Nik's Notes

Flower Headbands

2012-02-02T17:51:00.001-08:00

(Mel I'm posting these for you so you can see them better)

I have some new nieces so I thought I would make some flower headbands. I've never made any for my girls so I thought I'd give them a try.

Riley's lazer hallway...

2012-02-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

I found this on Pinterest. What would we do without Pinterest??? Beats me!!! Anyways so I gave Riley yarn and tape and this is what he did. They had so much fun. Holland goes through it so fast. Its not so easy when your an adult.

Christmas around the Tait home...better late then never!

2011-12-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

We have 7 pictures with this same Santa.

Christmas around the Tait home cont...

2011-12-28T15:53:00.000-08:00

More trees I made.

I display every Santa picture since Riley's first time seeing Santa every year. I even have ones when my parents were younger.

Yes I know its bear. Every year we go up to 4th of July pass to cut our tree. We don't like the perfect cookie cutter trees or a fake tree. A friend of Owens said "you're tree doesn't have very many branch's on it." haha I thought that was pretty funny. They must have a fake tree!

Christmas around the Tait home cont...

2011-12-28T15:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas around the Tait home cont...

2011-12-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas around the Tait home last one...

2011-12-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

Holland turns 2!!!

2011-11-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

Holland didn't have a nap so she was super tired and out of it. So opening her presents wasn't very exciting to her! Hahahaha

Owens 5!!!

2011-10-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

This was a game I made. You had to throw the ball in one of the bases. One kid threw it in 2nd base and it bounced off the door and landed back in the bucket of balls. It was really funny. The kids loved it.

We had hot dogs, which I rolled in foil like they do at the ball games and I also made kettle corn (super yummy) which they have at ball games also! Then lemonade and of course baseball cupcakes and Ice cream.

In their good bags I put a bag of sunflower seeds, babyruth candy bars (cuz you know Babe Ruth the great bambeano, the sultan of swat), and bubble gum, suckers and a baseball card.

His poor nose is all beat up. Earlier that day the T.V in the boys room fell on him. Luckily that was the only damage! We can't figure out how it fell, he won't tell us. lol

Lots of 5yr olds! I think there were 11!

This was over the food table. I also hung baseball cards from the ceiling over the table. You can kinda see it in the back ground. (Sorry about the poor pictures I forgot to take pictures before everyone came and the lighting's not very good.)

We all had our Baseball gear on since it was baseball themed. I didn't have anything so I borrowed a shirt from Riley and surprisingly it fit!

This is Emily. She was one of my YW. Shes part of the family, we love her. It was funny because she brought her boy-friend and there was another YW there also. Everyone thought they came to help with the party but Owen invited them. He's 5 and already getting the ladies!!! lol (Shes even going to the Breaking Dawn midnight show with me and spending the night! How fun can't wait!!!)

This was on his actual Birthday at his Grandma and Grandpas house. This is the BEST cake frosting ever.

Thor!

(Don't know why theres all this space down here sorry!)

DIY calender

2011-09-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

So I saw this on Pinterest also. Frame+paint chips= calender. I just added magnets on the side for the pens. I love it. I had just a weekly calender on my fridge. Its so much better to see the whole month at once. I've got different color pens for each kid. Birthdays are in pink, Paige's stuff is in purple, Riley's stuff is in blue etc...you get the idea.

Just a little something...

2011-09-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

I was writing a thank you note for someone and wanted to add a little something on it. So this is what I did. I think it just made it more fun to receive.

counting...

2011-09-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

So I saw this on Pinterest and I wanted to make it. But of course everything I see I change it a little, so too this I made it into a game. The one on Pinterest didn't have the spinning thing in the middle. Boring!!! So I went to the dollar store and found a spinning counting thingy but it only went to 8. So I cut out the circle, took out the spinney thing and turned it around and made my own sections to 20. So now Owen spins the thingy ( I have no idea what its called) and what ever number it lands on he has to count the dots and find the correct number. He loves it. See more fun then just putting pins on the numbers.

Holland..

2011-09-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

I was told I needed some more pictures of Holland. So heres just a couple before church.

1st day of school

2011-09-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Paige starting 3rd grade

Riley starting 5th grade...with a goofy smile!

Owen starting Pre-k with me! I'm his teacher.

The crew!

these were to funny not to post...

2011-09-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

So I was just taking some pictures then Holland fell...well just look at the pictures. I think they are pretty funny.

Awww there's sister always there to kiss your bobo and give you what you want! Holland was glued to Paige hip this summer. Poor Paige, she would give Holland to me then run to her room just to get a couple of minutes to herself. One time Paige was in the bathroom and Holland was there knocking and knocking on the door saying "Paige, Paige, Paige, Paige". Then Paige says "man I can't get any alone time, not even in here." I was cracking up because its so familiar. I fell for ya Paige!

summer basball

2011-09-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

I know, I know these are really late. I haven't posted anything all summer. Our lap top broke so I couldn't down load any pics. So better late then never! So Riley played baseball this summer, of course! He was pitcher a lot this season. He did really well. We had a number of coach's, parents and umps tell us how good he is. His coach would have him pitch last because Riley didn't get any runs when he pitched. We had someone say "I'll be his agent!" Who knows maybe Riley will play in college and then go on. I love watching him play. That's my favorite part of summer. Owen starts T-ball next year. So we'll see how he does. Can't wait!

