My Life

MyMemories Giveaway

2012-01-24T13:49:00.002-07:00

I'm so excited to share this with you today! MyMemories is an amazing site for those who love digital scrapbooking AND those who have always wanted to go digital but thought it was too overwhelming.

I have a bookshelf full of scrapbooks and a TON of scrapbooking supplies, but I have come to love digital scrapbooking. I love that everything is saved on my computer. I love that I don't have to haul out a bunch of stuff every time I want to make something (my kitchen table loves this, too)!

MyMemories makes it SO easy. Their MyMemories Suite software does it all. There are pre-loaded templates and pages included so all you have to do is add your pictures and journaling- like this, for example:

Super easy and cute!

You can also create your own layouts and designs, and their site has so many scrapbooking kits to help you that you're sure to find just what you want. When you purchase a kit you can download it right onto the software and you're ready to go!

I love this digital scrapbooking software because you're not just limited to making scrapbook pages. You can make photo books, cards, videos, calendars....you name it! I was playing around with a cute kit that I downloaded and came up with this birthday invitation-

There are so many fun things you can do!

SO....who's ready to own this fabulous software?!

To enter this giveaway, please visit MyMemories and pick your favorite digital paper pack or layout, then come back here and leave a comment telling me what you love the best! Easy peasy!

For extra entries:

* Follow the MyMemories blog

* Like MyMemories on Facebook

Leave me a separate comment for each.

I will choose a winner via Random.org on Monday, January 30th. Good Luck!

ALSO, as a special for all of of my readers, MyMemories is providing you a Share the Memories code that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!

So, if you're not the lucky winner, head on over to MyMemories and use this code to get this fabulous deal!

STMMMS17339

Robot Cupcake Cake Tutorial

2012-01-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

I found this idea on Pinterest and it was just what I wanted for Lincoln's cake.

What you’ll need:

- Cake mix
- Foil cupcake wrappers
- Vanilla frosting, I made my own buttercream frosting and doubled the recipe
- Black food coloring
- Graham crackers
- Gray decorating sugar
- Bread sticks (Wheat Thins) and thin wheat sticks (Pringles)
- Gummy rings
- Vanilla wafers
- Mini M&Ms, I used Skittles
- Red and white licorice pastels
- Square candy coated gum (Chiclets), I used a butter mint
- Gumdrops (Dots)

1. Bake cupcakes according to the directions on the cake mix box. (You'll need 17 cupcakes)
2. Tint vanilla frosting with a few drops black food coloring to make it light gray.
3. Put ¾ cup of the frosting out in a sealed zipper bag (to use as piping to cover gaps in the graham crackers and create face).
4. Cut an end of one graham cracker into a 1-inch piece for the robot’s mouth.
5. Cut the graham crackers so that you have 6 rectangles (for the arms and legs) and 3 whole pieces (for the chest and head). To cut the arms, legs, and pelvis at angles, I used a serrated knife and used a sawing motion to cut.
6. Cut one last square into the pelvis shape.
7. Cover each cracker with frosting and decorating sugar, and candies and put them aside.
8. Put the rest of the gray frosting on top of each of the cupcakes and place them on a serving platter. Place 2 across for the head, leaving space for the head and chest. Then arrange four to form a square for the chest. Two groups of 2 will make the arms. One will make the pelvis, and three for each leg.
9. Place the graham crackers on top of the cupcakes to create the robot’s body.

Use the breadsticks, cookies and candies to create his features: breadsticks connect the arms and legs to the body. Gummy rings are for the ears, hands, control panel- just cut to the shape you want. M&Ms (Skittles) make the bolts, eyes, buttons, lights and toes. Licorice pastels create the mouth and nose. Vanilla wafers make his knee joints. Stick gumdrops to a toothpick or pretzel stick to create an antenna and lights.

Birthday Boy

2012-01-12T10:01:00.002-07:00

I cannot believe that Lincoln is SEVEN! He is such a great kid. He loves to build and draw, play the Wii, act silly, and take care of his younger brothers. He is a great reader and piano player, and is a friend to everyone.

This year his birthday was pretty low key (Sunday birthdays always are). On Saturday we went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks and he loved that they played shuffleboard on their cruise just like we did! That night we went to Pizza Pie Cafe and played games.

