Design On A Dime

Or no money at all! Just use your imagination and you too can change your boring, drab rooms into artistic creations. For your viewing pleasure, let's take a look at this beautiful "handpainted" boutique headboard, courtesy of Kayla, our in-house designer. Truly one of a kind!



Here' a closer look. We wouldn't want you to miss out on the intricate detail!



But don't stop there- adding some "antiquing" on the posts adds charm and gives it just the right touch. Just ask Evan, Kayla's apprentice and up-and-coming local artist. He created and perfected this never-before-seen technique. Just marvelous!



Now, to perk up those washed-out walls, Kayla designed a mural of flowers. Complete with a delicate little butterfly. Can't you just smell the spring breeze?



And instead of a switch plate cover, why not embellish around the cover? This cuts costs and the needless wasting of the intact cover, while adding a custom look.



I hope you enjoyed this presentation of Kayla's latest line- "Floral Fantasy." You can find more of her work and that of her apprentice at "Nook & Cranny," a darling little shop on the corner of Pranks and Shenanigans, just past the Haughton homestead. ;)

Cookin' with Kayla

Kayla is such a little helper and LOVES to help with anything around the house. I kid you not, this child begs to help vacuum and do the dishes. Weird, I know! She is her father's daughter. ;) She loves cooking with me, especially since she gets to wear her cute little apron! So last week when we had to make a cake for the Cub Scouts Blue and Gold Dinner (Ryan and I are pack leaders for the Bears and Wolves) she of course offered her expertise! We opted to make a yellow cake from scratch with a cream cheese frosting. And since the theme for the night was patriotic, we used strawberries and blueberries for our very own USA flag. Is your mouth watering yet? Mmmm, yummy!

Here's Kayla mixing our secret ingredients. Which aren't really secret since it's from my Betty Crocker cookbook.



Making sure it tastes just right!



The finished product! I found the frosting recipe on this awesome website- here's the link
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cream-Cheese-Frosting-II-2/Detail.aspx?src=etaf
Only I altered it a bit. I used half the cream cheese and butter and used 1 1/2 tsp vanilla for a richer taste. It made the perfect amount. Unless you start sampling that is!



Anyway, we're off to make some cookies. After I clean up my horribly dirty kitchen. Shh, don't tell Ryan. :) Let me know if you have any great recipes to share!

Santa Monica Beach

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted! Wow, it has been crazy around here- but a month?! Really? ;)

I'll do my best to give you a little update of the last month or so. Ryan's hospital had a fire, my sis and her kiddos left about 3 weeks ago, we continued to catch every sick bug imaginable after that, and started getting better just in time for our friends to come visit us!! Ryan's best friend growing up and his wife (who just happens to be my old roommate and best friend ever!) came from Utah to visit us with their three cute kids. Kayla and Evan just LOVED playing with Carli and Jenna. Poor Evan was a little outnumbered but he didn't mind the endless stream of tea parties, playing dress-up, my little ponies, necklaces, the list goes on! Right after their arrival we took a trip to Santa Monica for some much-needed rest and relaxation! Well, with 6 kids total I'm not sure how much of it was rest but the weather cooperated for us and it was a wonderful day soaking in the California sun!!

More pics to come of their visit, plus some past due pics of my sister's visit!



Alicia just posted some pics of her trip out here so I'm going to cheat and use her post since we have all the same shots of the kids. Her blog address is:
http://mouserclan.blogspot.com/2009/02/crazy-cousins.html
I'll try to post some others soon though. It's hard playing catch-up!

Here's a few more pictures of the Nelson visit. The weather was nice so Aud and I took all the kids for a trip to the park near my house. Evan segregated himself from the girls and decided to play by himself until a little boy his age showed up. He followed that poor kid everywhere! Then this strange teenager arrived and decided to play Spiderman. Aud and I stared in surprise as he hopped on the pole supporting the playground shade/awning (whatever you call it!), climbed up it, and settled down for a nice rest in his new "hammock". I was so shocked that he would climb up there that I forgot to snap a picture of our Spidey-man. Where's Peter Parker when you need him??!

