Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Dress Barn-Discovered(Defrumping Part II)

I went inside my first Dress Barn today. I am helping Jessie find a cute dress to wear when she goes down to see her husband in a few weeks. I have NEVER gone to one of these stores before because 1. I HATE the name, like who wants to say you get your dresses at a barn, and 2. Well, lets not go there.

WOW! Did they have some great stuff!!!! That was my first realization. (Jessie did say its hit-or-miss though.) My second was that they have more than dresses. Shirts, sweaters, pants, jewelry, etc. Third, dress sizes run differently than jean sizes. Hence, the dress I pulled of the rack-size 10, was huge. I got the next size down, and the 8 was slightly baggy. Hmm, lets try the size 6. Perfect Fit! Ladies, when you need a pick-me-up cuz you're holdin' onto some baby weight or whatever-go dress shopping!!!!

I have two dresses on lay-a-way right now. ; )

Thank heavens we do NOT have a girl!!!



We would be so broke. Check these ADORABLE dresses out! They are at TJMAXX by the way, for my friends who do have little girls. Happy shopping!!!

Caution-defrumping in progress!

My little sisters Andee and Jessie informed me after the 2 days of funerals that I needed cute shoes and they were laughing at me for wearing comfy clogs with dresses. They invited me to go shoe shopping with them and I quickly declined. They shrugged and went out with my mom. Hours later they came back-heavily laden with bags and boxes. They spread out their loot and I had to admit there were some wicked cute shoes in there. Andee said she'd get a pair for me for my birthday so out we went the next day for more shoes.
I have to say I HATE shoe-shopping. This stems from my first trip to an outlet mall by the Ozarks with friends my freshman year of college. These girl spent SIX hours going from shoe store to shoe store...to shoe store. That was all they did. Oh my poke my eyes out!!!!
If you hate shoe shopping too, this is the way to do it. My sisters had scouted all the shoe stores at the mall the day before and knew where to go to find the cutest ones on sale. All I had to do was try a pair on. Done. Jessie got in on the act and got me a cute pair of shoes too, so now I have one cute black pair and one cute brown pair. Woohoo they are on their way to helping me defrump! Check the shoes out below...who knew something called Mudd could be so cute!

Who is that?

My ever so on-top-of-the-Hollywood-world sister Jessica and I were decompressing from yesterdays road trip by looking at the pictures from the Oscars. Jessica was seriously bummed to be on the road during this event. When we stopped for dinner outside of Buffalo she made sure to sit where she could watch a TV that was showing them. I believe she even called her husband so they could watch a few minutes of it together. I think Jessie's main interest is the clothes-she doubled in Equestrian Science and Theater and I know she did a lot with costumes. She's a great seamstress and into all that, so it was with some degree of authority that she told me that my black and cream dress I wore to the viewing was too long, it needs to be hemmed 2-3 inches so it doesn't make my legs look stumpy. Ouch! Stumpy is a cruel word-almost cruel enough to make me haul out my detested sewing machine and hem that dress asap!

Anyways Jessie is giving critiques of the dresses, including their construction, and here is this pic of a somewhat hot-looking guy.

"Who is that?" I ask. "The host-Hugh Jackman" Jessie replies. I draw a blank and ask what he has done. Jessie stares at me incredulously. "Wolverine?!" she says. OOOH. Dang he cleans up well!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Home Sweet Home

Wow am I so happy to be home! Ethan was great on the road trip and had fun at Grandma's home. Snow was our constant companion, so what I've learned is that people in Pennsylvania have no clue how to drive in it(2 huge accidents and delays when we went through) while Canada is used to it so roads are plowed better, people drive slower, which = no accidents/delays. We saw the mists over Niagara Falls as the sun was setting-it was very pretty. Ethan knew this trip was an adventure, so at completely random moments throughout the last 10 days he yells "Lakes, Rocks, Waterfall!" Dora-style.

When we left we were expecting a funeral Monday or Tuesday, when we arrived 19 hours later we found out the family was doing two days worth of funeral stuff, so a serious scramble for more clothes ensued. This was like the Never-ending Funeral. On Tuesday there was an afternoon viewing, an evening viewing, then a Rosary. Wednesday was the mass, luncheon(there was only cake and fruit) then the graveside service.
Here are some pics of my parents and Ethan at the luncheon. I think this is the first time I've seen my dad wear a tie-looks pretty good on you, Dad!


Can I just say, if you ever go to a Catholic funeral mass, sit in the back. The waaay back. That incense stuff is STRONG!!!!!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Road Trip

Yesterday afternoon my Grandma Wolcott passed away. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation, and for the knowledge that we can be together again. Last night my sisters Marybeth and Jessie drove up, they arrived around 5 am. Ethan and I will leave with them this afternoon and drive straight through the night, we should arrive tomorrow morning. Ethan is really looking forward to our big roadtrip-he keeps asking if we're leaving yet!

Valentines Party!

Today we went to our friends home for a Valentines Party. Ethan had a great time. He ate half a gluestick-nontoxic-and decorated cookies with frosting sprinkles. Then he decided his applesauce would be better with sprinkles also, and the other kids followed suit. Here are some pics..

Hurricane Ethan

Well it happened so fast-there was no warnings, really. I was making lunch after church and Ethan was playing in the living room. Five minutes later I go get him for lunch, and this is the scene that greets me....
Cars overturned...

Couch cushions and box house moved...

Pillow half torn from pillowcase...

Round table moved across room, toys strewn and abandoned...

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Mr. Bluebird


Saw this guy in my yard today. I always love to see them, I think I've only seen bluebirds in my yard 4-5 times. We have a lot of trees and I think they like more field type settings. Well, the good news is that we have a backyard now, so maybe we'll see them more frequently. I'd love to get some nesting boxes up soon for them, maybe in the next few weeks so they're ready for them in the spring. I think Grandpa George volunteered to help...

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Just relax and enjoy....

enjoy the what? I am talking to my Grandma, who is dying and she is giving my this final piece of advice. I can't quite make it out...she keeps repeating something. Just relax and enjoy...the what? My life? My son? My time? Finally I ask her-I can't understand you Grandma...relax and enjoy the what? The SEX!!! she says!

There you have it. Dying words from my Grandma. Just relax and enjoy the sex, then you'll have a baby. Thanks gram.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Better than Thin Mints!

Mix 1 box chocolate cake mix with 1 egg, 1/2 cup oil and 1/4 cup water. Can add a touch more liquid if needed. Add 1/2-3/4 bag of mint chocolate chips. Scoop into balls and place on parchment paper on cookie sheet, bake for 14 minutes-they will look not quite done-just leave them on pan on top of stove for several minutes. Absolutely Scrumptious!!!!!

Note: I used a deseret chocolate cake mix, I assume any brand will do. Will test this theory soon!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Ethan's Day Out

I am trying to get over a nasty head cold, so when George and Nanette called last night to ask if they could take Ethan out to breakfast this morning I was all for it. Ethan asked for Nanu all morning! When they arrived they asked if they could have him for the day-gee let me think about that!!! Of course you can have him for the day! Ethan was very excited as they headed out the door, I was very happy to get some rest! Thank you George and Nanette!

Here are some pictures of the big day, they went to breakfast, then to Cabela's and then made cookies! Ethan loved putting the sprinkles on and couldn't stop talking about the car wash and the highway when he came home this evening! Here are some pics...