Random Wednesday.

* Why on earth do they constantly advertise for 'lubricated cathedars' during commercial breaks on the Jodi Arias trial?  

Ewwww. 

{P.S. So ready for that trial to be over.}

* Speaking of Headline News....I honstley wonder HOW MANY times their news anchors have said the phrase 'You won't miss a thing!'

Good gosh.  We know already!  That's why we watch your network in the first place!

* I've officially decided that those soda fountain machines that offer like over 50 flavors of soda?  They're nasty.

It offsets the normal flavor of my Diet Cokes and Diet Dr. Peppers.

Anyone else feel this way?

* Is a grilled chicken sandwich still considered 'healthy' if I lather it with Ranch sauce?

Specifically...Chick Fil-A's Ranch?

I honestly cannot get enough.

I like to think it's still 'healthy'.  Don't burst my bubble.

* Speaking of Chick-Fil-A....why on earth do they have the WORST toys ever with their kids meals?

Seriously!

Are they WANTING the kids to turn them in for ice-cream so they can recycle them into the next kid's meal and save money?  

They're THE LAMEST toys ever!

* I really really hate the word RAD.

And I really wish people would stop using it.

* Why don't ALL stores have the SAME floor plans?

For instance...Target.

I can shop at my favorite Target in Chandler, but then I go to Mesa and it's all switched up on me!

I can't find my go-to aisles like I normally do!

It's like they're playing an evil trick on all of us loyal shoppers!

* I will never ever make the mistake again of buying Costco's name brand frozen chicken breasts.

Those individual pacakges are a PAIN IN MY REAR to open up when I have a whole crockpot to fill with them!

* Have you ever worn a certain type of deodarant for awhile and then all of a sudden one day discovered that....it stinks?  I wanna know why.

* Why do some celebrities like to make themselves look homeless?
And smelly?

Joaquin Phoenix

Mary Kate Olsen

They have all the money in the world and they choose to go out like THAT?

Not being judgemental {ok maybe a little} but seriously?!?

2-fer Tuesday.

TWO CANDLES I'm LOVING right now:

These two fresh scents from B&B make my house smell SUPER yummy.

TWO recipes I've tried that are DEEEEE-LISH!

Strawberry Cake by The Country Cook

My friend Jamie made this up a few weeks ago and it was sooooo GOOD!

The perfect SUMMERTIME cake I tell you!

Chocolate Covered OREO Cookie Cake

My sister made this up for our Mother's Day dinner and I have been dreaming about it ever since.

Oh. My. Chocolatey-OREO goodness!

This Weekend:

* Started off exactly the way I like.

Joe and I went Friday morning and got our very favorite donuts.  Ever.

Bosa.

The best in all of AZ.

{Might I add...their Chandler location is the VERY best of all? It puts Mesa's to shame}.

* Clean clean cleaned my nasty bathrooms Friday afternoon.

WHY do they get SO nasty?!?

* Friday night BBQ and pool party at some of our favorite friends' house.

Burgers + Swimming = 

our life for the next few months.

{Anderson's..I'm really not kidding when I say that we will practically be living at your house this summer to swim. Consider yourselves warned.}

* Stayed up late watching Dateline's Wild Wild Web episode.

Dang I'm a sucker for Dateline.

And it's most ALWAYS the same scenario....husband kills wife or wife kills husband.

It gets me EVERY time though!

* Saturday we met our favorite first grade teacher for lunch at 

 Barros pizza.

Gosh we're gonna miss her when she moves.

{Sniff.}

* Kiddos went swimming at another friends house.  Yet again.

They are FISH I tell you.

* Saturday night date night with some of our favorite peeps.

Dinner HERE.

Yet another Chandler staple.

{Their fettucini alfredo with chicken is the bomb diggity. 

And so is their Diet Coke.}

* Churchey-church on Sunday.

Taught THIS lesson to my cute girls.

* Relaxed in our jammies the rest of the day.

Man it felt nice.

*Pot roast for dinner.

{It's become a Sunday tra-dish}.

*Watched my taped episode of Rock Center once the kiddies were in bed.

{I really do love Brian Williams. He's such a likable journalist.}

*********************

Onto a week full o' swim lessons and end of the school year festivities.