The kids did a baseball camp with the Spokane Indians. They had a lot of fun. They were able to run around the bases, hit, throw and got autographs on balls. It was fun to see Owen run around the bases. He's such a fast little guy.

Rachel Ashwell opened a Bed and Breakfast...

2011-06-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

I love Rachel Ashwell. I love the coziness, how clean and fresh everything looks, the softness, the elegance, and how peaceful her decor is. I have a ton of things from her line in my house, dresser, lamps, linens, curtains, blankets I even found wrapping paper. Ya I couldn't pass that up! This is her new book coming out soon and I can hardly wait. (above pic)

This one is her latest book. I LOVE IT!!!

Rachel opened a Bed and Breakfast in Texas. Here are a few of the pictures from inside. I'm so excited.

I want those 2 chairs

Notice she has chandeliers everywhere!!! Love that

Doesn't everything look so quite and cozy and relaxing? Looks just like her books. I would love love love to stay there someday. I'll be sure to show this to Adam and maybe it'll be a birthday present someday. :) Hint hint.....wink wink!!!

When I got back from Georgia I found these...

2011-05-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Then I found these.....

2011-05-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

Things I liked this week...

2011-04-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

Dosen't that look so nice and relaxing? AWWWWW

Love the ruffles on top.

Ok Mel Tyson has to do this for me. A upside down lamp! awesome! I have a really cool one to do it with.

I want this couch.

Paiges 8th Birthday Party

2011-03-26T15:57:00.000-07:00

Paige decided on a Spa Party. Here's what they did and some pictures of some decorations. It was funny because one of the dads went home and told his wife that we went all out. I don't really think so but it did turn out really cute!

Once again I got out my handy-dandy Silhouette machine (what did I do with out it before!) and made this sign. Paige loves it. Isn't the babys breath pretty? I love the simplicity of it. It looks so Shabby Chic to me.

Of course I had to add some to the cupcakes. I also made these little hanging bead things. I don't have a name for them but I've made them for flowers in vases. Seen here http://niksnotes2.blogspot.com/2010/06/spring-center-pieces.html There's a better picture of them a few pictures below. I think they turned out really pretty.

You can kinda see them better here.

Little miss Rug Rat!!! She had fun with all the girls. I set everything up the night before and it was really hard keeping her off the table. She loves being on table tops! Hope that doesn't become her profession later in life!!! hahaha

These are some of what was in the goody bags. I made these Fancy pens. I just hot glued feathers and sparkly glittery ribbon to a pen and now we can call it a Fancy Pen! Paige and I made lip gloss. They also put in there the other things they made which you'll see in the pictures below.

I let them pick a finger nail polish when they were done painting their nails to put in their goody bags.

They made rings. The ring part is just rings pops. I didn't have trouble finding anyone to eat the sucker part since I live with 4 of them. When they were all done I just cut the stub off.

Here's Paige's ring. Notice her nails, cute huh!

They made Bath Salts with the hint of Lavender.

And finally they made Face glitter. It's super easy. Just mix Aloe Vera, I got the fragrance free and color free one. And just add fine glitter. I think they liked this one the best. After all that they ate pizza and opened presents, and ate cupcakes with ice cream. She had a lot of fun. Shes going blog about it also and put more pictures on her blog soon.

Paiges Invitations

2011-03-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

I had a good friend take some pictures of Paige for her Baptism invitations and design them too. She does such a good job I had her do one for her birthday party too. I then added a little envelope using my handy-dandy silhouette machine :)

It says -You're invited blah blah blah...come to the Ooo La La! Spa for an afternoon of pampering......Paige Tait's house blah blah....you get the idea!
Paige is getting really excited after seeing everything I'm doing for her party. Its funny because you'd think an 8yr old (well almost 8) wouldn't really care about all the fancy and pretty things but she sure does. She is definitely my daughter!

A sneak peek at Paiges birthday party....

2011-03-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned to how it all turns out!
Just a little side note I found this 2 tower tray (don't know what its called) at a thrift store for

4$! Its going to be perfect for Paige's party.

Poor Holland

2011-03-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

Day of the burn

The day after

So I was cleaning the upstairs bathroom and Holland shut the door behind me when I opened it, not knowing that she was behind it, it knocked her over and she fell on top of the heater. Poor thing. I felt so bad.

Ballard Design knockoff.....

2011-02-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

Ballard Designs.....

Mine!

Ordering one "Mental break down" coming right up!!!!

2011-02-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

OK so Sunday I almost had a mental brake down. I was going over some activities and planning with the YM pres and it hit me all at once. There is SOOOOO much going on the next few months. Here's just the big events that I have to do. Now remember this doesn't include all the little things, like keeping up the house, cooking, school stuff with the kids, Sunday lessons, Preschool at my house, church meetings, FHE lessons etc... etc... etc...you get the picture also keep in mind that both of my counselors will be having babies or with a new born around the time of all these things. I told them they planned this well! So the big things are:

-A etiquette dinner and I get to do the center pieces
-Priest/Laurel Dinner, don't know what I have to do for that but I know I have to do something
-New Beginnings-which if you know me I go all out for parties which takes up a lot of time
-Ward talent night, they want the YW to do something, so we have to plan and practice= more time
-Both of Paige's birthday parties, friends and family- (again I go all out)
-Paige's Baptism
-Both of Riley's Birthday parties, friends and family
-our 12th anniversary
-Easter
-and last the mother of all ships that will be the most time consuming is the YW/YM fundraiser dinner/auction/garage sale, don't forget about all the little things too!

