My Little Monkey Baby Shower

On April 20th, 2013, my nieces and sister in-laws threw me a fun BOY monkey themed baby shower. Since my nieces were both expecting babies soon, I helped them out with some details of the party such as using my digital skills in designing decorations, game printouts, and invitations, which they all appreciated. 
The Baby Shower Invitation

Credits: The papers and clothes line with baby clothes are by Megan Farrow (Studio Flergs). Monkey doodles and alpha are by Kate Hadfield The fonts I used are grumble and FO-Giggles.

Decorations

The decorations included the following: a branch with hanging Monkeys in a Barrel Toy, diapers, and other clipart, Diaper Babies, Diaper Cake, framed ultrasound pictures, banners were made by using a couple templates scalloped circle, onesies templates, and diaper templates, framed boy subway art was from Simple Scrapper, framed "Z" button art, a homemade baby quilt, beach balls, and crinkle baby tag blanket, which were made by my amazing sister in-law Marilee. Not shown in the pictures, there were cute center pieces on the tables (buckets filled with foam, green gems, and sticks with either a diaper, monkey, or onesie clipart on it).

Baby Shower Games

What's in the diaper bag? I got the ----> Template for the purse clip art.

Baby Name Scrabble
Guess how many M&M's are in the bottle
What is in your purse?
Guess Jen's Baby Bump Measurements
Prizes
The prizes were random girly things from the Dollar Store (shower wash, bath salts, lotions, nail stuff, picture frames, candles, hand soap, etc) wrapped in a bag or tied with twine.

Food

My family brought many yummy goodies (finger foods) to eat such as Italian deli rolls, chicken salad sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, fruit platter, and veggie platter. As for the dessert, they served chocolate dipped rice krispie treats, cupcakes, and raspberry swirl rolls. We drank two types of juices or water.
Thank You Favors

My husband and I made these mini chocolate chip banana breads by using a pan that had six bread molds in it. They turned out very moist and delicious! I have been using this recipe for years and cannot figure out where I got from. We have made it many ways (muffins, bread, mini breads, and added optional ingredients).
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
2 c. flour
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
2 1/3 c. mashed bananas
Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. In another bowl cream together butter and sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas. Add banana mixture to the flour mixture, stir well. Pour mixture in a 9X5 bread pan and bake for 60-65 minutes. If doing banana muffins you can cut the baking time in half, which is what I usually do instead of the large bread loaf.   Optional ingredients: Depending on your mood (sweet, chocolate, or spicy) you may add 1. tsp vanilla extract, 1 c. chocolate chips, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp allspice.

A Perfect 10 Owl Birthday Bash

 A Perfect 10 Owl Birthday Bash!

 As most people, we all live on a tight budget and don't have excess money to spend on a big birthday party. So for my daughter's birthday, I made a DIY owl themed girl birthday party using a lot free templates and  purchased a digital scrapping booking kit called Penelope kit by Shabby Princess.
The  Owl Birthday Invitation

Credits: For the party invitations, decorations, birthday banner, games, party favors, etc, I used paper and elements from the Penelope kit by Shabby Princess. I used font grumble font and FO-Giggles.
The Decorations and Food
The Light Pink and Chocolate Brown Party Supplies (plates, cups, napkins, plastic wear, and table cloth) are from Oriental Trading. The serving platters and flowers are from a local Dollar Store.  I designed food cards, a Happy Birthday banner, and misc decorations that I taped on a stick.  The silver buckets were filled with foam and blue and pink gems, which are from Walmart. The balloons are from a local party supply store.
The Food
The owl fruit platter contained an owl, which is made out of a pineapple, lemon slices eyes, grapes pupils, cantaloupe nose, and oranges as wings. We served grapes, strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, and orange slices.  The owl cupcakes: I was inspired by One Charming Party by using Oreos and Reese's Pieces for the eyes and nose.  Owl finger foods were crackers, cheese, lunch meat, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, and olives. We also served vanilla cookies, Oreos, and Reese's Pieces.
The Games and Craft

Stick the Owl in the Tree
Owl Word Scramble
Owl Bingo I used this --> Template
How Many Jelly Beans Are in the Jar? (the winner took the jelly beans home).
The Owl Craft

