Getting Dirty

Who new playing in the dirt could be so fun.

Sprinkles Cupcakes

I recently discovered a little piece of heaven on earth in the form of a cupcake. If you haven't heard of Sprinkles Cupcakes before I'm sure I won't be the only person you hear about it from; especially if you're lucky enough to live in one of the four cities where they have a bakery. Cyndi, June... listen up. Sprinkles has been getting a lot of press lately from celebrities, Oprah, The Today Show, etc. Last month while visiting my family in Ventura, California, my sister brought home a dozen of these incredible little cakes. I tried several different kinds (strawberry, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, pumpkin, and red velvet) and it was very hard to choose a favorite. There are 4 bakery locations so far: Beverly Hills, Newport Beach, Dallas and Phoenix (and more to come). Apparently they always have a line out the door. If you're smart you'll order in advance online http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/ and curtail the line. They are $3.25 each (and worth every penny) or $36 for a dozen. I wonder if they can be shipped to Utah... No, I'm not that desperate.

Sisters

This photo was taken last month during a trip to visit my family in California. I can't believe I don't have any other photos of my beloved sister, Tiffany, on my blog. It's about time! She moved back to California (Pasadena) last year and I miss her terribly. Love you sis.

Cookie Cutters

I recently discovered a new hair cutting place just for kids called "Cookie Cutters". This place is amazing! This was Gavin's 1st haircut ever where instead of acting traumatized by the whole experience he was actually enjoying it! Here are a few reasons why we love it: 1) while you're waiting your child can play on the little play gym/slide, 2) your child can pick out what car, plane, motorcycle, etc. they would like to sit in while getting their hair cut, 3) each haircutting station has it's own tv/dvd player and your kid gets to choose a movie from a pretty wide selection of kids films, and 4) after the haircut your child gets to pick a baloon (with a lolipop attached). All this for $13! We certainly won't be going anywhere else for the next few years. The address is 1301 E. Miller Ave. in SLC (they also have a location in Draper).

Lagoon

We went to Lagoon last Friday (for the 2nd time this summer) and had a great time. We met Tony's family there so Gavin had fun riding rides with his 2 older cousins, Hayden (6 yrs.) and Corbin (3 yrs.). Now that Gavin is 36 inches tall he can ride several of the big rides as well as all the cute rides in the kids area. He had a great time getting wet on the log ride and the river rafting ride (don't remember the exact names). And the great thing about Lagoon is you don't have to deal with the ridiculous lines like you do at other major amusement parks like Disneyland and Magic Mountain. Tony and I were able to go on a few roller coasters while Gavin had fun with his grandparents. I really loved "Wicked". I guess that is the new ride they have been promoting this summer. We look forward to going back next summer when Gavin is 3. Two trips to Lagoon this summer is enough for the year.

New Car

So I finally sold my Jetta! We have been looking at several different kinds of cars for months and decided to get a Subaru Outback. I love it!

5th Anniversary

Yesterday was our 5th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful dinner at the famed "Cucina Toscana", a northern Italian restaurant downtown. It was delicioso. We had a wonderful seafood appetizer and I had the best chicken marsala ever! Tony had veal (the first time I've allowed him to eat veal in my presence). He said the sauce was great, but the veal was a little overcooked. We wondered if it could compare to our all time favorite Italian restaurant "Tuscany" and we concluded that the food was equally as good, but the ambiance at Tuscany is way better.

Tony gave me the perfect gift... a certificate for an hour long European facial at my favorite spa "Breathe". Can't wait to use it! Thanks Babe. You're the best and I love you.

Rocco's Summer Haircut

So I took Rocco to the groomer's to get a trim and I came home with this. It hardly looks like my dog! If you forget what Rocco looked like before scroll down to check out my previous posts about him. They practically scalped him!

Laundry

Gavin has an interesting way of helping me fold the laundry. He does this every time... He places an item of clothing on the dogs, one by one, until you can hardly see the them. As you can see Rowdy and Rocco don't mind. And I don't mind because it wasn't my clothes that I was folding.

St. George

These photos are from our annual Pyne family reunion last week. This year we met at my parents vacation home in St. George, Utah. We had a great time relaxing at the house, hanging out at the pool (the weather was about 102 degrees every day), and hiking in nearby Zion National Park. Gavin had a wonderful time with his four adorable cousins: Christina, Katherine, Caitlin and Ashley. In fact, he had so much fun running and jumping around that he ended up hitting his head on one of the stone fireplaces. We rushed him to the emergency room and he ended up getting 2 stitches under his right eye. It was very scary, but Gavin was such a tough little trooper about it. I hate to admit that this was the 2nd time we have been to the emergency room in St. George. The 1st time was about 6 months ago when Gavin fell on a cactus. Needless to say, I hope to never see that emergency room again (or any other for that matter).

New Bedroom Decor

Tony and I are redecorating our bedroom. Right now he is in the process of enlarging our closet so that it will be twice as big as it was. We will be adding white 3-panel sliding doors. We purchased a new headboard and nightstands and I plan on refinishing our current dresser to match the other new pieces. We will be painting the walls beige. I know, beige sounds a little boring, but we want a paint color that will be good for resale, since we plan on moving in the next 2 years.