I'm sitting here organizing everything and putting everything on a weekly calender (while I'm planning my YW lesson for Sunday and my Preschool lesson) I have this blog that I LOVE http://jonesdesigncompany.com/thoughts/crazy where I found the weekly calenders. It helps me to focus on just that week and not the whole month which just overwhelms me just looking at a monthly calender now. But at the end of this hurricane is a trip to HOLLAND!!!! Yes you read it right... HOLLAND...that was my birthday present from Adam. How awesome is he! That's what getting me through all this. After the last big thing I'm done, well for now! Sadly though I will be going without my husband, I'll be going with my parents and my brother. I'm not complaining about what I have to do I love my calling, and everything else, it just hit me that all these things will be happening in a 2 month period. So a little at a time Nikki, a little at a time....

The Office finally and totally done......

2011-01-31T17:31:00.000-08:00

Just some pretty things here and there around the office.

It has been SO nice having an office. I don't no why I didn't think of it before like 6yrs ago when we moved in! I don't know how I went with out one. I have space for everything. Its so Awesome.

Gotta have some light reading laying around also for Inspiration. Also they are too pretty to put away.

Nice and organized!

Yes I made this. I'll post about it another day. I copied it from Ballard Designs.

Some of my beads. My grandma made most of these laces that were framed by my mom.

The girls new room

2011-01-26T09:20:00.000-08:00

I realized I never posted pictures of the girls new room. I totally redid the upstairs and got rid of A LOT of stuff. I wish I had pictures of the piles of STUFF. There was a lot! This used to be the boys room. Now the boys are in what used to be the playroom and Paige's old room is now the office. I'm almost finished with the office and the boys room was a mess so I'll post about those another day.

I hand painted the scalloped circle thing above Hollands bed and one by Paige's bed.

and I also hand painted the dots too that went across their room.

This is where Paige pretty much spends her time. In her closet! Obviously you can tell she has her art work all over the walls. This is so perfect for her because she loves to draw and do her own thing, now with her new room she can actually hang them on the walls. Her mean mom wouldn't let her hang them up in her old room because it made her room look messy! :P

I can't go in there because every time I do I "apparently" mess everything up by cleaning up! She has everything in order according to her. Looks like a mess to me! oh-well its her space I can just close the door and not look at it.

This is her reading area.

Another Silhouette project...

2011-01-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

I don't decorate for Valentines day, Adam & I don't care for the Holiday but this I liked. I've seen these a lot. They are called Subway Art. I didn't have pale pink vinyl so I just used pink card stock and glued each letter on!

I WON!!!!

2011-01-14T10:14:00.000-08:00

Look at what I won. I love this blog http://jonesdesigncompany.com/. I love everything about it to the way she decorates her house all the way to the way she dresses! She makes and sells the coolest cards too(I won some yay). Her style is exactly my style too. Anyways go check out her blog. I love it!!! What a fun package to get in the mail I can't wait til I get it.

My Silhouette Projects so far....

2011-01-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

So I got one of these for Christmas. A Silhouette Machine. I love it. I brought it with me to my sisters house and it was definitely a hit. I (aka Andy) did lots of vinyl projects for pretty much everyone that was there. These are some projects I've done.

Sorry the pictures aren't in focus. For some reason my camera isn't Auto Focusing. If anyone knows how to fix it let me know.

This means "Love in this house" in Dutch. I have it above the door way walking into my Dutch theme kitchen.

I've done pretty much only vinyl projects. But I'm in the middle of doing some glass etching projects and some other things that I'll post when they are done!

Nanny and Poppy with all 16 grandkids

2011-01-13T23:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T23:07:00.000-08:00

Can you tell Holland did NOT want to sit, she just woke up and she wanted Mommy!

Christmas table

2010-12-26T22:51:00.000-08:00

This year I decided to do a Winter Wonderland theme for my Christmas table. I hung snowflakes above the table, and glittered some trees added some candle sticks. It was sparkly and pretty and fast and easy!

New kitchen chairs

2010-11-16T16:27:00.000-08:00

Before...

After...
I found these at a thrift store. So I worked my magic and voila! New kitchen chairs.

Hollands One!

2010-11-07T23:29:00.000-08:00

She was the cleanest eating the cake out of all the kids.

Reading her books! She loves her books.

One of her presents were books and she laughed when opened it . It was so funny. She didn't care about opening the other presents. She just wanted the books.

I didn't go "all" out like I usually do for parties. I had YW stuff and Super Saturday stuff so this was all that I did. Instead of streamers I glued rhinestones on ribbon, different size rhinestones and all different lengths of ribbon. They turned out really pretty. I almost don't want to take them down.