Summer is so close I can smell it.

Scripture Study Handout and Camp challenge.

Today I was able to teach my cute Laurels class {teenage church girls ages 16-18} the lesson on:

Why is it Important to Study the Scriptures?

Our church believes in the Standard Works of scriptures: The Old Testament, The New Testament, The Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. 

Studying the scriptures in my own personal life has brought me so much joy, peace and helped me discover the answers to many of life's questions.  I LOVE teaching about the importance of studying the scirptures in our own daily lives.  I was THRILLED to get to teach this lesson.

I started out my lesson with homemade rolls.

{And homemade cinnamon honey butter too because well that's just a necessity with homemade rolls}.

And by 'homemade' rolls I really do mean....I bought the frozen ones from Deseret Book, let them rise and baked them at home.  

{Fun fact: Yeast scares me.  I only ever attempt it with my cinnamon rolls}.

As soon as each girl got their roll, I showed them THIS video/talk by Sister Julie Beck.

{You'll understand my need for handing out homemade rolls better if you watch or read this talk first. There is a connection}.

I LOVE this talk.  I couldn't give this talk justice unless I just showed it in it's entirety.

{The talk lasts only about 10 minutes}.

Once the video was finished we went over a few important scriptures that I felt the girls needed to make sure to have marked in their own scriptures:

2 Nephi 32:3

1 Nephi 15:24

D&C 84:45

I had the girls talk about what each of these scriptures meant to them and then I added my own 2 cents.

I then handed them out each a copy of THIS talk by Elder Scott.

{Side note: I really really really REALLY love this talk!}

We went over paragraphs 2-7 and anytime I felt there was an important line or quote...I had them mark it or right a note out to the side. Which was basicaly the entire talk {smile}.

I LOVE what Elder Scott has to say about memorizing a scripture and forging a new friendship.

It made way for my handouts this week...

Friendship bracelets made by my cute 12 year old niece.

For a copy of my handout click HERE.

***********************************************************
I get lots of requests for ideas on Girls Camp which is why I must share an idea that one of my camp leaders came up with.  I just LOVE it.

Our Girls Camp is in just a couple of weeks {GaSp!}.

My asst. camp director thought it would be a good idea to purchase a 

Conference Ensign for EACH girl and then challenge them 

to read EVERY talk before camp.

{If they started when the challenge was made...it only ends up being like one talk per day}.

We plan to base our devotionals and nightly chats off of different talks from this Ensign.

{She may have promised them a special treat too for accomplishing it.}

Our Relief Society has done this every summer for the past few years and I've been able to take part in this challenge.  I can say I honestly LOVE reading over these talks, highlighting things that stick out to me, making notes.....my testimony is always strengthened by doing this.  I am SO thrilled that our Young Women now have that same opportunity to pour over the words of tbe prophet and his apostles, and to learn and to grow. 

Recipe for Sangria.

One of my very favorite drinks to serve up whenever we have mexican food is 

{my good friend Tiffany's recipe for}

Non-Alcholic Sangrias.

They are YUM-MY!

Enjoy!

1/4 c. sugar

1 c. orange juice

1 Tbs. lime juice

4 c. 7-UP

4 c. light cranberry grape juice

Sliced 1/2 fresh lemon

Sliced 1/2 fresh lime

Combine all ingredients except 7-UP.  Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add 7-UP just before serving.

Angry BIrds BIrthday Party.

A couple of weekends ago we threw an ANGRY BIRDS themed 

BIRTHDAY PARTY for Carson and his buddy Cameron.  

{They both have the same exact birthday.  They go to church together and are in the same school class together.  How could we resist?}

Cameron's mom and I went in on everything....she did half the work, I did half the work....and it worked out PERFECTLY! 

Here are some of the crazy fun details:

I purchased red paper sacks at Hobby Lobby.

Printed off THESE printables {had to scale them down slightly first}.

Cut them out and glued them right on front.

Easy. Peasy.

Here's what I included in there:

'Poop' aka....gumballs

Gummy Worms...because what bird doesn't love a good worm?!

Fruit snacks, graham crackers and drinks were found at Wal-mart.

