Super fun weekend part 1 of 2

We had a huge family weekend and it has been so fun! We kicked it off with a UFC party Saturday night, my BIL/SIL were here in town from MO, and we had some friends over for chili and cornbread. During the party I had to make my desserts for the blessing luncheon Sunday, so instead of sitting around and relaxing and eating I was working :D Everyone was curious to see me make the treats anyway and I love how they all turned out:



I think the Jack the Pumpkin Kings are my fave

On Sunday we had the big shindig. My BIL did a nice job with the blessing and then the group converged at our house for some delicious food and catching up. I really loved it. We have such a cool family! It was so neat to see the "younger generation", (the ones that were little kids when we got married) there with their little kids. Life is buzzing by way too fast!




All of us Lamb sisters: Jenn (married to Marks brother John) Me:D MIL Dianne, Marks sis Denise and SIL Maureen (married to Marks brother Brent) We havent all been together in a long time! It was so great!
Playing 42 of course.

Mark looking fit :D Hey Babe!!

Dig in, peeps!! The food was so good! Denise and her MIL did the food, I did dessert.


I love having a house full of people I love, this is what life is all about!! And I think this was my favorite moment of the day: Cute little Jace Raisor who is a dancing maniac! We kept making Cade play the guitar so he'd dance (sorry the quality is so bad, it was just on my regular camera)

A New Chapter

It finally happened. We are officially in the teen years. Cade turned 13 today! Its just weird how the years sneak up on you. And as fast as the years have been spinning by lately, I'll have an entire housefull of teens next time I turn around. Its the blessing and the curse of having the kids so close together. In 7 more years, Dayton will be a teenager! Wyatt gets baptized in March, and Dayton the next year. I distinctly remember thinking "If I can just hold on to my sanity until the babies are 2 and 3. I hope I can hang on that long." Here I am with a teenager! So what is Cade like as a 13 year old?? Well for day one, its been pretty good :D


Cade is awesome. He is so super talented. I have been so pleased lately with his attitude toward his responsibilites at church and school. When I went to his school conferences the other day I heard from all his teachers about how hilarious he is! He is quite the witty guy. There have been a few things lately that he would rather not have to do, meetings, fast offerings, that sort of thing, but he goes and does his job without complaining. He loves scout campouts, and a few Sundays ago the youth speaker was sick so 5 minutes before the meeting they asked Cade to do a short talk and he did! We didn't even know about it until he stayed up there and did it. Last week I asked him to put together a Family Home Evening lesson for us, and he did SUCH a great job. I was seriously majorly impressed! He had a scripture for each kid to read (and not just 5 in order, they were all from different places on the same subject!) and he had meaningful questions to ask the kids and have a discussion. The kids really payed attention, it was so awesome! Not to mention his musical skills! He is such an amazing musician, I wish I had more resources for him. He really should be in a performing arts school, but its tough, because I want him to have a normal life too, and I'm not sure how to mix the two. He's not sure what he wants to do either. I guess we will just do what we can for now. Anyway, this kid is fantastic! I wish everyone had a chance to have such a great son. Cade totally rocks!! Happy birthday Cade, you are amazing!!
He loves going shooting with his dad. Especially with his cool guns!

My $14 Bathroom Redecorate

It only took me a year and 3 months and a lot of yammering on about it........But I finally knocked it out! Here is the before:


I didn't realize these were sideways, and since they're just lame-o befores, I'm not bothering to fix it:
My brother Jason helped me take hte mirror off the wall over the sink/toilet, it covered the whole wall. Not so stylish



Bathroom pictures are hard, there are just no good angles to show it all. Nothing to see here anyway :D I left it messy on purpose...to add to the drama LOL ya right :D

Heres the lowdown of all the changes:
*Painted ordinary oak cabinet black (spray painted and then distressed) :Leftover spray paint $0.00

*Painted walls beige khaki color: leftover paint from family room $0.00

*Hung mirror that was given to me from my friend Wendy $0.00

*Installed new towel rack that I bought over a year ago that has been sitting in the box collecting lint next to my dryer $0.00 (I count it as free since I bought it so stinkin long ago!)

*Replaced tulips with new fall flowers I got on sale at Michaels $2.50

*Hung up 2 tin mirrors from D.I. that my mom bought me $0.00 (cuz they were a gift, right?? :)

*Replaced old rug with new rug from Walmart $5.00

*New towels for fall from Walmart $6.50

*Ribbon and Berries on towels from around the house $0.00

*Re hung old shower curtain $0.00

Grand total:$14.00!!!!!!

AFTER:





Closeup of my distressed cabinet. I debated doing it, but I wanted it to match the mirror. I have black knobs to put on it too. I love it!

This was a really fun project, I didn't actually take too long, just a few hours. This is the one room downstairs I've been hating, and now its fixed!

Wow- theres lots!

I have been wanting to post, because I have been doing a LOT of cool things but I have been too busy to post about all of the things. Heres the summary, and hopefully I can get some pictures up soon and it will all make more sense.

1. Went to Thatcher by MYSELF to chill and craft and help my mom. SO fun, wait till you see what I made!!!!!!

Here is a wreath I made last night, not in Thatcher, but I did get inspired for it while I was there and this is what I ended up with:



It looks much better in person, but this is the idea. I'll have to keep adding pics until I get a few more of different projects

2. Grocery saving total with Couponsense this week:

Albertsons: spent $20, saved $74
Albertsons: Spent $34. saved $101
Bashas: Spent $8, Saved 35

NO JOKE how cool is that!! And I have enough coupons and stuff to go back and do it again if I want before Tuesday night. Cupboards are lookin good!


3. Mom came over yesterday and we cleaned up at DI and this other salvage place. I am not kidding when I say our carts as we were leaving looked like we had been shopping at Home goods and Hob Lob, and we got TONS of cute decorating stuff for mere dollars. Like 2 dollars, 1 dollar, my mom did get 2 things that were 15 each, but the real tag was still on it and lets say.....STEAL! Lots of fun stuff is in my garage being spray painted black at this moment. Most things were fantastic as is!


5. next big home project......Guest bathroom!! Stay tuned!!

Upcoming party at the end of October, lots of fun things to do and bake to get ready for it, along with NEW adorable Miss Poppy's labels for popcorn and gift baskets. I got a hook up from a friend with Bazzil paper that came up with it. Love it! If you need any EASY popcorn gifts that are super cute and delicious just let me know, I can custom make you pretty much anything.