Thanksgiving Day Poem by Mama Self

This is the Red Velvet Cake I made to take to the Self's house. I will let you know how it turned out after we slice into it!!!





Thanksgiving Day

As Thanksgiving Day grows more near,
changing seasons bring much cheer.
The things we are thankful for are so clear.

Soon the turkey will be baking,
butternut squash, Mom we will be making.
Foods on the counter, little hand are reaching up and taking.

We are thankful Dad did not roast a duck.
The kids are all running a muck,
in his walker there goes my chunk .

With everyone so excited to eat,
this day is such a treat,
too bad we still have the Arizona heat.

Let us pray and bless this dinner
MMM that Costco pie looks like a winner
too bad it won’t make me thinner

With our tummies all full for the night,
don’t let us Lord lose sight
to hold all that is dear tight.

I am so thankful for all I treasure.
This year has been such a pleasure.
We love you all more than we can measure.

Some of my fave photos from the weekend.....

The Rolinger's and The Self's...lighting issues but I love that we are all together! We missed the Weitzel's and Hancock's.
Olivia and Liam just looking into each others eyes. So sweet!



Here are some of my favorite pictures we took this weekend. I ended up ordering my Christmas cards yesterday from peartreegreetings.com They had such cute cards at a great price! I used 4 photos! I guess you will all have to wait until you get your cards to see the the ones I used. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Looking forward to see some of you.

Cabin weekend in Overgaard, AZ

The kids wondering away after pictures. They were pretty much done after about 4 or 5.
Stefanie and Jessica with the kids!
My sweet boys, Jalen is such a good big brother.
The little kids love Mimi and Papa's big bath tub.
We went up to Ben and Lila's cabin in Overgaard this past weekend to relax and take some family photos. The Rolinger's all came up with us as well. You can imagine how hard it was to get everyone ready and keep them clean for a few pictures. There were some lighting issues with all of the trees and the sun shining through some of them. We worked around it!
It was pretty chilly out I don't think it got much over 50 during the day, nobody seemed to be bothered by the cold weather though. The kids had a blast roasting marshmallows and making smores. Unfortunately there was not any snow fall but the boys made a make shift sled out of a wagon and went down the hills. I guess the next best thing to a sled right? Olivia was happy being free and wondering around and getting dirty. Liam hung out in his walker on the front porch. His original walker had finally seen it's better days and broke. I went ahead and bought another one last week on craigslist. It was well worth my $10! Can in really handy as a highchair as well.
The Wienman family was able to make it up for a night along with their twin 2 year old boys. I don't think the boys ever sat down nor did mom and dad. They were very well behaved and loved having free rome of the area. They brought up their Rhino for all of us to ride around and have some fun on. The kids loved it! It was very cold since it is all open, mittens and scarves were a must. The Rhino is fully equipped with seat belts and a roll bar to it is pretty safe.
It is such a privilege to have such a wonderful place to hang out at and enjoy our family. Thank you again Ben and Lila for allowing us to all us it. We all really appreciated it.

Olivia writes her name!!!!

Olivia has been practicing her name with sidewalk calk. We had a afternoon of fun on the back patio enjoying this perfect weather. On Thursday she wrote her name all by herself for the first time! I am so excited for her. It is really amazing the difference between boys handwriting and girls handwriting.
Liam had a wonderful time as well with the calk and evidently it does not taste half bad either!

P.S. That cute little Quicksilver outfit on Liam was sent to us from Brett and Janet Hancock when Liam was just a newborn! Finally it fits him and perfect timing! Thanks Hancock's, he loves it.

Advent Calander.....11-20-2008

Olivia and I worked on a advent calender together on Thursday. After a long search for one I wanted and also one in my price range I decided to make our own. We used a piece of rope i had in the garage to hang baby socks on. We collected all of the Christmas socks we could find from Jalen, Olivia, and Liam, adding a few from numerous stores. The socks are hung by clothes pins that we glued a little black ribbon too. We completed the clothes pins by painting a number on each pin 1-24, we will move the little Santa from day to day as Jesus's birthday approaches. Olivia knows once the Santa gets to the 24th sock it is the night Santa will come!
Jalen was so excited when he got home from school that we had so many stockings hung. I had to explain to him what it was. When Chris came home form work he jokingly said are we adopting a few kids??? Overall Olivia and I think it turned out pretty cute and different that a regular old advent calender. Plus we can use it from year to year. The entire project cost us under $20.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Bling! Sashay....everyone needs a little sparkle for the holidays!