On Sunday Grandma & Grandpa Holbrook came to celebrate. Lincoln requested Nam Tok for his birthday dinner. Then we had cake & ice cream!

Lincoln wanted a robot cake this year:

Happy Birthday, Bud!

Happy Christmas!

2012-01-09T13:39:00.002-07:00

What a great Christmas we had! As you can see, the kids were ready to see what Santa brought. What you don't see is Kensie coming into our room at 1:30 am and then again at 4 am....she was ready all night long!

The kids had a blast and got exactly what they asked for. Jackson wanted a Mega T-Rex and a little motorcycle.

Kensie didn't have anything specific that she wanted, but ended up with quite a haul!

Lincoln got a sweet bike!

Landon got some books and sippy cups, and enjoyed opening everyone's presents!

Oh, and eating candy out of everyone's stocking!!

We had fun playing darts on our new dart board, and snuggling on the bean bag that Matt's parents delivered the day after Christmas.

Later in the day we went to my parents house for more present opening and cousin fun! We were spoiled, as usual.

Aunt Leah made these shirts for the kids. If you know what these quotes are from, you are awesome!

We had a great time with family, which in my opinion is the best part of Christmas. Thanks, everyone, for making it a wonderful day!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

We started off the morning by making sugar cookies. Lots and lots of sugar cookies.....
Landon was especially helpful this year!

I must share a tip right now regarding sugar cookie making. It has changed my life.

So, when I make my dough, I divide it and roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper right away. Then I place on a cookie sheet and freeze for 15-20 minutes (or longer). I do this with all my dough, then pull one sheet out at a time and proceed with cutting out shapes, re-rolling and freezing as needed. It is SO much easier to cut them out and place on the baking sheet when the dough is frozen! Anyway....

After cookie decorating the kids had fun pummeling each other with a gift from one of Matt's co-workers. It was pretty hilarious!

Later in the day we headed to my parents house for Christmas Eve festivites. The food was delicious, as usual, and the house looked and felt very festive!

As promised, here is the video of the kids performance:
*this video is actually their second performance on Christmas Day for the entire Young family. In the Christmas Eve performance Landon was hidden in the back the whole time...

No Christmas Eve would be complete without a shepherd and his sheep.....

A wise man and his gift of gold......

and the whole Nativity scene!

When we got home the kids opened their Christmas jammies and put out milk & cookies for Santa. They wanted to stay up until midnight so they could see Santa, but when they heard that he might skip our house they rushed to bed!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T15:45:00.001-07:00

Hopefully I'll be posting about Christmas sometime this week.....

Until then, please enjoy some evil laughing.

The Christmas Card

2011-12-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

the front

the back

I went for a postcard look this year, although I didn't send them as postcards because I knew they'd get stamped all over the back....

I ordered my cards through Overnight Prints. I loved the option to make the front glossy (just like a real postcard!) and round the edges. They were reasonably priced and overall I was happy, although they did short me 3 cards and would not send me more. They did refund me, measly amount that it was!

Christmas time is here!

2011-12-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

It's the ~~busiest~~ most wonderful time of the year! I must confess that I have not been in "holiday mode" this year for some reason. I blame it on two things:

1. I have been working a lot at the gym and for KitchenAid.

2. there is no snow (and no, I don't count the snow in the above picture. I'm talking FEET of snow that has to be shoveled and allows for sledding and fort-making).

Despite the busy schedule, we have done some fun things the past few weeks.


Kensie & I went to see Annie at PTC with my mom, Andrea, and Leah. It was fantastic!

Jaime hosted our Christmas Gourmet Dinner Night and it was so great! We exchanged fun gifts, ate delicious food, and of course, talked until the wee hours! Love these girls!!

We went to Thanksgiving Point to see the lights and talk to the reindeer. It was excellent, as usual! And no trip to TG Point would be complete without ice cream!

