I have a confession...

I have watched "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility" more than I will admit to and I just can't get enough! 

And the books! I am a closet Jane Austen fanatic!

Did you see "Austenland"?

My next craft project is to make a tote bag exactly like this :)

 

Long live the 80s!

Gotta love the 80s! :)

1993

It's hard to believe it's been 20 years...

I love the 90s! 

focusing on what matters

 

via Pinterest

This school year has been a learning experience. Working full time has been great but at the same time trying to juggle the kids and their schedules + working full time has been crazy. After a lot of thought, I made the decision to go back to working 4-5 hours a day. I'm leaving the front office and going back to being a playground aide at the school, a job that I really love and miss. I'm going back to having a little more balance in my life and I'm extremely grateful that I have a choice. I'm choosing to focus on my family for now...they are what matter most :)

 

another new chapter

We got back Sunday from a 3 week vacation :) We had the most awesome time! I took so many pictures. I just need a few days to get through them.
I'm entering yet another new chapter in my life this year. I'm now working full time at the school as the lunch coordinator/supply clerk. Oh boy...just when I think life couldn't get crazier, it just did :) The last time I was working full time, B was just a baby. It's been a while and it's going to take some time for me and our family to adjust...

my week

This week has been spent taking care of sick kids and a child with a sprained ankle on crutches. Everyone is better and life is good. We spent last weekend hanging out with Matt, Alisha and their kids. We went to the Easter pageant, the kids swam, the boys golfed and us girls hit the ribbon store :) It was so fun to see them and our kids just loved spending time with their cousins. It's awesome having people come and visit us!
Working at the school makes me happy. Evelyn, Gaia, Brenda and I all get along so well and we have a blast. We were joking around about being "cool aides" and then it was "Kool-Aids". Brenda made the shirts for us, awesome! 

 

On Monday, I was talking to a 2nd grader named Olivia at lunch. I was asking her about her weekend and she said, "Hey! I'll ask my mom and see if you can come over and watch me fly my kite. I can make you some lemonade, too!"

How precious!!!! :)

I {heart} the '90s!!

A friend on Facebook posted this link
48 pictures that perfectly capture the '90s
Awesome, right?!
 The '90s were good times! After looking at those pictures, this one came to mind.
Me and my roommates our freshman year circa 1993. You can't see but I had black Doc Martin boots to go with this look...

 and this?! This is just one hot mess... ;)

a Smashing good time

 I am so loving the Smash book! It's all about throwing stuff in and just having fun. I bought Paige the pink one (I think it's called Pretty) and we've been having a blast together.

 I have a box of keepsakes and random things and now I have a place for them

I apologize for that the pics are not right side up...I don't know why they aren't cooperating and I'm too lazy to fix it :)

So is anyone else Smashing?! I'd love to hear about it :)

picture day

I enjoy doing favorite things scrapbook pages. I try really hard to do at least one a year for each kid...it's fun to see how much they change from year to year. Notice I said "try" :)

 Today was picture day at school. It was so fun to see the kids all dressed up and looking so cute. Since I work at the school, I got to join in on picture day as well. They took a group picture of all the teachers and staff. Heston's teacher, Mrs. M, is 6 feet tall. Her and I were the tallest of the group so of course we swapped stories about being "the tall girl".

I remember in 2nd grade, I was the tallest in my class. I got to be first in line to get my picture taken that year. Mom curled and styled my hair that morning and I was so excited to wear my favorite blue dress. When I got to school, the picture people started handing out combs to all the kids. WHAT the H were they thinking?!? Bad idea...

   It could have been worse I guess. Now that I'm looking at this picture, it almost looks like I left the black comb IN my hair...

at least I remembered my underwear that day :)

my mantra in life

a maid and/or nerd

3 weeks ago, I went back to work. It's just a few hours a day however it has been an adjustment. The schedule is perfect for me and I still have time to get things done at home. The kids at the school are so adorable! I've been learning lots of names, going through a lot of Band-Aids and drinking lots of water so I don't get heat exhaustion (I will be so grateful when it cools down)

I'm an aide. Sometimes they call us Maids. I guess last year a kid used to call us Nerds (a cross between nurse and aide) A few of them actually know my name. I didn't think my last name was that hard to remember but they call me every other last name that begins with H other than the right one ;)

Some other perks of the job include:
-one of the 1st graders thinking I'm 30.
-having one 1st grader show me his/her loose tooth then 30 others joining in...while they're eating lunch...mouths full of food
-getting really good at opening milk cartons
- getting lots of hugs...that's the best part of the job :)
-my little entourage that follows me around on the playground in the morning before school, it's so adorable!
- jumping rope with them. One day the kids asked me if I could jump rope. I said Yes and just started jumping. You would have thought I had magical powers or something, it was so funny! (Gotta be careful when I jump the rope...you know...those muscles that hold the pee aren't what they used to be ;)







every picture has a story

I can't believe I'm going to post these pictures let alone tell you the story behind them. There's always a story behind a picture...