If anyone is looking for a local company to support, Sashay has gorgeous products. The owners are from right here in Gilbert. My good friend Vanessa Cuevas is a consultant. You can order from the catalogue or if you are coming to watch the fight at my house she is bringing her goodies to view in real life. Pictures don't do it justice, there products are so nice. They carry clothing, sunglasses, belts, wallets, hats, purses and of course JEWELERY!!! For those of you that have not had the chance to see the clothing it is so cute and very reasonable. Everyone needs a little bling in there lives! Perfect gift for the out of town person you need to mail a presant too. Here is the link to view the products http://www.sashayjewelry.com/
Let me know if you would like to order anything!

Kristen's top 10 gift list of 2008.....All price ranges!

Love these robes!!!




Okay so I am not Oprah! Although I would love to have my own magazine cover each month with make-up, hair and wardrobe professionals. I have decided to put together my own top 10 gift list. These gift work for either a Man or a Woman and range in price.

10. Starbucks Gift Card, the way the economy is everyone is trying to cut back on luxuries...coffee without the gilt of wasting money!
9. Kai Body Buffer, this is awesome! http://www.kaifragrance.com/ I think is comes with two so you could give this to a couple.
8. The Shack written by William Young, audio book would be great for your friend that drives allot or goes to the gym.
7. Barefoot Dreams Robe http://www.barefootdreams.com/509.html A fav among celebrities and the modern mom, one of the favorite things I own!
6. A gift certificate for a mani/pedi...lets face it most men out there need this too.
5. Ulta III gift card, everyone out there uses beauty products and nothing better than buying them without using your own dinero.
4. Digital camera, I would think most of you out there own one by now but I know a few of you that are still stuck in the dark ages.
3. A coupon book made by you, can include babysitting, car wash, house cleaning, lawn work, message, breakfast in bed, romantic dinner or special activity of your choice.
2. A date night for a couple...include movie ticket, a dinner gift card, and a babysitting coupon.
1. Homemade Edible Gifts are always a yummy idea (no fruitcake) Include the recipe on a cute card in case your loved one would like to make it too.

41 Days until Christmas!!! Only 40 shopping days.....

Jessica enjoying a LARGE rice crispy treat ou tin Olivia's house. Good thing that house does not have air and heat I might never get rid of her!


This year is seems like I am in the holiday spirit allot earlier than usual. I hate to admit it but I made Chris get the tree out of the attic the day after Halloween. I said I was just going to get it out and not decorate it yet. For those of you that know me well enough you know nothing can go unfinished around here. I have completed decorating the tree, almost finished my Christmas shopping and have the gifts wrapped. You didn't think I would put a Christmas tree up without any gifts under it did you? I painted a Santa picture to hang on the wall to complete the Christmas corner by the tree. I saw it on PotteryBarn.com but the $199 price tag was a killer. It cost me under $8 and I can't really tell much of a difference.
Olivia and I decorated her play house this week. I took her to the dollar store to pick out some decor for her place. We put up garland, white lights and completed it with a "Santa stop here!" sign. Chris asked that I not decorate the front of the house yet. Apparently he was afraid of what the neighbors might think. It not like they haven't seen my fully decorated tree light though the front window. I am slowly getting out the front yard decorations each day as he is gone at work. I am just short of trimming the house with icicle lights. I can't wait to see the whole place sparkling.
The holiday baking will be put on hold until closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas or someone around here will eat it all. If anyone has any terrific holiday recipes they would like to share with me I would love it. Okay friends and family my memory board has been updated and ready for some Christmas cards and pictures.
I hope everyone has a blessed holiday season to come and is surrounded by loved ones.