Four? Already? Give me more!

The flying by of years is startling.  How time literally marches past me in rapid fashion just overwhelms my senses.

Today is a celebration of MAGGIE!!!

It simply boggles my mind that this little peanut:

Maggie at minutes old

Maggie at 1 year

one of my fave pictures because it's one of the first REAL smiles captured

Enjoying icecream on her 2nd birthday

My 3 year old princess

Somewhere along the way, she turned into my 4 year old "super model."

And, for her 4th birthday she decided to up and swim on her own.  I told her we should just take off her floaty suit and see how she did.  She just swam around and "didn't drown."  Wish you could see the sparkle and excitement in her eyes when she told whoever would listen that she can swim all by herself.  That makes me feel so much better, knowing she can swim.  Now.....to get Max on that bandwagon.

So, who knew that wee peanut (once deemed failure to thrive) could turn into this crazy smart, overly sassy, incredibly hard headed, adorably loving, gorgeous 4 year old.  HOW did this happen?

We had a big ol' Birthday Bash for Miss Thang yesterday afternoon and she felt all kinds of special.  Actually, we kept it simple; all her "best friends" AKA her cousins and her special request of Navi (her friend) came for swimming and pizza.

I got her this cute little outfit for her birthday.

I love this picture.

Here she is, rockin some serious dance moves.

She was dancing to "Happy Birthday Princess."

There is a part in the song that says something like "you're the cutest princess."

And at that moment Maggie pointed at herself and yelled "THAT'S ME!"

It was funny.

My Dad and Troy are seriously playing the princess tic tac toe.

It just cracked me up.

What?  Who doesn't just wear jaunty birthday hats and swimsuits while eating pizza.

Oh this cute boy, and his silly floaty suit.

We gave her a baby alive (thanks Miss Jenee for that), an outfit and some makeup.

I think I spent a total of 10 bucks on her gifts.

YAY!

You MUST enlarge this pic and see what she's holding.  It was the cutest reaction to a gift ever.

Aunt Lana scored the brownie points of the century with this Justin Bieber necklace.  HELLO!

Thanks Auntie Julie for getting the princess cupcake cake.

She could barely contain herself waiting for her moment to blow the candles out.

Once they were blown out, I asked her if she made a wish.  She nodded her head coyly.  I then asked her what she wished for.

Here she is telling me the wish/dream of her heart.

"I wished that I would marry Justin Bieber."

Dude!  People, she is all serious business with this Bieber thing!

I actually allowed her to paint her own nails for the first time.  She was positively giddy about this.  So cute!

All in all it was a GRAND success. She had her dream day of playing with her cousins, we all got to spend some crazy, loud, fun time together.  AND there were presents and cake.  I'm thankful for my awesome, big fat Mormon family (I use that phrase like Big Fat Greek, not like FAT as in chubby), and all the love and support they give to me and our kids.

Here is what I know about Maggie:

1. She LOVES her Mommy and Daddy and her Max, and I know cause she tells us multiple times daily.

2. she LUH-UH-UH-UHVES  Justin Bieber

3. She has a beautiful voice and never stops singing and making up songs

4. Girl can get jiggy with it.  She has some serious moves.

5. She is crazy smart in her understanding of complex thoughts and emotions.

6. She will antagonize her brother to no end.  But can not STAND to see him sad by any other persons hand.  She will do anythign she can to make him feel better and happy.

7. She can roll her eyes with the BEST of them.

8. Maggie LOVES salad.  She would prefer to eat that, or ice cream over anything else.

9. She is 100% Daddy's girl.  I'm pretty sure she's got him so tightly wound round her pinky finger she could get ANYTHING she asked for.  (not gonna mention the Justin Bieber DVD waiting for her to open after her nap and the new giant sized Biebs poster courtesy of Lies'l)

10. She LOVES to make people laugh. (generally by saying poop and pee about everything)

I'm just grateful that God saw fit to send me this precious, precocious little princess.  She tests me to my limits every.single.day, and she makes me laugh and she makes me cry and she's just perfect.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS MAGGIE!  We sure do love you!!!

The Opinion Edition

Alrighty then.....I just have a little something I need to get off my chest.  It's ranking up there with jeggings, if that is any indication.  Lets just get the obvious out there.  These are MY opinions, and only my opinions.  I realize that I have strong opinions.  'Tis who I am.  Or so I've been told.

Last week I was in a place where really, only happy thoughts and kindness should exist.  But this IS me we're talkin about, and well, my opinionation reared its head, even in the "happy" place.  'Cause, well, there was this woman, and her get up was so ridiculous that it bothered me the entire time.  And, in my defense, it bothered my sisters and Mom too.

