Black Wednesday!

OK...so you have all heard of Black Friday and the day after Thanksgiving sales. Well, I am having a Black Wednesday sale on all Stampin' Up! Consider yourselves way lucky that I have been busy with Isabel's birthday and some deadlines!! This sale begins Wednesday, November 26th and is online only.

It's 50% off EVERYTHING!!

Yes...I did type 50% off! You will need to pay shipping on tax on the regular prices but that is a killer deal! It ends on Black Friday, November 28th. You can order by commenting here or you can email me at tiffstamp@hotmail.com and order there.

Hey...Stampin' Up! liked my idea and they have bundles of really great stuff for 50% off! If you add on my 50% off...they are pennies!! Email or comment for a copy of the flyer or you can see them at www.stampinup.com under Holiday Extravaganza.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Yummy fall recipes

So I am still feeling guilty because I really need to update you all on our crazy little life but alas...busy would be the title. I decided to take the easy route and post some of my most favorite new recipes this fall. Serious yummy!!! This one is from my BFF Dana Lyman and it may just replace the pumpkin pie as a must have for Thanksgiving dinner!

Dana’s Pumpkin Cobbler

1 box yellow cake mix
(set aside 1 c. dry mix)
1/2 c. melted butter
4 eggs
1 lg. can pumpkin (29 oz.)
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. soft butter
1/4 c. sugar
1 c. chopped pecans

Combine yellow cake mix (minus 1 cup), 1/2 cup butter and 1 egg.
Then spread into 9x13 inch pan.
FILLING: Combine pumpkin, 3 eggs, brown sugar, milk, vanilla,
and cinnamon. Pour over crust.
TOPPING: 1 cup cake, 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar, nuts,
(may use a little more butter). Mix together, sprinkle over top
of filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.
Chill and serve with Cool Whip or vanilla ice cream.

This one is from a recipe swap last year so I don't know who it came from but it was the hit of Thanksgiving. I admit I just tasted a little cuz I hate baked raisins almost as much as eggs but I trust the fact that someone may have tried licking the pan.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 c. sweet potatoes mashed (canned yams work)
1 c. sugar
1 stick margarine
2 eggs (beaten)
1 t. vanilla
½ c. raisins (optional)
1 c. mini marshmallows
Mix all ingredients and pour into a buttered casserole dish.

Topping:
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. flour
1 stick margarine melted
Mix all ingredients and sprinkle on top of potatoes.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

And finally...who can go wrong with this recipe from the creative Margie Aslett's blog. It is serious happiness in the shape of a muffin!

Margie's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
2 C oil
2 C brown sugar
4 C sugar
MIX
8 eggs
1 1/2 TBS baking soda dissolved in 1/3 C warm water
MIX
4 C pumpkin
MIX
7 C flour
2 TSP baking powder
2 TSP salt
1 1/2 TSP ginger
2 TSP cloves
2 TSP nutmeg
4 TSP cinnamon
MIX WELL
ADD:
3 cups Chocolate Chips semi sweet or milk or both
1 C warm water
This makes 80 muffins...So can easily be cut in half!Bake at 350 for 10-15 mins.
until cake like
ENJOY!!

Happy fall!!

Neglected

Oh my sad little neglected blog! I have been so busy chasing children, organizing food storage, and escaping to Disneyland...I have just plain ole' neglected you! I promise to update you as soon as the Halloween costumes are put together! So sorry!

Check me out!

OK...so I recently got a dream job! I get to create for Lisa Bearnson and QVC!! YAHOOOO!!! Check out her blog at www.lisabearnson.com go to the blog section and see the page for Sweet Life. It's Brigham on one of my pages. Cool, huh?

She'll be on air tonight from 10-12 (Utah time), and then again tomorrow from 8-9am, and 11-1pm. I'm not sure which segments will have my creations but I know there are some great kits! I LOVE the Halloween kit! Darling cuteness. When I get a second I'll post my pictures of what I created but for now you might just want to tune in!

And just in case you read this Lisa and Angela...thank you for believing in me and my creations. You are both AMAZING!! This is truly a dream come true and I don't just mean the making part...the gettting to know you both is part of that too! Love ya!

Craft Prizes

OK...so I just found out about this way cool contest that goes on everyday for a week and the prizes are KICKIN'...if you're a crafter. Check it out! http://www.vanillajoy.com/ They have some really great ideas for all kinds of family stuff too. Check out the face painting at the following link...http://www.vanillajoy.com/kids-face-painting.html. Cute stuff!

Want some stamps?

HELP!!! We are desperately trying to pull together some money so we can go to Disneyland at the end of September and while I was racking my brain I thought of a few cool things!

