"Will you accept a call from the North Pole?"

Kaitlin and I were sitting on the couch reading yesterday, when I received a phone call from my brother Kyle. He and Lynda were calling from the store with an inquiry as to whether or not the gift they had chosen for Kaitlin was a good one. Kaitlin heard her name on the phone and started jumping up and down..

Kaitlin: "Who is it?!?!"

Me: No one.

Kaitlin: "Who is it?!?!"

Me: Nobody.

Kaitlin: "Who is it?!?!"

Kyle: It's 'Santa Claus' shopping for a present for Kaitlin.

Me: Haahaha... Hi, 'Santa Claus' Heehee...

Kaitlin: (jaw dropping) What?!??!

Me: Uh oh.

Kaitlin: It's Santa Claus? Really? Lemmeetalk...Lemmeetalk...Lemmeetalk...!

Me: Oh, gosh.

I proceeded to put the phone to her ear and Kyle started Ho ho hoing away. Kaitlin clammed up and looked like she was about to shed tears of joy. She looked up at me in utter awe and disbelief at her luck and just couldn't stop smiling. After her phone call, she walked around like she had just won the lottery... Looks like we just started a new family tradition.

P.S. Kaitlin found out she was on the 'good list' and was absolutely perfect for the rest of the day because mommy kept reminding her that she wanted to stay on that list. I'm awesome...or evil

Back log

I have been insanely busy! I have posted back logs for those who want to see what I've been doing! In the past two weeks, I have prepared 3 Thanksgiving feasts (one with 17 guests, one with 64 and one with 75!) catered 1 wedding, gone to see Twilight 2 times, attended an awesome Twilight party, played nurse for 3 days, ran one craft day for 8-11 year old girls, attended a craft day for me, cleaned up after a very sick dog for 7 days, brought dinner to 2 families, ran 1 meeting, taught 1 day at Cherubs, attended a ward party, sent in food for a Harvest Party at school, had the missionaries over for dinner, and worked out every day!

It has been INSANE!!!

Turkey (and lots of pie) Day

Overheard in our kitchen on Thursday:

Stephanie: This year, we're just having a normal tradditional Thanksgiving, nothing fancy...

Jimmy: (looking around at the table with homemade centerpiece, hand crafted napkin rings and stunning white serving dishes...) Yeah, if you're Martha Stewart!

I made this apron too! Jimmy took this picture from outside! Notice the screen texturing effect?

Ashley made 6 pies!!! 2 pumpkin, 2 chocolate cream with oreo cookie crust and 2 fresh blueberry. She makes the BEST pie crust I have ever eaten!

I hade a fabulous time with my family! Ashley stayed tonight and I tortured her with my workout videos. It made me feel good that I was able to get through each video when a freshman in high school was having a hard time! Woo Hoo!

Nurse Stephanie

My mom just underwent gastric bypass and I went to pick her up from the hospital . She looks good, albeit sore. I have spent the last few days down in Santa Cruz taking care of her. We've had lots of fun. We did a total overhaul on the kitchen (what can I say, I was a professional organizer... it's in the blood!), seeded about 40 lbs. of pomegranates (messy little buggers) and watched a foreign film. My mom is doing great! She is healing nicely and being a real trooper. I bet she will have nightmares about Crystal Light for the rest of her days here on this earth! (she has to drink 2 Liter a day!!!) Below are pictures of when I did her hair like 'Samantha Who?' I wanted to do corn rows, but we didn't have any baby hair elastics.

Another Wedding...

Here's the menu for the open house I just did:

• lemon bars


• chocolate mint brownies


• cheesecake bites


• cream puffs


• strawberry custard blossoms


• truffles


• mini cupcakes with butter cream frosting


• fresh fruit platters

I wish I got a picture, everything was so cute- all tiny little bite-sized pieces of deliciousness! Anyone who knows me, knows that this is a HUGE deal! I baked it all from scratch- ALL BY MYSELF (excluding the lemon bars... Jimmy did those) everything was sinfully good. I wouldn't know, though :), I have been practicing a life style change- no sugar! (I actually tasted everything once, just to make sure it was good, but only 1 bite!)

P.S.- update on the life style change- I have lost 16 lbs., Jimmy has lost 21 lbs. YAY US!

I have been diagnosed with OCD...

Obsessive CULLEN Disorder, that is! I went to the midnight showing of TWILIGHT!!!!!! YAY!!!!! You may read on, there are no spoilers in this post. It's always fun to go to a midnight showing... for the first Harry Potter movie, Jimmy and I went at Midnight in Berkeley- crazy college town where all the students were dressed up - it was a blast! Well, the Twilight midnight showing was just as fun! There were people with all their homemade t-shirts... I had to take pictures!

Front: Do I Dazzle you? Back: frequently.

Front: Twilight Back: It's about a vampire who loves a girl... pause... just read it!