Here goes:

People.....just because you're 1/30th Jamiriquiahookilow Indian, does NOT mean that you should act like you are full blooded.  Grasp on to some reality.  There are TRACE amounts of that blood running through your white girl veins.  TRACE AMOUNTS!  Listen up Pocahontas, wearing your hair in semi ponytail/braid things resting squarely on the front of either shoulder in a CLEAR homage to your "so called Native American heritage" is SO 19th Century.  Give up the dream white girl, that canoe paddled away long ago.  Also, your fringed overshirt.....killing me.  I just do NOT get that.  It's like super white guys who like to pretend they're, well, not white.  My fave example being Seth Green in the movie "Can't Hardly Wait (you really should watch it.  cute movie)."  He thugged it out and finally one day his friend said..."You're a WHITE GUY, have you LOOKED in the mirror lately?"  Clearly this lady didn't have such a good friend, to you know, slap her face into some 21st Century reality.

Furthermore.......

Ladies, if you are anywhere near the neighborhood of 60 and above, LET THE LONG HAIR GO!  Seriously.  Nothing is more disturbing or disconcerting than a 65 yr. old with her hair in pig tails.  My own grandmother was a hippy to the core and until her dying day (somewhere near 80) she had long, stringy hair, that she was want to wear in pig tails from time to time.  ICK! I would like to make a small disclaimer here......IF you are Kirstie Alley, then your long hair is ok.  Because you don't look like you're 60, nor act like it and you look good.

Which brings me to my next point.  Please dress age appropriately.  You can be stylish and still be age appropriate.  I do NOT need, nor want to see women of age in booty shorts. I'm not saying that once you get "older" that it's nothing but leisure suits and mumus.  No no, there are MANY excellent fashion choices for you out there.

Because yeah, this is NEVER appropriate. Nope, NEVER!  Shame on Dillards for selling them. 

Sorry CJane, you just CAN'T make the mumu cool.

Oh Rudolph.....why'd ya gotta do that?  Santa not paying you enough, you needed a side job, modeling for this attrocity?

And niether is this.  Holiday themed sweaters, sweatshirts, etc.  Just not acceptable.  Embarassing really.  And yet, they just keep being made, and bought.  And even though it may have been the late 80's, early 90's....i'm saying to a certain sister of mine (who shall remain nameless to protect her fashionista identity)....still wasn't acceptable.  They're ugly.  They scream GRAMMA (or teacher, cause you all know you had teachers who wore these hideous things), and not in a warm and loving way.  Sorry Mom.  I know you've rocked a Christmas sweater or two.

And since I'm on a roll here.  May as well cover certain hair trends i've seen.

Just what the what is this?  Besides totally ugly?

(this does look suspiciously like someone used a sharpie on a picture to achieve these purple streaks)

Random streaks of loud colors.....lame!

Worse though......just tinging the ends with a little turquoise and pink, or any color for that matter.  L-uh-AME!

Though this MAY take the cake for stupid and ugly. 

"Has anyone seen my face?  i seem to have misplaced it amongst this bumped out MOUND of zebra hair.  Help me!?"

People are so WIERD!

I will say though.....I do enjoy this current trend:

Wee tiny feathers......IN YOUR HAIR!  I have several friends that have done it and they are really cute.  You can wash them, and curl them and do whatever with them.  From far away, they look like a tiny braid.  So see, I'm not all hate, all the time.  I do like some things.

Anyway....mostly just want to help people with these 10 simple rules:

1. Accept your ethnicity

2. Don't try to be any other ethnicity

3. Wear your hair AGE appropriate

4. Dress age appropriate

5. BAN all holiday themed/appliqued attire from your wardrobe

6. Remember Mumus are baaaaaaad!

7. Color your hair allll over.

8.  Crimping is ugly (sorry that just crept in there)

9. Feathers are cool.

10.  Just say NO to jeggings! (what?  it had to be said again)

Opinionatedly yours,

Allyson

P.S.  I didn't post more house tour, because I think you're all bored with it, or me.  Just keepin it real.

The House Tour Continues....

I like to call this part....."the music room."  Hehehehe  If I act like it's grand, then it will BE grand, right?  There is no denying, my kitchen/music room/eating area is a large room.  I enjoy it, I do.  But, classifying it as it's own "room" is stretching it a BIT.

Anywhodle, here it is.  That door over there is my big phat laundry room. And there is no denying, it IS a big laundry room/pantry, craft supply room, etc.  If I can shove it in there, I will, and I HAVE!  I'll show you a picture someday.