Supplies: scissors, Elmer's glue or glue sticks, craft feathers, pencils, colored construction paper, and googly eyes.  Directions With the desired colored construction paper, trace the owl body and beak from a free Template, draw feet, and use a stencil for the oval shape in the middle of the body. Cut them all out. Trace both hands for the wings and cut them out. Glue together the owl pieces. Stick or glue on googly eyes and feathers.
The Owl Mask Photo Booth

The Party Favors

"Owl Keep Your Place" Bookmarks are made by me using Shabby Princess's Penelope kit.
Owl Treat Bags Template (supplies: templates, brown lunch bag, glue, and scissors)
Cute Owl Necklaces from Oriental Trading
Candy-Sour Gummy Worms, Air Heads, and Ring Pops
Glow Sticks from the Dollar Store
 Owl Masks Idea Mine Template and Coolest Free Template
The Presents

The party was a total "Hoot"! Everyone was happy to celebrate little sister's big 10th birthday!

I'm old enough to have a 14 Year Old!

I cannot believe that my teenager daughter is 14 years old! On April 5th, 2013, we took her to Denny's for breakfast. So what did my 14 year old want for her birthday? The answer was obvious! A pink acoustic guitar, iPod earphones, flowers, sunglasses, clothes, purse, chick flicks, and Toy Story Dolls.

Later that same day, her friend came over with some birthday cupcakes. Then she went shopping with her friend and watched some movies at our house with two friends. We bought her a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake from Coldstone! Overall, I think she had a great day and felt loved by many friends and family members on Facebook who wished her Happy Birthday!

 

You know you are pregnant when you...

You know you are pregnant when you...

1. crave bagels with garden cream cheese spread, pepperoncinis, sliced tomatoes, and cracked pepper.

2. misplace your cell phone and was later found in the garbage can.

3. have no energy to clean or cook and require naps to survive.

4. gag due to the many outside smells while walking the dog.

5. caught talking the unborn baby after feeling flutters and kicks.

6. consume Tums as an extra daily supplement of calcium due to heartburn.

7. get dizzy a couple times a day from sitting/laying down to standing up.

8. pee 3-4 times during the night and cannot find a comfortable position to sleep even with a large body pillow.

9. are easily annoyed with stupid drivers and you find yourself yelling at them when they cannot hear you in your car.

10. are faced with the options of either peeing your pants or puking on the floor. (I chose peeing my pants while throwing up at the same time in the toilet, lol).

11. wake up with a leg or foot cramp in the middle of the night, ouch!

12.  find yourself hungry every few hours and undetermined on what to eat.

Easter Blessings Scraps

We are looking forward to Easter weekend! Big sister made a cute Bunny cake during a Young Woman's activity this week.  Too bad I couldn't try a piece due to being recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes, ack!  Way to go Sis on making a darling cake! 

 Here are a few of my favorite Easter Scraps.

Egg'stra Special, 2003

Credits: The template and "Bella Collection" kit are by Shabby Princess. I used love ya like a sister font.

 Egg Coloring, 2005

Credits: The layout is by me.  I used "Hide and Seek" kit by Dani Mostad and love ya like a sister for my font.

March 2013 Summary

March flew by quick as the wind! I've been busy doing some Family Search Indexing, making a quilt for my baby (thanks to my talented sister in-law Marilee for her help), planning a baby shower for my dear friend, and scrap booking during my spare time. We have just a few more months left until we get to hold our little baby boy! There is still so much to do before he comes, but we cannot wait to finally meet him! 

On Patrick's Day, the Green Leperacan left a bag of goodies for my girls (Pringles, Skittles, Rolos, and Ande's Mints). John and I made incredible mashed potatoes, corned beef, broccoli, and Irish soda bread. As for dessert, we made brownies topped with mint chocolate chip ice cream. For my primary children, my girls and I wrapped Hershey's Nuggets with some cute Candy Bar Gift Wrappers and stapled St. Patrick's Day Journal Freebies on a small ziplock bag. With the leftovers, my girls gave them to their teacher or friends at school the next day.

Big Sister had the opportunity to perform in her school's grand choir concert, which was a fundraiser that benefits the music department. It was a marvelous concert, which extended family members came to support big sister!  She also tried out for chamber choir this month (a women and men's choir) and was picked to join them next year. She is very excited because most of her friends all made chamber choir too! Way to go big sister!

