One Day....At The Pool...

MARLEY LOVES THE POOL!

THE END.

Camping at Branched Oak State Park, NE

I'm way behind on blogging. But, this week...somehow, I'm going to get caught up.

The weekend before we left Neb. we went camping with some friends. It was so much fun and it was Marley's first time camping. She did a great job playing, getting dirty and even sleeping in the tent.

She loved this tree...it was just her size. Can you see her in this picture?

There she is!

Here's her clean face she started out with.

We didn't know there was a beach on the lake so we didn't have our swim suits, but next time we are SO swimming! It was a beautiful day!

Marley loved the water.

Marley fell asleep in the bike trailer...which is pretty common for her.

Punkie's messy face. And this was BEFORE we had s'mores.

She loved collecting rocks and showing mommy each one.

Maybe she'll be a geologist? She really liked the rocks.

This is the crew.

It was a wonderful trip!

Breaking News....

We are now living in Salina, UT for the summer. Well, for June and July and for a little while in August...not sure when exactly we are returning to L-Town. Nathan is working for his dad at Pepsi and we are living with his parents. So, if you're looking for us...that's where we are!

Salina is a small town. I really like it...so far. I think I will like it all summer. Today I found the public library...hence the Internet usage. But since this is the only place in town besides the motels, that has high speed Internet, I am not able to keep up on reading all my blogs! Sad! But, I will still try to blog regularly.

We will also be up in the American Fork area quite a bit this summer. Nathan's grandparents from Seattle, will be up in the Salt Lake area this weekend so we will be up there. We will also hopefully get to see our newest neice, Halle Brynn Wilson! Can't wait to hold her!

Plus, Petie is getting married at the end of the month, so we'll be up there for that and the festivities that surround weddings.



In other news....

Question. Do you ever try to self diagnose using the Internet? I never have until recently. I have these weird bumps that show up on my hands and they migrate. They don't stay in one place. They usually show up on the sides of my fingers, mostly pinkie and index but, they have also been on my palms. They are a little itchy, but not too bad. I try to ignore them and so far it's not too hard to do so. According to my Internet diagnosis, it's not contagious!! The bad news...there are some pretty horrendous pictures of this ailment. Mine is definitely not that bad...not yet anyway....hopefully never will be. Here's a picture from wikipedia.





This is what I found: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyshidrosis

"Dyshidrosis, also termed Dyshidrotic Eczema, Pompholyx, Acute vesiculobullous hand eczema,[1] and Dyshidrotic Dermatitis, is a skin condition that is characterized by small blisters on the hands or feet. It is an acute, chronic, or recurrent dermatosis of the fingers, palms, and soles, characterized by a sudden onset of many deep-seated pruritic, clear vesicles; later, scaling, fissures and lichenification occur. Recurrence is common and for many can be chronic. Incidence/Prevalence is said to be 20/100,000 in the United States, however, many cases of eczema are diagnosed as garden-variety atopic eczema without further investigation, so it is possible this figure is misleading.
This condition is not contagious to others, but due to its unsightly nature can cause significant distress in regards to social interactions with others.
The name comes from the word "dyshidrotic," meaning "bad sweating," which was once believed to be the cause but this association is unproven; there are many cases present that have no history of excessive sweating. There are a number of different factors which may trigger the outbreak of dyshidrosis such as allergens, stress or seasonal changes. Emotional stress may also further aggravate the condition."

Anyway....maybe TMI (too much information) is not "news" but, it often is on TV so...why not on my blog? Stay tuned for...hopefully better and more exciting news in the future.

We love you all!

How do you spell Goatee?

Goatie?

Gote?

(no! That can't be right)

Anyway, does your baby have a goatee?

Can you guess what her goatee is made of, before I tell you below?

Looks yummy huh?

Yes! Quite smashing!

And yet, all business.

And here is the look: "I know I got into something I shouldn't have, but it was GOOOOOD!"

And here is the GQ Marley, with her hand on the cupboard...trying to hide the evidence...look at the floor.

Side note: We got those Zoey slippers from a very nice woman we hardley know, she actually gave us A LOT of cute girl clothes. Anyway, Marley is really into kissing....EVERYTHING....sometimes 50x's in a row. It is so cute when she kisses her Zoey slippers, especially because she loves to kiss Zoey while she has the slippers on.

