Something's missing and television debut

Wow! Three posts in the month of September? I'm on fire! So much to tell....

After weeks, possibly months, of wiggling and wriggling Carly finally lost her first tooth! She was so excited. She kept asking how it was going to fall out and Drew would tell her that she needed to push and pull on it until she heard snapping and it hurt. I always quickly jumped in and told her that that was not necessary and the tooth would come out when it was ready. By the end of last week it was getting ridiculously loose (wasn't even sitting straight in her mouth anymore) so I recommended that she eat an apple. Sure enough, a couple of bites into it she exclaimed "My tooth just came out!" She proudly displayed her bloody little fingertip but there was no tooth. "Where is the tooth?" I asked. "Oh it fell out on the carpet somewhere," she responded rather nonchalantly. Luckily Drew found the tooth. So we were going to tuck the tooth into a little pouch to put under her pillow that night but got too busy and forgot. Fortunately she had put the tooth in an empty mason jar on the kitchen table for safe keeping so Drew suggested that the "Tooth Fairy" just leave the money there. The next morning Carly was pleased and surprised to find a dollar in the jar instead of her tooth. She later told us "I think I heard a jar opening last night" which of course was not true because she was sound asleep but I thought it was kind of funny anyway.

And now on to GTU, which for those of you who are not avid watchers stands for a local show called "Good Things Utah." I record this show every day and have for at least the last six and half years. I never miss it. Last week they did a call out for anyone who needed help finding jeans that fit to go shopping with Alicia Richmond from Chic on a Shoestring. So I sent her an email complaining about my flat butt/small gut problems. Much to my surprise I was one of the ladies picked for the segment. I met with Alicia at Fashion Place mall for a rather rushed and not quite as informative as I had hoped shopping trip. She basically just picked out a few pairs of jeans for me to try on for her and then went out and pick a top to go with it. I did get to help a little with the selection of shoes because I had to make sure she did not choose peep toes. That would have had viewers flipping channels for sure! My toes are HIDEOUS! So it was a semi-fun shopping trip. Unfortunately she picked out $178 jeans, an $80 cardigan, a $20 tank top, $38 earrings, and I don't even know how much the shoes were. So needless to say, I did not purchase the outfit. It was just on loan.

Alicia was going out of town and so we filmed the segment on Tuesday even though it will not air until tomorrow (Thursday the 17th 10-11 AM on channel 4 for those of you anxious to watch). Being on the set was a lot of fun. After watching the show for so many years it was crazy to see how small it actually is. Things definitely look bigger on camera...including people. The hostesses are all stick skinny! So I can't wait to see how big I look...probably cow or buffalo sized! They did not give us much direction on what to do like whether we should smile, hold still, keep our hands down, etc. I was wearing pretty high heels (which I do not do very often) and so my legs were shaking a little when I tried to hold still for the camera. I could see them panning down on my legs and I just hope that you can't see them shaking!

All in all it was a really fun experience. It was something I have never done before and will probably never do again.

Music!

I'm trying to distance myself as far away from my kitchen table as possible right now. My sweet little Abbie thought it might be a good idea to carve a picture into our kitchen table using metal scissors. These marks aren't coming out folks. SERENITY NOW!

As per usual, I am about two years behind when it comes to technology and have just gotten around to creating a playlist. This means (for any of you further behind than me) that you get to listen to some fab tunes whenever you read this blog. So enjoy!

And here's a quick tip for any of you struggling with storage space as we do around here. I just went to Wal-Mart this weekend and bought a few low-profile boxes to put toys in and store under the girls' beds. I know that some of you may already be utilizing this often overlooked space but if not than I highly recommend it. Now the shelves in the toy room are only moderately crowded. (sigh of relief)

The Big 5 and Back to School

The last few weeks have been quite busy at our house. Abbie turned 5 and she got to have a friend party this year. Since I didn't really want to make two separate cakes or plan two separate parties, we combined friends and family with a birthday carnival. It was a lot of fun but unfortunately it was also a scorching 100 degrees! I don't think the kinds minded too much but I have to give a big shout out to all the adults that helped with the "booths." I know it was way too hot to be outside so we appreciate you! My dad did the bean bag toss, Scott did Spill the Milk, Hailey did Plinko, Linda and Kelley did face painting, Cindy did popcorn and the fish pond, Mike and Andrea did sno cones, and my sweet Drew made balloon animals (most of which popped a few minutes after due to the heat...poor guy!) Thank you everyone!

Abbie embracing her new number!

The carnival in full swing. Abbie is in line for her balloon animal.

Face painting

Mekenzie playing "Spill the Milk". Knock 'em down Kenz!

The Birthday cake. Cake by me, horses by Drew.

And for those of you who have anxiously been awaiting the results of the Barbie house remodel.....

'

Ta dah!

I put this vinyl on the back so it wouldn't be quite so plain. The house used to be bright yellow and we changed it to a more subtle green. You can't see in any of these pictures but we also recovered the roof with soft black shingles, added black shutters and window boxes complete with pink roses.

The living room complete with sectional seating so that Barbie and Ken can entertain friends and family.

The kitchen. Everybody wants stainless steel appliances and wood floors right?

The master bedroom. The delux bed coverings are courtesy of my mother the seamstress...thanks Mom! You can't really tell but the "artwork" on the walls are actually pictures that Drew and I took on our trip to Europe a couple of years ago.

And finally, the bathroom. Take note of the wainscoting and moulding detail. Every room has crown and baseboard but this room got a little extra.

It is also back to school time. This year I sent both girls off to Parkside Elementary...home of the Panthers!

Carly at her big first grader desk. No more tables! Poor Carly doesn't have the best of luck on her first day of school though. Last year she got lost trying to find her classroom (luckily a cute little girl from our ward found her and helped her). This year it was the bus that caused problems. Her teacher told her what bus number she was on but she forgot and didn't not know which bus to get on. The principle tried to help her out but her old bus driver ended up bringing her home on a different bus. Poor Carly! She told me later that she got pretty scared and almost cried. I bet she won't forget the number 87 anymore!

Abbie has had absolutely no reservations about going to kindergarten. She has been excited from the start. I'm glad that she has Carly to ride the bus with her in the mornings. It's nice to have a big sister to look out for you....I speak from experience! :) (Thanks Rachelle for letting me sit on your lap on the bus ride home so many days. I know my "butt was bony." That's love.) Since Abbie's birthday was the first week of school she gets to be the student of the week this week. We made a poster with all her favorites that she got to present to her class and she gets to do all sorts of other fun activities this week.

That's about it for our family. Three of us have been fighting off the plague of a nasty cough and even bronchitis for poor Drew. I'm just counting down the days until Carly and I get it. I also spent a day in the kitchen doing some canning. I did pickles this year, which is a first for me. I also did peaches. We just love those peaches!

And for any of you keeping tabs on my driving record you'll love this. After nearly 14 years of driving I finally got pulled over for the first time last week. But don't worry...I only got a fix it ticket for my brake lights. No points...no fees...nice! Unfortunately I can't brag about my spotless driving record any more...or can I? It doesn't really count right?