Happy Hearts Day!

We strive each year to make it a tradition to make holidays an extraordinary day in our household. Earlier this week, little sis gave our house a "heart attack" makeover!  For activity day, she cut out several hearts and scriptures about love. She taped the hearts all over the house and gave each family member a special Valentine.

The following are some of the "love" scriptures that little sister used on her hearts:

1.  A man speaks from good or evil in his heart (Luke 6:45).

2.  Follow the Son with full purpose of heart (2 Nephi 31:13).

3.  As a man thinketh in his heart so is he (Proverbs 23:7).

4.  Offer for a sacrifice unto the Lord a broken heart and a contrite spirit (3 Nephi 9:20).

5.  Blessed are the pure in heart (3 Nephi 12:8).

6.  Man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

7.  I will tell you in your mind and in your heart by the Holy Ghost (D&C 8:2).

8.  He that hath clean hands and a pure heart will ascend to the hill of the Lord and be blessed (Psalms 24:3-5).

9.  Elijah will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers (Malachi 4:5-6).

10. Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart (Matthew 22:37).

Last night while I was at enrichment night with the relief society sisters in my ward doing humanitarian projects, my husband made our girls a delicious
Valentine's Day home lunch filled with fruit snacks, candies, heart shaped sandwiches, carrots, sugar cookie, and lemonade. The girls also printed out some free darling Valentines Day cards (Owl You My Valentine and Friendship Cards).

    

Today my wonderful hubby surprised me with some pretty flowers and a couple boxes of chocolates as my "sweetheart" gift from him!  I started the morning off with chocolate, which is a very essential food group on Valentine's Day!

 

Before the girls left for school this morning, big sis and I did a "heart" hair do on little sis thanks to Pinterest for the creative inspiration! Then hubby made us a yummy "heart healthy" breakfast (pink honey wheat heart shaped pancakes with Nutella, fresh strawberries, turkey bacon, and eggs).

For our Valentine's Day dinner, we made mini "heart" pizzas and one square pizza. We found a fast and simple two ingredient pizza crust recipe from Kidspot Kitchen that doesn't require any time to rise!

Mini Heart Shaped Pizzas

Crust:

1 cup self rising flour

1 cup Greek Yogurt

Extra flour for shaping and kneading the dough

Heart shaped cookie cutters

Toppings: Alfredo Pasta Sauce, Italian Seasoning, Italian style cheese blend (finely shredded), ground sausage, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, green peppers, sliced onions, mushrooms, pineapple tidbits, and olives.

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook sausage in a frying pan, drain grease, and set aside. With small heart shape cookie cutter, cut out heart shapes with the Canadian bacon and pepperoni. Slice some onion, green peppers, and mushrooms.   In a large bowl, combine flour and yogurt and mix to form a ball. Turn out onto a floured surface to knead and roll. Knead the dough for 7-10 minutes. Roll into a pizza heart shape and add sauce, dash Italian seasoning, cheese, and your toppings that you desire. Bake the pizza 15-20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. This recipe yields one pizza. Enjoy!

Our Thoughts: The two ingredient pizza dough recipe took a lot of time to knead to the right consistency. We added 1/2 to 3/4 cup of flour while shaping the dough into a ball due to it being very wet and sticky.  We allowed the dough to rest for a few minutes after achieving the right consistency. Then we were able to roll it out successfully. The crust was similar to a thin crust soar dough that was golden brown.  We loved the flavor and texture of the crust!  We look forward to trying the recipe again someday in the future!

 I hope your Valetine's Day was filled with flowers, chocolate, hugs, and kisses! XOXO

Da Vinci the Genius Exhibit in Salt Lake City

For our date night on Saturday January 26, 2013, My hubby and I went to The Leonardo at the Utah Museum for Science, Technology and Art.  There were several kid friendly stations through out the museum.   On the first floor, there is an art/music activity center where kids can create art (sketching, book art, crafts, learn about making a string instruments, etc).  John and I made "book art" by folding pages from an old book. John created a dragon and I just made a pop up book. Upstairs there are other exhibits one about nature (gallery with art work, movies, and displays) and another interactive museum about all sorts of technology such as leg prosthesis, making still motion films, the weather man "green screen" and several other fun things for the kids to occupy themselves for hours! We also purchased tickets for Da Vinci The Genius.  Basically it is a traveling exhibit that displays many of Leonardo Da Vinci's ideas!

