Mykayla Update- Petite Powerhouse!

Google search Mykayla Skinner. Check out her gymnastics here on youtube. As of late, she's been in the Arizona Republic, front page of Gilbert Republic, LDS Church News, the New Era magazine, interviewed live on Channel 12, and becoming known as the Petite Powerhouse. She made it to the National Team! There are 13 girls on, but only 8 of them will go to the Olympics. We are so proud of her and hope her dream of being an Olympic Champ comes true!

Mother-in-law, Kym, on left and little sis-in-law a.k.a Gollygol. Our oldest son, Brayden, couldn't pronounce Mykayla when he was little, so he called her Gollygol. Not sure why, but we all started calling her that, ha. More Mykayla

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Find her Official Website here.

Mykayla Skinner

I'd like to shine a light on my sister-in-law, Mykayla Skinner. She is nothing short of amazing. At only 13 years old, she has been competing around the country at the 2010 US Covergirl Classic, 2010 Arizona Elite Qualifier, 1st ever Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup, and most recently, the 2010 VISA Championships at Hartford. She works so very hard toward her goal of being on the US National Team for Gymnastics and competing in the next Olympics and we don't doubt she'll go all the way. We're all rooting for you Gollygol!

*On a side note, I want to say thank you for being such a good lil' auntie. The boys ADORE their Gollygol and get so giddy when we drive up to your house. It's so cute how much fun they have with you.

P.S. You've inspired Brayden to take his somersault to a whole new level.

Before I met Mykayla, Jeremy warned me about the "credit card" (hand swipe up my butt crack when I bend over). Sure enough, she gave me one. It just goes to show off her playful, fun-loving spirit that I hope she always has. You can't take life too seriously, after all.

For more pics of her tricks and updates on scores, check out her website.

Hand Scrub Table

TaDa! Sassy, Classy, and Pink! I put on this display at my sister-in-law's baby shower. It was a total hit! Really didn't take too much time or money to put on.

I got the recipes online (I chose 2 to keep it simple), but to my surprise, I had to mod them quite a bit. Whatever recipes you choose, make sure you try them ahead of time! I used baby oil instead of olive oil because, well, it just smells better. (and if you're doing this for a baby shower, what could be more appropriate?) I tried my recipes with olive oil and not only was it expensive, it STUNK! Even after I added my essential oil, it still had that lingering, bitter smell. So stick with baby oil, and I promise you'll be pleased. Once I got the recipes just right, I printed them out, cut the edges with fancy scissors, and glued to some scrapbook & construction paper. Don't forget to add sass! I also added a piece of cardboard to the back to keep em' sturdy since I displayed them on plate stands.


*I used whatever glass dishes I had laying around and borrowed the rest.
*Tied coordinating ribbons wherever I possibly could (Can you tell I love ribbon?? What crafty person doesn't?)
*Made labels for each ingredient. (I taped them on last)
*provided about 60+, 4 oz plastic GLAD containers with lids. You can buy a pack of 8 at Walmart for $3 and some change. Don't forget spoons for mixing!

*Included white sticky labels and black permanent markers so everyone could mark their own.
*Each glass had it's own proper measuring spoon according to the recipe. I.e., Tablespoon in Oatmeal, 1/2 teaspoon in cinnamon.
*Note the solid light pink, plastic tablecloth in top picture under the polka dotted, fabric one. SO easy for cleanup! Wadd and dump.
*Not in the picture: I hung a sign on the wall that said, "One per person please" just to make there are enough for all who wants one. In past experience, let's just say, people can get hand-scrub-happy.

Enjoy!

P.S. Here are the recipes I came up with...
(These are small-portion recipes for parties. Neither should be used on your face)
VANILLA CINNAMON SUGAR SCRUB:
2 Tbs Sea Salt
2 Tbs Brown Sugar
1-2 Tbs Baby Oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

TANGERINE BODY BREAKFAST:
2 Tbs Brown Sugar
2 Tbs Oatmeal (ground up in food processor)
1-2 Tbs Baby Oil
3 drops Tangerine essential oil

SASSY, yet SAVVY wedding decor ideas

These pics are from my sister, Chandelle's wedding last month. My other sister, Chalice, gathered ideas and got all the stuff to make it happen...with the help of 2 more sisters, Chelsea and Lacey, they all made it look fabulous!(I just helped decorate and put it together - the best part :) Great ideas girls!

Her colors were black, red, and white- so anything and everything over the course of a few months, she picked up and collected. This is a simple $20 Ramada we spruced up with some sheer fabric from SAS. The inside is lined with white outdoor lights (you can't tell) and the little red tables she got at IKEA for $6 (i think). She made all the throw pillows, and other furniture items she brought from her house. Pictures of the bride & groom with other odds and ends helped to make it feel like a cozy nook. The pictures really don't do justice.