{I had high hopes of doing something cute with the 'barrel drinks' and making a label that said 'bird bath' or something to that effect.  Alas...I ran outta time.  And energy.  Sigh.}

My friend made the cake.  

Isn't it darling?

We purchased a regular sheet cake from Costco and had them write the Happy Birthday part on it.

She added all of hte Angry Bird details.

She used those wafer cookies, an airhead, Kit-Kats and then she even drew Angry birds faces onto the gumballs with edible ink.  

C-L-E-V-E-R!

As for dinner we served: pizza, watermelon and drinks.

For the drinks I purchased mini gatorade bottles.

Took off the labels.

Printed out THESE labels....cut and taped em right on front.

 The games were made up by my friend and they were a HUGE hit.

HUGE!

She found green rubber balls and her husband painted on the piggy faces.

The kids seriously had a BLAST trying to knock them down.

Darts.

Egg Toss.

I've come to learn that kids just LOVE old fashioned games.

Like the egg toss.

They had such a ball passing these Angry Birds Eggs.

She took raw eggs, died them red and drew their faces on with marker.

The kids {of course} started close and then each round took one step back.

{We had lots of hand sanitizer ready to go 

for when the eggs broke.  Smile}.

The Birthday Boys were pleased as punch with how it all turned out and so were their mommas!

Oh yeah...and did I mention that we held it at the park right in between our houses?

Best idea of all.

No messsy houses and the clean up was minimal!

This Weekend:

...was a perfectly pleasant Mother's Day Weekend.

*We kicked things off on Friday with

Donuts for Divas

at the boys' school.  

The second grade was in charge of singing a few songs and my sweet little Grant was SO excited!

* London and I headed to the mall afterwards to get a few last minute

  Mother's Day needs.

Yes.  See's Chocolate is definitely a Mother's Day NEED.

The mall was packed and I vowed to never go there again on the Friday before a holiday.

* Friday afternoon, Carson's class hosted the most adorable 'Ma-Spa' in their classroom.

The event included Carson giving me a massage, reading me his favorite book, him brushing my hair and us making a craft together.  It seriously melted my heart.

Oh yeah...and he made me the sweetest booklet that included this page.

Translation:  IF MOM COULD HAVE ONE WISH COME TRUE, SHE WOULD WISH FOR HER WHOLE FAMILY GOING TO DISNEYLAND.

Do my kids know me well or what?!?

* Friday night for date night we saw THIS movie.

It was definitely interesting...and even a little different...but REALLY good.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

{And the two little boys in the movie certainly should be up for some type of acting award.}

Everywhere was PACKED for dinner afterwards so we ended up HERE.

{I seriously LOVE their Diet Coke and chips and salsa!}

* Saturday morning I treated myself to a pedi from a tattoed man at our local pedi place.

I'm not gonna lie.  The men almost NEVER give as good of pedis as the women.

{Why?}

Needless to say, my crusty feet are not half as crusty as they WERE so I walked out feeling refreshed.

I even got to run my Saturday morning errands ALL BY MYSELF.

{Gosh I love milking Mother's Day weekend for all it's worth}.

*Saturday afternoon London had her Spring Dance recital.

Little girls in cute dance costumes ALWAYS melts my heart.

* Saturday night we met Joe's parents and siblings HERE for our Coombs' Mother's Day dinner.

Joe and his cute mom.

Yummy food and fun company were had in the 'Pope' room that night.

* Saturday night Joe and I stayed up late laughing hysterically at
SNL's weekend update:

These two bits are some of our all time favorites.

Almost peed our pants laughing so hard!

* Sunday morning we headed over to my sister's house and got to skpe with my nephew all the way from Barcelona, SPAIN.

Proud to report....Elder Rupa is doing AMAZING things and really changing lives over there.

We are so proud of him.

* Was treated to a dee-lish breakfast back at home from Joe + these 3....

I didn't even have to do the dishes!

* We spent Sunday evening over at my parents house.

BBQd dinner with all of the fixins.

So grateful for my mom.

She's pretty much a rockstar.

I felt so blessed all weekend long.

 My very favorite gifts?

The handmade ones from my kiddies.

Now that I'm a mom...I finally get it.  

It REALLY is all about the THOUGHT that counts.

Blessed Indeed!

xoxo