i figured it out-i'm a facebook group!

i'm a group on facebook!

woo hoo!

and in case you don't notice this on your own...

my title is 'princess in chief'!

you read it right.

click HERE to join!

jeansoyke bread

growing up, everyone i knew was catholic. we went to a catholic school. we lived in a catholic neighborhood. all of our family was catholic. i seriously thought everyone was catholic (which is funny because i'm not catholic now, i'm mormon. and living in utah i'm certain my kids think everyone is mormon.).

except jeansoyke. she was presbyterian and had big red doors on her church. (why do i remember that?)
her real name was jean soyke, with a space between the two words like normal people. but we always said it one word. after awhile we wrote her name in one word.
jeansoyke was martha stewart before martha was born. she collected antiques; she had the perfectly clean and decorated home. made HOMEMADE chocolates (this was in the 1970s and i thought the only way to make chocolates was to beg your mom for some at the acme!). she had a buckeye tree in the front yard and my brothers and i LOVED collecting buckeyes in the fall. she always wrote thank you notes and gave the most thoughtful gifts.
she had this bread that i loved. i know she made other foods, but her bread was my favorite. it is a sweet bread (even more reason to love it) and while the big people had it with coffee or tea, the kids could have it with hot chocolate.
please fell free to make this bread, but if someone asks what the name of this cinnamon bread is, you must say that it is jeansoyke bread.

i will hold you to it!

(ps...this is the only photo i have of jeansoyke. surprising because she was a big part of our lives growing up. she is holding my littlest brother, aaron, on his baptism day. she was his godmother even though she wasn't catholic. not sure how that works.)

jeansoyke’s cinnamon loaf

2 cups of sugar

1 cup of oil

mix really well

4 eggs, 1 at a time, mixing the whole time

alternate mixing

3 cups flour and 1 tablespoon baking power

1 cup of milk

into 2 sprayed bread pans put a ½ inch of the batter into the pan.

sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon sugar on top then another ½ inch of batter

do both pans at the same time so that they are equal in size

cook at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes

cool in bread pans

a major award!

it might not be lamp shaped like a leg, but this is a major award! this might even be better than a leg lamp...

stephanie from my frugal lifestyle bestowed this upon me for this post about the cargo pants bag. i really loved that bag and hated giving it away. britney better start following my blog

or i am going to go take it back!

back to stephanie-thanks a bunch! she has great ideas on how to score free stuff and ways to save money (see her blog title...)

so i have in my acceptance post, have to follow some rules.

1. post the award.
2. thank and mention the person who gave you the award. (thanks again stephanie!)
3. pass the award on to seven bloggers whom you think embody the spirit of the Kreativ Blogger Award.
4. name seven things about yourself that others don't know.
5. don’t forget to notify your seven Kreativ Bloggers about their AWARD and post links to their blogs.

so now i get to name my 7 favorite blogs!

1. tatertots and jello...she has AMAZING style. she makes tons of knock off that look so much like anthro/jcrew. and my favorite project of hers? click here!

2. shanty 2 chic...2 sisters who love remaking homegoods. they would marry ralph lauren smoke glaze if they could. (that is a good thing) and their latest project is a must for the next wedding i go to!

3. the meanest mom...anything but that. should be called the funniest mom. this post shows life with a husband out of town. love her sence of humor.

5. blue cricket designs...ok who hasnt heard of becca and this blog? she always has giveaways (BONUS) and tell me you wouldnt want this nursery in your home and i know you are lieing!

6. oopss i craft my pants...this name alone makes you just want to be friends! and this might be cheesy but i used this for my teacher's valentines day gifts!

7. fashionable finery...i have to admit i knew rebekah when she was a wee little girl. but she makes beautiful jewerly and even has how-to's if you are brave.

7 things about me you dont know...

1. i never finished college. nothing seemed good enough to want to spend the rest of my life doing then. i still like learning about everything but still dont know what i want to be when i grow up.

2. i had a 4.0 gpa in what college classes i did take! (i throw that in my little brother's faces!)

3. i thought i wanted 3 kids until i had my first. then i decided that 2 will be enough. and most days, im right. some days, 2 is too many.

4. i miss my nana every day of my life. you will see many post about her on here and it is because i love her that much! she made my life wonderful and even when other people made me feel ugly or unwanted, she made me feel beautiful and perfect!

5. i got to name my youngest 'nathan' after i made a deal with chris. we couldnt agree on a gas or electric range in the new home. i told him that he can have electric (a decision he now regrets!) if we name our 2nd child nate. and when this range dies and i get my gas one-i still got to name him what i wanted!

6. i love to sing. i love to sing LOUD! and i really suck at it.