Happy Halloween!!!

2010-11-01T23:31:00.000-07:00

candy corn witch

Vampire

Dopey

Sully from Monsters Inc.

Owens Preschool Halloween Party

2010-10-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

Preschool was at my house this week so I decided to do a Halloween Party. Here's what I did, I didn't spend a lot of time on it like I usually do for parties.

I made this spider plate. (you can't really tell but it turned out cute, I'll have to take a better picture)

These candles I saw on line so I decided to try them. Its just toilet paper rolls and Hot glue then painted and put flicker lights inside. They turned out pretty cool and they were really easy to make.

One of the games we played was "find the bugs in the brain guts." Some kids liked this one some wouldn't touch it.

Just more things I've made

2010-10-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

Adam doesn't like these ones very much, he hates spiders!

These hurricans I made from the Dollar Store vases and candle sticks. I saw these on line but can't remember where.

Owens Birthday Party

2010-10-16T23:36:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine fit this in her busy life and painted this for me. Shes awesome!!! The kids loved it.

I made Woody goody bags

The gift area

"you saved our lives we are eternally greatful"

One friend said the table looked "professional" hahaha funny, not even close!!! but thanks anyways.

We finally were able to have Owens Birthday Party. It was CRAZY!!! Out of 14 kids that Owen invited 12 came. Drinks spilling on carpets, some wanted to play with toys instead of the birthday games and one kid got into the cup cakes before we sang Happy B-day! I finally got them to play "pin the tail on Bullseye" some had a hard time not peeking! lol. It was a lot of work but fun. Owen got lots of fun toys.

Weekend with the Leishmans

2010-10-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

So while Mel was here last weekend we went to Green Bluff. It was a lot of fun. This particular spot we went to had lots to do and eat! There was a corn maze that led you to a castle, a pirate ship, fresh Carmel apples and cider, peddle go-karts, bean bag throw game, fresh carmel apples and cider, blow up slid, train rides, fresh Carmel apples and cider, and of course pumpkin pick'in oh and did I mention they had fresh Carmel apples and cider!!! yummm

the boys beating the girls

he thinks hes cool or something!

This race was kind of nerve racking because both Nash and Riley are very competitive!!! So when they decided they wanted to race each other we knew it wasn't going to end pretty because that would mean one of the competitive boys would have to loose! Of course we both wanted our own kid to win so we wouldn't have to deal with their lose. Riley won the first round so that made Nash want to go again of course.

Nash got to sit in the front of the Train next to the driver. Can you tell he was excited?

I knew that was coming the minute Paige asked me to take a picture of her poking out of the pigs mouth! They both ganged up on her!

weekend with Leishmans cont...

2010-10-16T22:49:00.001-07:00

Holland not impressed with the animals!

the 2 divas!

lil' miss crazy

Preschool activities

2010-10-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

With all the kids I have done Parent Co-op Preschool. Now its Owens turn. So last week was my week to teach. I had the sound "mmmm". So here's a couple of activities we did. The above picture we played the 'M'agnet game. I found things around the house that the magnet would stick to and not stick to. The kids had to guess what things were magnetized or not. This one we had to do few times because they loved it.

I drew an M on paper and the kids glued 'M'acaroni on it.

I also had other activities out for them to do. My parents got this for me in Holland. This has always been one of the kids favorite activities. I have the kids pick 2 triangles. Then we see who has the correct size, biggest to smallest. We always have to do this like 3 times. They love it.

This is a felt sandwich I actually made in college. I majored in Early Education! And while cleaning out the upstairs (I will post pictures of the "NEW' upstairs next week) I found it and thought the kids would like to play with it. They loved it.

This one I thought of at last minute and it was a huge hit. It's kinda like 'M'usical chairs but instead of chairs I used pictures. I printed out pictures and laminated them with "mmmm" sounds and other sounds but mostly "mmmm" since that was the sound of the week. I scattered them on the floor and had the kids walk around the pictures when I started the music. Once I stopped the music they had to hurry and find a picture with the sound "mmm" on it. We mixed them up and started the music again but I changed it up and had the kids run, walk slow, hop like a frog, take big steps etc... They had so much fun. We had to do this a few times also.

This one is a self correcting game. I had some number cards so I copied the backs with the number on it and laminated them. The kids matched the pictures to the correct number. And if they think they have the correct one they turn it over and see if the numbers match!

This one they trace the shapes and make pictures.

This one is like the triangle stacking game, put in order. Again I copied it printed it and laminated it.

This one is self explanatory!

This one I had the kids make sculptures with 'M'arshmallows. They had fun making and eating them!

(Melanie if there's any activity you want for Mya we can make them when you come)

Then I made 'mmm' books for the kids to bring home with them. (i forgot to take pictures of these)

Owens 4

2010-09-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Owen had a Toy Story Birthday. He got 1 Handy Manny toy but everything else was Toy Story. He already had 2 parties- one with just us on his birthday and one with Adams family on Sunday and he'll have a friends party soon. And can you guess what kind of party he wants??? Toy Story of course!
He had a great day. He started the day with a primary activity then we went to play at a friends house, (actually it was Rileys friend but he thinks Rileys friends are his friends too) then to Dairy Queen to get Ice Cream and over to the park. We waited for Adam to get home opened presents and ended the day with McDonald's for dinner.
(and if your wondering yes, I made the cupcake toppers and the tissue paper 4.)

messy messy girl!!!