It is impossible to imagine our world without Leonardo Da Vinci's brilliant contribution to science and music/art. He is not only famous for his Mona Lisa painting masterpiece he was also a brilliant scientist, inventor, sculptor, singer, and writer.   He mastered both his logical and creative side of his brain by inventing several amazing ideas such as (scuba diving gear, flotation devices, parachute, and helicopter).  He was an extraordinary artist who studied light, shadow, and reflection.  At the exhibit, we saw several samples of his sketches, architect models, paintings, and sculptures (a picture of his 23 feet size horse).  To my surprise, Da Vinci contributed some military engineering ideas by creating a tank, submarine, and military equipment/weapons. He understood civil engineering and physics. He came up with some machine ideas to carry water, place poles, lift heavy objects, etc).  He dabbled in music too by making  musical instruments (flute and drums) and loved to sing.  The medical professionals can thank Leonardo for dissecting and sketching detailed structures and functions of human anatomy! It was very fascinating to learn about Leonardo Da Vinci's life and see how many great things he accomplished.

After exploring the museum, we went to The Blue Iguana for some authentic Mexican food. The restaurant is located downtown Salt Lake City 165 South West Temple in the basement of  Benihana.  To my surprise, we didn't have to wait for a table on a Saturday night!  The waitress poured the water and served chips/salsa right away.  Then we ordered our food (chicken chimichanga and pork fajita platter) and less than seven minutes later our food was done! We barely had time to enjoy the chips and salsa!  So the service was quick and we enjoyed listening to the live Mexican musicians playing their guitar and singing. However, hubby and I were not very impressed with the food and maybe it was because we ordered the wrong thing on the menu. I did not like how spicy the red enchilada sauce was... Then my hubby ordered something that was supposed to be spicy and it was not hot enough for him... For the price we paid, we could get better food from a local cheaper place like Taco Amigo, Betos, or Costa Vida.  I doubt we will ever go back there ever again after that experience...

Free Exercise Workouts

Did you know you there are free sample exercise workouts on You Tube?  I typed in the words "Exercise T.V." in my Google search bar then clicked videos!  There are several workouts to choose from (kick boxing, bun/thighs, pilates, yoga, dance, abdominal, etc)!  I was amazed how many free work outs there are just a click away, woohoo! 

Since it has been too cold and very slippery to walk outdoors, I have found some great workouts to get my heart rate up a little bit in the comfort of my home.  I found the perfect low impact and easy workouts for me while pregnant in my second trimester! I am certain these work outs are safe up until I am ready to deliver my baby! They are called "Walk Away The Pounds" by Leslie Sansone.  There are a couple easy moves she does in addition to walking in place such as side steps, small kicks, leg lifts, marching, arm lifts, etc. Depending on my mood, I can walk in place between 1-4 miles (20-60 minute workouts)or do some light weights (two pounds)for arm toning. Here are a few of my favorite FREE work outs that I have tried from You Tube! 

Walking at Home One Mile 

Walking at Home Two Miles

Walking at Home Three Miles 

Walking Three Mile and Abs

Walking Four Miles (boosted 52 minutes)

Walking at Home Five Miles (70 minute workout)

Walk and Tone

Easy Upper Body Workout (58 minutes)

Walk at Home Five Mile 68 Minute Workout
If you want to break it up into one mile each click on these.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

If you are interested in purchasing any of Leslie's DVD's, I highly recommend Ultimate Collection DVD, which is easy and fun to do. It includes a resistance band in the DVD and you need 1-2 pound weights(you could easily use two soup cans)! You do not need a lot of space to do these easy, low impact, and fun workouts! My goal is to gain weight slowly during my pregnancy and not exceed over 20 pounds!  Hopefully doing these simple workouts and eating healthy will help me achieve my goal!

A Sneak Peek at Baby

Peek-A-Boo, Pink or Blue?

Our First Glimpse (Author Unknown)

Today we saw

Our first glimpse of you

A little piece of heaven

Our dream came true

The day we will meet 

Seems so far away

But until you're ready

In my tummy safely stay

Our gift from God

Sent from heaven above

For us to cherish

And forever to love.

