my girls

here's my little peyton doing what she loves most...talking on dad's cell phone...yes she is starting early!  this is how it all starts out...sweet, innocent and oh so cute!

this is my sweet little 'princess maya' (that is what her name is, just ask her) graduating from preschool.  she was so lucky to get to go with kamryn and macrae, her very cute cousins.  we are so proud of her and all of her great accomplishments this year.  here's a funny preschool story...thomas is notorious at our house.  we hear almost daily about thomas and his escapades at school.  thomas is kind of the bully and everyone thinks that he is the shiz, except for maya. maya is the only one at school that will put thomas right in his place.  here's where the funny part comes in...thomas' mom shared with me yesterday that he told her that maya was his girlfriend and he was going to marry her.  how great is that???  that is a true testament to the fact that girls can be strong and still get the guy!  love it!

this is thomas, kamryn, maya and peyton.

this is where it eventually leads...80's night.  yes you heard me right ladies & gents...we are now the generation that our kids are dressing up like at the golden oldies parties.  which is awesome because everyone knows that the 80's rocked!!!  we had the best music, the best clothes, and the best big hair.  i got the priviledge of doing 80's hair for 4 very cute girls last night.  it brought back great memories of me and my friends getting ready in the bathroom with lots of hair, lots of hairspray, and curling irons of all sizes.  they were all excited and ready to party...so fun!  

so there you go...2~cute and innocent, 4~smart, spunky and sweet, & 16~funny, funky, and sassy.  how lucky am i to be experiencing all of these awesome stages of life at the same time?  i wouldn't trade it for the world!

a little special order

i just had to share a special order that i just made.  this sweet lady who bought a picture from me at dickens' festival called and wanted this motto made up.  she got it from the book 'i am a mother' by jane clayson johnson. (every mother should read this book!)  didn't it turn out so cute?  i'm already making a welcker motto in my brain...what a great way to remind your family what they should and do stand for, huh?  love it!

farm chicks

two weeks from today we will be on our way!  it's getting close...aaaaa!

my little corner of the world

i found this little beauty at an antique sale last weekend...love it!

my little nook was clean yesterday (this never  happens) so i thought i would snap some pictures and put them up here as proof that it happened!  i love this little space...

when i look at these little aprons i always wonder what fabulous woman wore them?  i know she was fabulous because they are something special.

i love all things vintage and old and it has been very fun to put some of my favorite finds to good use!

this is the fabulous cutting table that my dear husband made me..it even has a space for my light box...perfection. 

pictures, quotes and all of the little things that make me smile.

have i told you lately about my small love affair with fabrics?  all colors, all shapes, all patterns...i am completely open to any.

all folded nicely and tucked into their little baskets...sheer beauty.

she's not fancy with lots of neat gadgets but together we make magic...

every time i look at this table i wonder what else has happened around it?  it has lots of nicks and grooves so i think it's seen some hard times...but it's painted a lovely shade of green so i know that at one time it was loved.  

favorite summer memories...

my niece just posted this and i thought it was a cool idea.  it seems like the summer memories flood in this time of year.

my favorite summer memories:

• going outside first thing in the morning barefoot and playing on my swing set.
  
• sliding down the slide on above swing set with the water and slidy thing at the end.
  
• going to jacki's every morning and playing all day while my mom worked.  
  
• jacki always had kool-aid and cheetos and that was the best.
  
• going swimming at pg pool and getting a snow cone or licorice rope at the snack shack after while you stood there freezing and cold.
  
• staying at brooke's...flooding the grain bin and watching the mice run up the ladder 
  
• and going to spanish fork pool and riding horses.
  
• sleeping out in the backyard.
  
• strawberry days rodeo complete with a rodeo burger and strawberries & cream.
  
• sneaking out and climbing the wall at the pool and midnight swimming..sorry mom.
  
• ginny telling me if i let her lay out for one more hour then she would have a water fight with me...the longest hours ever!
  
• going camping in the green trailer.
  
• aunt larue and uncle reed's house.
  
• dinwoody with sherron ashton.
  
• sherron and stephanie and me goofing around all summer.
  
