bread dough = pizza dough = lots of bread-like things like these:

They posted this amazing breakfast casserole, too (I know it's amazing because Jeremiah made it for me for Mother's Day and it looked just as good. Tasted even better) :

I'm also in love with their black bean soup, chicken taquitoes, taco chicken, and just about any of their desserts.

I promise I don't creepy stalk them. I just happened to find out they were visiting a little bookstore in Puyallup and Carissa and I planned our whole day around that visit. So what if I called in sick to work? I got my cookbook signed! And I got to meet these lovely ladies who are killing my waistline!


I think Aubrey is in shock, too. She's not just bored. These will one day be her idols too :)

Proof Carissa went with me. That I didn't go stalking - I mean visiting - all on my own!

Is it crazy to feel kind of star struck by these stay-at-home cooks? They are exactly what I want to be. Creative, inventive stay-at-home moms who love food and can support their families in a way to stay at home with their kids and have fun doing it. I can't wait to one day get more creative with my recipes and be able to share those with others.

My Day!

There are two days of the year that I can expect to be waited on hand and foot. My birthday is one and Mother's Day is the other. Especially Mother's Day, I work hard dang it!

I slept in which was amazing. Jeremiah usually lets me sleep in a bit on Sundays, but there was something about sleeping in on Mother's Day that made me feel extra special. When I woke up, Jeremiah had made this for me and then gave me my Mother's Day gift. Besides sleeping in and a scrumptious breakfast, he also bought me a new shirt at JC Penney and gave me a gift card to get something else there. Jeremiah's always pretty good at buy clothes for me. Ladies, you're welcome to take him shopping with you anytime :)

I love the little handmade things the kids give me. The boys brought home little notepads they'd made in church for me, and Aubrey gave me a hot pad with her handprint on it. Too cute! They even sang to me in church and I loved watching their faces as they sang. They were looking right at me the whole time, I was so proud of them, even if Roman was more interested in chewing his gum than singing the songs.

The night wrapped up with fajitas made by the guys and cheesecake purchased at Costco (is that cheating if they don't necessarily make the dessert???I demand a do over). This is another thing I love about Mother's Day. We're required to stay away from the kitchen. Fine by me!

Me and my rascals. I love them!

Mom surprised us each with a pedicure gift certificate which we used this past weekend. I'm not sure what I enjoyed more - the pedicure or the super mega massage chair that I sat in. I could have laid there all day. It was awesome. I went with the girls, Mom, and Olivia. Olivia even got a rainbow manicure (aka an array of neon colors on her nails). I think every mom needs a pedicure. Monthly, at least.

I love being a mom. My kids drive me crazy and there are nights I get very little rest because my little ones are having nightmares and need their mom. There are days that I am in tears by lunchtime and I'm ready to hand them off the a perfect stranger just to have a moment of peace. But any bad day is outweighed by how amazing each of my children are. They never judge me and love me even when I haven't showered and my socks don't match. After a hard day at work they instinctively know that I need a hug, or a smile, or a silly song to cheer me up. They can't go to bed without a Mommy hug, and I can't imagine my life without them. I'm truly blessed to have such crazy, ornery, lovable, sweet, and unique kiddos.

Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny has done it again.

He somehow snuck into our house in the middle of the night and strategically placed plastic eggs filled with candy all over the house. Oddly enough, those same plastic eggs looks quite similar to the ones I stuffed with candy late Saturday night. Yes, as always, I procrastinated. Don't judge, you do it too.

The kids were up early out of pure excitement for what the Easter Bunny may have left them. They literally dragged us downstairs to start their hunt. I think the Easter Bunny was a little easy on them this year, they found all their eggs before I could even get the camera!

We went with the whole two-birds-with-one-stone thing and got $1 buckets and shovels from Michaels. They worked as their Easter baskets and a toy for playing with outside.

Roman got lots of candy (aka sugar) and a Lego man. It was a cute little fisherman, complete with white bushy beard, yellow overalls, and a fisherman's hat. And pole and fish.


Hayden's Lego man was a baseball player. Perfect since he starts t-ball soon! And, yes, all he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth.

Aubrey got a Dora purse. She loves it and carries it around with her everywhere she goes. However, she feels that her purse needs to always have food in it. Toys and such aren't enough, and we've found a variety of her snacks stuffed into her purse.

For Easter, we went up to Snoqualmie and had dinner with Jeremiah's family. His sisters Amy and Sophie and their families were there. Josette was up there, and it gave us one last time to see her before she headed back to Utah.

Aubrey loves to lock herself up in the toy area because it keeps the dogs out of her face.

The kids in their Easter attire.

Aubrey and I hanging out with the books. One of the (less wild of the two) dogs in the background. That's Loki. The other dog, Bailey, wants to marry Aubrey.

All of the cousins. Spencer, Roman, Hayden, Cecile, Aubrey, and Josie. Edmund is asleep on the chair. They had to surround him in order to get him in the picture. Cecile is getting married in August. Makes me feel old because she was still pretty young when Jeremiah and I got married!