And the goatee is made of......YOU GUESSED IT!

BROWN SUGAR!

Ok, here's a cleaner goatee.

She was making this one herself, as well. She was bending way over so she could eat the bubbles. She liked the mouth full of bubbles and I loved the goatee!

This is one of those pictures where she is wondering why I'm taking her picture. She always figures it out though....because she's SO cute! (and there is usually something on her face, remember THIS! Scroll down a little once you get there.)

Oops! Choked on some bubbles!

We love you all!

Oh Hi!

It's been awhile since we had a Marley post. She is a busy girl. She started walking, officially, about 2 weeks ago! Just yesterday she practiced walking all day. She went from room to room in our little apartment and even experimented with running. She has also realized that when she falls down she doesn't have to start crawling, she can just get up and get back to walking.

This is Marley with three hats on. Yes, three. She wanted them all on, at once. I don't know! She just did! I think she looks like a safari tour guide.

She also likes to play with the doors. We always know when she has totally shut herself in...squeals and screams.

She also has a little vocabulary. She says, "Hi!" "Wow!" "Wowa!" "Mamama" "Dadada" and "Poo!" which is actually her attempt at saying "Pew!" which I say every time I change her diaper...whether is from stinky poops or from "Peeeewww! Stinky Feet!"

She also uses two signs. "More please" and "Bye Bye".

Sad news....I sent one of her pictures into Baby Idol which they are doing on a local radio station. Basically it's a cutest baby picture contest. Each week they pick 4 finalists and then next week they will post the 12 finalists from the past 4 weeks and then "the public" gets to pick the cutest baby picture. The sad news is Marley wasn't picked as a finalist! Shocking! I know!!! Believe me when I checked Monday morning to see if my cute Marley was a finalist...and then found she wasn't, I was livid...confused....and then freakin' MAD!

Now I am absolutely forbidden to enter her in ANYTHING...EVER AGAIN! Nathan doesn't want to hold me back again. He hates it when mothers get ugly....you know what I mean.

We love you all!!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I made this cake for Lynette and Sandy!

I wish they were here to acutally eat it, but Nathan and I will gladly eat it in behalf of them.

Chocolate cake is my favorite, well actually, white cake with sprinkles is my favorite but, chocolate is pretty much right beside it.

I made this rose!

I am definitely getting better at roses!

I really did make this cake for my mothers who are very far away. It wasn't a class assignment or anything.

I just wanted to make something nice for them...ok, I wanted to practice too.

OK! I wanted some cake! There I said it!

We love you!!!

Do You Use Coupons?

If you do...do you have any suggestions for me on getting started?

I have been reading a lot about couponing and I have a chosen a place to start....JUST DO IT! But, I know am missing somethings...so please tell me how you got started. This is how I got started...and continue to get started:

I struggled to get started, but I finally did it!. My view of coupons has changed. I used to think it was too much of a hassle to cut and clip and keep track of and then use coupons, but when I SEE the savings, it is SO worth it. (so far)

Last Monday was my first official coupon clipping day.

I bought a Sunday paper at Family Dollar for, you guessed it, a dollar. I only clipped coupons of stuff that my family will use. I know there are many who clip EVERYTHING, remember I'm still learning....maybe I will....one day.

Today was my first official coupon shopping day. I'll just tell you about one of the three places I went.

Walgreens (I have NEVER shopped at Walgreens before...am I weird?):
I bought 26 items and the bill came out to $87.50 without coupons. WITH coupons it was $53.59! I saved $33.91! I know it's still a big bill but, I'm measuring progress, I USED COUPONS!!!! AND I'm still learning how to "use" coupons and shop to my monitary advantage. So, I'm sure I committed some couponing blunders...but you gotta start somewhere!

Tonight while I was swaggin' I found a great little helper to get me started on the road to being, what CouponMom.com calls a Stategic Shopper. It's only eight pages, well worth the read, and it is very helpful in how to "Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half." I'm going to get busy making a little Price Book! I'm glad they didn't suggest keeping all the prices stored in your head...I have a terrible memory.

Anyway, send any suggestions on how to save my way....or just send me encouragement.

Get Saving!