The kids had their Christmas Sing at school. I was too busy wrestling Landon to get pictures of Kensie and Lincoln, but they did awesome! The Fifth Grade sang a super funny song about Mistletoe, and Third Grade sang Christmas Is A Feeling. Preschool was last, so most of the parents had cleared out and I was able to get to the front row to watch Jackson. They were SO cute!! They sang The White Song and danced to a snowman medley that was so cute I am making all the kids perform it on Christmas Eve for the family! Even Landon gets in on the action. Stay tuned for that video!!

Kensie also sang two numbers in my dad's annual Songs Of Christmas program this year. She sang Away In A Manger with some other girls from my parents ward, and I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus all by herself. She did great! We look forward to this program every year. The boys LOVE the saw player (yes, he plays Christmas songs on a regular old saw using a violin bow. It's pretty amazing!), Matt looks forward to the Schneider brothers singing Prayer Of The Children, and I always get chills when I hear the bagpipes! This year The Brunson Brothers came and woke us up with their amazing trumpeting!

Oh, and I mustn't forget the two trips to the Emergency Room...

On our way out from my dad's program Landon fell and hurt his arm. It was 9:00 on Sunday night, and I was tempted to try to wait it out. But he was crying so much that we decided we'd better take him in. Thank goodness for the new Lone Peak Emergency Center!! So close, and no waiting.

They got him back and the Dr. thought it must be Nursemaid's Elbow (which Kensie had twice) so he tried to pop it back into place about a billion times (really 6) but no luck. They did x-rays to make sure nothing was broken (nothing was), splinted his arm, gave him lots of toys and stickers, and sent us on our way with the number for an orthopedic specialist to call in the morning. I opted to see my pediatrician first.

He decided that it was probably just a really bad sprain to his elbow and told me to watch him for a few days.

I took off the splint and wrap yesterday, and today he's starting to use it normally. Poor kid!

Three days after that visit I was back to the ER again. This time with Jackson. He stuck something up his nose (a white hard ball, as he discribed it). I looked in his nose but couldn't see anything. The pediatrician said if it's not visible to take him to the ER. Blah! I did NOT want to go back there!!

I kept asking Jackson if he still felt it in there and he said yes, so off we went (not before trying a home fix that the nurse told me to try which involved giving him mouth to mouth! I was laughing too hard for it to work properly!).

Of course the same doctor took care of Jackson and totally recognized me. And, of course, he couldn't find anything in Jackson's nose (the little stinker!). He must have swallowed it....

Thanks goodness my insurance doesn't require an ER copay!!

And I wonder why I'm not full of Holiday Cheer......

Farewell, Disney Wonder...

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our final morning on the ship was a sad one! We ate breakfast and waited in line to disembark. Matt's face says it all....


here's the only picture I got of Tie Dye....I wish it wasn't the back of his head!

Once off the ship we dropped Rich & Marla at the airport and started the long drive home. The whole way I kept picturing my joyful reunion with Landon- how he would run into my arms when he saw me......

Um, not quite. When we got home my parents had kept him up so we could see him. He wanted NOTHING to do with me. He wouldn't leave Grandpa's side, cried if I tried to hold him, and ran away from me when I went to change his diaper. He was fine with Matt and the kids, but was so mad at me!

He made me pay for a few days, then finally forgave me for leaving him. It's all good.

Now we're home and back to reality. Every day Jackson asks when we are going on another cruise. He holds up his 10 fingers and says "are we going in this many days?"! I wish, buddy!!!

Cruisin'- Day Seven

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our last day was a day at sea. We spent the day doing everything we could on the ship one last time. The pastry chefs on board were building this gingerbread house the whole week, and this was what the finished product looked like! It smelled so good whenever we walked by.

We played games in the room and Cadillac Lounge (until we got kicked out for a wine-tasting event). The kids played in the Lab, making pasta palaces, jewelry, and attending Ratatouille Cooking School.

We hit the shops for some Disney souvenirs. Don't ask me what Matt is doing in this picutre!

We played more games in Diversions (which had an amazing chips & salsa bar!).

No day would be complete without at least one ice cream cone!

Our final dinner was at Animator's Palate. Lincoln's face sums up this dinner.....we were all getting sick of eating by this point!

After dinner we saw the final show, Remember The Magic. I cried again. Jackson slept again. It was bittersweet.

Our final animal, Ms. Swan, welcomed us to our room for one last night....

