Grape Soda

She has already come to the conclusion that soda from a bottle is superior. So young for such life lessons.

Retirement Party

I don't think I announced it here, but my dear mother and father are headed to Malaga, Spain for a 2 year mission come September. Mom will be the mission nurse and Dad her assistant :) This excitement means he is retiring from Mesa Public Schools after 30 years. 50 if you count his education.  I helped organize his retirement party and had to go a bit over board since he has done the same for other colleagues. This is the reason I haven't made time for blogging lately. Here are some of the fun details.

 We found an invitation we liked online and recreated it.

I actually had an original idea to make the party special, not stolen or inspired from somewhere on the internet. I made a giant timeline of his life, focusing on the various jobs he's held and paired food with the significant areas. It turned out to be 20 feet long since he works so hard. Or is so old  :)

Since his first job was at a Chinese restaurant, we had egg rolls.

 Empanadas from his mission to Chile.

The mascot for one school was the jackrabbits so we had platters of rabbit food.

Chips and salsa for the new adventure in Spain and cookies for the sweet retired life.

 It was a fun idea and would have been cool if anyone actually picked on it. Oh well. Here's the spread as a whole.

 

We also had a marvelous quartet of music teachers playing for a very appreciative audience.

Although I think she was more entertained by the walkie talkie

 

6 Years

My daughter broke this mug this week. It was my own fault for letting her sit on the bathroom counter, but my make-up is so enticing I figured Little Miss Vain would occupy herself in the mirror.

I'm sad to lose it. I'm not sure if it was the color or the shape that drew me to the mug, but every time I thought about the mug I though about how I found it at the Goodwill in Boise, Idaho, the third day of living in our first apartment as newlyweds.

That was about 6 years ago on May 13th. A few degrees, several moves, multiple jobs, and a kid later, marrying this fella was still the best decision I've ever made. Here's to many more, darling.

Make-Up

 It was only a matter of time for my necklace loving, shoe obsessed, purse wearing little girl.  Thankfully is was cream make-up that is around ten years old and probably a little rancid.

Grad Announcement

My friend did an all call on facebook to see if someone would make her a pretty announcement for her husband's graduation. She said showed me some examples of what she liked and I created this little guy. She wanted something really simple and I like how it turned out. I seriously have too much fun making this kind of stuff. I spend at least half the time choosing the right fonts.

Ladder

So I mentioned last week that I painted all the beige walls in my house light grey. It looks fantastic! Brighter, more open, and updated. Plus I rearranged the furniture and pared down the mass of toys to 10. I feel like I have a new house. And as soon as the finishing touches are up I will posts far more pictures than anyone really cares to look at.

Well my friend watched J and my mom came over to help so we were able to knock out the entire kitchen in two hours. (This is the first time I've bought paint from somewhere besides Home Depot or Lowes. I may leave my husband for Benjamin Moore. It was actually $3 cheaper than my former fav Valspar and covered in ONE coat! It was just their regular paint, the cheapest version they had. I'm a believer and will never go back. I would even pay double per can to simply save on the time.)

Well I just had the tip top corner of the vaulted ceiling left the next day, so I decided to just finish it really fast thinking J would entertain herself for 15 minutes.

She did.

I look down and she's on the bottom rung. I hold a 3 second debate in my head and decide to finish that last little bit since she is only a few feet from the ground if she falls. I look down again and the girl has managed to get to the second rung. I grab my gear to get down and she is now sitting happily on the second rung where she finally has access to the much beloved water dispenser.

I have a small problem. There is a one year old between me and the floor. After some tricky yoga postures, I manage to get down without toppling the toddler or spilling paint. Since she wasn't disturbed in the slightest, I grabbed the camera for evidence.

Shoes

Remember my little girl's shoe obsession? Now she goes around saying "SHshshshshshsh" and demanding that I put various pairs of shoes on her. I ignored her request a little too long last week and I found this little model headed down the runway.

Notice one shoe is backwards but she still manages to walk in it just fine

Arrested Development Party

I remember when my cousin Matt first discovered Arrested Development. He sent me a very angry text somewhere along the lines of "HOW COULD YOU LET ME LIVE MY LIFE SO LONG WITHOUT THIS SHOW?!"

I sincerely apologized for depriving him. Even though it has been a few years since we dedicated too many hours to plowing through the seasons (on DVD no less. This was pre-netflix subscription in our house) we decided to have a little party this weekend while he was down from BYU.

The emailed invitation I put together

The "Family Love Micheal" sign

It's a little on the lame side, but I had just repainted all the beige walls in my house that day and had all of 2 mins extra. Shout out to my AMAZING parents who surprised me by coming over to help so it would be done for the party.

 And of course we needed theme appropriate food

Frozen Bananas

"Cornballers" although after making one I decided the work the effect ratio was off and just kept the popcorn in a bowl. Oh and it's covered in white chocolate. Divine. With zero arm burns :)

And of course there are the ever present cocktails

 But really, it was the people that made the party. We have Steve Holt and Maggie Lizer.

A hot cop

Lindsay Funke

Lucille Bluth

Maebe Funke in her mom's arms

Seriously, look at the invite. My niece looks just like her

George Bluth straight from his attic tea party

Really we just watched our favorite episodes and laughed heartily with like minded people who could appreciate the humor. What more can you ask for?