Jolly Holiday Lights

I had planned on taking the kids to the Jolly Holiday Lights show in Des Moines. We had time after the New Years event, so I decided we would take them. It completed a wonderful day and I was so moved, because the car in front of us decided they would pay for the next four cars that followed them, which included us.  Pay it forward, we ended up giving them the $20 we were going to use anyway to pay for the four cars after them.

I love the message of Jolly Holiday Lights.  The money goes to the Make-a-Wish foundation, which grants the wishes of children living with terminal illnesses.  Businesses throughout Iowa donate money and sponsor a holiday lights display.  Before we went we bought hot chocolate and it was the perfect topping to our drive through the lights.  The kids were going crazy looking out of both windows at the same time.

Working at the hospital I get to know many kids who routinely come for some kind of procedure or are just ill and end up being admitted.  I remember this one little girl from when I worked in the surgery department.  She came in about once a month for surgery on her brain tumor.  She would come in with her mom and grandpa.  They were so close, he would tell me about their fishing trips, how she would be sitting out in the garage with him when he worked on the tractor, etc.  He would get so emotional, because he knew the procedures would only extend her life briefly.  The girl was only three years old and she was a doll.  The steroids they gave her made her head so swollen that she couldn't walk because it was so heavy.  She didn't talk very much, but I was always talking to her.  She tried to hide her smiles when we goofed on her grandpa.  I remember they would stay in the Ronald McDonald house for weeks at a time when she came to the hospital.  Every other day her mother and grandpa would come visit when she was in chemotherapy.  We would have lunch together and on Valentine's Day she brought us all Valentines.  It was like they bought everything at Walgreen's to bring to us.  She passed away when she was four.

Anyway, the point of this story is that the Make-a-Wish foundation granted her one wish, which was to go to Disney World with her family.  I remember when she brought pictures of her, sitting in her stroller, surrounded by all of the princesses.  They dressed her up like Cinderella, her favorite.  There were pictures of her swimming with dolphins and sipping tea with Alice in Wonderland.  I had never seen her look so happy, I cried looking through them.  The foundation does wonderful work, these kids look so happy, their dreams are coming true.

I highly recommend the light show, the kids had a blast.

 

 For more information on the Jolly Holiday Lights click here!

Happy New Year 2013

A new year means a new start.  Although, I still have another year and a half of school, so my life will pretty much be the same as 2012, I still have my resolutions.  This year I plan on learning Spanish!  I have been with my husband for 10 years and have yet to have an actual conversation with a few of his relatives.  Also, we plan on traveling to Ecuador in the future, and I would like to be able to talk to his family when we there. 

Faith has a picture with every princess now!

I wanted to take the kids somewhere fun for New Years Eve, and ImaginEVE was the place.  The kids had a blast going on the inflatable rides and seeing the fun characters.  Plus, they were on the news, and that's always pretty cool!  We went with my sister-in-law and her family.  I love anytime the kids can spend with their cousins.  Charlie is usually pretty shy, and he really let loose with his cousins, it was awesome.

L to R (Brandon, Logan, Faith and Charlie)  Snow cone kids!

Faith and Brandon with the Channel 13 meteorologist who interviewed them!

Kids and some cool characters.  I should have gotten a picture with Batman, darn it!

Halloween Hand Prints!

We finally made our annual Halloween foot and hand prints!  Look at the difference in Charlie's tiny footprint from last year to this year!  We added more details to the picture this year, note the super scary witch in the moon!  I could barely fit both of their hands and feet on the page!  Anyway, enjoy our creepy cute pictures!  They were a fun and sentimental treat for our family and friends!

2011

2012

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

From the Triana-Moller family!

Keep it Safe!

Day of the Dead Pottery

    I absolutely love Day of the Dead skulls.  They are so colorful and the representation is beautiful.  If you don't know, the skulls are usually depicted with flowers and bright color, because people decorate the graves of loved ones with those things to attract the spirits.  The flowers represent happiness and the skull represents the loved ones who have passed on.
    Since Halloween is upon us, as is the Day of the Dead, I wanted to make something to represent both holidays.  I painted bright colors and flowers on each one and I really love how they turned out.  The only problem?  All the plants I have ever had usually ends up muertes.    Oh well, maybe I will pack them with candy!