2010-09-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is Hollands daily routine. She goes over to the clean or dirty clothes which ever she can get her hands on then over to the drawers then she makes her way to the cupboards. Now if you know me I have to have things picked up and in order. Adam calls it OCD I call it organized! So I am constantly picking up after her. I can always tell wheres she's been. She loves getting into things -bags, boxes, backpacks, baskets, if it opens she will get into it. One day I found her upstairs in the boys room taking out all of Riley's clothes in his drawers.
So a little advise, if you ever come over to my house don't leave your purse on the floor Holland WILL find it and get into it!

Ensign Ranch

2010-08-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

This is Hollands new smile! So funny I love it. Who by the way is WALKING!!!

There was this huge slip-n-slid. The kids and adults had so much fun on it.

Then we did some horse back riding. I thought Owen would be scared to get on, but he wasn't he went right on. Which is weird because he won't pet dogs.

Every time Holland went close to the horses she would laugh. It was the funniest thing. Riley and Paige have pictures on horses too but I'll let them put the pictures up on their blogs. So look at their blogs soon to see more pictures from the weekend.
We had a fun, dirty, cold weekend but it was fun!!!

Ensign Ranch cont...

2010-08-31T15:31:00.000-07:00

These 2 had so much fun playing and getting dirty! 2 peas in a pod!!!

Recent Jewelry I've made...

2010-08-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

More jewelery I've made...

2010-08-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

Family Reunion

2010-08-08T21:02:00.000-07:00

Little miss Ruby-Suby

We played Ultimate Kickball. My team won BTW! It was a lot of fun. My battery wasn't charged on the first day so I couldn't take any pictures. But we went wakeboarding and tubing. The kids all had a blast.

Day 2

2010-08-08T20:52:00.001-07:00

Ruby Peeing.

On day 2 we went to Rigby lake. It was nice and relaxing. The adults sat around chit-chatting while the kids just swam and played in the sand.

Andy...what is he a life guard or something!!!

Brett throwing the kids around. That's Paige.

Day 3

2010-08-08T20:31:00.001-07:00

My brother Andy.

Melanie she's the cryer in the family. She was sad that we were all leaving. We were all laughing at her!

On the last day we went to Yellow Stone Park. It was an all day drive but we saw lots of things.

We had a traffic jam of Buffalo's. They didn't care about the cars or people they just walked around. It took awhile to get out of there but it was fun to see them all so close.

Owen holding Buffalo Poop!

We saw Old Faithful...

We slept...well Holland did!

We got Ice cream, although Ruby was NOT going to share with ANYONE even if it was Holland!!! Look at her look at Holland. So funny.

and we saw lots of Geysers...

Almost all the Grand kids.

2010-08-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

I won!!!!

2010-07-27T16:57:00.001-07:00

I'm the person that never wins anything....but look what I won from Howdoesshe. So cute huh.?I'm so excited to use these at christmas time.

In my next house...

2010-07-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

I've been collecting things here and there lately. Like all those things I found at the thrift store (see post below) I'm adding to my collection because in my next house I want to do this but with touches of pale pink...

"I want everything 1/2 off please?"

2010-07-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

These are small. I think they can only hold like a 1/2c. I have big ones that I found at a garage sale last year.

This is a candle holder. So Shabby Chic!

The best part is they were all under 9$!!! It was 30% off everything day. So some of those things were less then a dollar! There are 2 more things I bought but I didn't post because I'm giving those to my mom and mother-law, which they will see!

When I got home I asked Adam if I had a sign on my back that said "I want everything 1/2 off please." Because after I went to the thrift store I went to buy flowers and the check-out lady gave me everything half off. I should have paid 50$ for the flowers but I got them all for 25$! Of course all the savings made Adam happy!!!

Oh I also found some really cool very detailed kitchen chairs (I'll put up pics later) but I can't wait to get my hands on them and make them look awesome! I got all 6 chairs for 5$ a chair. Wait until you see them because they look like they should be 15$ or 20$ a chair!

Look at Hollands legs...I love it, so fat and squishy!

2010-07-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

still waiting for the fireworks...

2010-07-07T16:25:00.000-07:00

The kids playing star wars with their light up swords they got waiting for the fire works to start. Paige her expressions are so funny.

Waiting for the fireworks to start...

2010-07-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

A rainy day...

2010-07-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

So today was a rainy day-well half of the day anyway so I decided to play a game I saw on line. The kids had so much fun until Riley started losing and got mad! He came around and we finished the game. I'm not going to say who won cuz the kids read my blog. So to say they ALL won!!!
Heres how to play you just take pictures around the house and have them look for them. Every once in a while I had to tell them which room it was in. Can you tell what these pictures are of?

1st- Hollands pants
2nd- bottom of the Air Hockey paddle
3rd- chair in family room
4th- a fan

4th decorations

2010-07-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

At last minute we decided to have a 4th get together at our house. So if you know me one of my favorite things to do is Table Settings. So I found somethings on line and thought I'd give it a go. So I was up until 2am getting ready. Here's what I did.

