Sock Monkey Cards

This year I have been trying to recognize each family members birthday. Living further away has made it harder to celebrate with them. We usually just mail a bit of money but it's the thought that counts right. Beside, with FB, texting and email, snail mail it getting obsolete but who doesn't still love getting a special something in the mailbox? 

My brother-in-law and father-in-law share the same birthday. In trying to scour our brain with ideas for these two gentlemen my dear hubby could only offer one suggestion: Sock Monkey.

It's kinda silly yes, but then again, it is a perfect fit for them. Would you believe that sock monkey accessories are a bit hard to find though. Thank you Hobby Lobby!! They have the best paper craft supply!

Here is dad's.

Here is Mike's...

I think I actually like Mike's the best. You know the feeling when you struggle and struggle and then VOILA!! Everything falls into place and you stand back and go~ PERFECT!

Yep, that was me. I love them. The monkey stickers were the only thing I didn't already have. Plus, I was able to use up a bit of my scraps with these two cuties. I had made a burlap banner and was cleaning up one day. As I tossed the scraps into the trash I thought WAIT!! That might....hmmm I wonder....yeah, I bet that would look great on a card. Add a bit of cute without being girly~ this is after all 4growingboys.

Wouldn't you know! It worked. Gotta love when that happens!

Happy Birthday Guys!

Batman Birthday Cake

 After having such a monumental FAIL with Ty's cake I made a call to a great lady requesting a Batman cake for our next spring birthday. She did a FABULOUS job!

 The city scene and logo on top were all cut by hand.

 

 The cake was yummy, the frosting even more so and....

Mr. Matthew was thrilled!

Cream of the Crop Cupcakes came through. 

Thanks so much Shelly!

Angry Bird Birthday Invites

Mom to dad..."Ok, we have this and this and this going on this weekend."

Tyler...."yeah, and then next week is my birthday!!"

Mom...running to the calendar...."Oh, crap! How did that sneek up so fast? I thought I still had another week!!!"

Ok boys time to gather the troops. After a bit of trouble shooting I managed to throw together a cute little invite for Tyler's buddies. Get the troops together and set up the assembly line. Ok boys, here are your asignments.....

Gotta love that! It didn't take long before the cards were done....

                                         Rather cute dontcha think?!

We got all of them done slipped a typed note about the party into them and got them out in the same day. The best part was having all the supplies already on hand!

Birthday Cake- FAIL!

Mr Tyler wanted an Angry Birds party. Pinterest has lots of great ideas for games and cakes.

They all look so simple. Before long I found myself saying, "I can SO make that", "Piece of cake"! So off to the store I ran. Picked up a few yummies.....

I had to plan ahead because I still had to work at the hospital. So Josh got to practice his baking skills and help me out. We started with 2 different frosting recipes...buttercream and cream cheese. They were both yummy and Josh felt like he was entering Cupcake Wars.

Uhmmm, hold that thought son. The frosting turned out great...the cake...not so much.

So, it's not terrible but after playing with it I was running out of time and had no idea how to get those cute little birds and pigs. I found some marshmallow fruit shapes and just made a go at it.

Yeah, this was just too much for me. I find myself able to do lots. I craft, sew, build, garden, scrapbook...you name it. BUT....cake decorating is not my forte!

Tyler loved it. My sweet hubby knew right away what it was and thought it was great. Me...well it just didn't measure up to what I had pictured. We have 2 more birthdays over the next month.....

Time for a call to my own personal Baker....well, not my OWN baker but still a fantastic baker. Shelly, owner of the Cream of the Crop cupcakes! I made a call to her that day. Placed my orders for a Batman cake and a Lego cake. Now I have made a Lego cake before but the price of NOT worrying about it is SOOO worth it.....

Stay tuned for a fantastic Batman cake for Mr. Matthew!

Birthday time.....

Halloween week is always busy at our house. Not only do we have the trick or treating, the trunk or treating, the school carnivals and pumpkin carving we have a couple of birthdays. Dad's is the 28th and Josh's is the 1st. It is always up to mom to be creative with a birthday party around Halloween. Last year the boys got to do pumkin smashing contests. Since we hadn't carved them and the ground was soft they tended to go goosh more than splat....

This year dad wasn't sure what he wanted. He had mentioned earlier in the week that French Toast sounded good. We enjoy breakfast anytime of the day so I made a special birthday dinner for dad; French Toast, boysenberry syrup, bacon, O.J. and milk. The boys loved it.

Then came Josh's. He asked to have a swim party at the pool. Works for me! They have a deal that included swim passes, pizza and pop. We just brought the kids and smiles. They had a great time swimming for a couple of hours.

In the end, I think both birthday boys enjoyed their days.

Happy Birthday Guys!

Happy Birthday....to ME!

