Ele-FUN

We had a wonderful time in Phuket, Thailand this week. We got to see elephants on 4 different occassions! This little elephant made out of towels, was the centerpiece on our dining room table. I thought he was cute! Now I want to learn towel origami.

Got Quotes?

My sister-in-law, Janalyn has a vinyl business (see Stuck-On Vinyl Decor on side links). Last year she made this quote for me. It only took me a year to get a tile and easel for it to finish it, but better late than never, right? It sits above our linen cupboard and I think it adds a nice touch.


In case you can't read it it says, "May our Home always be a haven of Strength & Love to all those who gather here- our Family, Neighbors, and Friends." Thanks Janalyn, I love it!

A Place for Everything, and Everything in its Place!

I am an organized person by nature. You could say I even have OCD tendencies. However, since I've become a mother I've slowly had to just let some things go for my sanity's sake. So, instead of re-organizing the toys, books, clothes, etc. every day I go through the whole house once a year. And I mean the WHOLE house- every drawer, cupboard, shelf, cabinet, closet, toy bin, dresser, bookcase, nightstand, basket, file cabinet, you get the picture, and our car. Well, last year came and went and I never did my huge dejunking. Having active Gavin with me all day long, and having Kaleb's sports every single Saturday, it just kept being put on the backburner. This week I decided it was high time to get things ship-shape (maybe because my parents are coming next week?). Anyway, I worked hard this week and went through every room, except the office (as it is also our guest room where Kris is staying, so I will do it after my family leaves). I was able to get rid of 25 bags of stuff!!! Most of it was clothes we had outgrown that we donated to a children's orphanage. There were also a lot of toys that I bagged up and put in our storage room until the school's yearly flea market rolls around. I wish I could take it all down to a thrift store now and be rid of it, but those don't exist in this country. I can't bring myself to throw it all away though, as the flea market does raise money for the PTA which then buys cool things for the school that my kids get to use. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from me, it feels great! Now if I can just keep up on everything a little better this year, hopefully next year our closets, etc. won't be bursting at the seams again.

A bit of Whimsy

I want our future home to have something whimsical in every room. For example, a statue of a small harlequin dressed clown in the living room or a colorful rooster in the kitchen. I also want something homemade in each room. After all that's what makes a house a home right?

4 years ago we moved from our apartment to our townhouse in Canada. The twins were moving from cribs to beds, and from sharing a room to having their own. I wanted to make each of their rooms special so I painted them each a picture. These pictures combine my love of whimsy with my love for homemade.


Kaleb loves all things transportation, so I painted him this airplane.


Noe loves all things pink, so I painted her these flowers.


When we move again, I want to re-do all of our bedrooms. I would like to change Noe's room from pink, lavender, and light green to pink, black, and white. I sketched this picture that I want to paint for her new room. I love sketching first, because I already want to make some changes. I want all of the flower centers to be black with white swirls. I'm also not sure if I want to raise the center flower to make a more distinct triangle between the 3, or if I want to line them all up right in the middle. Now I have to think of a new theme for the boys' room!




Isn't this pillow adorable? I think it would be so cute in Noe's room!

The Artful Potter

Mom was the hostess for Barlow Ladies Night this month and suggested we go to the Artful Potter to paint ceramics. Unfortunately, she ended up having to show houses and couldn't make it, but the rest of us had fun. I shared a table with the creative Mandy and Lynn.


Aunt Connie, Rachel, and Aunt Debbi were very creative too.


Here's my project ready to get glazed and go in the kiln.


Here's the finished project. I think I'm going to hang it in our future play room, and then take it down to be the special birthday cake plate. However, with having twins I'll have to paint another one. Lucky me!

Lacey's Oreo Truffles

My sister-in-law Lacey made the best dessert while we were in Idaho- Oreo Truffles! I wanted to preserve the recipe here so I can make them again and again.

Ingredients:
one package Oreo cookies
one package cream cheese
one package milk chocolate chips
one package white chocolate chips
food coloring paste (optional)

Directions:
Crush oreo's in the blender until they are the consistency of coffee grinds. Mix oreo crumbs with package of softened cream cheese until it is the texture of cookie dough. Form into teaspoon-sized balls and drop onto cookie sheet. Chill in fridge/freezer while you melt the chocolate. Melt a small bowl-full of chocolate chips in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time, stir, and repeat until completely melted. Dip chilled balls in chocolate and return to cookie sheet. For optional decorating, you can mix food coloring paste in with the melted white chocolate chips, and drizzle over the truffles. Once the whole batch is dipped, chill in fridge until ready to serve. Trust me, they are delish!

