My DI Treasure

I have been in the market for a gate, as it were. Not that we are expecting a new baby anytime soon...it's for our 3rd child - Minnie. She likes to hang out in the kitchen (who can blame her, I like to be there too) but I don't like her nose in our food. We have currently been utilizing our stools as barricades in the kitchen. I checked places online & in stores & they are so stinking expensive. Today we stopped by the DI, just to check things out.

I found THIS!!! It was only 10 dollars and it was still in packaging, had the instructions and all the needed hardware!! WAHOO! This sucker is amazing - it has a swinging gate too. I am so loving it -so much, that every time I look at it I get super excited & my heart flutters!! (Seriously, it was one of my miracles today.)

So, I am curious. What is YOUR favorite DI** treasure???

**Garage sales & second hand-type stores count too!

I told you she was sweet...

When we got home early this afternoon, we were met by a guy delivering flowers. I figured that Chris had ordered them, but he said that it wasn't him...but he seemed to know more than that.

Chris's parents sent me flowers! The card read, "Thank you for all that you do. We appreciate and love you. Love Mom & Dad Fairall"

A style fashionista!

CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!

I asked Christianna to get ready for bed & she came out looking like this. Let's score her for the sleepwear competition, shall we??

• Starting from the top, the messy hair, no doubt from taking off her clothes & putting this on: 10 points

• A flashlight that doubles for a microphone...20 points for preparedness and imagination.

• Small evening purse, stuffed with so many things that it is hard to even unzip it. (Including a small lion, tooth fairy container for lost teeth, small Care Bear, Sleep number sheep key chain w/ 3 keys, calculator, barbie brush, empty perfume bottle, small Cinderella doll, a toy camera, a toy phone, mouth whistle, another toy phone, Guitar Hero toy,4 magnets,and 20 cents.) 50 points!

Come on - I can't even get them all back in the stinkin' little bag!

• The pajamas are just cute so 50 more points for them.

• The socks, maybe she is going for the "Wicked Witch" look? (By the way, those are not made to be stretched that far up her legs - it drives Chris crazy!) 25 points for a style all her own.

• To finish the outfit, we have those little sandals. They have survived both the girls and they are her absolute favorite pair. She even begs to wear them outside in the snow - but that is NOT an option. Let's give her another 20 points.

So how did she do? (Let me grab her calculator, he he) She earned a whopping 175 points!!! She blew away the competition!!

I had to share this because you would never see this on her outside of the house. She has to look decent when we go into "public" so this outfit would never do. (She even asks if we are going out into public when she is getting dressed - funny girl!)

My Mother-in-Law is so sweet!

Today she called me just to say "Thank You!"

As most of my faithful readers know, Chris has been back in PA since Jan. 21st to spend time with his family for his Grandfather's funeral. He wanted to mainly go back for support for his mom. (There is a bad case of extended Fairall family drama there.) Anyway, it has been a little - ok A LOT - rough having him away for so long.

She wanted to just express her appreciation; she knew that I had pretty much been the driving force in getting Chris & David (his SINGLE brother in Provo...pass the word... wink wink) back home for everything. She already knew that I knew they were grateful - but wanted to vocalize it & I am so glad she did! I love to feel appreciated for the things I do. Really, I am very simple to please - just vocally adore me and all I do & you will have one happy lady!

Thanks Mom! I love you too!!

It's cleaning day!

Well, I am getting excited because Chris should be on a flight tomorrow night! The east coast got hit with a nasty storm yesterday, so his plans of heading home earlier were foiled....bummer.

Looking around here is kinda depressing - it's dirty again! Man, I just did a cleaning overhaul last Thursday & Friday & it looks like crap again..grrrr. Actually, the girls bathroom looked nasty after about 2 days...they thought it would be fun to spray their mirror with cleaning solution & just leave it there to run and streak all the way down to the sinks.

Looks nice huh?? That is actually a glimpse - the mirror is entirely covered!

I am a little hesitant to do a really good cleaning job for 2 reasons:

1: It will only get dirty yet again...why do I subject myself to this???

2: The last time I did a great job, I got really sick 2 days later (which explains why their mirror has yet to be cleaned, along with the fact that I was out of paper towels until yesterday.)

We shall see what the day holds for me...but I most likely will start that insane cleaning process again...you know what insane means right???

Doing the same thing over and over, getting the same results... but expecting a different result...like expecting my kids to clean up after themselves, this time.

Pulling Through

I have not been the best at keeping the postings coming - I do have 1 in the waiting though...about my distaste for the I-Phone...mainly Chris's new I Phone. Anyway - it is more in the "venting" stage right now - so I may revise it & post it at a later time.