Enjoy these pictures:

And a lil Charlie to brighten up this post even more!

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter, I know I did.  We started our day off with a wonderful Easter service at our church, Windsor Heights Lutheran Church.  We then had an Easter breakfast with church friends.  My husband had a soccer game, which he unfortunately lost, but I love watching him play, so it was worth it.  We ended with family and friends over to my mother's house for a HUGE Easter dinner and egg hunt for my kids.  The adults had a blast helping the kids with the eggs.  Finally, my husband and I are watching one of my favorite movies, Easy A.  I laugh every time I watch it.

My hubby the grill master!

I thought this bag would fit her outfit.  Her egg hunting bag.

My mom has had these for a long time, I used to look at them for hours when I was younger.

A very Trader Joe's Easter.

These are pictures of flowers in my mother's garden.

Big sissy helping her brother find eggs.

I Forgot to Show You!

I completely forgot to post the Valentine's Day dessert my daughter and I made!  Better late then never!

We simply made strawberry cakes with vanilla icing that we food colored pink.  I cut the strawberries to look like hearts, let Faith place them and ta da!  Valentine's Cakes!!!

Valentine's Day Ideas!

One of my favorite holidays is Valentine's Day!  I know some people think it was a holiday invented by Hallmark to make more money, but I think it's wonderful, maybe it's because my favorite color is pink and around this holiday there are pink and red things all over stores.  I don't know, but I do know is people have some really great ideas all over the Internet for the holiday.  There was so much I wanted to grab a bunch of my favorite ideas and put them together.

Valentine's Tasty Goodies

                             

I can't wait to make these for my kids V-Day morning

More4Kids

This looks so great. Neat idea for cupcakes, putting frosting inside!!!

Glorious Treats

So easy to make these Cakester Oreo heart cookies

Bakerella

Now, I am not the biggest Smarties person, but these actually look amazing!

Bubbly Nature Creations

                                  

I like getting the kids valentines balloons and I think these would make great weights for them.

JesseKate Designs

Another great breakfast idea for the family in the morning.

Poppies at Play

What a great idea for a party!  The tag says, "The best kind of Valentine's Crush is the kind you drink."  This website has a way for you to upload a photo and add the speech quotes!  Plus, these would also make a great card for kids.

Design Aglow

                          

Another great breakfast idea.  The website doesn't have directions, but I don't think you really need them, just like cooking regular bacon just twisted.  However, I posted the site to give the kudos.

The Paper Mama

There are a lot of possibilities for this.  The website says how to make the cake lollipops and the candies inside the cup are the candy hearts, usually they're spicy!

Parents Magazine

Valentine's Cards

These are adorable!  What a great idea!

Bubbly Nature Creations

I think this bag is so lovely.  This website has the free printable, you can print on a bag or turn it into a card.

Twig & Thistle

This is so great, the head is a lollipop.  I think I would have the card say something about being a love bug. 

Skip to my Lou

Cute glow stick cards.  Fun alternative since the kids will be getting a bunch of candy treats already.

The Teacher Wife

I like these cards because the leaf on the stem makes a cute place to put the name of the recipient.

Poppies at Play

Both the Pop Rocks and the jungle animals are from these same website, same page.  I really loved these because they are really professional looking, but so easy!

Fiskars

I am definitely making this for family members!

Rosy Posy

This is sweet, but I think instead of one piece of gum, I think I would put in one of the small packs of gum, the ones that have 5 sticks in it.

Disney Family Fun

Valentine's Crafts

               

These will be so fun to make!

Holiday Crafts and Creations

These are so sweet.  You could make one for each family member.

The Anderson Crew

These look fun and easy!

Babble

These are a lot like the tissue paper jars we made earlier this year!  However, they use Mod Podge!

Charlotte's Fancy

I love a good wreath for the front door!

Little Birdie Secrets

These are like classic Valentines crafts.

Gingerbread Snowflakes

I remember making these when I was younger, really great idea!

Mom on Timeout

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If you don't see something you think I have to have on here, please feel free to comment your favorite Valentine's Day treat, card idea or craft!