Pretty in Pink

When Miranda told me she needed a light pink cocktail dress for her play... I started the search. I went to 5 different thrift stores looking for the perfect pink party dress (say that 10x fast)
But came up empty handed.
I really didn't want to spend too much money on something she may or may not wear again....so we decided to check at Ross since they are pretty reasonable. After much searching she tried on a couple dresses, but nothing that was perfect... just something to get her by.
As we were leaving the store we both saw this dress at the same time....
It was almost perfect....well, at least it was pink. So she tried it on.
She fell in love with how it fit so I opened my big mouth and said, "I can alter it if you like"
What... really.... did I just say that out loud?

Like I said before, the only positive thing going for it was the light pink color. It would have to be shortened to cocktail length (not too difficult)
It needed some kind of sleeves for modesty and so it didn't fall of when she danced the tango (ummmmm... ok)
and it was a size too small so it didn't zip up all the way in the back.
What was I thinking when I thought I could alter it to work?
I really haven't sewn anything except paper since Miranda was 10. But like they say, it's like riding a bike right?
Since the dress was only $20 I decided it wouldn't be a complete waste of money to at least give it a try.... Oh, and did I mention that we bought the dress on Weds night and she needed it for school the next day? ...nothing like a little motivation

Here is the dress before I started...... Like I said, sleeveless, floor length and pink.
It had a sheer sparkley overlay thing that I thought would look neat flowing like a train once I cut it shorter. Well, at least in my mind it looked cool... so we would see. After having Miranda try it on and I measured and pinned, I first cut and hemmed the skirt and slip, because that was the easy part and I needed to boost my confidence level a bit.
Then I decided to tackle the back. I just folded, pinned and secured the top part of the zipper to make a V-back style. (remember it wouldn't zip up all the way)
Then I moved on to the sleeves.... pinned one in place, had Miranda try it on... whew.. this just might work!
Ok, to make a long story short... here is the finished product
Front.....
and back... I added the bow to cover up the V-back section so Miranda's undershirt wouldn't show.
And guess what... it actually turned out how I pictured it in my head! And Miranda loved the little sheer train in the back! And it didn't fall apart at dress rehearsal!!
Miranda is even thinking of using it for a Halloween costume this year as Glinda (from Wicked)
Whew! Another motherly duty checked off the list for now!
Wonder what will be next?

B-E-A-U-tiful!!

That's what comes to mind when I see this face! She is beautiful both on the outside and the inside. Everyday I look at her in amazement with what she has accomplished in her little life. She has a beautiful smile, beautiful hair, beautiful personality, beautiful voice, beautiful friend, beautiful love for others, and such a beautiful spirit! She is growing up right before my eyes .... (and I don't think I'm really ready for that)
Everyday I look at her in amazement with what she has accomplished in her lifetime.
I love you my beautiful little girl!

I've got the fever

Oh yeah... and I'm not talking about the sick kind of fever...
I have SPRING FEVER!!!!

So usually every spring I go to the nursery and buy tons of flowers to plant in my little flower bed in front of the house. As all of you who live in Vegas know... these flowers usually last a couple months before they look dead and you start over again with fresh flowers.
Well, honestly, I was tired of wasting money and energy on this process so I decided to plant something more permanent in the flower bed.
So first stop... the Nursery!
There were so many beautiful flowers and plants and I truly felt giddy just thinking about the possibilities before me :)
After much debate (in my head) I finally decided on this....and this.....And instead of a pot garden (which we have not had success for the last two years)
I went with this....
Aaaaaahhhhh!
Now I can relax and enjoy the beautiful spring (and hopefully summer) blooms!

What's for dessert?

On Sunday, as Miranda and I were skewering shish-ka-bobs for dinner (which were delicious) she asked what was for dessert. Which is a very good and valid question. Since we are all trying to eat nice :) I thought of a little something I used to make all the time when Ryan and I were first married.... pudding parfaits!

