I'm Probably Going to Regret this...

Every year my family does a "Sellers Variety Show"..we joke that we don't have talent but we have "variety" so we do some pretty funny things. We rarely makes it to Texas for "the show" so we often send a video. As I was looking over some old files I came across this one. I don't know what happened to the last part of it but I think it's pretty funny. haha (It's a spoof of Sandra Lee from Semi-Homemade on the Food Network...the only show I like on that network. :-)

Merry Christmas! Now go out and embarrass yourself on your blog for me..heck after Bell's this is nothin' right?!

Re-Fashioned by Muahhhh!

I've been following this blog for a verrryyy long time. I LOVE everything she designs and redesigns. I often visit her site and leave soooo inspired to pull out my machine and make something beautiful. So a couple of months ago I was visiting her site and literally thought, "I wish I could sew with her. I wish she would offer a class." and No Lie, I scrolled down a tad and saw a posting that she was offering a Re-Design class and the best part...she lives in California, WITHIN driving distance. It was meant. to. be.

Well, I attended the class and it was everything I hoped for and more! Alexis is a beautiful woman inside and out. Faith and family are the most important things in her life and that along with her amazing creativity just draws you to her. All of the ladies that attended were wonderfully talented, kind, and the type of women you want for your neighbor/friend!

Well, without further ado....here is my ReFashioned blouse. This is seriously made from two $3 shirts from Wal-Mart and it took me all of 3 hours to make this! I love it. I'm so addicted that I have a million ideas of shirts, dresses, etc for the girls and me that I can barely sleep...now where to find the time!!!!

(Alexis is in the striped shirt.)

Happy Birthday Travis!

Happy Birthday Travis! I miss you more than ever and think about you every day! We celebrated your birthday today at a park that I would have taken you and the kids to. You can see the Sierra Nevada mountains from there. It was so cold (well 40 degrees!) and a storm was coming in so the balloons went up and away so quickly that I'm quite certain they made it to Heaven for your party there.

Much love and many happy memories when I think of you!

Can't wait to see you again, love you, Sarah

Texas Time

I have sooo much to blog about and I can see why I got behind...narrowing down our pictures from our trip to Texas was really hard. Apparently so hard that I chose 20+ pictures! Whew! Well, the good thing is that it's few words and lotsa pictures, which I personally enjoy more than lengthy - word-y posts!

Roman and his cuz, Ethan. They are only like 6 weeks apart. Love those two!!! Roman wants to thank Ethan for giving him a ride.


"Gaga" as Ethan calls her and Baby London. We all took turns "wearing her" because she is THE cutest accessory ever.


My brother David (Roman's hero of the trip!)



Cousins Galore... 25 Grandkids that my folks have, crazy huh?!

Hero David again..with Ethan and Roman.

Sistahs

Charlotte (#3), Marianne (#9), Me (#4), Jill (#6), Rachel (#11), Kellie (David's wife, #8)

Allie & Brynn

David the Baby Whisperer. Magic.

Kate, Lia, Olivia - inseperable..I'm jealous. I always wished I had a bunch of girl cousins my age. Oh well....I got 8 sisters instead, poor me! ;-)

Papa & Roman watching The Cowboys!

Me and the girls at my elementary school!

Me and the girls with my BFF Julie. She is now a teacher at the elementary school that we thought we ruled! I don't know if that's good or bad karma for Julie. hehe

My mom and dad with Kelly (#10!) and her beautiful baby London on her blessing day. It was so beautiful and I'm so glad I got to be there for it. Kelly is a wonderful mother!

Me and my Beautiful Mama.

Me and Jill (#6) Looooovvveeeee Her!

These are the "babes" that are about 6 weeks apart.

Left to Right

Jill's girl Brynn, 1 day older than my boy Roman, who is 6 weeks older than Marianne's boy Ethan and Travis' girl Aaliyah!!! They do not like being forced to sit on the couch and take a picture. PS - They are much cuter in person...sorry they were so grumpy in this pic.

Melissa (#2) with Travis' boy Khalil

Sistah's Shopping Day!!!!

