So did you know that Easter is in March this year? It's on March 31st. I'm glad I looked it up, because I wouldn't have known or had time to plan for it. I love making my boys matching bow ties, home decor, treats, and (shh) "bunny gifts". To get some cute inspiration I visited Pinterest and found these pretty pics.



I LOVE THIS IDEA. Taking marshmallow and coloring them with food coloring. How neat!



Decorate with eggs and twine is so divine.



And I adore these peep s'mores and glitter filled eggs. I know it's spastic to plan for Easter, but it's just who I am and I like it. I love making every moment special and magical for the boys. I might even put together an advent calendar for Easter, using eggs :) I might even make my own chocolate Easter bunnies this year. haha can you tell I have time on my hands, now that the book is done?

Photos- One - Two - Three

For the past few years Mr. Sonboul and I have been a "little too busy" for romance. As of today... I've decided this isn't acceptable anymore! We go on dates from time to time and we still make out, but those sweet little notes and dancing at random are missing.

Today marks the "10 days before Valentine's Day count down" and I've decided to:

• flirt more 
• give a few tender gifts here and there
• make him something meaty 
• dress up really nice and go on a date
• and the others I'll be keeping a secret, being that he reads my blog.

It's official... we are bonkers! For YEARS I've wanted to take the boys to see the Rose Parade in Pasadena Ca, instead of eating Lucky Charms for breakfast and watching it on TV.

Since my hubby has friends that go every year, it took the work out of planning the "when and where" to go for seats. Mr. Sonboul, the boys, and I packed up every single blanket and pillow we had in the house. We tossed it all in the car and made the short drive there. We got there about 6pm New Years Eve and it was already soooo frosty. We ate dinner with everyone in the moonlight and watched the cold air cause our breath to do the cool smoke thingy.

There was no way I would let the boys sleep on the street, although a lot of other parents did. We turned our "Hondassey" into a mini home. The boys thought it was the neatest thing ever. We made sure to thank Heavenly Father for the home we have and that we don't have to sleep in a car at night, and that this was a "fun" one-time thing and not a day to day life for us. To keep the piercing cold out, we draped TONS of towels and blankets along the windows. Sometime in the middle of the night, Bradley's leg took the row on his side down lol. So I had to fix it and it was lamer than lame!

As for Mr. Sonboul.... to keep our spot he slept out in mother natures icebox, with all the other daddy's. The temp got down to around 34 degrees and around 4am I switched with him. Finally around 6:30am, the sun started to come up and I was so happy to see her. Oh and I almost forgot! I got a little white trash and peed outside on a curb... twice (when no one was looking of cross). The bathrooms were so far away and I couldn't leave the boys in the car as they slept. Let me tell you... that curb was dang cold!

Oh, and Mr Sonboul and Calvin are also in this picture. Can you find them? lol

Nothing like a little Cotton candy and donuts for breakfast.

I don't know if you've ever gone to the Rose Parade, but it's a MUST! All the floats are covered in flowers. Everything you see on the bear is a flower or some kind of a plant. I'm telling you... pure amazement! There are also bands and animals that do really neat tricks. The boys LOVED every moment and that made it worth sleeping in such icy conditions.


Because Mr. Sonboul spent the countdown out on the street and us in the car, we did a little countdown "redo" when we got home. lol Calvin's focused face is the money shot! They were both really into it AND we opened our time capsule from last year (We all went to the store last year and picked out some goodies, boxed them up and waited to use them until last night). I forgot what I picked and we all enjoyed our new gifts.





We poured confetti into each of the boys hands and yelled HAPPY NEW YEAR! Needless to say... OH MY WORD... BEST NEW YEARS EVER! I doubt we will ever be able to top this day. REALLY I doubt it!!!

PS I'll be posting about April tomorrow :)

I think it's important to always keep moving forward and to improve where you can. Currently I feel like my life is wonderful, but when I take a closer look...there are little things I'd like to polish and shine. For example... I say my nightly prayers, but while I'm laying down in bed. Or I dress up nice for CHA and dates, but not when I pick up the boys. We travel, but only in the summer time. Last year was an amazing.... fabulous year! I held Mr. Sonboul's hand more (plus made out more ;). I slowed down in areas that helped me not stress out and I played more. You can see last year's goals here. I learned a lot, but I'm not yet perfect. I also learned how much I change my hair color in 1 year. lol

Just like the rest of the world, I've set my goals and I'm going to strive to not struggle with them or break them. Hey and maybe I'll even lose more weight along the way ;)
How about you? What are your goals this new year?