Cruisin'- Day Six

2011-12-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Day two in Cabo was spent at Lovers Beach. We rented snorkeling gear and had a blast! Jackson was content to play in the sand, but put on the goggles so he could see all the fish. The water was dreamy, and Kensie and Lincoln quickly got the hang of snorkeling and had so much fun looking at all the fish! We even discovered a statue way down deep. We also walked to the Pacific Ocean side of the beach, where you are not allowed in the water. While standing on the beach Marla & I saw a stingray in the water. So cool!

Back on the ship we had some lunch, relaxed, played bingo at WaveBands, and got ready for our second formal night. We had dinner at Triton's, where the kids were brave and tried our escargot. Jackson and Lincoln both ate a couple, but Kensie gagged and cried and couldn't swallow even one! But at least she tried it!! After dinner we saw the Disney Dreams show (which was by far my favorite of the trip! I may or may not have cried...). Jackson actually stayed awake for this one, and I'm glad he did! He loved it!

Night, night, Mr. Dinosaur.....

Cruisin'- Day Five

2011-12-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

This morning we arrived in Cabo San Lucas! Before heading off the ship we enjoyed our Character Breakfast at Parrot Cay. We had visits from lots of the Disney characters, but I think the kids may have enjoyed all the silly napkin hats (made by Raka) even more!!

Since we were going to be in Cabo for two days, we decided that today we would shop and tomorrow we'd hit the beach. We walked around to all the shops, and it was very helpful to have Rich there to barter with people! We got some Mexican vanilla and souvenirs for the kids.

When we were all shopped out we decided to take a glass-bottom boat ride. Jackson LOVED it and would scream whenever he saw anything under the water!

We got so see some seals, which the kids thought was really cool!

Tonight on the ship it was Pirate Night! We donned our stripes, eye patches, and earrings and headed to dinner in Parrot Cay. The servers had a pirate dance party with the kids and they loved it!

After dinner we took the kids back to the room to rest before the pirate party later that night. We had to wake them up around 10:00 and they were so sleepy! But I think they enjoyed the show, and especially the fireworks!

Back in our room, a little monkey was hanging out, just waiting for us to return!

Cruisin- Day Four

2011-12-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Today we stopped at our first port, Puerto Vallarta. Rich and Marla booked us a great excursion on a pirate ship, so we got of the boat early that morning and got in line to meet our pirate. While waiting, a lady came up and asked if the kids wanted to hold her parrot. They thought it was cool, but little did I know that we were supposed to pay her for this service.....lesson learned. And thanks, Marla, for forking over the cash.

We met our pirate, Bones, and boarded the ship. On our ride to a little island the pirates put on a show for us, got us dancing, and fed us breakfast. This was also the first time we encountered "Tie Dye" and his family. They were odd ducks, and we saw them throughout the rest of the cruise. We called him Tie Dye because he wore the same tie dyed shirt every day....of course I failed to get a picture of him until the day we left, and he was wearing a new shirt!

Once on the island, the kids had a blast playing on the beach! Jackson got pummeled by a wave and wore his life jacket from that moment on. The pirates took the kids on a treasure hunt, I caught a crab, and we all enjoyed a nice swim.

Back on the ship we enjoyed more of the pirate show, had yummy drinks, ate lunch, and got some pirate scars.

this is our pirate, Bones (stop swooning, Alayna!)

no, Jackson is not crying- it's just the salt water!

We got back on the ship in time to shower before dinner. Tonight we ate in Animator's Palate. It was so neat! They had Disney music playing the whole time, and the paintings on the walls would randomly light up. The servers did a little show, and the whole room lit up. Even Mickey made an appearance.

After dinner we saw Toy Story the Musical and nearly all of us fell asleep. It was a long, but fun day!

A stingray welcomed us to our room and we gladly jumped in bed, exhausted.

Cruisin'- Day Three

2011-12-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

Today was another relaxing day at sea (although we did make a brief stop in Cabo to let a passenger off the ship so they could get to a hospital....I'm still dying to know why!). At breakfast, Raka made Lincoln a pet mouse and taught him how to make it move. After breakfast we attended origami for beginners, where we made candy dishes and fortune tellers. (Matt was so good he could do it with his eyes closed!)