We announced our baby's gender on Facebook by sharing a precious video of big sisters each opening a package that reveals the gender! The Gender Reveal Video  Here are some pictures below! They were very excited to be big sisters to a little brother (a boy is a joy)! I have 20 more weeks to go!!!

Season of Snow * Winter Scraps *

Since it it BRRRRR cold outside (currently 15 degrees outdoors) and we are surrounded by a lot of snow, I thought I would share some of my winter scraps!

Frosty Fun, 2010

Credits: I used Frosted Flakes kit by Dani Mogstad and Catherine's College Days font.
Winter Wonderland, 2006

Credits: I used the Winter Wonderland kit by Shabby Princess.

2013 New Year's Resolutions

Credits: The chalk board is by Jaimee Kaiser also known as Just Jaimee. As for the fonts, I used grumble and FO-giggles.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." 

-Albert Einstein

Here are my New Year's resolutions that I would like to accomplish in my household during 2013:   

• Read the Book of Mormon every day during breakfast as a family.
• Have family home evening once a week(usually Sunday works best for our busy schedules).  
• Encourage my girls to make their beds every day and keep their rooms clean.  
• Exercise and eat better as a family(I would like to only gain 15-20 pounds during my entire pregnancy). 
• Read conference talks and positive thinking books daily.
• Have a(glass half full) positive attitude by always looking on the bright side of things!
• Reading list: Reached by Ally Condie, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, First Sight, and True Believer by Nicholas Sparks.
• Continue to work on digital scrap-booking projects by getting organized and caught up before the baby comes in June.
• Try a new recipe from Pinterest twice a month.
• Blog more and surf the internet less!
• De-clutter the household in closets, storage room, John's shed, book shelves, drawers, etc.
• Serve others by smiling, sharing treats, and doing special acts of service for other people. 

A Typical December for Our Family

 1. Big Sister had her woman's choir Christmas concert at her junior high school.

2. We went to John's Christmas Casino themed work party at Vuz Resturant in Draper, Utah. We had a scrumptious buffet style food and enjoyed playing some black jack 21 with our "fake" money!

3.  We got up early on Christmas Eve to go last minute shopping and ate breakfast at Denny's!

4.  The Free family had a lazy Merry Christmas (we ate a lot of holiday food, took a nap, and watched several movies in our pajamas)! It was Jagger's first Christmas with us. We spoiled him with a couple new bones and toys! We also admired our "white" Christmas through the windows!

Counting My Many Blessings

Before November ends today, I want to share some of my greatest blessings in my life. I have a loving and hard working husband, two beautiful daughters, a cuddly dog, a large supportive family, many wonderful friends, and a baby on the way! We are very excited especially since my daughters will be 14 and 10 years old when the baby arrives! I will have some very eager big sister help with the baby! Life is good when you count your many blessings!

Thanksgiving in Sunny Arizona

On November 20-25, 2012, we spent our lovely Thanksgiving holiday weekend in sunny Arizona with several family members! We had a total of 92 people (family and close friends) at our Thanksgiving feast, which was held at a LDS church in Mesa, Arizona! My girls helped make the cute turkey table decorations. John and I were in charge of making four different jellos.  Our rainbow jello was gobbled up in a matter of minutes!  Below is a photograph of the grandchildren and great grand children that came!

These are John's parents, their children, and spouses. We were entertained by a couple musical numbers and enjoyed each other's company.  The next day was Jessica Free and Micah Hansen's wedding ,which they were sealed in the Mesa Arizona temple. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the beautiful bride and lucky groom because I forgot to bring my cell phone. Here they are at Thanksgiving dinner though (photo by Joe Free)! They are the cutest couple!  We are so happy for them!

While in Arizona, my husband and girls went swimming in my in-law's pool.  It was very cold due to the temperature being 80 degrees outdoors, brrrr. They still had fun nonetheless!

After the beautiful wedding reception, we went to the Mesa Temple to see the gorgeous Christmas lights. The photo credit is by my niece Becca Free!

We enjoyed spending time with many extended family members. Little sister went to the park to feed ducks, ride a train, etc with cousins, uncle, and aunt. I loved watching a chic flick with the girls (Sabrina with Harrison Ford) while the boys went shooting. We ate tons of great food and stayed up late talking. What wonderful happy memories we will never forget! I love my family!!!