Summers out bbq

School starts back up this week.  I wanted to have a summers out bbq with the family.  Of course its always fun to have friends and family over but then I stress WAY too much getting things ready.  After its all said and done I am always happy I did it.  We had my Mom and dad and a few of my brothers and sisters and their cute families over....unfortunately all could not make it.  What's a bbq without good old hamburgers off the grill?  We made "French onion burger of wonder" from Jamie Cooks It Up!  They were pretty tasty but we had a load of oinions left over.  After the good food and full stomachs we embarked down to my wonderful unfinished basement and played "minute to win it".  We had a great time with plenty of laughs.

Katelyn and her VERY tall cousin Branden playing "face the cookie" they had to get an oreo cookie from their foreheads to their mouths without touching the cookie or dropping it in under a minute.  Brittany in the background..... my cell phone flash messed up her beautiful eyes.


Amy and my dear Mom.

"Nose Dive" both Jeff's trying to transfer cotton balls from the table to a
paper plate with vaseline on the tips of their nose.

Jeff was the grand champion of "minute to win it".  He is holding up our game tracker with the points to prove it.  My niece Brittany did the sign for us....I love her writing.....she is talented!!!  This picture makes me want to finish our basment but I do have to say I didn't worry so much about things getting dropped on the carpet and staining it.....as you can see cement floors are very sturdy.

Necklace Holder

Looking for a way to organize those lovely necklaces you don't have a place for?  I have a solution.  A short curtain rod and some shower curtain hooks.   Now I have a well organized way to hang and easily access my necklaces.   It feels so good to be a little more organized! 

Before..... I hung my necklaces on this lamp.  Not a pretty sight.

After....Now I can stand back and smile.

A special thanks to my husband who had the patience to put the rod up for me.... after not having success the first time.... which caused a trip to home depot. 

Thanks Shannon for this brilliant idea and solution to my problem!

 Thank you my dear dear friend Jill for the gift card for my birthday so I can have a nice place to hang my necklaces!

  What would I do without all my family and friends!!

  I love you all!! 

 I found this old picture that my friend Jill and I took in a photo booth years ago.  Jill and I have been friends since grade school, served missions together, were roomates in college, and lived within a couple of miles of each other raising our families until a few years ago..... when we both moved away.  This picture brought back so many memories I just had to post!  :) 

Dumpster Diving

Awhile ago my friend Shannon and I went dumpster diving.  I have to admit it was my first time dumpster diving and I was thinking Shannon was a bit nuts.  Don't ever underestimate my dear friend Shannon we found some headboards that were headed to the dump and turned them into a lovely bench for my deck.

Shannon used her expertise with the saw and cut one of the headboards in half and took a few inches off the bottom legs.

We then screwed the sides and back together along with some 2X4's.

It only took us 1-2 hours to put this bench together.  Shannon and I were very pleased on how it came together.  I decided I wanted to paint the bench red to match my other patio furniture.  I recieved some great birthday presents for my 40th birthday, a new electric sander, some red paint and a paint sprayer to help finish the job.

Here is my red bench.... along with the benches we made out of old pallets.  I am starting to wonder if my husband wants me to break out my new paint sprayer and paint the pallets red.  He keeps asking me if I am going to paint the pallet benches.  Haha  I'M thinking I need to put the paint sprayer to use on a new coat of stain for our deck.  :)

CaNdY nEcKlAcEs

Today for "Fun Friday" we made candy necklaces that we all could enjoy while we watched a movie.  The necklaces consisted of peach rings, gummy life savers, chocolate covered pretzels and licorice string to string the candy on.  Any snack candy with a hole in the middle would work.  We thought of mini donuts but thought that would be too heavy and messy.  Also fudge stripe cookies would be fun to try.   The licorice string after awhile started breaking so we used yarn to re-string them so we wouldn't have to worry about the string breaking while we watched the movie.  The chocolate covered pretzels got a bit messy when the chocolate started to melt BUT we still enjoyed.

They have their candy necklaces and their 3D movie glasses on and are ready to start the movie. 

 I have had so much fun this summer doing these activities with my kids while they have been out of school.  Unfortunately we have had to do alot of these activities without my dear husband because he has been at work but we are so grateful he has a job to go to during the week and that I can be a stay at home Mom!

 I have also really enjoyed doing a blog.... more then I thought.

  I remember to get my camara out more often so I can save these fun memories. 

 Priceless!!

GAK

For "Master piece Monday" we made homemade GAK.  I was amazed that it turned out exactly like the stuff you buy at the store.  It included 4 ingredients....borax, elmers glue, food coloring, and water.  The finished substance entertained for hours, which is nice because that means no asking to watch tv or play with the wii.

Borax can be found in the laundry section of the store.  School supplies are on sale this time of year, it is a great time to buy elmers glue.

Finally an activity a boy would love!!

Hmmmm.....we have a science experiment written on the list of 100 activities to do this summer.... maybe we will count this.  Pretty cool stuff!!

I got this recipe and instructions on how to make this incredible GAK at http://www.cometogetherkids.com/2010/08/gak.html

This blog has lots of cheap fun ideas to do with your kids!  

Homemade facials

Mark off homemade facials off the list of our 100 summer of fun.  Two of my cute nieces get to come over and hang out with us for the next couple of weeks to do swim lessons with my kiddos.  I asked them what they would like to do from our list of 100 summer of fun to do list and they chose homemade facials.  Us girls had a great time and laughed so hard.  Garret wasn't too thrilled about the facials so he was our camera man.  He was such a great sport...I love that boy of mine.     

1 tbsp oatmeal, finely ground, 1 tbsp plain greek yogurt and a few drops of honey and you get a face mask that will cleanse and rejuvenate.  Ahhhhhh

Don't we look beautiful?  HahaHere is a picture of the lovely paste.

The next facial we did was one that moisturizes and sooths.  2 egg white and 2 tbsp of plain greek yogurt.  It is wonderful to have our own fresh eggs from our backyard chickens.

This is very runny but when drys on your face tightens it right up.  Yeah, you know I need that.  :)

Good Times!!

And last but not least our friendly photographer who thinks us girls are crazy!!

One of the many fun things about summer for Katelyn is having her Tremonton friends come stay with us for a few days.  Her friend Chelsea came and stayed and they had a fun time hanging out and catching up with each other.  She really misses her Tremonton friends....they are great friends to her. 

Madison got a duct tape craft book for her birthday with loads of duct tape.  The book is called  "Just Duct Tape It" we purchased it on amazon.com  It has a ton of cute duct tape projects to make and Madison has loved it!!  The instructions are a little hard to follow so Chelsea helped her put together some projects.  Chelsea is a VERY crafty girl and very talented in her young age.  Madison was thrilled with the end result.  Thanks to Chelsea for having the patience and helping Maddy learn how to use this book.  Cute, Cute, Cute duct tape purse was the end result.

A rotary cutter and cutting mat help tremendously with duct tape projects.  I always get nervous with a rotary cutter....use with caution.  Chelsea was so fun to watch make this project because she was so precise and very patient.  :)  Katelyn is excited to try out her talents with this now along with Maddy.

Two very happy girls!!