I finally made a decision on the bedding. I purchased a duvet cover similar to the one above (left). I plan on accenting the new duvet with a tailored bedskirt, white sheets (or perhaps white and beige striped sheets), and Pottery Barn shams with beige shells. This opens up all new possibilities for me. I've always wanted a beach-themed room somewhere, anywhere in my house that displays my love for the beach. I even found some great wall art of shells with the same colors as the walls and bedding (score!).

Great Recipes for Summer

Fabulous Fruit & Feta Salad

1 bag (10 oz.) mixed salad greens

1 can (11 oz.) mandarin orange segments, drained

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 cup walnut pieces, toasted

1 pkg. (4 oz.) traditional crumbled feta cheese

3/4 cup Kraft light raspberry vinaigrette dressing

Toss everything together and enjoy! It doesn't get much easier than that.

Bumbleberry Lemon Upside-Down Cake

1/3 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup fresh strawberries

1 pkg. lemon cake mix

whipped cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In 13 by 9 inch cake pan, melt butter. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly on top. Scatter fruit over sugar. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter evenly over fruit. Bake 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes, then turn upside down onto a large platter or a cookie sheet. Serve warm with a generous dollop of whipped cream, if desired.

More recipes to come...

The Last Week of School!

I am now officially on summer break! Yay! Today was the last day of school. This week has been loaded with fun for the kindergartners in Mrs. Allred's class. I decided to create a fun theme for each day this week. There was no school Monday. Tuesday was pajama day. I read my favorite bedtime stories and we did fun math activities with Fruit Loops cereal. Then they got to eat it of course. Wednesday was crazy hair day and Field day at Emerson. Thursday was sports day because us teachers played a softball game against the 6th graders. You would have been proud, Dad... I made 2 runs (I was only up to bat twice). I thought one would surely be a homerun because I hit it into center field. One of the 6th graders caught it and then dropped it (thank goodness). Needless to say, the teachers won 17 to 11. Today, Friday, was beach day. I chose to wear a beach themed t-shirt with a grass skirt and flower lay (not sure about spelling). The kids really got into dressing up. I thought I would share some cute pictures of them. Farewell, my sweet kindergarten class of 2007. I'll miss you (most of you).

Gavin's 2nd Birthday

Isn't he handsome! These are some photos taken on Gavin's 2nd birthday, which was May 16th. In this picture he's modeling one of several cute new outfits that he received from his aunt Tiffany. The photos below were taken at a birthday dinner we had for Gavin and his Grandpa David, who was also celebrating his birthday. The picture at the bottom is of Gavin playing with some musical instruments that he got from his grandparents in California (thanks mom & dad). He loves playing the drums and the flute the best. It hasn't started to annoy me yet.

The Zoo

This morning Tony, Gavin and I had a wonderful visit to the Hogle Zoo. The weather was perfect (about 82 degrees) and we got there before the zoo got too crowded. Gavin loves animals. He has little animal figurines that he plays with every day. So it was really fun for us to see how excited he became to see the animals in real life. His favorites were the elephants, giraffes and zebras. Gavin also loves trains so he was very excited to ride the little train around the zoo. He cried when we had to get off. We got Gavin a few new animals to add to his collection. Check out the photo of him pretending to feed his bear a cracker.

Fire Station 6

Today, Gavin and I visited Tony at the fire station. Gavin was fascinated by the fire engine. We all got inside the engine and examined the equipment. Gavin liked the computer in the front seat that they use for GPS and stuff. He did not want to try on Daddy's big, scary boots. I tried to get Tony to slide down the pole for Gavin, but he wasn't interested. Maybe next time.

My Favorite Things

My current favorite jeans are my True Religion Brand jeans. The style is "Johny". What makes these jeans so unique is the embroidery on the left seat and thigh. There is a fairy sitting on a flower with butterflies and stars. I get so many compliments on these jeans. Everyone always asks me where I got them. I actually got them from Nordstrom Rack for under half of the original price. I couldn't even find a photo of my special jeans on the web to download (the photo above shows the same jeans without the embroidery).

Something I couldn't live without (or wouldn't want to live without), are my Juicy Couture velour sweatsuits. I've been buying and replacing them for the past 4 years. During my pregnancy I stretched out and ruined a pair of my favorite light blue juicy velour sweatpants. I then purchased a new pair in a larger size (now in my pregnancy clothes box). I believe Juicy just come out with a whole maternity line (it's about time). Anyhow, these particular sweatsuits are a must have because they are probably the most comfortable things you will ever wear and they fit really well and they are the best looking/sexiest sweatsuits in existence (in my opinion). For me, it's worth the splurge (they run about $150 and up). You can find them at Nordstrom, JMR, and Lolla Bella Boutique.

I love my IPod nano! It's a necessity when I work out at the gym. It's also great for traveling. I've got a playlist on it for every mood. My "workout mix" pumps me up so I can have a great workout.