A table she brought from home, red table runner cloth, small water fountain, digital picture frame, long rectangle candle with multiple wicks, and of course, a black & red tissue box (she thinks of everything). The wedding was at night, so these things really stood out beautifully.

She bought this chair at a yard sale and refinished it with black satin fabric. She made a sexy lookin' pillow with rhinestones to sass it off. Looks fab!

I love this idea. She brought her over-sized brown leather ottoman from home, sewed a simple, but beautiful two piece fabric cover and threw it over the top. Then added some more throw pillows and there you have it! A romantic seating area. This was under another ramada decorated with the same sheer fabric and white lights. It looked stunning lit up in the dark. (I would have taken a picture, but my suck-at-life camera takes terrible pics at night.)

The bride lucked out: her sister-in-law to be is a pastry chef, so she made her cake (for free i think). Surrounding the cake, there are over-sized wine glasses and assorted glass dishes filled with various red, black, and white candy. She borrowed glass dishes and vases from family and friends, as well as bought some super cheap at Savers. Included are small, clear candy bags and little silver scoopers to make your own candy bag- just like the candy store at the mall! (only better :) What a fun and classy way to display a dessert table.

It's not impossible to plan a beautiful, inexpensive wedding.

Diaper Cake!

I'm putting on a baby shower for my sister-in-law this Friday and made this wonderful creation. I live with 4 boys, so I'm always surrounded with blues and browns, and other neutral earthy colors. I rarely see anything pink. Let me just say I had a blast creating with different shades of pink and girly fabrics. My fave is hot pink! So I used it as much as possible :) without dismissing her nursery themed colors.

Inside the bottom and middle layers is a large bottle of baby lotion and inside the top layer is a 5 oz baby bottle. It took about 60 diapers with a rubberband around each one, lots of ribbon, various baby items (I chose a pacifier, pacifier clip, teething ring, baby rattle, and rubber duck) and fake flowers to add extra sass. I also made a matching baby blanket, but was too big to attach to the cake, so I'll just present it next to it. I forgot to snap a pic of that, so I'll post later. I covered a large plate with some fabric and violla! It's an adorable diaper cake!

I followed these easy directions if you want to make one:
http://www.plan-the-perfect-baby-shower.com/diaper-cake.html
(Sorry, the link insert wouldn't work)

Jeremy's Surprise Party

For over a month now, I have been planning a surprise birthday party for Jeremy. It all came together on Saturday with the help of friends and family. I couldn't have done it without them, once again. Jeremy's dad and brother-in-law took him out to the shooting range for a couple hours, went to some stores and kept him occupied until 5:00pm. Well, it actually turned out to be 6:00 when he finally showed up, but I blame my mother-in-law for that. He walked in the door and all the lights were off. Everyone was bent down in the kitchen behind the counter. The lights went on and SURPRISE! I was so nervous he would find out and he would 'act' surprised, but nope, he was really surprised! - I could tell, I'm his wife. It was really great to see friends and family all come together for this occasion and I know he really enjoyed it. I wanted to make him feel special and thanks to everyone (except Kyle), he did.

Since Jeremy has a sugar intolerance, instead of making a cake, I made (well actually, my sister Chelsea made most of it) a large sugar-free oatmeal raisin cookie with 26 candles. Chelsea didn't see the applesauce sitting on the counter to add in for moisture, so it was pretty dry. It tasted like a dried out powerbar. "It's not bad, but it's not good either" is how my father-in-law described it. HA! Don't worry, Chalice make chocolate cupcakes for everyone else who has normal taste buds. Thanks to Alyne & Darren, they were all frosted with sprinkles and oreos.

So there you have it...a successful surprise party and no pictures to show for it :(
(Unfortunately, I became so focused on making sure everything went according to plan that I forgot to bust out the camera. It wasn't until the candles on the large dry cookie were burning in front of Jeremy's face, that I realized, "hey, isn't this a kodak moment!?" Crap!) I can't believe an event this monumental occurred and I didn't get one picture. So if any of you have any...please send!

My favorite part: (besides the surprise part, of course) was when....well, let me back up...everyone got a necklace at the beginning of the party. If you were caught saying 'Jeremy' your beads were taken away and whoever had the most at the end received a prize. Lets just say there were some very clever and conniving ways to get someones necklace. ..the candles were lit and everyone began to sing loudly, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHday to j.... (no one said his name. Everyone just looked around the room at everyone else waiting on edge to catch someone uttering the words so they could win!) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!
It was funny. You shoulda been there.

Glad you had a great birthday Jeremy!! I love you.

PS. That cookie was so dry, I'm surprised the birthday candles didn't catch it on fire.

Edit... Thank you Christi for sending a pic!