These are suppose to represent fireworks!

Summer Baseball and Soccer

2010-06-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

Well its that time of year again where Riley's in Baseball. Theres nothing like watching Baseball.
I love it. I was going through these and noticed I didn't take any of Riley up to bat. Those I'll have to do next week.

Then there's Owen, he loves going to the kids games.

and Holland, she just sits there and plays with what ever she can get her hands on. Shes crawling now but she still just sits there.

We finally got Paige signed up for Soccer this summer. She loves it. Its so fun to watch her. Shes so aggressive, always right there with the ball trying to get it. If the goal was a foot longer on each side she would have made lots of goals. Its funny to watch Paige play compaired to Riley. Paige is all about having fun but still doing well. Riley well he gets mad when he strikes out or doesn't do well. I dread the rides home when Riley doesn't do well. Paige she just says how much fun it was.

The Pita Pit sandwitch...

2010-06-22T23:49:00.000-07:00

So I was out with a good friend getting my first Pedicure, yes you heard me my FIRST pedi anyways that's not the best part of the day it was close though. For lunch we went to the Pita Pit. I've never been there so I'd thought I'd give it a try. I'm sure glad I did. It was so good. I had the Chicken Souvlaki. Greek seasoned chicken with veggies and a special sauce that I couldn't find in stores. So I thought I'd try to make it at home. I actually liked mine better just because the Pita Pit layered everything and then wrap it up, so some bites you get were just spinach or just tomatoes. You'd have to have a pretty big mouth to get everything in one bite. So I just mixed all my ingredients together and stuffed it into the pita. The only thing from mine I didn't like, was the pita. It was thick and dry and fell a part easy. So if you want to make it here's what I did: spread regular cream cheese on the inside of the Pita and add everything else...I bought pre-sliced grilled chicken strips and cooked it with a little olive oil and pesto sauce. Then I chopped up cucumbers, tomatoes ( I just used the petite cut in a can), spinach and feta cheese to top it off! So easy and so good.
This pita was actually sitting out for awhile cuz I was in a hurry to baseball and soccer's games so I left everything out so the spinach was not fresh looking. But it still tasted good. I made another one for Adam and I when we got back from the games. (Which I'll post about later).

I need help from someone who knows about cameras!!!

2010-06-19T00:16:00.000-07:00

So I read on another blog about focusing on certain things in your pictures. I think its called point focus or something like that anyways I read how to focus on something in the back ground and have what ever it is closer to me out of focus or if I want the thing closest to me in focus and the background out of focus. Does that make since? Anyways so I was trying to figure it out on my camera (cuz I want to learn how to use my camera better to take better pictures). So now its stuck in keeping the background in focus instead of the thing I actually want to take a picture of. Like the pictures above. They all would have been really cute but see in the background its in focus and Holland and the flowers are not. So can anyone tell me how to fix this??? I have a digital rebel 300D if that helps. Melissa maybe do you???

Summer fun...

2010-06-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

We finally had a hot day where it felt like summer, even though the kids still have a week left of school! It isn't officially summer here yet I should say anyway not until the kids are out. So we took advantage of it and stayed outside. The boys ended up having a water fight. I love the picture of Riley waiting for Adam to come out the back door to soak him but Adam knew Riley would be there waiting so he came out in front and got Riley. Paige was sulking inside because she left her bathing suit at her cousins house and she wouldn't wear a tank top and shorts. Her loss!

So exciting...

2010-06-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

So Riley and I could not be more excited. There was a store by us that had a cereal sale. 1.69$ a box! And not just the generic brands either the good sugary expensive brands. yum! So I got what I could fit into my cart with everything else. I ended up with 17 boxes. I wish I could say that will last us a while but unfortunately it won't. We love our cereal!

Holland 7mo already!!!

2010-06-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

So over the weekend we went to my nieces baptism in the Portland area. While we were there my sister took some pictures of Holland in her new spring line. (don't you just love her legs, there so squishy and soft!)

Job jars...

2010-06-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

I need to do this. I saw it on http://www.makeandtakes.com/job-jars .

one day...

2010-05-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

Doesn't this look relaxing and warm! Wish I was there.

Garage sale goodies...

2010-05-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

I went to this one garage sale and found a lot of good things. Like this stroller I got for 5$. Its practically new too hardly been used. Mine is one of those really big ones that take up the whole back of the car. So this one will be really nice.

I usually don't buy clothes at garage sales but this one was so good. They had Baby lu-lu, Children's Place, Old Navy, Gymboree and they were practically new too hardly warn. So I couldn't pass those up.

I don't think the pink floral dress was warn at all. It even has a matching dress for a baby doll.

If you know designer diaper bags then you'll know this bag.. its a Fleurville. I got it for 18$!!! which retails for over 100$. yeah couldn't pass that up. I don't need one, my sister got me a Ju-Ju Be bag which I love so I don't need this one. So I'm going to resell it on line.

Look in perfect condition!!!

These I got at another garage sale for 4$, they're salt and pepper shakers. I love the idea of each guest having there own salt and pepper so they don't have to keep asking to pass it around.

I have a chandelier fettish!!!

