The day to day life...and loving it!

2012-02-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

Have you ever cheered, yelled, or booed at a golf tournament? I know, most of you just rolled your eyes and said "have I ever been to a golf tournament? No. Do I ever want to go to a golf tournament? No." But my response is "that's because you've never cheered, yelled, or been able to boo at one."

See, for Christmas I gave Adam 12 preplanned and mostly prepaid date nights in a box. Inside of each month is a date with a note of explanation and sometimes gift cards etc.

For the month of February, our date was tickets to the Waste Management Golf Tournament. ESPN says they should call it the Wasted Golf Tournament and that's because there was a whole lot of Sodom and Gomorrah going on but we had fun nevertheless. This tournament doesn't attract your typical golf crowd. Why? Because you are allowed to be "rowdy". It turns golf into a typical sporting event and attracts a much more wild and large crowd (175,000 peeps to be exact). We had a blast, sitting on grand stands, doing the wave, watching caddy races, trying to catch T-shirts, golf balls, towels etc. that were being thrown into the crowd etc. Just like every other sporting event people enjoy going to. It was a lot of fun and the course was beautiful along with the 75 degree and blue sky weather. Nothing better than sunburns and capris in February.

Outside of some fun dates, we've also had fun children lately. Zach smiles like crazy and has even started to giggle a little bit and I can't get enough of it. He loves the bath and Mariah loves his "froggy towel". I only wish Adam would have said I was in the shot :(

He has also gotten big enough for the bumbo but doesn't seem to love it like Mariah did quite yet. I'm hoping that changes because with her it was a LIFE SAVER!

His Winnie the Pooh pajamas are my favorite.

Mariah's hair is getting longer and longer so I have tried to get creative in my styles. If I could get her to sit still, it may be a little easier but she is 2.

So what do you do when it gets longer...Well all of the cousins her age (except for baldy but that's another story JK) have been getting hair cuts so I decided we should follow. It was terribly uneven and she had quite the rats tail in the back so it was probably time. I took her to a kids place that was totally adorable. However, after seeing how easy it looked and how the hair looks basically the same as it did before, I wish I would have saved my money and done it myself.

I also stole an idea from a friend who stole it from Pinterest. We put glow sticks in the bath and she loved it. Worth the $1 purchase fo' shizle.

Lastly, at playgroup we celebrated Valentines Day. I got mother of the year for decorating a box for all of the Valentine's to go in. Adam had never heard of it and neither had anyone at playgroup. They said I made them all look bad ;) I thought that's what everyone just did. Growing up I think every kid in the neighborhood had a box decorated. It was a fun FHE activity too. The only bad part is now we have candy coming out our ears tempting the little and big girl of the house.

The simple pleasures of life fill our days but we are enjoying the journey.

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2012-02-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

When I was a teenager, my friends and I loved going to/watching "beauty" pageants. I remember one pageant in particular at the local high school. During the talent portion of the show, the contestant got up on stage dressed in a scarecrow costume and sang "If I Only Had a Talent" (to the tune of Wizard of Oz)! If you know anything about pageants, you would know that she didn't win. We laughed the entire way home that she would have even thought of entering with that...
Here I am, years later remembering this particular song. Why, because I married into the Cuppett family. You see, I use to think I was good at math. After all, it was my degree. But no worries, my husband can multiply faster than me. He also has taught me much about sewing, canning, cooking, painting etc. Not to mention his expertise in cars (which is a huge con in our relationship because he keeps fixing my car when I would rather just send it to the dump), home repairs, computers, and a nearly photographic memory when I thought I was smart. Pretty much the only thing I can beat him in on a consistent basis is Dr. Mario, a game of Nertz, or a long run (although there is an occasional moment of glory in other things too). Needless to say, my self esteem could suffer if I thought about it too hard. And then there is his mother. Lucky me, I got to marry the son of someone who was Super Mom. Lovely expectation to live up to huh? She decorates cakes, cooks, bakes, gardens, made her children their wedding dresses, scrapbook, and is a food storage guru. All this after having 6 kids and keeping a tidy house.
Now before you feel sorry for me, I've actually figured out how to use this to my advantage. You see, even before I got married, I had this awesome idea that when I blessed my children, I wanted to make their outfits from my wedding dress. One . major . problem . "If I Only Had [the] Talent". It could cost me hundreds to pay someone to do the labor and I'm not taking the risk of destroying my dress with my novice skills... Then I met my mother-in-law and whoosh! Problem Solved. Nancy has taken my dress and made adorable outfits. I had to take Zach to get his picture taken in such a sentimental outfit and they turned out adorable! I had to think to myself how lucky I am for Nancy for making the dresses which saved me having to develop a new talent or fork over the money to someone else. I think it's a win-win situation. Rather than be intimidated, I totally scored to have family to do all the hard work for me. It opens up a lot of time for me to read good books like the Hunger Games.

Well, now that I have these 2 adorable outfits for my children, I have to display and preserve them somehow. I decided that I wanted to have them framed in shadow boxes...that is until I went to the craft store and found out to have them custom framed would cost me between $650 and $800! But no worries, they are so gracious as to say that there are frequently 50% off coupons. Not on your life! $400 is slightly out of budget. The outfits can just sit in a cedar chest thank you! Wait a minute! Remember the talented (and somewhat cocky) husband I married? Remember how he knows how to do anything (except Dr. Mario)? I'll just put him to work :) That's right, Adam made the shadow boxes for me and they turned out wonderful. He even carved the wood to make it look like crown molding. I wont tell you how much the materials cost because you know how people just don't talk about money (it's not tactful), but I will say, it was a heck of a deal compared to that $800 sticker price. Oh, and so you don't think I'm a total mooch, I did help in the process. I found the cute little hangers and I also bought the velvet with my 50% off coupon, cut it to size, and glued it onto the back. Aren't I talented? I should have entered that pageant in high school. I
would have won.

"Good is the Enemy of Greatness" Jim Collins

The day to day life...and loving it!

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