The year was 1987. We were doing a dance production of "Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs" and we're getting individual and group pictures taken. I was in ballet and clogging at the time so I showed up wearing my ballet outfit and then I was going to change into my clogging costume. The photographer took the picture and then I went to change into my clogging costume. While I was changing, this wave of terror came over me. I realized that I forgot to bring my underwear. If you've ever been in ballet, you know that you can't wear underwear with a leotard. My mind was racing with ways to fix this problem. 'I'll just wear my tights, that'll work.' But then I realized that my tights are white and my clogging shoes are bright red and that would look really bad. 'I'll just wear the leotard underneath'. I tried that but the lace was hanging out around the neck of my costume. So what do I do now?!

Stick my head out of the dressing room and yell for Mom.

So Mom comes in and I explain the situation. I'm at ease because Mom knows what to do, Mom will fix this problem and save the day.

She says, "Well, you're just going to have to go without underwear."

WHAT?!

In my mom's defense, we lived on the outskirts of town and there was no time to go to the store. Kids were lined up and she didn't want to make other people wait on us. I understand that. She said, "Just go stand there and smile, it's no big deal."

Okay, I can do that.

I step out of the dressing room and walk over to take my place and the photographer says, "Great! Okay, I want you to turn to the side and pull up the edges on that skirt so we can see all those ruffles!"

35 year old Kris would tell this guy, 'Look, that ain't happenin'

12 year old Kris just stands there in horror saying nothing while my Mom is in the corner feeling sorry for me and trying really hard not to laugh. It was just my luck that this guy wanted me to strike this "happy hoedown" pose when I stepped up to the plate.

So, you want me to lift up the sides of my skirt? Sorry dude...this is all your gettin'...

When we finished this picture, Mom and I both laughed for days. Laughing is good!
I just realized how much I look like Braden in this picture!

I also forgot about my she-mullet hairstyle :)

Mother's Day

I just adore Mother's Day. It is by far the laziest and most glorious day of the year for me and I love every second of it. I also love the thoughtful handmade gifts, they make my heart happy :)

I of course would not be here without my own sweet Mom who I love so much.

This is the 2 of us way back in 1976...good times...

yours truly at 14

A couple of years ago I saw an article in Creating Keepsakes magazine that inspired me to put this layout together. The title of this page is "Me at 14".

Why would I choose to do a layout about myself at the most gawky, insecure stage of my life? Because I survived it. Amen and Hallelujah.

We've all been there...you know what I'm talking about. I'm just glad I had a great group of friends ;)

{Credits}

Template- Ali Edwards, ledger paper- DD, circle numbers- Ali Edwards, Academic alphabet- DD, elements- Truly Yours kit- ScrapOrchard

35 facts about me @ 35

This past week...let's just say I'm so glad it's over!! It sucked the life right out of me so this weekend I was determined to spend some "me" time scrapbooking. I came across this concept for a page that I thought was inspiring. With the craziness of life, I have a tendency to put myself "last on the list." (Does that sound familiar to anyone?!) It's not very often that we sit down and document what makes us who we are. Our weaknesses and strengths, our likes and dislikes, what makes us tick...

This would be something fun to do every year. Paige read it yesterday and said, "Mom, those are all true, especially the one that says you drink too much Diet Pepsi."

Here's to a better week!!

thirty five

Today I turned 35. I remember being little and looking forward to getting older, especially turning 16 so I could drive. Now, I can't believe how fast time goes by. To celebrate my birthday, I did something I've never done before. Dad and I went to the stake center and donated blood to the Red Cross. I look forward to doing it again. I have to say going anywhere with Dad is always an adventure. He asked the sweet little Mormon lady handing out the cookies and juice if she had any vodka...we can't take him anywhere ;)
Looking forward to more fun things and I'm soaking up this awesome weather like you wouldn't believe!

Where does the time go?

{me @ 27, Braden age 3, Paige age 1}

I came across this picture a few days ago. This was taken in the spring of 2003 by my aunt Apryl.

7 years...just like that.

Where does the time go?!

36:21

It's not that I've hated running, it's just not something that really interested me. One of my short term goals for this year was to run a 5k. Aaron, Braden, John (Aaron's brother) and I ran a 5k this Saturday in Chandler.

John did awesome and so did Braden! He took 3rd place in his age group (ages 10-14) with a 25:45. Aaron was such a great support to me, I couldn't have done it without him.

My goal was to run 12 minute miles and I ran 11:44/min miles. It's not earth-shattering time, I know that. But dang it, I earned every second of that 36:21 :)

What font are you?

I thought this was a fun little quiz
What font are you?

(I'm Helvetica, what are you?)

change is good

After 2 1/2 years of service, I was released as Primary President. It was a great learning experience filled with ups and downs but I'm thankful for the opportunity I had to serve in that calling. Last Sunday, our stake was reorganized. It was something that desperately needed to be done. (the wards were really small) We're in a new ward and new building, it'll be fun to meet some new people. Change is good...