So Miranda got busy mixing and after a little instructions on assembly... voila! They tasted just as good as they look too!
I just love dessert!

I Break for Spring

This year we enjoyed a fabulous Spring Break in California with our good friends, the Websters.
We headed out Weds morning for Newport Beach, CA for a little R&R and Disneyland!
After arriving at the RV park and setting up, we headed to Disney for a few hours....
It was a little crowded, but not too bad.
Here's a couple characters inside Small World (so cute)Miranda and Parker even tested their driving skills in Autotopia.... (it's a good thing they have a while to practice)Thursday, we headed back and spent the entire day... yes it was still crowded, but we still had a lot of fun!
I must admit it has been so fun to have annual passes to Disney and we can come and go whenever we feel like it and not feel like we are wasting our money...Friday and Saturday we spent just hanging out and relaxing at Newport Dunes.
The weather was a little too chilly to swim in the ocean, but it was perfect for bike riding and shopping!
The kids rented this surrey for the afternoon and had a blast! Thank goodness for the internet and Wifi... We were able to catch all the General Conference sessions on Saturday and Sunday morning before we headed home.
We had a wonderful relaxing Easter weekend together as a family!

Lessons Learned

It all started a couple weeks ago when Parker asked me if I had seen his Nintendo DS anywhere.
Nope... not me. He began to search EVERYWHERE... then I searched EVERYWHERE.... then we all searched EVERYWHERE...
No DS :(
The last time he could remember playing it was on the airplane coming home from Atlanta after our cruise. Ryan even called Delta airlines to see if anyone by chance turned it in or something. Nope... no luck.
The bummer was, not only did he lose his DS, but his case and 6 of his favorite games that were in it.
Yes, there were a few days of Parker moping, crying and panic about how he was going to EVER find or replace it again.
But then, he had... a plan!
He would save up enough money to buy a new DS, but not just any DS...
he wanted the new, not even out yet, DSi XL!
So he had a week and a half to raise another $100 dollars to go with what he already had saved.

Working for $5 here and $10 there...his savings was growing... slowly!
What is funny is, just the week before he realized the DS was lost, I asked him if he wanted to wash my car and I would pay him. He politely declined saying, "No, I don't need any money right now, I'm not saving for anything."
He told me he had learned a few lessons from this experience...
1. don't lose your DS
2. don't keep ALL your favorite games in the case
3. don't pass up any opportunity to earn money, even if you don't need it.
(AMEN to that!!)

Finally after many hard working hours.... he had earned enough!
And so today, the day after the DSiXL was in stores, his dream came true! He is pretty excited with is new purchase. He loves the larger screen, the bronze color and the camera feature (that one isn't my favorite)
Now, he says, he won't be "bored" on the drive to California this week.
Thank goodness, because I would hate to have to drive to California without a DS...
oh wait... I have... and somehow as I kid I survived!!!

GIRLS TRIP!!!!

This weekend Miranda and I took off for Seattle for a little girls getaway with my sister Heather.
We had great plans of shopping, gossiping, shopping, eating, shopping and seeing Legally Blonde, the Musical.

Friday night we headed to 5th Avenue Theatre for the play. Ok, so we were all there, but Miranda was the cutest of the bunch so she got to pose for the photos)
This was the image projected on stage while waiting for the show to start.
The play was fabulous as expected. We were even surprised to see that Jeff McLean was Warner for the production. He did an excellent job!
Saturday, after catching the new Alice in Wonderland movie we headed to Pike's MarketThe place was buzzing with tourists and the smell of fresh flowers,fresh fruit and fresh FISH were everywhere!!(I wasn't even temped to buy octopus or squid)They did however have this handsome little fellow that just needed a photo-op...
However, I guess I'm the sucker because I jumped a mile high when he moved as I was taking a photo... but still managed to capture this shot before passing out! We stayed in a hotel right in Downtown Seattle and this was the view from our balcony....The weather was perfect... the company was perfect... the weekend was perfect.... thanks Heather and Miranda for a fabulous time!!!