Front: Twilight Back: Jacob Black, I want to LA PUSH you off a cliff

Front: Save a Volvo, ride a vampire Back: Twilight

Front: When God made Robert Pattinson, he was just showing off

Front: OCD Obsessive Cullen Disorder ( I stole my post heading from this shirt... saved the best for last!)

Natalie, Janeen & me- waiting and all very tired.... Janeen wanted a picture to prove to her grown children that she actually stayed up to go to the Midnight showing!Megan and I always get a little too into it...I even wore the red lipstick in honor of the beautiful vampires.

The Dilemma

in the world of shoes style+comfort= HOPELESS DREAM. With our new 'lifestyle change' has come the age of the workout video. I have done some really fun videos (read:easy) and some really hard videos (read:kicked my butt and is taking numbers). With this new age of workout videos has also come the age of wearing actual shoes. Every morning, I have a fight with my feet- they always win. That's why you'll see flip flops on my tootsies in the winter. My toes are free spirits not willing to be strapped down or closed in. I cannot wear flip flops working out, so I have been winning every morning! (Stay tuned for a story about the revolt of the feet...) Well, I have two pairs of sneakers suitable for working out. The super cute Nikes are the ones to wear doing errands (bonus- I have matching yoga pants). I only wear those ones when I want to look like I've just worked out. My beautiful Nikes make my feet look dainty and fit. Then there are the ugly step-sister Reeboks that are ultra comfy and ultra hideous. The Reeboks are a pair of shoes that I actually bought because they are comfortable. These shoes make my feet look like a fat lady trying her best to lose some weight... and thus the dilemma- look like I'm working out or actually work out?

p.s. you know I'm serious when I've chosen comfort over style.

It's not fair...

... that my bangs cover up my good eyebrow.

6 weeks!

I'm sick of shopping at Pretty & Plump, so our family has undergone a 'lifestyle change'. The primary reason for doing this is vain... I want to be able to continue shopping in stores- no catalog shopping for me! I'm only a few sizes away from having to shop by mail, so I decided to nip that in the bud! For 6 weeks, we have eaten pescatarian (vegetarian+fish) and I have committed to doing "Yoga Ballet Booty" at least once a week. I have had a great support system in all of this: my husband (who has already lost 15 lbs.- argh!), my friends, and my family. Thank you all for helping me so much! I feel really good about myself & I hope we will continue have a healthy and active lifestyle.

P.S.- That commercial is totally legit. Too legit, to quit- in fact. Jimmy found it on an old home movie from the '80's. Is it not HYSTERICAL?!?!?!

Poor Jimmy :(

I know my Husband loves me. Would you like to know why? I'll tell you- He sat through High School Musical 3 and dutifully remained quiet until the final credits. After which, he made a statement regarding the preview involving another Zac Efron movie. "Great. Another movie with Zac Efron in it. Middle-aged women around the world are swooning." At least I only made him see it the one time... I could've made him go to the midnight showing too...

A tad bit supicious

We received a phone call from Kaitlin's teacher this week. Miss Teacher had informed us that Kaitlin was traumatized at school because of a recent incident. Apparently, some of the kids found mushrooms on the grass and the teacher warned them that mushrooms found in the grass are poisonous and should never, ever be eaten. What the teacher didn't know is that Kaitlin is unlike any five year old, in that mushrooms are one of her favorite foods. So, our sweet girl came home from school thinking her parents were trying to poison her every time we made pizza... 'here, little girl, put these on the pizza....' needless to say, we had a long talk after that.

One bonus of living in California is...

...most definitely the produce. My friend Rachel told me all about a produce stand that is about a half hour drive from where we live. I took the plunge and got:

for $49.56!!!!! I did have to shop with a wheel barrow, mighty unyielding those things are, and pay with cash... but food for two weeks for under fifty bucks?!?!?! Are you jealous?

p.s- I thought I could fit all the produce on one bench, but I kept having to move other pieces of furniture to hold it all! (Notice all the little mismatched footstools?) All together I got 133 pieces of food- not including the grapes, I didn't want to count all of those.

Trick or treat

smell my feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't have anything good to eat- come sit by me!!! Here are the pictures from Halloween night. Look who made the little cupcake- a 50's housewife and chef

I cannot get over how well my husband can grow facial hair, lucky chap!

Isn't is insanely obvious what this caption should be... 'Kiss the Chef'

This house was freakin' awesome! Captain Jack Sparrow greeted us at the door with gold coins and candy. He had the accent, the clothing, the dirt under the fingernails... the whole nine yards. How could we pass up a photo op? Forget that our children were whimpering behind us because of all the scary things on the porch... "Be quiet kids, mommy's gotta get her picture on!"

We came home to an unexpected trick or treater on our porch.

I decided not to post the other picture of Kaitlin with the newt... you know the one with the newt catapulting itself off of Kaitlin's hand. You know it's gotta be bad if he's attempting suicide...