Melissa (#2) with Monica (#1)

Marianne (#9) & Kelly (#10)

Monica (#1), Charlotte (#3), Marianne (#9), Rachel (#11), Me (#4)

Lunch at Olive Garden Back row - Me, Charlotte, Marianne, Monica, Melissa

Front - Kelly, Rachel (We missed you Cari! Can't wait for you to join us in May!)

Trying on a Fabulous Jumpsuit at Forever 21...such a treasure ;-)

Monica and I had to do a "Kayla pose"

Charlotte was the gem that found this hot little number for me.

The End.

Love and Miss You ALLLLL. Sorry if I left anyone out...with so many nieces and nephews I know I left some out! :-( Again to Cari (sister in Baltimore) so sorry you weren't there. We all missed you!!!

One More Cute B-day Clip...

Our Beautiful Birthday Boy!

Roman turned 2 on November 7th. It was a wonderful day although it was hard to believe that 2 years had passed since his arrival! We had been telling him about birthdays for a few days and singing Happy Birthday to him, which he thought was hilarious. I wasn't sure if he understood what we were telling him until I was taking him upstairs for his nap that afternoon. I said, "Roman, when you wake up we'll have your birthday party. What do you want for your birthday? What presents do you want?" No joke, Roman replied, "Ont (want) candy, ball, cars, a bike." I started laughing and new I was in trouble because we did NOT have a bike for him. LOL Too cute. He thoroughly enjoyed the day and so did the girls - they spent the entire morning decorating the house and making him cute things. Darin and I are so blessed to have such great kids!
Some Fun Facts About Roman:
1. You LOVE cars, trucks, busses, and anything that "goes".
2. You LOVE the movie cars and have watched it over and over - it just never gets old.
3. You LOVE to watch for the garbage truck on Tuesday mornings. You look out the window and scream with delight as it picks up the cans. At this point in your life that looks like a dream job.
4. You also LOVE balls. Throw, kick, hit and chase - you are happy for hours with a ball.
5. You give great hugs and kisses.
6. You are quite attached to your Mama but when you want to have fun you want Daddy.
7. Before bed we read scriptures and have family prayer, this is your favorite evening event. As soon as we say time for scripture study you yell, "Yay! Scritures!" and run upstairs to get them out for everyone. You also like to say prayers and often pray for your toys (and once for the neighbor boys haha).
8. You are very talkative at home but can be "bashful" when we are around strangers.
9. You actually love to go to Nursery at church and play with their toys. Other kids may cry but you run right in.
10. No One, No One loves candy more than you! "Mom, canny? Mom, canny?" Trick-or-Treat was the best night of your life!

4 Skirts!!!! Whata week!

Let's break last week down to a list of highs and lows....

Lows

1. It is not possible for me to be "in bed" at 10 pm. There is an opposing magnetic forcefield that cannot be broken until 10:30 at the very earliest.
2. It is NOT possible for me to wake up at 6 am without a very major incentive or person waiting for me...do it for myself??? nahhhh.
3. Allie got very sick on Wednesday and did not fully recover until Saturday....hence the week was not on schedule as planned. Now Darin and I are sick!!!! (that sentence sounds weird but I'm sick so whatev.)
4. Sister Oster has ruined LOTS of bread this week and now I'm out of yeast! (She's such a whiner sometimes!)
5. Sister Crock-it thought it would be funny to get in on the act and turn off mid-cooking! Haha jokes on me after a very long Sunday.


Enough already.....

Highs

1. Last Monday and Tuesday went off perfectly!!!
2. I made not 2 but 4 skirts!!!! (pics below)
3. I feel like I accomplished so much more this past week but sadly the house looks the same. (this is still a high because I feel more accomplished!)
4. I am NOT giving up and am working out the kinks to the schedule and meal planning.
5. Stocked up on 3 month supply of one meal...we are doing this each week until we have a complete 3 month supply of food in case of an emergency.


Back to the skirts....I'm so proud.

#1. Is made from a man's XXL t-shirt from Old Navy. It cost $0.99!!!!!! Yes, less than a dollar. When I first eyed the shirt Darin started shaking his head...I laughed because he thought I was buying TWO of them for him! haha (Sorry if you own this shirt, but seriously???)