2010-05-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

If you've been to my house you've noticed that I have a thing for chandeliers. I have one in my room, the girls room, the upstairs hallway, over the kitchen table and the down stairs bathroom, I had one in the kitchen but it hung too low, everyone except Adam and I kept hitting their heads on it, so I took it down. I even have one hanging on my rear view mirror in my car and my sister-n-law made me a pillow with a chandelier on it. I also made one. (see here) So yes you can say I have a thing for chandeliers!

So anyways I found this picture on anther blog and I loved it. I want to print it and frame it. Its so cool looking. I love all the colors.

I love spring

2010-05-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

Spokane is known for the Lilac City. Lilacs everywhere! I love it. They even have a Lilac parade. Anyways I just cut a bunch and put them through out my house so I thought I'd take some pictures because there so pretty.

Marker holder...

2010-05-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

I saw this on another blog. I've seen them before with crayons but never got around to making or buying one. So I thought I'd give it a try. So I made one for Paige since she uses markers more I made it to fit her markers. I didn't have a pattern so don't judge! I do think it would be cuter with ribbon as a tie but I thought velcro would be easier for her. But she loves it. She lays it out on the table and the church bench and they don't roll off. I even made extra spaces for pencils and pens. Anyways thought I'd share.

Paiges Birthday party

2010-03-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

We had Paiges party early this year because of Spring break. The boys spent the night at Adams parents house. So we were boys free! Paige loved it, no brothers to bug them. The girls did pester Adam. They would run up to him then run away screaming.They watched Enchanted and just ran around screaming. We ended the night by going to a New Moon dvd release party at midnight.

This is the Birthday table. I made these flowers out of tissue paper that turned out really cool and hung them up over the table and for the cupcakes I used real daisys.

Holland at 4 months...

2010-03-18T23:04:00.000-07:00

Holland loves to sit on the table in her Bumbo chair and watch the kids play with their toys on the table and watch me in the kitchen.

Her new thing with Adam is standing on his hand. I love this picture because her body is so funny. Poor little thing has Adams short legs and my big butt!!! (her diaper doesn't help)
Notice her tongue sticking out in both pictures! She's constantly sticking it out.

Warning graphic picture...

2010-03-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

So Paige smashed her finger at school a while ago and well this is how it looks now! Yeah GROSS!!! So I took her to the doctors and they took it off. I'm sure she will tell you all about it on her blog it was quit an ordeal, for her!!! ht tp://www.paigetait.blogspot.com/
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Bedroom makeover BEFORE...

2010-03-11T18:25:00.000-08:00

These are the BEFORE pictures. Every things white. I wanted it to look like the Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic style. I kinda accomplished it. I was happy with it but its been 9 years and its time for a change. Adam said anything but white! So scroll down to see the AFTER pictures!

AFTER...

2010-03-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

This is the AFTER...I had a good friend take pictures of some Jewelry I've made. I found some really cool lamps at T.J. Max (I love that store) My sister-n-law Shanna made me the Chandelier pillow.

I found the dresser at a thrift store and painted it white and added crystal knobs. The dresser actually works out better then our last one. It has 3 little drawers inside the big doors, which is perfect for our things. The long drawers in the middle have all my Jewelry stuff and theres a lot of stuff, is now all hidden and organized. :)

We don't have room for a book case anywhere so I just put them on top of the dresser and I used curtain holders as bookends. Which look really cool! I kept my Vanity of course and put up a couple of old frames I had and hung up some Jewelry I've made. So now we have a bedroom that actually feels like a bedroom!

Rileys pictures...

2010-03-03T22:23:00.000-08:00

Ok so I found these on my camera. Riley likes to take it sometimes and I find some of the funnest pictures. These are some of my favorite ones. Keep scrolling down and down to see more! ENJOY!

2010-03-03T22:19:00.000-08:00

2010-03-03T22:17:00.000-08:00

2010-03-03T22:15:00.000-08:00

2010-03-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

Redecorating...

2010-02-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

We got the boys bunk beds. Then Adam and I decided to take their old bed. Our old bed was a king and the boys was a queen. It was hard going to a smaller bed but we love it so much better because it was a new bed and ours, well lets just say it was time for us to get a new bed.

With the smaller bed I needed to get new sheets and new bedding which meant shopping which led to redecorating!!!! My favorite thing to do. The bedding I got is Rachel Ashwell (if you don't know she's my favorite designer) I painted an accent wall where the bed is, the blue that's in the bedding. Its still a work in progress. I'll post before and after pictures when I'm done.

Jewelry

2010-02-08T00:04:00.000-08:00

So a good friend of mine took pictures of some Jewelry that I've made. I enlarged them to 8x10s and hung them in my newly decorated bedroom. (I'll show finished room in a later blog, its still in the works) but didn't she do an awesome job? I love them! Thanks again Emily!

Jewlery

2010-02-07T23:52:00.000-08:00

Holland at 3 months

2010-02-07T23:30:00.000-08:00

Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks?!!! Holland is probably the best baby we've had and we haven't had fussy babies, Hollands just really easy going and patient with the kids picking her up and kissing those cheeks! She sleeps good at night, she doesn't even cry when shes hungry she just kinda mumbles and chews on her hands. She's such a fun baby. She rolled over for the first time the other day and I was kinda sad because I don't want her to grow up. She's so good and we've all enjoy her.

