Shopping lists

I love that some of my kiddos are old enough to write. This means while I'm doing something upstairs, I can have one of them go write something on the list as soon as I think of it. Then I don't forget, because its obvious I can't remember stuff unless its written down, and even then I'll be lucky to get out of the store with it. Anyway, O and G like this responsibility and take the liberty to add other items to the list they think I should get. Reminds me of the days I'd want something and would tell my mom "just write a check!"

For those not used to 1st grader hand writing, I'll translate...
spoons
drano
(these were the two things I asked them to write for me)
pet turtle
cream soda
nachos
hermit crab
Jello
sausage pizza
toys
go to the drag races
tickets to Disneyland
s'more poptarts
ice cream

For the record, I did get the nachos and jello. Gotta let them have a little fun right?

Extreme Bedroom Makeover... Before

A while back, my sweet SIL Michele offered me her daughter's bedroom stuff since she was going to get a more grown up bedroom. We were thrilled. Olivia was so excited to get to redo her room. We had never finished it from when we moved here, and then life with little brothers REALLY took its toll on her poor bedroom. Isaac had learned at a very early age that when mommy is doing voice lessons is the best time to write with blue dry erase markers all over EVERYTHING. So Liv has put up with yucky walls and such for quite some time. Anyway, we had fun planning the new room. Here are the befores....I cringe even posting these, and I didn't make her clean up her room just for the before pics when we were just going to be moving everything out anyway, so excuse the mess.

Extreme Bedroom Makeover.... After

This took WAY LONGER than it should have. We had everything planned, then everyone got sick and Seth cut another tooth in, so no sleep. Then after I was at least 75% done, I decided that some of the paint colors were all wrong, so I had to start almost completely over.

This is the same dresser as the before pic. My mom got it for me at a yard sale when I was younger. I repainted it and put on the new drawer pulls from Shelly, and I think it looks great. I also painted some picture frames, and the bow shelves to match the new decor. I still don't have the room totally decorated, but at least she can move back in. And she LOVES it. Thanks so much Nolan, Michele, and Shelly, We love you!!!

Still here

I feel like I haven't updated this forever. I've had a few too many projects going on. More about those later. We had a fun weekend this week. We went to Central to go to the Gila Valley Temple ground breaking. We ended up actually watching it from a Stake Center because Seth was still sick, and I didn't want to risk him getting sicker sitting out there in the cold. It was still so neat to see, and great for my kids to see too. The HUGE bummer was that we didn't get to shovel some dirt since we weren't actually there, but better that Seth not end up WAY SICK. Anyway, it was a fun weekend letting the kids explore at G and G Hooper's. Those cows don't need to eat for a week after how much my boys fed them over the weekend.

Olivia sang in Central ward Sacrament meeting. That was neat for me. She did the same song in our ward, and Grandpa Hooper wanted her to do it in his ward too. I'm glad she got to sing again. So fun.

My sweet hubby surprised me with a bouquet of flowers on Feb. 12. I didn't think I'd be getting any this year since we'd be in Central, but he thought to do it earlier. So sweet, made my day. I'm so thankful for my wonderful hubby who not only puts up with me, but spoils me rotten too! How did I get so luck????

Recipe

I was in a hurry when I posted about the dessert sushi. Here is the recipe...

Mix up a batch of rice crispy treats, but don't add all the cereal so its easier to work with. CAREFULLY open up a fruit roll up and spread the rice crispy over it. Put a couple of licorice strands in the middle and then roll it all up. If the rice crispy treat is gooey enough it will hold just fine. Trim off the ends if they look bad, and slice very carefully into sushi size pieces.