Josie is a great babysitter. Too bad she doesn't live closer. The kids adore her!

We left around 4pm from Snoqualmie and went back to Mom and Dad's house for our second Easter meal of the day. This one, however was untraditional but still tons of fun and delish. Carissa and Adam made homemade egg rolls and Celeste made fried rice. My contribution? Cream puffs because I love them.

This year, as usual, we tried to help the kids understand the true reason behind Easter. While the boys could tell you that it's to celebrate Jesus' resurrection after being crucified, I don't know that they really understand it. Jeremiah and I understand the eternal and wonderful consequences of that event and we try to instill that knowledge in our children. We will continue to share with our kids our love of the Savior and all that he has done, and continues to do, for us, and I know that one day it will just make sense to them and they will have that same appreciation that we do for our beloved Savior and Heavenly Father.

Girls Night (finally!)

The girls and I hosted a GNO (Girls Night Out for those who don't know the lingo, up there with LOL, POS, and TTYL). It's been months since I've had a GNO and I was excited to have some girls over for some chatting and eating (and eating...). Celeste and I were both chosen through Crowdtap to host an Old accessories party. We received a box of Old Navy scarves, sunglasses, totes, a purse, and a hat. We had the most fun with the scarves since none of us were to scarf-savvy and didn't know how to wear them. We tried different styles until we'd figured out several ways to wear scarves. All the girls went home with a few Old Navy pieces, our friend Tessa loved her fedora hat, and Mary wore her new scarf to church today and it looked way too cute. I have to give a shout out to Our Best Bites for their cheesy garlic rolls, they were divine! Carissa made Russian meatballs (something like cranberry jelly, Thousand Island dressing, a few other things) but they were delish, and Celeste surprised us with chocolate-covered strawberries and marshmallows. It was a spread that would send any dieter running, but not me! I also would like to give Crowdtap and Old Navy a shoutout. This is our third sampling. First we got to try Old Navy's ankle jeans, then we got to choose a dress from their spring line. I heart Old Navy and I heart them even more when they give me free things. And then give me coupons to give my friends free things. :)


Carissa wore this scarf. I loved it with what she was wearing. I'm pretty sure she wore it home.

Tessa discovered her love of hats. Apparently it's been awhile since she's worn a hat but she spends a lot of time on her in-laws boat so this is perfect!

Kim showed off another way to style the scarf. This also was perfect with what she was wearing!

Riding a Train

Wow. I almost forgot I had a blog. Yes, it's been that long. And yes, I am feeling really behind.

We went up to Snoqualmie a few weekends ago for my nephew, Edmund's, second birthday party. He loves trains. Loves. Here's an analogy for you:

Edmund is to trains as Aubrey is to Dora.

Get it? He's mildly obsessed. So, of course, Amy (Edmund's mom, Jeremiah's sister) held the first part of Edmund's party on a sight-seeing train in Snoqualmie. We rode on a refurbished old-fashioned train (think slighty breezy, loud, and old - but in a good way) through part of Snoqualmie, past the Falls, and back to the station.

And in a surprise to the kids and me, Josette was there! Apparently Jeremiah knew his mom was going to be at the party but failed to tell the rest of us. So the kids were doubly excited (is doubly a word?) to be on a sweet train AND being on that said train with their Nana Josette!

Aubrey was not loving the train. In fact, as excited as she was to see Nana, she clung to me like her life depended on it. It was really cute, but I didn't quite get the train experience I was hoping for. So, like any good mother, I forced her off me and into Jeremiah's arms where a few snacks later she had warmed up to the train idea and was off exploring with the other kids.

Here's an old (and obviously broken down) train that they are going to refurbish. Does anyone else think of the Boxcar Children series when they see this?

Snoqualmie Falls, or at least the top of it. And the Lodge peeking through the trees. This is where Jeremiah proposed to me. I told this to the boys and they had it in their heads that this is where we got married.

We were in the very front of the train, so as we went through intersections the conductor would sound the horn and the kids would cover their ears.

The birthday boy crashed when we got back to Amy's. With all the train excitement and no nap, he was out like a light. Poor kid. But we woke him up because we all felt bad eating his birthday cake without him!

If she was afraid of the Snoqualmie train, she was just the opposite with this one! It was Edmund's birthday present, but that didn't stop her from spending most of her time on it. It's just a little train that goes around in a circle. And Aubrey LOVED it. She won't ride the quarter-rides at the grocery store (you know, the ones that move ever so slightly back and forth while you pretend to ride with Elmo?) - this girl keeps us on our toes!

Anyhoo, happy birthday to little Edmund! I remember when Amy told me she was pregnant, they'd been trying for so long and so of course she found out she was pregnant the day after she went to Cedar Point (roller coast capitol!) and Great Wolf Lodge. But everything turned out great and she was a sweet little train-loving boy (and now she's expecting a girl!).