7. i like being almost 39 (april 20th for those of you who dont know!). i think i look pretty good, i dont have grey hair and my life is wonderful. now-this isnt the life i thought id have-but i wuoldnt change a thing!

congrats on everyone who won my fantastic award! you rock

update on the coolest bag ever made...

i got a lot of comments on this post. well, alot for me!

today was britney's birthday and after a fun filled trip to chuck e cheese (hey-we had $12 IN FREE TOKENS!), we stopped by her home.

she loved it!

actually, so did her aunt sariah and gram!

then i showed her the post where it was made and she thought i was sooo cool to do a post on her!

so there you have it-

I. AM. COOL.!!

girl's camp is going to ROCK! and it will be because of THIS

if you haven't heard the crying, i have been asked to be the young women's camp director.

im not the 'outdoorsey' type.

i like being outdoors to get some sun at the beach, or watching my kids playing sports

(ooohhh-remind me to tell you about THAT!).

i met with my 'team' today and i just want to tell you-

this camp will be so much better because of them!

just an example...the new theme of the camp is

'CAMP IS LIKE A PARTY...

BUT WITH RULES'

who comes up with this stuff?

stacey and hillarie that is who!

i digress...

so we decided that the girls needed to make water bottle holders for when we hike (**gasp**) in the woods

with the tics and snakes and BEARS!

this is what i came up with

almost by all by myself

i found a couple of tutorials but all were either too many steps or things about it that were expensive and since we have to pay for 30 of them, i needed to modify what i saw.

i went to joann's and got 4' of webbing AND NOTHING ELSE! (that is a minor miracle right there!)

then to home depot. this took a little longer. i needed rubbery 'o' rings that fit around the top of a disposable water bottle. it took 2 orange aprons and a pack of sweettarts but we found some (in case you want to make this, DANCO size #18 'o' rings is what you need).

once home i just folded over one end and sewed back and forth a million times to make sure it wasn’t going to come undone half way thru our 20 mile hike (ok, it might not be 20 miles. but it will feel like it!)

then, making sure my webbing wasn’t all twisted, i sewed the other side.

i used some fabric fuse liquid on the edges of the webbing to keep it from coming unraveled.

then i slid it over the top and there you go! one sweet water bottle holder for about $1.60 each!

so chalk one up for me doing something with out stealing it completely from another blog!

st patrick's day makes me need therapy

growing up i hated st. patrick's day. my little brother (who is now 6'8"...not so little) was named 'patrick' and in my little kid's mind-HE HAD A HOLIDAY NAMED AFTER HIM! we were brought up catholic, so we also went to church on this day too (catholic schools go to church for all holidays. but it gets you out of geography so why not!). i hated that there wasn't a holiday to celebrate me.

i'm over it now.

at least, that is what i tell my therapist.

SO...this is what i started with...a plain wooden shamrock cutout from wood connection (please don't notice the green paint on the sides! i had already started painting when i thought to take photos!)

next came the green pain. i used gamel green. very basic. then i modge podged it and glittered the poo out of the thing. since it was a nice day (and i knew my boys would some how knock it on the ground and  spill giltter all over). (nice sock ba!)

finally, and i mean finally, i found a spot. not the coolest decoration, but it adds a bit to the bookcase and the bottle filled with green beads. i also have my spring stuff up, so i just wanted hints of st. pat's day here and there.

hints to remind me of the pain i endured as a child who didn't have a holiday named after her.

where is my therapist's number????

yes i am a copy cat...er...bird

i swear i have original ideas, but there are so many freaking blogs with better ideas...
just not fair.
case in point, toad's treasures. she comes up with the BEST projects. this is the latest one i am stealing...


the ones on the sides are for my friend who just had twins (ian and abby) and the middle is for my friend who just had her first girl after 3 boys (there was a curse on our circle and we all had boys and...well, a story for another day. btw-her name is elise). i was particularly please with myself because i used extra fabric from this apron and from this one too. i also used left over fabric from this bag. and the rest was from various attempts at projects before i started to blog about them. i did have to purchase the 'fluff' (as parker called it).
so i bet you all wish that...
1. you were my friend and
2. that you had a baby in february.

and my parker wanted to let you know that he stuffed all 3 birds and is now an expert stuffer. i hope he puts that on his resume in 7 years...

**ps i dropped off little elise's owl on saturday and her mom squealed with excitement! made me feel so good!**

good news, bad news...

the good news is that i can post photos of my soon-to-be-20 year old niece's birthday gift here because she wont ever check this blog.
the bad news is that my blog isn't cool enough for a soon-to-be-20 year old to check out.
I SWEAR I USED TO BE COOL!
here is a photo of britney...yup-she gets her 'hotness' from my side of the family (truth be told-i have been adopted into this family and lucky for her, my genes aren't hers!)!
so i found this great messenger bag here. this blog has TONS of easy ideas to make! and i like easy!