It was great to catch up with such good friends that we hadn't seen for far too long! We had so much fun with them and were sad to see them go. Thanks for sharing an awesome week with us!

Taggies and More!

Well, Alicia's visiting me and I'm sooo excited she's here! But there has been so much sickness going around that we haven't really been able to do anything! I think that the bug has been through EVERY single person in the house now so maybe we're in the clear! (Keeping my fingers crossed). But we did have time for one quick project I wanted to share. These are called tag blankets and babies love to play with them (or chew on them really!) They're so cute and so much fun to make. Quick too!

Here's the one I made for Lauren:

Alicia has pics of the one she made for Braxton on her blog- http://www.mouserclan.blogspot.com/

And here's a few pics for Grandma Haughton of the kids with their new jammies. They loved them!

I'll post pics soon of all the craziness going on here with 6 cousins! We just haven't even had time to take any pictures yet! But I'll put some on soon! I'm off to referee the madness!!

Tutu Cute!

My friend Elaine, who is awesome and super creative, has the cutest designs. She had Kayla and Lauren model this tutu for her store and I just had to post the pictures. You can check out her blog's store at http://www.pemberleycourt.blogspot.com/

So Embarrassing...........

Okay, I pretty much NEVER remember any embarrassing moments. Any time you have the question asked, "What is your MOST embarrassing moment?" I can never think of a single one, let alone a story so embarrassing that it would top all other humiliating experiences I've ever had. I can remember other people's embarrassing moments- especially my sisters! Haha! But not mine. Why is that? Hmmm. There's probably some psychiatric reason- like I'm blocking them from my memory because they're too painful to relive. ;) Whatever the case, I'm sharing this story to make up for my lack of memory.

Well, a few days ago I received a picture message on my phone from my friend Rachel. The picture was of her adorable baby and not thinking too much of it, I zapped back a text of how cute he was and how he looked a lot like her husband Steve. Except there was one problem. I have TWO friends with the name Rachel. And the Rachel who actually sent the picture has a beautiful little girl. Yep. You read that right. GIRL. And don't forget I added insult to injury by saying that she looked like her husband Steve!!

I would've never known the error of my ways if Ryan didn't work with both husbands. Ryan starts telling me by saying, "So you want to hear something funny?" And he has this little twinkle in his eye so I know he's up to something. I'm sure they all had a laugh at my expense. And I deserved it! That's almost as bad as asking someone if they're pregnant when they're not. There's no backpedaling on that one. In my defense, the baby was wearing white and had a hood on so I'm not completely daft. Oh well, I'm sure I will get over the embarrassment. I just hope I didn't scar the kid for life. Or her mother!! Let's just say tomorrow I'll be calling her with a recipe for humble pie......Ah, good thing she has a sense of humor, right?!

I Miss My Sisters!!!!!!

And my parents! And my inlaws!
I came across this picture way back on my sister's blog and had to post it. It's from July '07 and the last time all of us were together.

Sad! Over a year and a half! All of us flew home for Vanessa's wedding (can't remember why she's not in this pic- wedding details I'm sure!) and haven't been together since. And that's way too long!

I used to think that living near family would be "okay" but I'd be fine living further away as long as we could visit. Not now!! I would love it if we all lived close enough to spend holidays and birthdays together. Especially now that we have kids. It's so fun to get all the cousins together- even if it is crazy sometimes!! If only we didn't all have to grow up and move away. I'm going to be so sad when my kids leave the house. Today I was thinking about how big Kayla's getting and that before I know it she'll be grown and gone and I just wish she could stay little forever! I don't know how Moms do it!

Speaking of Kayla, while I was browsing photos I found this pic of her from when we lived in Washington. Isn't she such a doll?! It doesn't seem that long ago but she looks so young! I posted a few more of that hiking trip just for fun. Man, we need to get out more! :)

I want to treasure these days when my kids actually want my attention and beg me to spend time with them. Unlike high school when you beg them to spend a day with the family! But I will love every phase of my children's lives. Especially those big puppy eyes. How can one resist?!