Revenge is sweet my firends!!!!

2010-01-26T00:44:00.000-08:00

OK so today was my Birthday and while Adam I were watching 24 I heard laughing coming from somewhere. It kinda freaked me out cuz I knew the kids were in bed and it sounded so close. So I heard it again and this time I had Adam pause the TV to listen and then I heard movements on our front porch then DUH it clicked...My Birthday + Jenn Brown = TOILET PAPERING!!! So I peeked out my peephole and caught them red handed. I was being Toilet Papered and Spooned!!! I thought about ruining it and opening the door but they looked and sounded like they were having fun. So I just continued to watch through my peephole laughing while Adam was groaning cuz he knew what he was doing tomorrow on his day off!
So Jenn and to the accomplices, yes I know who you all are...just wait for your Birthdays....MWAHAHAHA!!!!!
Anyways enough of the threats here's the scene of the crime.......
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To see more of the Crime Scene look at other posts. Oh yes theres more!!!

b-day cont...

2010-01-26T00:25:00.000-08:00

" some loser" and "birthday girl"

Does anyone know what "te querro mucha miya" means? Jenn or Lisa or maybe even Kira!!! Huh girls anyone!!!!

I'll have Adam drive it to the Car Wash! HAHA that'll be so funny cuz you know it says "Birthday Girl."
Sorry, its late!

b-day cont....

2010-01-26T00:19:00.000-08:00

All good fun!!!

Holland cont...

2010-01-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

Holland at 2 months

2010-01-11T15:27:00.000-08:00

Necklace...

2010-01-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

I just made this necklace. It turned out pretty cool. Its hard taking pictures of jewelry so this is what I came up with. Hopefully you can kinda tell what it looks like.

Its has real sparkly beads with black ribbon, black chain with swarovski balls with an AB finish and some other little cool beads I put in on one of the chains. Anyways I like it! (mom I got most of the beads from all the stuff you sent me.) :)

Holland Video

2010-01-06T10:06:00.001-08:00

Nothing special here. Just an update of what she looks like.

Christmas Dinner at the Taits...

2010-01-01T12:49:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do is Table settings. This year we had Christmas dinner at my house and this was my table. Simple, but it looked pretty!

I decorated bulbs with glitter glued them to little mirrors and took the tops off and put flowers in them.
Adam got me the mirror end tables I've been wanting for our bedroom. They look really good.

Christmas...

2010-01-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

We had a really good Christmas this year. Christmas Eve we went to Adams parents house to do the nativity and other things. The kids get to open a family present which is always a game. They also got robes this year.

Growing up we had a tradition taking pictures sitting on the stairs oldest at the top and youngest at the bottom on Christmas morning. So we've continued that tradition in our family.

In our house Santa only brings 1 present and the rest are from mom and dad. The one from Santa isn't wrapped so the kids have to stay upstairs until we come and get them, I know the torture we put them through! (we have the baby monitor on so we know when they're up) Well Owen sometimes comes down in our bed in the middle of the night. So sure enough he came running in our room Christmas morning waving his present from Santa. We pried it from his hands and put it back. We got the other kids tried to take the pictures and opened presents. (that's why Owen wasn't happy in the picture, he knew what was down stairs waiting for him.)

An Apology to Owen

2009-12-16T11:38:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, a parent does something pretty horrible. They mistreat their child in such a manner that it may permanently scar the child. The regret a parent feels never really goes away. I'm ashamed to say that we have done this with Owen. We've taken away a part of who he is, and we just don't know if he'll ever regain it. We are sorry, Owen.

Scroll Down....

WE CUT HIS HAIR!!!!!

It actually doesn't look too bad, but even Adam was a bit sad after we cut it...

Hollands Blessing...

2009-12-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

Riley has really taken a liking to Holland. At first he wouldn't even kiss or hold her now shes the first thing he goes to after school. Hes such a big help. Always willing to hold her and he loves putting her to sleep. He lays on the couch with Holland on his chest.

Paige is not that into her as I thought. She holds her and kisses her but not as much as Riley.

Owen Always has to know where "baby" is, that's what he calls her. But he's not a big help either. If I ask him to get something he say "no you get it." Hes such a little punk. Since Hollands been born he won't go to nursery which he loved! Last week he wouldn't leave my side. In a couple of weeks hes a Sunbeam. So we'll see how he does.

Holland

2009-11-12T12:28:00.000-08:00

Holland Petornella Tait

2009-11-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

Holland is finally here. She weighed 8lbs and 19 1/2in long, I thought she was going to be over 9lbs. Everything went really well and fast, thank goodness!

Owen loves looking at her feet for some reason. He loves to old her and give her kisses. When he wakes up in the morning shes the first thing he asks for.
Paige was so excited to see her new sister she cried.

Riley, well hes getting used to her. He didn't want to hold her the first couple of days, which was weird but now hes more willing.
We got home before the kids got home from school so this was the first time they saw their new sister. They couldn't come to the Hospital because of the H1N1 so they had to wait. Paige was pretty sad.