Oh, here is how it looked BEFORE!!

Brick, IN MY HOUSE.  Don't ya just love it?

Here she is AFTER:

Getting a 2nd bookshelf (thank you IKEA) for all my actual music has made me so happy.

In a former life, before children, we used to have a guest room/office.  Said room was decorated completely with framed playbills (we have LOTS) and paintings/pictures of New York.  It was cool.  Jere has been waiting for 4 years for an opportunity to display the playbills again.  I chose some of our MOST favorite to go on this one little wall.  I'm enjoying them there.

Someday, when I get ambitious, I'm gonna paint our bathroom, and I will use playbills to decorate the walls in there.  Wierd.  A little.  But, still cool.

Shot from across the room.

I'd show you the eating area wall, but I'm waiting on some last touches.

Wish I had a new, ROUND table.  But, that'll have to come in time.

Oh hello backyard shot.  Yes, yes that is a pool.

The kids LOVE it.

And now, I show you my bedroom.  Puhlease, you didn't think I had enough patience to drag this out slowly.  It is WELL known, patience is NOT a virture I possess.  Sad but true.

A small BEFORE pic.  Amazing how much white paint can change a look.

Lets just get one thing straight.....it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a good shot of my bedroom.  While it is bigger than my last, it has an awkward angle problem and I just could NOT get a good shot of my bed.  Sorry.

You will notice....my bed no longer sits under a window.  So, this necessitated a slight change up in the box layout of the trim, AND, I had to rethink my wall decore.

I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out.  Especially because I just sorta threw it up there on a whim.  Also, that is a block wall.  It made putting the trim work up a BIT of an issue.  But, I just nailed those pictures right on up there.  I didn't have time to mess with block.  I had crap to do.

Maggies dresser made its way into a whole new setup.

I finally got to hang my curtains.  AND, Jer has turned into a MAN with his mad blind hanging and curtain rod hanging skillz.  Wont lie, I'm pretty proud of him.

Still love this dresser.  And she looks fab in her new locale.

So, I had to stand as far back in my bathroom as I could to get this picture.  Ridiculous!  But, at least you get the idea.

I do really love my bedroom.......still.  It is a peaceful retreat.

I wish pictures could do the color ANY justice at all.

Alrighty then, there you have it.  I did forget to show you the closet wall, but you aren't missing too much.

Tomorrow I shall show you the kids room.  Perhaps a look in the laundry room too.

Oh, I KNOW.....the excitement is just freaking overwhelming!

Paint fumes and crazy dreams,

Allyson

Maggie creates her latest masterpiece....

Fine, I know you're all dying for some of Maggies musical prowess.  She's been in rare form lately.  Of course, I've been in perfect NON getting it on video form.  This morning she was singing at the top of her lungs for-EVER!  I missed most of it.  I only caught the very end, which is tragical.  She just kept singing over and over and over and OVER...."I wanna grow up so freakin Baaaaad!"  It was hilarious.  I'm sensing she just might want to grow up so freakin bad or something.

So, the first video she takes a milder approach to her wish, and the 2nd video is her grand finale, in which I missed the "I wanna grow up" part. 

Anyway.......here she is.





Does she have a future or what? HA!  I really can't wait until she's old enough to do workshop.  That's all I'm saying about that.

Divas and Do Re Mi,

Allyson

Trash to Treasure Tuesday...the house tour begins

Ladies and Gents (oh yes, there are TOTALLY gents who read this)  (Hey Sterling, what's up).  We have now officially been IN the new house for 2 weeks now.  Not gonna lie, everything was unpacked and decorated almost BEFORE we officially moved in.  So, it hasn't been a horrible transition period or anything.  I got a new project finished in the kitchen tonight, well almost finished and it will soon be ready for a reveal.  My living room is a major work in progress, so it won't be ready any time soon to share.  However, the kitchen came completely ready made for me.  I literally did not have to do anything (well, minus the wall I'm working on) and my bedroom....well, I just transfered my redo from one house to the other.  So, I am going to share a small piece of "trash"  and then tour the kitchen and my bedroom.  Pretty excited aren't you?  Yes, i thought so.