First, watch for some upcoming news on a Stamp-A-Stack of cards class. You'll want to come do this! WAY FUN!! More details after I get some dates pinned down.

Next, I am doing one last open house for Uppercase Living. I'll get you some more details about that later as well. Long story, no energy to go into it right now!

So I am thinking...hmmmm...what can I sell right now....of course, stamps! Not the regular priced ones in the catalog...the ones I have used and just need to sell. Everything is buy one get one half off and I have a bunch of really good ones. I have a list if you want me to email it to you or you can come by my house and check them out.

I also have some card kits that are all ready made up. You can check older posts to see them. They are pre-stamped, paper cut, just need assembly and they include 6 cards with envelopes for $10. Check out the cute fishy card!

So....stay tuned for some upcoming classes!

They'll be comin' round the mountain!

Just 2 weeks until my mom and step-dad come home from their mission. WE CAN'T WAIT!! I made this cute countdown calendar. It's really for Christmas but I modified it for a bit...check out the magnet truck driving home and marking the days. It's on a pizza pan with vinyl letters from UL. I even punched a couple holes and set eyelets to hang it with some cute ribbon.

Kind of fun huh? Sydney is really excited about moving that truck because they are coming home on her birthday. Best gift ever huh?

Back to School

Check out this cute third grader!! Isn't she adorable? I miss her so much during the day, but I love all that she learns and all that she gets to experience...same for this little chickie.
When did she grow up anyhow? She's in 5th grade this year and so blasted fun. Check out the cool bag! She picked that out and payed for it all herself.
Off they go for another year of learning and adventure. I miss them so much during the day and like every single year since Kenna started Kindergarten, I cry on the first day of school. Silly, I know, but I think it's just part of my mom job to love them so much I miss them.

Food storage!

I keep promising to post about this and I forget...

Although I like the whole rocker image I must admit that I am very much the mormon mom. It's a good thing I guess. I make homemade wheat bread and strawberry jam. I make scripture totes and teach primary. And...I have become the queen of food storage.

Twice now I have gone to Wal-mart (hate that place but love that they price match!) and come out of there with 2 FULL SHOPPING CARTS and I paid between $150 and $175! Can you believe it? I signed up for the list of deals at www.myfoodstoragedeals.com and then I price match everything we need at Wal-mart. It takes a little time but I love the deals. I even made up an excel sheet of what we need, what we have, and what we still need to buy. I can email that to anyone that wants it. You'll just need to change the numbers or then again, you can just use mine and pretend you have that! Let me know if you want the secret to easy price match but in the meantime let me tell you that my happiest buy this week was Crest Toothpaste for $1 each! I am talking happy teeth for at least 10 tubes!

July!!

So July has come and gone...I thought I should show you a few pics and give you an update. Brigham loves climbing into any basket or box he can find. This is supposed to hold shoes but he had Izzy join him and they found a perfect hang out!

Speaking of shoes...can you believe these are on Dave's feet? I KNOW!! Maybe my love of bling has worn off!
Seriously, he ran the Wasatch Back and then recruited McKenna to run the Freedom Festival run. He is amazing. He looks great and has really stuck with it. Given he threw a temper tantrum before the Wasatch Back because "running is so stupid and you would have to be a psycho to keep running. The thing is, if you want to take a break when you are biking you just coast but if you need a break from running what do you do? You keep running!" All that said...he is still running.

We went to the Balloon Fest and then the parade on the fourth. It was a bit of heaven to see all those balloons taking off.
We did a shopping day in Park City with my cute sistahs. Yah, they are adorable! Meg had already headed home so she is missing but we had a blast.
We had a week of swimming lessons which was a bit of heaven! Izzy actually stayed in the pool with very little screaming...

Then again, there was some persuasion! I gave the camera to McKenna and found this picture. It is perfect! It really is true life! Here are the details she caught of film....Izzy always, and I mean always, needs a little pep talk, much to my frustration...check out the hands! That's my cute friend fixing the swimsuit, don't we all do that over and over? Then in the background is Sydney carrying Brig away from the pool...TOO TYPICAL!!

Sydney loved the whole swimming thing, especially the slide after lessons and then there was McKenna my expert diver...So...that's July in a nutshell

Custom card kits

My great friend Janet made up this card idea and I think it's the best! The card size is 3x6 so it's a little unusual. You can order these card kits with whatever image and saying you would like on the front. The cute little elephant is perfect for a baby card - congrats or thank you. The flower is fun for thank you cards and you can see the present and cake. I also have a variety of colors for the actual card...you can choose! Everything is cut and ready for you to assemble. You'll need to finish the coloring on these but the watercolor pencil will already be drawn in. You'll just need a wet watercolor brush to drag the colors. These are special priced at $8 for 12 cards. Envelopes are $4.00 for 12. Let me know which colors you want and how many.