I have been sick since late Friday night - luckily after I had my show. Sunday had a small relief, our neighbor, Heather, took the girls to church for me so I was able to get some extra sleep in! Today I am starting to feel better, at least I am functioning & managed to get some laundry washed & the dishes cleaned up from the weekend.

Chris has been in PA since last Wednesday & I am hoping will return home Thursday night. His Grandfather passed away last week.

So there is my little update - better than nothing, right?? Once I am back to my weird self, I will get back to the fun posts...even if I am the only one who thinks so!

What can YOU do in 15 minutes??

Well, Christianna has inspired this post. I was going through a memory card today and came across some pictures....ok MANY pictures - about 200 actually. You see, on January 12th from about 3:10-3:25 Christianna got a hold of my little camera. I knew she was taking pictures, but I had no idea of the quantity!! While she was snapping away, I was able to eat lunch, chat with my Mom & check things on the computer. I just have to share some of the shots she got! So, get ready for your special 6 year old inspired tour of our home! (Obviously, she had no cares about showing anyone the messy parts too and since I don't want to censor her artistic abilities - you get to see the good, the bad and the ugly!)

The talks are OVER!!

Well, we all had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament Meeting today. It was a Fairall Family extravaganza! I didn't think that we would be called up to speak so early since Chris & I wrote interesting things on our "New Member - Get to know you sheet."

For example, I wrote: potion making & casting spells as talents I enjoy & Chris bragged about how he can throw a 300 pound guy to the ground like no body's business! Well it was no detour, we had callings within a week & talks a couple months later.

Anyway they had a youth speaker go first, followed by Christianna, Victoria, myself & then Chris.

As we waited, I observed the nervous habits that my family members have. Christianna kept burping! Seriously!! She was insisting that she couldn't help it, but she was pushing those things out. I know it. Chris has a bathroom issue, he even had to step out right after sacrament was passed while the youth speaker was up. I tend to get chills & nervously twitch my leg & shake while I also fight the urge to have to go to the bathroom. (To clarify, the bathroom trips are not for the purpose of getting sick...nerves make us both have to go-sorry if that grosses you out.) SO as we were all messed up, Victoria was as cool as a cucumber...sitting there like it was any other day.

Once up, we all did great. I was so proud and impressed with the girls! I am so hoping that we are good for giving talks now for at least a year or so. It is not the most fun thing on my list of "To Do's." At least my hair looked cute because apparently, my layered shirts were up a little in the back & you could see the top of my nylons peeking out! So how great for our new Bishopric to know me just a little bit better than I had intended. YES!!

My New Haircut

Do you ever feel like chopping off your hair just because it gets to an annoying length? Well, I was ready for a trim since my bangs had grown out a bit & when I kept my hair curly, it just wasn't working for me. So - when I received my weekly Spa Club email, I was ecstatic to see that the haircuts were on the specials list! WAHOO!! So I went to take off a few inches...and after trimming, thinning out (trying to prevent the mushroom hair nightmare), more trimming, layering, trimming to make sure each side was equal....I came out looking like this:

I am absolutely loving it! SO much faster to wash it - straighten it....I haven't tried leaving it curly yet. I was heading out of town w/in 2 days of the cut & didn't want to experiment with it while at a Leadership Conference. I have had a plethora of compliments, including ones from new friends shocked at my current age...they think I look much younger, by about 5-6 years! I have had a great week! (Wouldn't you?)

You are going to love this!

(This was the beautiful view on my way to Denver.)

I just got back from Denver, CO from a Pampered Chef Leadership Conference. It was awesome, as usual! All of my fantastic customers are going to love the new products coming out this spring! PLUS, if anyone out there has EVER thought of a home based business with the Pampered Chef- you should SO GIVE IT A TRY!!! The company is giving us a raise! Can you believe it? In a time when people are getting laid off and losing their jobs, Pampered Chef is giving their consultants MORE!!!

(Look, even this bear outside the Conference Center was interested to know more!)

I am very excited to share all the fabulousity, which is Pampered Chef, with everyone! Let me know if you want to hear more or host a show...I am actually featuring a great one that is a fast, family-friendly meal that only costs about $2 per serving! I bet your wallets would love a bunch of those meals, huh??

It is hard to even contain myself!! Pampered Chef ROCKS!!

Reflections 2008-2009

Well, today, the fruits of all my Reflections labors came to pass. This school year, I was nominated as the Reflections Chair. I started out REALLY excited to do it...I did enter into the program when I was in school, but then it turned truly difficult as we moved suddenly into a house & had the holidays fast approach. You see, most of the hard work was about the same timeline as moving, Thanksgiving & after New Years. YIKES! (For those who do not know what Reflections is...it is a PTA program that gives children the opportunity to do things in the arts and compete against their peers. They have various categories: visual arts, photography, literature, music, dance, theater performance.) 5 entries out of every category were submitted and sent to the next level of judging...still haven't heard anything about them.