A few weeks before we moved in I decided I needed a little something next to the garage door that leads into the kitchen.  I mean, a girl has GOT to have somewhere to throw her purse and sunglasses for Heavens sake.  So, I meandered into my fave Mesa Thrift.  I had no idea what I was looking for.  I generally don't.  Things just sorta find me, or inspiration hits after I see an item.  If you've never been in there, they have their furniture section so incredibly tightly cram packed, it's a wonder one ever finds anything.  I perused the merchandise, made my way around once.  Then, on my second pass, I noticed this ugly, wee table literally tucked/shoved way back under some other stuff.  I thought the dimensions seemed good, so I dug it out.  The price was so redonkulous that I didn't care WHAT I did with it, i was going to buy it.  For FIVE dollars I had this ugly little table and away we went.

Someone with some tragic design taste and some lacking spray painting skillz had clearly thought that white with silver legs was a winning combo.  I begged to differ.
This, my friends, is a sewing machine table, sans the sewing machine.

Anyway, I busted out my fave black spray paint, Rustoleum, semi gloss black and went to work.  Well, after I spray primed it of course.  It took all of 5 seconds of my life, and now, it's the perfect little resting spot for my purse, sunglasses, mail, garbage, whatever.

Yep, that feels better.

Doesn't my purse look so happy on it's home?

I do hate garbage cans, wish I didn't have to look at them.  And they look espcially bad in pictures.  Ewww!

Anywho.....since we're in the kitchen, may as well show you a portion of my "palatial" cookingdom.  Seriously, every time I walk in there I sorta giggle and think to myself "I have a HUGE kitchen.  I'm such a real grown up now." Plus, it's pretty, so that's fun.

First....let's just discuss that I have granite, and it's real pretty.

Not that having granite was ever important to me, because honestly, it wasn't.  And I really like formica.  I'm not picky or all that fancy.  BUT, this was here, and it's pretty and I realllllllly do like it.  I also love that there is a huge granite backsplash.  No gross food splatters on the walls, just wipe down the granite.

LIKE!

Let it be said, that even I, of Amazonian stature, require a step stool to get to the shelves in these cupboards.  They are TALL!  I have so much cupboard storage and space that I have empty shelves.  I was finally able to bring out boxes of dishes that were in my shed for 2 years.  I can clearly see everything I have, for the first time, EVER!  Plus, I like the cool glazing technique that the people did on this.

LIKE!

I'm trying to do a 360 degree look of just this part of my kitchen.

Lest I need to remind you, photography is a skill I fall rather SHORT on!

That's my pretty fridge that I only paid $250.00 for.  AWESOME!

I adore the sink, it's super deep and wide and the faucet is great too.

Oh hey there pretty island, and cooking corner of the kitchen.

I feel like I have to walk so far to the fridge, or garbage, it's funny.

I'm used to rather smallish, tight kitchen spaces.

Eventually, when I'm super cool, I will get some kind of hanging light fixture, or pot rack light thing to hang over the island.  Plus, I'm working on getting a couple of bar stools.

That little wall is part of a closet.

It's scarey in there.

I love that wreath.  Miz Jenee bought that for me when Jer and I moved into our first apartment.

This little wall is between the living room door and the hallway.

I can't wait to be able to show you the eating area.  As i said, I'm finishing a project for that wall.  It's looking good.

My table is redonkulously too small in there now.  It looks a bit dwarfed in the space.  I'm totally on the hunt for a big round table.

Let me know if you see one.

Ok, this is long enough.  Tomorrow I'll share the bedroom, and perhaps the other half of the kitchen/great room/music room.

In truth, this move has been very emotionally hard on me.  I was in NO way ready to leave our sweet little house on Nina.  I didn't want to leave the neighborhood, the ward, or the house.  Yesterday, I went back over to the old house to get the rest of my cleaning supplies and wipe down the cupboards and counter tops one last time.  I was by myself, and I walked through each room, shed a few tears and said goodbye to that wonderful little house and thanked it for giving us 2 amazing years.  And I realized...."holy crap, that house is small."  Everything that seemed just right, or perfect, and big enough was suddenly SO SMALL!  I was finally grateful for the new house.  Happy with the bigger space.  OK with where we are.

It was a big moment.

Still miss my neighborhood per say, but at least they're all still really close.

And at least now....I have a garage.

I think I'm gonna like it here.

Spray paint and shiny counters,

Allyson

It's time to sing and dance....

Workshop......one month of intensive music theatre for kids ages 10 - 17.  Four hours a day of singing, dancing, moving. In two weeks we put on a show where each kid learns and is part of at least 7 different numbers, and the show itself has 25+ numbers in it.  We have lights, makeup, costumes and awesomeness!

It really is the highlight of our summer.  It really is exhausting.  It really is amazing!

So, just a few little shots (I suck at taking pics of it, mostly because I'm the one sitting at the table creating the lights (with Bryson, who really created and is amazing) and making sure everything is going ok) of the show and behind the scenes.

