Hall Bathroom Remodel!!

What do you think? Any suggestions? I want to paint the walls, but I'm not sure what color yet. My kids want it to be a bright bathroom. I'm open for suggestions.

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Here is a few pictures of the redo of my hall bathroom. I wish I could find a picture of what it looked like before. My computer crashed. So what the cabinet is made out of is oak. I then just painted the cabinet black. I also added a black frame on the builders mirror. It looks so custom.

I added the simple silver knobs to the cabinet. I think it makes a huge difference. What do you think? You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

This pictures shows how I framed the builders mirror. I had lots of scrap trim from when we remodeled our house. I love the results. It changes the whole look of the bathroom.
I love the progress I have made on it so far. I have to take pictures of the cute little towel rack i made. It has three hooks on it and the kids have to hang there towel on it each time the use it. They only get that one towel a week. It has been working so far. They each have a different color so there is no confusion.

Banana Bread Delight

McKayla made Banana Bread for the first time. She got the recipe book out and choose the recipe. She made this all by herself. It turned out amazing. I think she surprised herself. She even shared some the the Varsity Scouts later that evening. Jake H. loved it so much that he had seconds.

I think her bread turned out almost better than mine does.. Great Job!!

McKayla's Birthday Haircut!!!

Yes I know the pictures are out of order... So start at the bottom and move up.. It was fun to watch her get her hair done. Buff did an amazing job as usual.. McKayla loved her hair and felt like a beauty queen. Thanks Buff your the best...

Young Womens 12th Birthday Welcome!!!

McKayla is finally going to be in the Young Women's Program. She is so excited. They came and decorated her windows on her birthday. Who can believe that she is already 12!! Does she look happy or what?

In-n-Out Birthday Surprise Lunch Party!!

McKayla's 12th Birthday Party! My Friend planned this surprise party for her. I am so grateful to have people like this in my life. You know who you are!!! Love ya!

She love going to In n Out, and the Girls that came with her. They were all so sweet to her. She loved all the gifts they gave her. They all knew the perfect gifts to give. She love it! Thanks girls for being a part of her birthday.

Happy Birthday Fondant Cake!!

Here is McKayla's Birthday Cake. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted this year and her reply was I hate frosting. So my next question was well there is Cheesecake? No I don't like that either. She hates to much sugar. So I thought how about a Fondant Cake. Well to my surprise I learned alot.... I have never made a cake like this until now. I asked a few people if they had made them and only 2 people had done it. So I googled as I usually do.



Here I am with a great big smile on my face! It was so fun to make this with McKayla. She loved it even thought it was far from perfect. We both learned a lot about fondant. Next time we make one it will be much prettier..


Here is McKayla proudly holding her cake that she loved to pieces... Happy Birthday Kayla.

Merry Christmas

2009 Family Christmas Tree

Here is our Tall and Skinny Tree. Yes it is real. We love it.

Here is the place where Santa gets to leave little goodies in our stockings. I'm hoping for something good this year, and I'm not talking about coal...

Close up of the top of the Tree~
Here it is!!! Our 2009 family Christmas Tree. This is a real tree from the forest up in Richfield. It smells great and is every cheerful at night when the lights are dimmed down. Only 16 days of shopping left til Christmas. I better get busy..Here is our Child Tree. The tree is decorated with all the ornaments that the kids have made in school. This year McKayla put this together all by herself! It turned out very cute..

Carmeled Apples

McKayla has been wanting to make Carmel Apples. Here is the finished product. She had so much fun making them. She learned that its not so easy to cover the apple with Carmel. After she did that she dipped them in White Chocolate and then sprinkled some Brown Sugar and Cinnamon on them. They were yummy!!! You did great McKayla!

McKayla wanted to make Carmel Apples. She is growing up so fast. She was able to make these and they came out looking amazing. They tasted awesome too..

Here they have been dipped in the carmal. Then next they were drizzled with white chocolate and cinnamon and sugar.. The are so yummy!


This is the final product and She was very proud of herself for making these. It was a little challenging becuse I was making my jelly at the same time, but nice to be able to cook together.

Pomegranate Jelly Belly

I can finally say that I made jelly now!!! Our neighbor gave us a bag full of Pomegranates about a week ago. I had them sitting on the kitchen table, then on top of the washer, then on the bench. Well, after looking at them for a week and wondering what in the world I would finally do with them. Eat them, give them to my mother-in-law, or throw them away after letting them sit around to long. I finally decided to give making one of my favorite jellies a try. I bought the jars, a nifty little funnel, and some Certo Pectin and off to the kitchen it was. After conferring with my neighbor Laurie, I decided to do the inverted process. I am here to say that it looks like it turned out okay. I am in the process of making fresh bread right now so I can see how well the jelly tastes. I will let you know how it all turns out.

Here are the final pictures of my Beautiful Jelly! I can now say that it turned out awesome. I have shared some with friends and they all loved it. I can’t wait to make more. You can enjoy this on fresh bread with real butter and then add the jelly! It has an amazing taste.

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

I just want to say recipe is from Ourbestbites.com They have amazing recipes and very easy to make. All the things I have tried are delicious...

Are you ready for a serious confession?

I don't like pumpkin pie that much.

That may come as a surprise since I'm obsessed with things like this and this and this. Also a surprise when considering that this time of year, I spend about 85% of my available brain power trying to discover new ways to incorporate pumpkin flavor into everyday foods. See, while there's something about mushy orange pie that kick starts my gag reflex, there's also something entirely intoxicating about the combination of warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, all strung together with sweet brown sugar and delicate pumpkin in just about anything else. So the other day when my 4 year old and I were looking for a pre-bedtime treat, I reached in to grab the vanilla ice cream and knocked my frozen pumpkin puree off the shelf. One look at my kiddo and his cute little mouth covered in graham cracker crumbs and I knew exactly what we were about to create. That was a week ago. We've had these shakes about 6 times since. So yeah, just about every day. Go ahead, call the diet police. I dare you.


Pumpkin Pie Milkshake
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1/3 C pumpkin, canned or homemade
1/4 - 1/2 C milk
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1/16 t cloves (just use a 1/8 t measure and fill it half way, or do a pinch)
1/16 t nutmeg
2 T brown sugar
2 C vanilla ice cream
1-2 graham crackers

Pop everything but graham crackers in a blender. Start with 1/4 C milk and then slowly add more if needed to make the blender process it all. I used somewhere between 1/4-1/2 C.


A note about blenders: Here's the problem with making thick, diner style milkshakes at home: A lot of times you have to add so much milk to the thing to get the blender to process that it turns into a milk-slushie instead. Or you have to blend and plunge, blend and plunge, etc. You know the drill, right? So if you have any trouble with your blender, I would recommend blending everything but the ice cream first and then mashing it into the ice cream by hand (well, with a hand. Holding a fork or spoon :) If your scooped ice cream sits out at room temp while you measure the other things and get them all ready, then by the time you mash it all together it should be a good consistency.

Sprinkle with crushed graham cracker crumbs before serving. It reminds me of DQ's Pumkin Pie Blizzard!


YUM! I could seriously have this for every meal. When I made this shake, I actually took the time and made fresh homemade pumpkin, instead of canned. I have tried it both ways. Its really good with fresh, but very tastey with canned also.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did..