So birthdays are not usually my forte, especially MY birthday but this year I didn't mind telling everyone "today's my birthday". Of course I worked last night and again tonight so not much in the line of party's going on. I did make "Better than Sex" cake to take to work tonight. One of the guys I work with loves this cake.

Robin surprised me with 2 bushes for my yard. Now to some ladies this might be a ho-hum gift but Rob knows me very well. I tend to be very practical and love things that I can DO something with. I am already mentally running through options for planting these 2. I did ask for one more- you know the old rule of odds.

I think they will be beautiful. Now I just need to decide where to place them...

I love ice cream. It is probably my favorite dessert. We are not much of cake eaters at our house. In fact, the boys will more often than not, request a pie or some other dessert for their birthdays. For mine, I don't usually make anything but this year I got....

 A yummy cold stone ice cream cake. Most of the time our motto is No pink allowed, but today, ok maybe a little pink. The first princess cake to enter our house!

My dear mom-in-law sent a nice card with Andrew Jackson. So, now I get to go shopping. Let's see a new shirt or home decor? I'll let you know what I decide. My camera battery was dieing so I couldn't get a good focus.....

My favorite gift was a surprise visit from my mom and niece. I had just gotten to sleep after working all night when I heard my mom's voice. Since I had talked to her earlier I questioned how tired I really was. Yeah, I tend to have bouts of psychosis. But as I listened I had to get up to see. Sure enough sitting in my living room was my mom. She had decided to surprise me by hand delivering my gift! A 4 hour drive to bring me this.....

and this is not even the best part....

Just flip them around for Christmas! Still not the best part though- it was seeing my mom. She didn't stay for long since I needed to sleep before returning to work but it was great anyway!

So, I have to say I had a fabulous birthday! Tonight is my last night at St Marks Hospital in SLC. I was offered a job at the hospital in Tooele- pay raise and no more commuting 1 hour each way. Yep, it's been a good day!

Boy Birthday Party Ideas

I see so many cute little girl party ideas but I am after all MOM24BOYS! So I am taking a break from the madness that entails moving out of state to search for party ideas for Keegan. He turns 8 in a couple of weeks and I have NO IDEA what to do for him. I have packed much of my craft supplies so creativity is going to really be tested. First off is to collect ideas.....

I love the Mad Scientist idea from Homemade mamas. Although I think I might save this for Josh. Nov1 would be a great time for this. He loves to do experiments too......Here is another link for Mad Scientist party ideas....

Some of these candy cakes from Be Different...Act Normal would be cool. We are not big cake eaters but these would be an alternative....

This could be a party to go with dad's new job working with the Air Force.... Although planes don't seem to be Keegan's thing.....

We're getting closer with this astronomy party. I have lots of practice with film canister rockets from scouts....

Anyone have good ideas? I am low on time and many of my supplies are packed but I still want to keep the cost down......

Just another day......

Happy Birthday to me- Yesterday! Not much of a birthday I have to say, but not a bad day either. The whole day was jam packed of day to day routine. I got some great deals at Albertsons and took a friend to teach her how to coupon shop. Then came home to make 10 pies for my work BBQ. The missionaries were here and helped to weed the garden and pull beets which I then had to can. In the meantime Bobbie came over and I helped her with her coupon deals including returning to Albertsons for another trip. That trip took longer than planned due to a lady collapsing. I stopped to help when everyone else didn't know what to do. I stayed until the paramedics got her ready to go to the ER to be checked. Hope she is ok. Then we rushed home. I took a crash 1/2 hour nap then it was off to the BBQ. I was suppose to work- thus the nap that was to last me allllll through the night- but I was put on call- horay. We stayed at the BBQ until 9pm then headed home with tired and wet kiddos. I put Ty and Matthew in the bath, Robin took over and then called my mom back. A couple of minutes into our conversation the hospital calls, yep, had to go into work. I ended up sitting 1:1 with a CRANKY guy who thought he could do more than he really could. I came home to take another 1/2 hour nap then woke to the phone ringing. We had planned on going huckleberry picking but Ty had a sour tummy so I asked Robin to call our freind and cancel. OOPS he forgot. I still wanted berries and Janice wanted to go soooo up I came and went up Kelly Canyon to "our spot". We were up there for about 3 hours- 2 adults and 4 kids. I ended up with a full gallon bucket. They were so thick we hated to leave but I was wanting to be with the rest of my family. I still haven't had a cake but I did get ice cream. Just another day I guess..... Robin has promised a movie (we have passes from the hospital) and Janice offered babysitting for my birthday gift so I have something to look forward to this next week. Oh, and my visiting teachers dropped of chocolate and a card. WHO does NOT like CHOCOLATE!! I think it is every womans sanity saver. I have to have a stash.... So now I am beat! 1hr sleep in 2 days. I think it is time to call it a day- a very very very long day!~!