Then it was off to Animator's Palate to learn how to draw Goofy. Everyone did a great job!

here's mine

Jackson went to play at the club, and Matt, Kensie, Lincoln and I went to play Wonder Quest. It was hilarious! Kat gave us a team number and then would call out different things for us to show her. One time she said "I need to see your team number and a bald man"! Lucky us. Several other teams used Matt as their bald man, as well.

Lincoln had to get up on stage and dance to Justin Beiber....

Kat wanted to see our team number and a pirate impersonation.

After the game we danced some more!

The kids went swimming in the Mickey Pool and met Goofy. This was the one and only time we stood in line to see a character, which was fine by me. This line was short, but that was not the norm. I was glad that the kids weren't begging to see the characters because it would have taken up so much time each day. Seeing them in the shows was good enough for them AND me!

Dinner was at Triton's again. Of course, no dinner would be complete without Jackson's Mickey Bar and Raka's entertainment!

After dinner, Matt, Rich, and the kids went to the ventriloquist show while Marla & I saw The Help.


sunset out our stateroom window

Tonight, Mr. Bunny was waiting for us. Our stateroom host left all our animals in tact for us, so by the end of the cruise we had quite the collection on the dresser!

Cruisin'- Day Two

2011-12-10T13:00:00.001-07:00

Today was a day at sea. We hung out in the room for a bit, ate breakfast at Triton's, then hit Animator's Palate for a scrapbooking craft. It was pretty weak, so we just grabbed our Disney paper and left!

We played a little shuffleboard (and Marla learned that it can be dangerous to play without shoes), then went to see Cars 2 in 3D at the Buena Vista Theatre.

After the movie and lunch, the kids headed to the lab to make flubber. They had so many fun activities for the kids!

While the kids were playing, we enjoyed some quiet time on deck....

Then it was time for ice cream, a stop at the arcade, and origami animals at Studio Sea!

This was our first formal night, so we got all dolled up and headed to dinner at Triton's.

Raka always had fun games to entertain the kids (and the adults!). In this one, you had to move 3 crayons to make the fish swim the other way. Rose amazed Jackson by pulling a magic hair out of his head and making a paper move. He thought it was the greatest!

After dinner, Jackson and grandma went to rest in the room while the rest of us went to WaveBands to see Bronkar Lee, vocal percussionist. Lincoln loved his beat boxing!

After the cabaret show we all met up for the Golden Mickeys show. Jackson didn't rest in the room, and thus fell asleep during the show (which he did almost every night!).

he's almost out!

A cute little piggie was waiting for us in our room after the show. The kids crashed, and Matt & I watched movies and ordered cookies and milk from room service.

Cruisin'- Day One

2011-12-09T14:17:00.000-07:00

We just got back from an amazing vacation! We took the three older kids on a Disney Cruise to Mexico. Matt's parents came with us, which was super fun! We've had this vacation planned since March, so when November arrived I couldn't believe that we were actually going.

We dropped Landon off at my parents house for the week (tears- from me, not Landon!) and drove to Barstow, CA where we spent the night at a super nice Hampton Inn. The next morning we picked up Rich & Marla from the airport and headed to the ship!

We arrived earlier than our scheduled time, but they let us right on (after we got the kids registered and their wristbands attached).

When we walked onto the ship they announced, "Please welcome the Holbrook family!". The kids loved it! The ship was decorated for Christmas, which was so great. We had our first meal at the Beach Blanket Buffet, checked out our room, and spent some time exploring the ship.

We took the kids to see the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab. They loved it and were excited to come back and play.

After spending some time in the kid areas, we discovered shuffleboard, which quickly became one of the favorite pastimes on board!


We explored more of the ship, and then it was time for the boat drill where we lined up tallest to shortest and learned from the fabulous Kat that we were "Excellent!".

After the drill, we headed up to deck 9 for the Adventures Away party as the boat sailed away.