More card kits!

I have to show you what my stamp club members have been up to!. They all turned out so cute and really pretty simple. I have kits made up for purchase if you are interested in making some for yourself. I have pre-stamped everything and there are 6 cards in each kit. 1 is assembled so you can copy it and the others just need adhesive and scissors. The kits are $9. I have limited numbers of kits so let me know if you are interested.

These are blank on the front so you can have them stamped with Thanks or Happy Birthday or whatever you want.

These are perfect for young men. They seem to be the hardest bunch to make cards for so they are good to have on hand.

I am MIA!

Sorry I've been having such summer fun with my kiddos that I have been missing in all the summer action!

I need to update you on all kinds of stuff but for now just know that I am great and well, busy!!

Seriously...I ROCK!!

How stinkin' awesome is this card? I have been thinking of this one for about 3 days and finally decided I didn't care how dirty the house was...I was putting the idea to paper! You can't tell very well but the grey paper is glittered and looks amazing. The Seriously stamp is embossed on vellum. The U and Rock are also embossed. It is absolutely kickin' even if I say so myself!

I loved the color challenge from Kristina Werner a couple weeks ago but didn't have time then. This was the challenge and part of the inspiration...

I love it!! What do you think?

Just call 9-1-1!

So... I'm trying to do that good mom thing and take each of the kids out individually on a date with mom. We drew names and Sydney came up first so we went to Target where she picked out a stuffed dog and a couple mini-dogs with her money. Who'd have thunk it huh? She is such an animal lover! We went to lunch at her favorite place - Cafe Rio, picked out a treat for her sisters and headed home. It was way fun. I love some one on one time! No prob!

Yesterday was McKenna's turn. We headed to Old Navy where my cell phone rang about 3 times. Sydney was babysitting with her friend Emilia. Brigham was asleep so they really only needed to watch Izzy. I was getting frustrated that they needed to call so often, until Sydney called and told me that Izzy had dialed 9-1-1! I kind of didn't believe her because Izzy hasn't ever called anyone and I figured maybe she had dialed some random numbers then hung up. I was wrong. She then called after the police had left. EEK!! I am just waiting for Child Protective Services to show up. So McKenna and I hurried to figure out which clothes she wanted to buy with her money...by the way, she picked the cutest outfit! We hurried to Target and she got some flip-flops then rushed to Smart Cookie where we got the yummiest treats and a few sugar cookies to bring home. So when I get home I tell Sydney she had obviously tried to be a good babysitter and could have a cookie to share with Emilia while I talked to Izzy about "crying wolf". Isabel is heartbroken she can't have a cookie with pink frosting and amid the tears she tells me that Syd had told her to call.....wait just a second!!! Are you telling me you were doing what you were told??? So to make my long story a bit longer...Sydney got frustrated and sarcastically told Izzy that maybe she should dial 9-1-1 if she was so upset and well, Izzy did what she was told for the first time in her cute life. So neither of them got cookies until much, much later. They got a strict lecture and a memorable experience! My mom said I would laugh later but the truth is I was laughing at the time! I just had to put on the so serious face and let them know what was up then laugh my head off later. Can you just see sweet Sydney's face when she answered the door for the policeman?

Now Izzy is wondering when her date is? I'll fill you in on where we end up for that one!

Mommy Tag

Sydney was tagged by Ainsley and Quaid to answer 20 questions about my mommy. Isabel had to join in so here's both of their answers. Sydney is listed first, then Izzy.

1. What is something mom always says to you? Do your chores. Get into bed.

2. What makes mom happy? When I give her breakfast in bed. Give her roses.

3. What makes mom sad? When I use her paper that I am not supposed to use. When I run off

4. How does mom make you laugh? When mom tickles us. Tickle me.

5. What was mom like as a child? She had curly hair. Playing soccer.

6. How old is your mom? Something in the 30's or 20's. 16

7. How tall is your mom? 35 inches. 15

8. What is your mommy's favorite thing to do? Stamp. Play Mario Galaxy and help people make ice cones with McKenna

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Go on a date with Dad. Get scared.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Singing. Dancing.

11. What is your mom really good at? Stamping. Playing soccer ball when she was little.

12. What is your mom not very good at? Fighting. Playing football.

13. What does your mom do for her job? In unison they said Stamping.

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Cheesecake. Bacon.

15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she does my chores. She's out of school.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Daphne on Scooby Doo. Cinderella.

17. What do you and your mom do together? Go to the mall and get chicken nuggets. Shopping.

18. How are you and your mom the same? Our eyes. Our clothes.

19. How are you and your mom different? She has black hair and I don't. My hair is yellow and her hair is black.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because she buys me lots of animals. So much.