• my birthday
  
• the summer i spent every morning riding horses with steve. he'd come and pick me up usually about an hour late in his big old ford truck and take me to lehi to ride...i thought he was the coolest.
• ginny would always make me mac n' cheese out of the box...that was the best treat ever.
• running through the irrigation water at jacki's.
• going fishing with my dad.
• cheer practices at 6am...i know crazy but we had so much fun.  we were in 8th and 9th grade with no coach.  tanya harrison taught us all the cheers, i think, and we had a blast.  i remember one day doing a front flip off of tanya's shoulders and landing on my noggin.  i also have pictures of us hanging off of the goal posts at pghs.  i don't know that we did a whole lot of practicing. 

oh good times...good times.  sometimes it makes me wish i was a little kid again and that was what summer was all about.

ant...

'mom, what do ants eat?'

'i don't know maya, i think they eat grass.'

'nope they don't, i tried to feed her grass and she wouldn't eat it.'

'well, maya i don't know what they eat then.'

this is the conversation we had before i went in the kitchen and saw her.  the ant that maya has adopted for today and has crawling on her hand.  the kid is obsessed with ants.  she can spend an hour outside with the ants.

she ate her whole entire picnic with this lovely ant crawling around on her arm. what a sweet little pet! i just hope i don't find her and a bunch of her pals in my house somewhere. what a girl my little maya is.

~maya would like for me to let everyone know that ants eat bread...

family

i made a list the other day (i confess, it was during a particularly dull speaker at women's conference) of all of my extended immediate family.  this includes in laws, outlaws, and all of their spawn.  guess how many there were?  i'll go ahead and tell you....drum roll please...115!  can you believe that?  115 amazing people that i get to call family.  between dave & i we have 19 siblings and then you add all of their spouses and children and their children's children...unbelievable!  gotta love the mormon family.

we have all kinds of people...a chinese professor (my awesome brother, jeff), 3 of the best school teachers around, 1 fabulous preschool teacher, 3 police officers, 1 flight attendant (whose sense of humor can just make you pee yourself laughing), many many inspiring mothers, 4 soldiers, and so many more amazing people.  

i just wanted to take a little time and let these people know the impact that they have on my life everyday.  i have a sister-in-law who keeps me in business and supports me in so many more ways, big sisters who love me unconditionally and have loved me through all of the rough spots in my life without ever judging, a little brother-in-law who always knows when i need a really big hug (and who gives some of the best there are), an older brother who is always there for me and makes me feel like i am special, brothers-in-law who make me laugh soo hard and are always willing to help us through the tough times, my sisters-in-law who are truly the sisters that god forgot to give me, another older brother who always gives me a big ole  cowboy hug and tells me he loves me (which always makes me feel loved), and last but not least...the nieces and nephews who have blessed my life from the day they popped out...they have been my little sisters and brothers and have filled holes in my heart when i wasn't able to pop anymore out myself.  

all of this is because of parents...my sweet mom and dave's sweet mom who gave birth to a heck of a lot of kids!  thank you, you two amazing women.  thank you for giving birth and raising all of these kids...i know it wasn't easy, in fact it was quite hard for both of you.  but thank you from the bottom of my heart.

warning: reading the pioneer woman might cause brain damage...

funny thing just happened while i was reading aforementioned blog.  i was so engrossed reading that i didn't notice miss peyton....who was sitting with her legs out of her pj's (yes we are in slow mo today) stuffing little pieces of toilet paper into her poop filled diaper (which i also didn't notice) and then taking those little pieces out.  my amazing ability to tune all things out was heightened by the cleverness of that woman!  read with caution and make sure no-one has poopy pants before you begin.

the pioneer woman

okay, i just got hooked on a new blog...thanks alot vanessa!  like i needed another flippin blog to love!  anyway this lady makes me laugh way too hard and has fabulous pictures and recipes so enjoy! 

my girls

my beautiful girl went to prom tonight...sigh...

she has grown up so fast, it seems like just yesterday she was the little 4 year old playing soccer.  now she is wearing high heels and going on dates.  it gives me a lump in my throat.  it's so amazing to think that she only has 2 years left of school and then she is off into the big world where i can't protect her and see her everyday.  sorry, i am feeling a little booby.

                               

okay doing better now...doesn't she just look gorgeous?!  she got to wear high heels because her date was tall enough and she was oh so excited.  her cute little friends came and did her hair and make-up and it was all just so exciting.  plus i love her friend she went with (the kid brings me juice press and admits he's a kiss butt..how could i not love him?)  he's a cute kid and is nice to my girl...very important to mother's of daughters.

now on to miss maya lou...

she started her soccer career today.  she is a good little player...i always knew she would be.  she made 3 goals!!  we were so proud of her!  isn't she just the cutest with her little minnie mouse ear piggy tails?  the kid just makes me smile.