Yyou have to admit, this is really really fab! and since it was made from cargo pants that i got at savers (again-she doesn't read this blog and doesn't have to know that her gift was worn by a stranger!)and scraps of left over fabric, i'm saving chris some money!
as you can see from this photo, i didn't have quite enough scrap left over from this to line the bag. so i fit it the best i could, then zig-zagged the poo out of it to make sure that if my homemade bias tape didn't quite catch, it would still be held down.
and i was distracted by children so i put the straps on wrong...
yes, very glad the recipient of this wont see this post...
and finally it is done! this was the only way nate would model it (i looked like i had been sewing all afternoon!).
and if britney doesn't LOVE it...
i know her mom is cool enough to steal it and use it!

please tell me i am NOT the only one...

who wants this!

(thank you potterybarnkids.com for the photo)
at $34 for the small and $89 for the big one, i dont see that happening.
i am trying to take time and figure out a way for me to make one. but i bet you someone out in blogland already has...

kids can ski cheap!

my kids just discovered skiing this year. I KNOW-we live in utah and they have made it out of diapers with out skiing.
i'm a disgrace.
so this year we got them some kids lessons up at park city.
SWEET DEAL!

there are a few requirements...
1. utah resident
2. never had ski (and they do snowboarding too) lessons before

for $25 per kid, they got a 3 hour ski lesson **WITH RENTALS** up at park city ski resort. then they can come back up to 4 more times, for the same price (again with rentals) and either ski all day, get another lesson or BOTH!now that is a great deal!

once your kid knows how to ski (and you have used the park city deal up), snowbird has a deal where kids under 6 can ski chickadee for FREE! and under 10 it is only $20. rentals are NOT included but still a great deal.

here are photos of my kids skiing snowbird tuesday. they had a great time! parker (9 years old) thinks he is king of the mountain.
nate (6 years old) just likes to get 'cruisin'' as he says. and he thinks the girls like the ski tags on his jacket. (oh brother-this one will be a problem)
this bottom photo was before their first lesson at park city.
watch out 2018 olympic ski team! here comes the service boys!



ps-check out fireflies and jellybeans for a show off your stuff party!

the little green bean

have you been to this blog yet? i'm a daily follower and im telling you...the cutest stuff and best ideas ever!
even better than mine!
that is saying alot-i know!
well, she is having this little birdy giveaway that you must enter! and if she hits 300 followers by this weekend...2 birds!
you know this bird will help with all the spring fever you have been having.
so enter her give away and follower the little green bean.
and if you aren't following ME yet...well-do it!

i got the fever! spring fever

so awhile back, i found these at savers. i knew someday we would be closer to spring and i could drag them out.
well, i guess february 15th isn't really close to spring. but i haven't crafted ANY st. pat's day stuff (but if you see some, send me a link!) and i think i am missing some spring/easter decorations.
i know why, but i hate to blame.
but i will...
for those of you who don't know, i have a REALLY bad back. i have ruined the discs between a few vertebra's and i'm not what you call limber. i don't lift unless i someone is bleeding or a bone is poking thru the skin.and i really can't bend. at all.
very sad for a woman at 38.75 years old.
so of course i let chris bring decoration boxes up and down the steps. and i rarely supervise.
so kinda my fault.
but not really.
actually, i will still blame him.
so i had my brother who is out here visiting from atlanta bring them up yesterday. i think i either need to...
1. find the rest of my decorations
2. make some more
3. spray paint anything that won't move green. (but what color green? apple?)
maybe all 3.
so yea, right now i have some flowers (with green stuff in the background) and a pot of gold coins.
i can do better than this...

the joy of brownies...

(this is a photo of my little brothers torturing my poor parker. can you believe uncles could be so mean?)

growing up, my brothers and i had our pasta from scratch, our meatballs from scratch, our christmas cookies-ALWAYS from scratch.
that is just how things were made.
but never brownies. if we actually had them, they were from a mix.
in fact, i don't think i knew you could make brownies from scratch until i met chris and his mom made them that way.
now i know different.


chewy brownies
1 2/3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 T water
2 large eggs
2 t vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups of flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

preheat oven to 350 and grease 9x13 pan.
combine sugar, butter and water in large bowl. stir in eggs and vanilla. combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. stir into sugar mixture. spread into pan
bake for 18-25 minutes (lean more towards 25). cool and cut.





for those of you from philly, this is where we got desserts that weren't home made.
for those of you not from philly and haven't had this...
you haven't lived.

why i am mia...

my little (6'8" little!)brother is here from atlanta.
my kids are slowly wearing him out.
i hope to be back early next week.
patrick is hoping to get out of here alive...





and he has been here only slightly more than 24 hours...
poor little guy...

'...love for sale...' (gots to love me some cole porter!)

yesterday i went to d.i. looking for a frame. not the most exciting thing, but needed.

imagine my surprised when i found this early valentine's day gift to ME!

i couldn't believe that someone would give this away right before the holiday!

and let's be honest, i don't NEED another valentine's day decoration. i needed a frame.

but for a buck!? the hardware on this cost more than that! not that i was going to tell the good people at d.i. that!

so i got some loving yesterday.

and chris isn't even home!