Family's Top 10--Using My Memories Suite

Happy New Year!

2011 was full of ups and downs for our family.

I wanted to put together a little high light of what we've been up to.

 I used the My Memories Software and it was so easy, and so much fun!

Don't forget to get entered into my giveaway for the My Memories Suite GIVEAWAY!

Before the Blog: Clay Ornaments

Raise your hand if you are SUPER excited that they holidays are finally here! We had our Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family yesterday since we will be spending the actual holiday with Daddy Did It's side this year.  I was in  charge, so you know there will be some fun posts to come on  that.  But today I wanted to share something that I did a few years ago, before the blog.

I have been working on this year's ornaments, and that got me thinking about some ornaments we made in 2007.  It was a total impromptu thing that started with a Play Doh themed birthday party:

 Since the birthday was less than a month before Christmas and I had Decking the Halls on the brain, I made some clay for the kids to make ornaments out of.

(I don't remember what recipe I used.  But I'm sure you can google salt dough or modeling clay recipes and get a huge list!)

 But I made way, WAY too much.

So we I spent the night cutting out letters, shapes, anything the girls' hearts desired.

And Daddy Did It and my little brother ran to the Home Depot and got some Oops! cans of paint.

 We ended up with green, purple, and red.  Interesting color pallet, I know.

But it turned out so cute!

The topper was three gingerbread men tied together.

Of course, we also added the ones that the kids made and colored themselves!

My fave is the one that Kota (the 3rd Birthday Girl) did of her daddy.

Can you spot him?  He's wearing a yellow shirt and blue jeans.  :)

It certainly wasn't our most glamorous tree ever,

but we had a blast making every last piece as a family.

(sorry about the less than stellar pix.  My camera was on it's last leg.  If I remember correctly, it died on Christmas day! :( )

This year, I am working on some book page ornaments.  I hope I get them done in time!

Are you making your ornaments this year?

Summer Fun

My sister asked me for some fun summer activities that wouldn't cost a lot of money.  I started to send them to her on Facebook and realized it was going to be a very long message.  Plus, I thought some of you might be interested, too.  So here are some fun ideas that are easy on the pocket book.

Tea for 2: Family Fun

Okay, last post on Cassy's party.  But I had to share a great idea my hubby had.

He had me compile all of Cassy's pictures and make them into a slide show.

Then he hooked the laptop up to the T.V. screen so that everyone could watch while they mingled.

I didn't add any music because I knew it would already be noisy with 31 people, so we didn't need more commotion.

Anyway, after I edited and deleted the not so good pictures, I was able to cut it back to 575!

I won't share them all with you, but I want to share a few of my favorites.

 This little girl really pushed me to the limit.

After 3 other babies, I faced one of my biggest fears and got an epidural.

Just after they finished the epidural, the doctor discovered she had down a flip since my appointment the day before and was now breech.  They had already broken my water, so an inversion didn't work (thought I was grateful  I had listened to the Spirit and gotten that epidural.)

They told me I was going to have to face my second and greatest fear.  A c-section.

I was scared out of my mind, but the doctors and my hubby were great.

They got me through it just fine, and it was so worth it when I held Miss Cassidy for the first time.

I know this one is fuzzy, but I couldn't resist sharing her first Easter.

I love this tender little moment.

Charly is such the little mommy!

I took all the girls' pictures in this hat

and made a scrapbook page for Daddy that said

Happy Father's Day

from you little "Deeres"

Best Buddies

 First Birthday

One of Cassy's favorite people, Grandpa Great

Mother's Day 2010

We started a new tradition of going to Temple Square to see all of the amazing flowers.  What a great photo op!

Thrill Seeker!

Fun at the park

Cassy's other favorite person, Grandpa P.

First Steps

Bein' Silly

Halloween 2010

Cassy loved sledding so much that she refused to get out of the sled and ended up falling asleep in it!

Oh how I love this little girl!

I am so blessed to have her in my life

And look forward to many more years!

Whatcha Got Cookin' {Oatmeal Molasses Cookies}

Yesterday I mentioned I got a new toy...

Boy it's a good one!

**Cue the heavenly choir**

My awesome hubby bought this for me today (hooray for tax returns!)

I am not the only one that is in love with this little beauty.

So to show him how grateful we are,

We whipped some of these up

These things are like heaven on a plate!

I should send some up to that heavenly choir. Ha!

Sorry you can't sneak one off the plate like this little one is.

How about I just give you the recipe and you can whip your own batch up!

Oatmeal Molasses Cookies

• 1& 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Stir together in mixing bowl

• 1/2 c. butter flavored shortening (you can use regular, but it just isn't as good!)
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. quick cooking oats

Add and mix until smooth.

Drop from teaspoon onto cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  Makes 3 dozen.

These cookies are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  They are so good served warm with a nice cold glass of milk.

These cookies get the girls' stamp of approval

"These make oatmeal good!"

-Kota

Thanks Honey!

The Kitchen Aide cut the prep time in half!

Do You Like Green Eggs & Ham?

As you probably know, today is Dr. Seuss' Birthday.  So, to celebrate, we had a little impromptu dinner.

Of course, we had green eggs and ham.

But to incorporate more of the world famous books,

we made Green Eggs and Ham Wocket in Your Pockets!

We scrambled up some green eggs and layered them with ham and cheese inside uncooked tortillas

Then just grilled them up and Voila!  

A dinner that Dr. Seuss would be proud of.

It's Good!

After dinner,

We played The Cat in the Hat: I Can Do That!

Such a fun game!

You pick a 1,2, & 3 card, flip them over, and read the instructions.

If you are able to do what the cards tell you to do in two tries, you get to keep the cards.

If you can't, you put them back in the pile.

If you draw a STOP card, you have to put all the cards back but the STOP card.

At the end of the game, you add up the stars on the cards to see who won.

Charly had to (1) walk around the Trickamastick (2) with Mom's new dress (3) between her knees.

Chey had to (1) crawl under the Trickamastick (2) with the toy man (3) under her chin.

After the game, we watched the animated Cat in the Hat

while we ate some really yummy cookies I made in my new toy

Which I'll tell you all about tomorrow!

So did you do something fun to celebrate Dr. Seuss?