*I started thinking of some other flavor combos: peanut butter oreos with peanut butter chips or mint oreos with mint chocolate chips, yum yum!

Summer Crafty

So we are back in Taiwan and hopefully I'll have a new craft to post about next week. This summer I was able to do one craft, I painted a plate at The Artful Potter (will show pictures soon). I also got an awesome recipe from my sister-in-law Lacey (will share too), my husband made me an amazing photo DVD for my birthday, and my kids colored and drew lots and lots and lots too. I bought some fun beads that I'm just itching to string together, and I read lots of books. I was also inspired by the cakes Ms. Cakes made for my sister's bridal shower and wedding reception. Living Art Digital also took some fantastic pictures. I just love creative stuff!

Summer Citrus Salsa

My friend Lori made this delicious salsa! She shared the recipe with me, and I wanted to share it here.

Ingredients:

1 pineapple

2-3 oranges

3 green onions

3 green chile peppers

1 bunch cilantro

Directions:

Dice everything small

Serving Suggestions:

Tortilla Chips

Roasted Pork Loin

We're off today for our summer adventures. I hope you all have a wonderful summer, and I'll be back here on August 15th!

Grandchildren Garden

Last year for Mother's & Father's Day I made scrapbooks for each of my sets of parents with all of their grandchildren's baby pictures. I also made the promise that I would update the books each year of all of our new additions. I kept the pages simple, because there are 4 Lee grandkids, & 7 Pittl grandkids. I'm also planning on doing "Cousins" scrapbooks for our family with all of the Lee, Pittl, and the 13 Reil grandkids too. This past year sweet baby Keegan was born, so now he'll have his own page in the grandchildren book.

Bye-Bye Books

Every year at our Ward Closing Social, each family brings a photo and a letter to give to each family that is moving to put in their bye-bye books. So this week, I've been getting ready for the Social this Saturday. I've said this on my other blog, but the saddest part about an ex-pat's life is saying goodbye to friends each year. However, we have met many amazing families that I hope we will be able to keep in touch with through the years.


Here's the picture I used for last year's books.


Here's the picture I used for the 2006 books.

*Next year when we move, I want a bye-bye book too! However, I want pictures from the families currently in our ward, plus all those that we've known from all of our years here.
**This Saturday will be party palooza! The kids are going to a birthday party for 2 friends from school in the morning. Our Ward Closing Social is in the afternoon. In the evening we're going to Len's work farewell barbeque too.

Summer Lovin'

I didn't do anything crafty this week. I was frantically trying to finalize airplane tickets, hotels, rental cars, and elephant excursions before we leave on vacation in 2 weeks. We are going to the States to visit California for our Reil family reunion, Idaho for our Pittl family reunion, Nevada for our Lee family reunion and my sister Erika's wedding reception. We've also planned a little Asian exploration. We're going to Phuket, Thailand to lounge on the beach, relax, and go for a little elephant ride through the jungle. I *HEART* summer!!!

Mint Brownies

Today was my last Activity Day. I've been the leader for the past 2 1/2 years and have worked with 18 different youth and some of their friends. During this time I was also the Sunbeam teacher for a year, and the Valiant 9-12 teacher. However, last month I was called to be a teacher in the Relief Society so my time in the Primary is over for a season. I have really enjoyed getting to know the kids and helping them complete their goals in their Faith in God books.

After being rained out for 2 years we were actually able to have a pool party today! I also made some yummy mint brownies. I had planned on making them for St. Patrick's Day, but the holiday came and went and it never happened. I thought today would be a good reason to finally make them. I'm not a "from scratch" chef yet, but I still thought I'd share my little twist on boxed brownies.

I used the Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie mix (which also needs 1/3 C water, 1/3 C oil, and 1 egg). For the frosting I used a tub of Duncan Hines Creamy Style Classic Vanilla. I added 1/2 t mint extract and about 25 drops of green food coloring. They were a hit and I think I need to turn them into a St. Patrick's Day tradition!