We tag Payson Schneider, Hatch Carter, Ethan White, and Lindsey Jordan

Mom Style

One last funny for the day...
The older girls were headed to a party for the premiere of Club Rock. I love that their life still revolves around the latest Disney channel stars. They headed out ..... and Izzy had a melt down! Screaming, upset, angry fit! She is sure she is old enough to just head out with them.

Now mind you...I had bought candy that she picked out, popcorn, chips and dip, the works...and I was planning my own little party with her. The stinkin' show didn't even start until 9:00 so she will be up way late and I was way tired but I wanted to have a fun little night with her. That's fine and good until the girls left! That was great but now she doesn't want to be stuck here at home with me.

My favorite exclamation from the night....

"I just don't like parties that are Mom Style!"
What is that?!?!?
What does that mean?!?!

I think I am a pretty cool mom.
I mean I love my convertible car, I have a spark of RED in my hair and I even make it into a faux-hawk some days, I love Maroon 5 but I'll listen to the Jonas Brothers and sing along, and I took her to the grocery store and let her get butter mints and dum-dum suckers!
WHAT?!?!
I am thinking "Mom Style" is pretty cool and that's just the way I roll.
Or in other words...that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

OK...so this is just the CUTEST!

...and I am old. It's official! My friend since fifth grade, Kristen, called and her daughter is turning 16. WHAT?!?! I still ACT 16 half the time! Anyhow, Kristen is taking her to New York for her birthday. Yes...I am way jealous but I wanted to help her make something way fun. She wanted to do some kind of coupons and have her open them one at a time. The first coupon would just be about shopping and then they would give more hints until she finds out it's a trip to the big apple at the end. So she started with some supplies from Roberts in some colors she loved and we created this!!! AMAZING CUTENESS!!! I might just make one for myself to look at and pretend I am 16 and headed to New York myself. The inside of the book is envelopes with a pull tab and a long note to write a clue on. Kristen did the cute little rub ons and we aged the envelopes.


I had to add a little bling-bling! Did I mention that I love turquoise and brown together? Add some red and I am in LOVE!!

Snoasis

Do you remember trying to sell lemonade or punch for 10 cents when you were little? Well...things have progressed a little. McKenna decided to earn money this summer by selling snow cones. She tried lemonade before and she says it doesn't make enough. She's right. So she started with her manual ice shredder, plastic cups and spoons from the kitchen, and only 50 cents a cone. She sold out of all the syrup and all the ice in the house and still had customers. She decided it wasn't a bad gig so we headed to Target the next day to get a new ice shaver, a couple bags of ice, and more syrup. We ended up with the cutest double snow cone maker, cones, a ton of flavors, even snow cone holders and ....wait....even better...do you remember those little plastic animals that came on the side of your ice cream cone? The monkeys were the best because you could use them to eat the ice cream. I used to get them at the A&W in Springville on Sundays with my root beer float. It should also be noted here that I was determined to name my first child, who would be a girl, root beer. McKenna is glad I grew out of that one I'm sure!

OK...back on subject...well, Target dollar aisle has them!! They think you could use them on your martinis so of course, in the heart of Utah, there are tons of them. People...this is a walk down memory lane! I had to buy some for when I have grandkids not just kids! I hope I remember where I put them years from now!


So, with all the fluff and stuff the neighbor said we should raise prices...you know they are new and improved. So...check out the sign! This is before she added a snow cone pass that costs $5.00 but you get all the snow cones you want for 2 whole days! She has taken a break for a couple of days but she has raked in the dough! I think I may need to get a job out in my front yard! It would have it's perks...free snow cones!!

One terrific teacher

McKenna had a special visitor today. Mr Baldwin was her reading and science teacher this last year at school. He retired at the end of the school year which made McKenna sad because he was so great.

He came by today and brought her a really special gift! He made her a walking stick with the neatest carvings. He carved her name and a book with reading and spelling by it. He also carved the most intricate face along with 4 hearts for 4th grade.

We will miss such great teachers but we are happy because he is serving a part time mission with his wife. Good luck Mr. Baldwin!

HairCUTE

This is the before picture! Check out McKenna and her cute smile.... and now.....

Check out her cute smile after she cut 14 INCHES off her hair!! She donated once to Locks of Love when she was 4 and she decided to do it again!
I love her cute stacked A line cut. It is so dang cute and perfect for summer! Sydney decided she needed a change too...look at her before picture...
And now for the girlie of summer...Sydney looking a lot like the tween Mary Kate and Ashley. She loves when it bounces.
I didn't manage any before pictures of Isabel but she smiled almost all through the styling process on her fun hair. She is such a girlie girl. Then again they all loved going to the salon and came home feeling like little divas!

Check out those gorgeous model eyes!