After we were on our way, we got ready for dinner in Parrot Cay, where we met our servers Raka and Rose. Jackson experienced his first of many Mickey Bars. Our servers were fabulous and so great with the kids. They always had sprites ready to go when we arrived (and all that soda did a number on the kids...no dinner was complete without multiple trips to the bathroom)! Unfortunately Rose hurt her back on the second day and was replaced by Doulson, who was also great.

After dinner we saw the All Aboard: Let The Magic Begin show in the Walt Disney Theatre. It was the first of many fabulous shows.....Disney really knows how to entertain!

When we got back to our room a little elephant was waiting for us and the kids loved him! We totally crashed. I couldn't even stay up to watch Harry Potter (they had first-run movies playing all day every day on the TV, so we eventually got to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Green Lantern, The Smurfs, Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens, Kung Fu Panda 2, Zookeeper, Thor, and Prince of Persia).

New Record

2011-12-03T11:03:00.001-07:00

WOW! It's been awhile.....

We've been off having fun on a fabulous vacation and I am still trying to get back into the swing of things around here. Stay tuned for some picture-laden posts about our adventure! Here's a sneak peak:

In the mean time, enjoy this picture of Landon....

He now holds the record in our family of youngest to get stitches. He slid off the bench at church and hit his head on the hymnal holder. After consulting with a nearby church-goer, who also happens to be a great friend and nurse, it was decided that he needed stitches. I ran him to the urgent care while Matt stayed at church with the other kids. Two stitches and some tears later we made it back to church- just in time to teach my lesson. Whew!

I took the stitches out on Friday and he's as good as new!

Here are his 18 month stats:

Height: 31 1/2 inches

Weight: 23 pounds

He's still a little guy- 20th percentile.....

a halloween serenade

2011-11-03T11:06:00.000-06:00

Halloween Fun

2011-11-02T12:58:00.001-06:00

Happy Halloween! We had a fun week of celebrating. Kensie won first place in the costume contest at our ward party. Alas, I did not win for my chili (I'm pretty sure the voting was rigged.....). Maybe next year!

Of course, we carved pumpkins.

Harry Potter

80's girl

Clark Kent

Little Monkey

parading.....

Kid History

2011-10-30T13:54:00.000-06:00

We discovered these while at Park City (thanks, Danny & Leah!). Maybe I'm the last to know about these hilarious videos...... The kids have most of them memorized now, and watching them NEVER gets old! Our favorites are Numbers 4,5, and 6.

hello?

2011-10-28T13:53:00.000-06:00

Hey, I'm just chillin' with my mom at the car place. Yeah, she should have brought me a snack or something.....at least she let me call my peeps while we're waiting.

Hang on, I'm texting someone. I can do it upside down cuz I'm cool like that.

Hellloooo??? Is this thing on? I'm about done now, so I'll probably chuck this on the floor. See ya!

Fall Break

2011-10-27T13:42:00.001-06:00

It's definitely Fall around here..... just look at my mountain!

We spent Fall Break in Park City with my family. This year Shinji was with us (the son of Kanako, who lived with our family for a few years when I was young). The kids LOVE Shinji, especially Jackson. They would not leave the poor guy alone! Jackson pretty much bossed him around the whole time- "Shinji, come here", "Do that again, Shinji", etc, etc.

We swam, went on walks to the park, played football, made crafts, ate yummy food, went on a hike, and RELAXED!

Landon rang the trolley bell

making para scopes with Grandpa

We all had fun holding our new cousin/nephew Dallin

Sorry, Dallin!

Decisions, Decisions.....

Thanks Mom & Dad! It was great!!!

Crazy Hair Day!

2011-10-08T13:18:00.000-06:00

mr. independent

2011-10-06T13:16:00.001-06:00

Landon has been a little stinker lately when it comes to eating. He whines, turns his head, and keeps his mouth shut tight. Yesterday I was fed up, put his bowl on his his highchair and said "you can feed yourself, then..."

Okay, mom!

Now he's happy as can be at meal times, and will eat whatever is on his plate as long as he gets to feed himself. Problem solved!

boo!

2011-10-05T15:51:00.000-06:00

Project number 2 was inspired from Pinterest.

cardboard letters + green yarn

The finished product. I don't mind telling you that it took me FOREVER to wrap these things! I had to take breaks because I would get so annoyed. But the end result was worth it, I think.