#2. Is made from 2 bandanas that cost $1 each! Great, cheap project if you want to learn to sew. This took me like 10 minutes start to finish! It's Red Ribbon Week at school and the girls had to wear red today...voila! 2 adorable (if I do say so myself) skirts!!!







Sorry but these adorable models are under an exclusive contract! ;-)

My Friend's Blog Is In InStyle Magazine!!!

So - yes I will update my progress from last week but first some huge news. My BFF out here in California has an amazing blog that you have to check out. She gives you decorating ideas for kids/teens bedrooms and parties! ALSO...she was just listed in InStyle Magazine as one of their top 200 sites!!!!! Seriously!

Congrats Toni!!!

Official Change Your Life Week

I should say that it's MY official Change My Life Week. I decided to post this so I'll have to report in on my progress. What am I changing, you ask? First of all...I'm incorporating a new household cleaning scheduled. YAYYYY! (I can hear the cheers!) No, seriously this is big news. I have lots of excuses for why I need a schedule but basically I've been choosing "FUN" over "Chores" (boo) and apparently choosing "FUN" is not a good way to teach your children the importance of "Chores" (boo) .

Basics of my program : Do 4 chores each day (one is a rotating chore that I do once a month). Of course doing dishes doesn't count towards my 4 (boo).
So I just do 4 things a day and hopefully by the end of the week our house will be sparkling.
{Thanks to Carmel for giving me a copy of her schedule! Her house is inspiring, beautiful, organized, and clean!!!}

Another thing I'm doing is plan our menu in advance and prepare dinner during the afternoon, either crock-pot or something that can go in the fridge until it goes into the oven. (today is Enchiladas).

Also, I'm working on going to bed at 10 ...cringe and waking up at 6.... double cringe!

FINAL BIG ANNOUNCEMENT....I hereby promise to FINISH my Halloween T-shirt into a Skirt project for the girls that I've been working on (neglecting mostly) for a few weeks! I will post pictures next Monday. There, I said it and now I'm committed.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who struggles with time management, desire to clean toilets, and ability to finish projects in a timely manner???!!!!

Muahhh XOX, I'm off to do some laundry!

Kitchen Help....I splurged and hired out!

Everyone who knows me knows that I HATE TO COOK! Seriously hate it. We could have yogurt, cold cereal, sandwiches, frozen dinners daily and I would not complain. Fine with me. BUT, I do think that dinner together as a family is important...dang voice in my head! So I've offered a swap to friends...if you cook for me, I'll clean for you! deal? ....so far no takers. Well...until now!

I've hired some help, two very sweet ladies who are a whiz in the kitchen!


Meet Sister Crock-it and Sister Oster.....



















I just dump some stuff in them in the morning (when I actually feel like being in the kitchen) and I leave to hang out with him.... jealous?


















When we return...voila Cheesey Broccoli Soup and Bread Bowls! Yummy! Ohhhhh, and they make a mean barbque chicken grill bread! (okay, a certain handsome Orthodontist had to help them a bit.)


















Who likes the new kitchen help?! (nevermind that one of these kids is eating a hot dog ;) )


















Just thought I'd pass this joy along, it is quickly making my life very close to perfection....well I just have to teach them to mop!

Here is Sister Crock-it's recipe for Panera Cheesey Broccoli Soup

2 can Cream of Chicken Soup (or one big can)
2 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped broccoli
1 small onion chopped
1 quart half and half
1 pkg American cheese (cubed)

Dump and cook on high for 4 hrs. It's also great with diced potatoes and bacon.

For bread bowls just make your favorite roll recipe...Sister Oster has her own.... divide the dough into 4 -6 giant rolls and bake at 400 degrees for 10 min...or whatever you think. hehe Look at me sharing recipes! These ladies have already taught me so much!

Because curious minds want to know...

I know you're hoping to see me with a bib and eyepatch....but here's what I'm really looking like. I know it could be MUCH worse and I really can't complain. Thanks SO MUCH for all the LOVE!!!

This was just a week ago! See, huge progress!!!