There was alot of work that went into it & without the help of a few AWESOME people, it never would have gotten done! Thanks a million Laurie, Lillian & Cindy!!

Even though I was going to be out of town, I scheduled the awards ceremony for Friday during a current assembly. Victoria received a trophy for taking 2nd place for photography!

This is what she submitted...and before you even think it - I was NOT one of the judges.

I wanted to post a picture of all the wonderful winners because they were all fantastic...but I figured it would not be a wise idea. Who knows, there could be various things going on that some one may find out...like there could be a child who is in witness protection & I could blow their cover!!! Now, I do not want to cause any trouble....at least not today..he, he.

A fairy garden Party

We finally had the friend birthday party on New Year's Day for Christianna. It came together really well & quickly. (I only officially invited the girls 2 days prior.) We started the party out with some craft time. All the girls made special fairy wands! It took a little time to help with 6 wands, but it was well worth it!

The next thing we did was have our little snack & then the cake. I would have waited to do the cake until closer to the end, but Christianna hadn't eaten lunch yet since we were having little sandwiches at her party. The poor thing was "starving" by 1:30.

(The doll cake is a frequent birthday request - we just decorate her skirt to match the theme.)

After all that, we moved downstairs for present opening & game time. They first played the beanbag toss game and they sure enjoyed that!

To keep it fresh, I pulled out the Hullabaloo game - you DEFINITELY NEED this game. This game has saved me from the angry mob of bored children on many occasions!! If you can just try to ignore my cackling laugh...I know it's hard...but try - it is so funny to me how most of then congregate on 1-2 pictures. They did that throughout the game. It reminded me of how little kids play soccer & they all follow the ball all over the field. You may also notice most of the girls chomping on some bubblegum. It was a gift from Ruby & I am so grateful that Christianna shared with EVERYONE!! (It made it less for her to sneak when I wasn't looking, since gum is normally an "out-of-the-house" item.)

As a parting gift, all the girls took home their wands and they each got a cute little fairy ornament. I had to feature it because it took a good amount of time to make the little buggers for everyone.

New Year's Eve

Goodbye 2008...and my toothbrush...and HELLO 2009!!!

Weird beginning, don't you think??? Well, I will explain. It started out harmlessly enough - we went across the street about 5-ish for a little dinner party open house thing. We were there for less than an hour & a half. We had some terrific soup and fantastic bread!! (I am all about the food, people.)

Chris thought it would be a good "test" to let Minnie free roam throughout the house since we would be leaving for a longer period of time later on. When we came back, we couldn't find her anywhere....until we went downstairs to find her butt locked in my OFFICE!!! The door tends to swing shut after it is opened. She tore it apart! I was fuming - that door should have been shut tight. She also tore up the carpet trying to get out - NICE. Finally - I went upstairs, where she apparently began her destructive tirade, and discovered my new clothing item with holes torn/missing from it and my toothbrush laying on the floor. It is seriously missing a good inch & a half from the bottom! WHAT THE HECK??? (I do have to give her a little credit - she was able to get my toothbrush out of the cup holder without dropping that or disturbing anything else in it!)

(Nice chomp marks, wouldn't you say?)

Needless to say, when we left for our evening party, she was shut in our bedroom. We have discovered that she behaves better in there & doesn't normally destroy anything when she can't escape.

We went to visit Keith & Kaye Lani for their annual New Year's bash. We had a great time! I spent a good hour making decoration flags for Christianna's birthday party - which was the next day. (I would have baked her cake too, but I forgot to bring the mix.) Mostly everyone played Guitar Hero for most of the night. Here is Victoria taking a shot at it - she was pretty good! (By the way, she has worn that jersey practically everyday since she got it for Christmas, except when it is in the wash!)

It was pretty funny when the time came to turn of the game & watch the ball drop. They couldn't figure out how to switch it over - or it wasn't working right - who knows? They were messing around over by the TV when suddenly Keith looked at his watch & started the 10 second countdown! FUNNY! We then partied more, which consisted of tons of kids constantly blowing those horn things and the merry drinking of the sparkling bubbly...oh, and don't foget the endless counter filled with more yummy food!

Any resolutions?...you might ask. Well, to be honest with you, I hadn't really thought much about it. Normally resolutions just fail for me anyway. But I constantly make the goal to be healthier everyday, succeed in my Pampered Chef business, and improve my relationship with my husband & my girls. If you ask me, I think that is a full plate.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!