In these two shots we were working on spacing the kids in the opening number.  It was the first day in the theatre.  Our set was super rocktastic and cool this year.

Opening song was "Freak Flag" from Shrek. 

It rocked!

That totally cute boy up at the tippy top in the red shirt is my nephew Hayden.  His twin Harrison is the one with his back to you in the striped shirt at the bottom.  This was their last year and session ever of workshop.  We will miss them tragically!

Jer and I backstage during first workshop.

It was SO GREAT having him back as a director. 

We missed him the last 3 years.

Jer with his small ensemble group.

They did "Magic Foot" from Spelling Bee.

It was cute.

The kids are cute!

Me and my darling Chandler.

Love this girl!

On the Saturdays we had 2 performances.

The kids got to come to the afternoon shows.

They were SO GOOD, and loved it!

Between shows we went out to Pita Jungle (YUM!)

When, just WHEN did Maggie get so old?

I do realllllly love this pic though.

So typically Max.

That kid is crazy.

And hilarious.

And currently, INSISTS on sleeping on the floor, next to Maggies bed.

You know why?.....because he's TERRIFIED of the freaking fire alarm.

The fire alarm, on the cieling, above his bed.  It has a wee little green light.

Apparently it's evil and will come alive and eat him.

Wierdest fear ever.

Hope a scorpion doesn't happen by.

Anyway, Workshop turned out fantastically this year!  Really proud of allll the kids and all their hard work.

Glad it's over.

Looking forward to next year.

Jazz squares and spirit fingers,

Allyson

The "Sting"

It was June....I was buried in workshop, and it meant I didn't get to spend a lot of time with my kids.  They instead got to spend most of their time at Grammas house and at Aunt Jennys.  Not gonna lie when I say, it hurt my feelings just a little bit when Maggie said "I want you to stay at workshop always."  "I LOVE playing at Grammas and Jennys and I HATE being home."  Ummmm OUCH!  Anyway...not the point of the story.

I was between numbers with kids and picked up my phone in the office.  The text went a little something like this. "Ummm, Maggie just got stung by a scorpion in my closet.  I'm really sorry."  "She's being really tough."   What am I s'posed to do with that?  I just had to take her word for it that she was ok.  And then I relied on the knowledge that my nephew had been stung several times in the weeks previous and was fine.  And then I just felt bad that she'd been stung.  I mean, you're not gonna die from a scorpion sting, but it HURTS really, REALLY bad.  Apparently Maggie said to Jere, "I was playing hide and seek and that scorpion was just playing STING."  And to make matters worse, that darn scorpion stung her on her BUM!  RUDE!  She came home with a small ice pack on her bum that she insisted on wearing in her shorts for the next 2 days (even though it had long lost its cold).  And I must say, she really WAS a trooper.  But, to add insult to injury this was the last in a string of stings.

The week before she was out in the pool at Grammas house and got stung by a bee.  Which was tragic only because the week before THAT she got her first bee sting at Gramma Dars house.  Seriously?  Three times in three weeks she got punched by mother nature.

The good news here is....she's not allergic to any of that.  AND, she has shown she got my pain threshhold and took it like a champ.  Thank goodness!

Good thing she's a tough pirate "hooker". hehe

Speaking of "the sting."

I have lived in Arizona for 38 years (well, minus 2 years between my mission and living in Utah) and I can honestly say I've NEVER seen a scorpion in any home I lived in or was in.  I know they're around.  I have friends and family members who have dealt with them.  But NOT ME!  Until...........................last week.

We had lived in the new house for exactly 1 day.  I was in the kitchen, Jere went into our bathroom, and suddenly I heard a "HOLY SHIIIIIIT" and then he came running.  I asked what the problem was and all he could say was....."scorpion, SCORPION, we have a scorpion."  So, I went back there and sure enough, there it was....scurrying across the bathroom floor.  Much to his credit, in spite of him being a hot mess of fear, he got a jar and caught that hideous thing.

Maggie and Max learn to Act

You know....sometimes I just have no idea what Jere does with my kids when I'm not around.  Generally, I'm pretty pleased to learn what they've done, or amused.  This is no exception.  Apparently, he's taken it upon himself to teach those hooligans some acting lessons.  And for HIM, they're aces.  Not gonna lie when i say this short video cracked me right up.  They did me and their Daddy proud here.

Plus, I know you regular readers have been so missing the haps of my little MVP's.  Trust me, they're as sassy as ever.

ENJOY!



Can you even stand it?  Somebody get those kids a JOB!