A new find

I'm so excited about my new find that I just have to tell you all about it! My family eats a lot of produce during the week and though I have never been part of a food co-op before, I have looked into several of them. I know that you have to put in so many volunteer hours in order to get your box of food. Well, no more! I found Green Bee Produce through a KSL listing and decided to look into it. The Bee Box Classic is only $18.50. I emailed the company and asked about contracts to sign or requirement to order every week and got a speedy response that there is none of that involved.
The produce comes out of Arizona every week on a truck and has several different drop-offs around the valley. Check the website for locations and order deadlines (mine is today by midnight). They can't always promise organic produce, but they try to get it whenever they can. Basically the concept is to cut out the grocer, making the produce much fresher than found in the stores.
Next I called the local pickup location (yes, in my own little city!) and talked to the lady who has done it, wanting to know how legit it was. She talked to me for about 20 minutes and needless to say, I was convinced and decided to give it a go this last week. I ordered last Monday and picked up my HUGE box of produce on Saturday. Here is what I got for $18.50:


10 apples (red delicious and cameo)
i huge head of romaine lettuce (delish!)
4 Roma tomatoes
1 lb of carrots
5 pears
1 large bag of green, seedless grapes
1 bunch bananas
1 pineapple
5 lbs. of oranges
2 red onions
5 potatoes
1 head of cauliflower

I was blown away! So far the things I've tasted from the box are of great quality and they seem to guarantee their quality so if you are not satisfied, they will either refund or replace or both! Selfishly, I'm trying to get the word out so they don't cancel the location so close to me! It's a fairly new program here in UT so give it a try!

What has kept us busy. . .

So for the past month or so (a)because we are slow and b)because I don't move to fast these days--hhmm, guess that means I'm slow) our Saturdays have been filled doing Project Master Bedroom. We have lived in this home nearly 3 years and haven't touched the white walls in our bedroom. I'm happy for the way it turned out and as a friend who saw it today said I finally have a "grown up room."

I knew I wanted to make a light, airy feel; a sanctuary for me and Todd, and wanted it done especially before baby comes. I wanted white (but not on the walls, so much). There is just something so clean and crisp about white. I read something recently, from a decorator, that described my color choice perfectly: "White can also kind of work as a mediator. Just like bringing in a marriage counselor, white will work as a mediator between soft and loud colors. You can use it to work as a bridge between two colors."

I don't have a very good "before" shot because I thought about it too late. Here is a photo of our plain walls and headboard after we had taken off our mattress to move the bed.


Here is the "after".


We still have to fill in the cracks and nail holes on the crown molding, so there are a few finishing touches I'd like to do. I'm thinking about recovering some pillows to add more texture--what do you think? Since I try to be as frugal as possible, I had to create a few things. My curtains are actually made from one flat king-size sheet from Ross--much more affordable. The lampshades I covered myself. Not only did I save money, but I was able to pick the fabric I wanted. It was so easy following a tutorial I found online.

Lampshade before


Lamps after


I also added a much-needed privacy curtain to our bathroom. Our kids have no concept of privacy and would barge into our room without a knock. AND with a clear shower like we have, it all became quite the peep show for them! [Help: I'm trying to decide what color to paint my bathroom walls. I think if I added the blue, it would be too much blue, but I don't want to keep it white. Right now one wall is a gold color, but I think it needs to be changed. I welcome any suggestions!]


I once heard that every master bedroom should have a love photo above their bed, so I incorporated this Panama shot of us that I had framed for Todd for Valentines. The only problem is, on such a big wall, over such a big bed, it looks rather small. I might have to enlarge it, don't you think?


I can't finish this post without a HUGE wet kiss and thanks to my sweet husband. He had been a lot of the labor behind all of this and has never done crown molding or a chair rail before, so it was a learning experience. I know at times fitting some of the pieces together was frustrating for him, but I enjoyed working along side him for this project and especially the final product. He just "obeyed my command" and didn't really complain at all. Thanks hon, you da man!



Now it's on to this weekend's project: putting in a fence and starting on the baby's room!

Happy Birthday Drewby!

It's hard to believe that my little boy turns 5 today. You have been such a delight to our family and I honestly can't imagine our world without you in it. Some things we love about you:

Your deep-throated giggle disintegrates any wall around you.
You are our little "super-hero".
You are a tease to everyone, but especially to your older sisters and despite how much they hate it, your dad and I have to consistently stifle our laughter.
Your little sensitive heart is too large for one little body to contain and is made evident whenever you are around babies.
You are a great big brother!
Favorite Heros: Star Wars, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Transformers, He-Man, and yes, even Daddy.
Your hugs and kisses brighten our day.
You have enough energy for all kids combined!
Your favorite playground is the big outdoors.
You are so easily sorry when a wrong choice is made-it is impossible to stay angry at you.
The way you replace your R's with L's is so endearing and we will be sad to see that speech habit "bloken".
Other favorites: camping, swimming, CANDY, the Wii, being with family and friends, the cabin, your Bear [combined with] thumb, oh and again, teasing.

It is hard to see you grow up so quickly and realize that you will never be our baby again, but we are excited to see where this road of life takes you. We love you so much. Happy Birthday little buddy.

A "Political" Moment

A neighbor of mine sent this around this morning and I thought it was noteworthy and worth sharing. It it a quote that comes from a letter from one of the founding fathers of this great nation:


Jefferson, Thomas - Letter to Thomas Cooper, Nov 29, 1802

"'If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy.'

How much more prescient could Founding Father Thomas Jefferson have been.

What an affront it is to have all too many of our elected officials in our nation's capitol and our various states attempting to pass legislation and programs that are both unconstitutional and incapable of doing what they claim and will, however, most assuredly cause serious harm.

What we need is an overwhelming body of citizens committed to self reliance and elected officials who honor their pledge to sustain and defend the United States Constitution.

God will only bless us as a nation to the degree that we as individual citizens adhere to His Son's Gospel and function within the structure that the inspired constitution provides.

The fabric of our nation has been torn to point that our constitution is almost hanging 'by-a-single-thread'."

Rewind to Presiden't Day

My sisters-in-law and I were trying to think of something to do with the kids on President's Day. Swimming seemed like way too much work, ice skating wouldn't work because two of the four adults were pregnant and one had a broken wrist. Then I remembered my friend told me about the Edu Center in the West Valley Rec Center. It is a fun little children's museum/fun center. It was practically free and the kids had a great time. Here are some pics from our outing:

This is Andrew "shopping" at the little market they had for kids.



Colby doing the same. This place was the highlight for sure!



Funny picture because Alli is getting a "pat on the head" from Bob or Randy Harmon!



Cousin Carly being the checker!



Cousin Davy waiting to "sell tickets" at the little theater.



The kids liked watching "The Little Rascals"!



All the cousins after a few hours of fun and ready to go home!


All in all, it was a fun little outing with the kids. Thanks guys!