This morning at 5:30am Mr. Sonboul and I walked into our quiet living room (as the boys waited on our bed for us to call them). We plugged in the tree for the last time and set up the cameras to get their reactions to all the "Santa gifts". I always enjoy their surprised faces and yes, even Calvin's. Despite his naughty ways Santa paid him a visit as well, but he also left him a reminder for the next year. He got 2 pieces of coal, a "think twice nice chart" and a letter in his stocking of mini gifts and treats. I'm not 100% convinced we got through to him, but maybe it will help him be a little less feisty here and there. Oh how we can only hope! lol  The letter said this:



This moment was my favorite part of Christmas. Mr. Sonboul grew up with very little and he always wanted a Lazer Tag game. Santa did some research and tracked it down. Seeing him light up like a 9 year old was amazingly heart warming.

So it's almost Christmas and I thought I would give an update on the Calvin Coal issue.
We are taking everyone's advice and wanted to give him the chance to do some service and to teach with love. I woke up at 5:30am and put together...what I thought was an AMAZING Christmas service hunt (and it was). Like always, Bradley was totally into it and then there was Calvin. He was super excited about it until he heard it was a "Service" Hunt.

We Cleaned the Bishop's office, sangs some songs to close friends and had the boys buy each other Christmas Gifts. Now let me tell you... Calvin complained and would say "I wanted to go to the snow and not clean today", while Bradley would say "This is the best day". OH MY WORD! He DOES not have ADD or ADHD or ODD. He is just spirited and crazy smart... too smart for his own darn good! He is about 75% sassy and naughty. The other 25% he is funny, sweet, and always loud. I love this boy so much, but oh man does he push buttons and 99% of the time I can handle it. He just has been on it too much lately and thus my last post about the coal.

Speaking of buttons, here is a little conversation we had the other day.

Calvin: "What does pushing your buttons mean"?
Me: "When someone keeps doing something that bothers you over and over again, that's pushing your buttons. Now please get out of the car, so I can lock the doors".
Calvin: "LADY, YOU ARE PUSHING MY BUTTONS when you tell me to get out of the car"!

Despite his nasty sassy behavior, Santa is bringing him a Christmas gift. He is still going to get Coal in the stocking with a note and a countdown chart. Letting him know that this is his last warning and next year he is ONLY getting coal. When I told him "Calvin, what will you do "if" your name ends up on the naughty list and Santa doesn't bring you a gift". He said "Oh he BETTER bring me a gift or I'll be SO MAD AT HIM". Then two hours later he was happy and laughing with his brother and giving us all xoxo's. Again... OH MY WORD!

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Update on A Year In A Book:
The next Class will take place on Dec 26th.
I forgot about Christmas when I made the
announcement. Just call me a dork!
To catch the first class...go here

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Giveaways:

Don't forget I have two giveaways until
Jan 1st. You can find them here and here

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I'm so excited:
we are taking the boys to the California
Rose Parade. I can't wait.

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Try It:
If you haven't already heard of it...
You can track Santa Here.
We do this every year with the boys.

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Make It:
You should make these for the new year.
The kids will LOVE THEM!

On a Saturday morning we took a vote for doughnuts or cereal and Krispy Kreme was the champion. I personally don't like doughnuts (I always get sick from them), but in spite of my tummy we went on a family road trip and tracked down these charming snowmen doughnuts. Seeing the boys nibble on their tasty pastries and frosting on their cheeks, was a treat itself. So I decided it was worth the 15 minute drive there. These cute chill willie snowmen started the morning off with holiday cheer and were a splendid a.m. feast.

How about you? Are you a doughnut or a cereal Lover?

Last year we decided to let the boys stay up for the new year. We had them take naps in the day time, so they wouldn't go nuts-o on us. I'm totally happy we did it and the boys had the BEST time yelling "HAPPY NEW YEAR"!!! It was so much fun that we chose to do it again for 2013. I wanted to do something fun and special for them. So I put together these mini party bags and instead of the "normal Christmas treat bags" for their friends at school, we gave all 67 classmates this as well. It's the perfect "kid" size, don't ya think? We can't wait to party like animals!

It feels so wonderful...just being crafty for "myself" again. I have numerous projects going on and I'm not miss any company DT assignments! To read what I'm talking about go here. So far this month I've made an advent calendar and I'm almost done putting together the "Year in a Book- 2013" class.

I've also been making projects for my booth space at CHA (I'll be in booth  ). Do make sure to come and visit me, because I have some really neat things for you to "send home". I'll post more about that later ;)  Here's a peek at one of the projects I've made so SunKiss. If you look closer, you'll see some of the collection. Do you see it?



So the main reason for today's post... our Christmas tree. Sorry I got a little side tracked. It's safe to say that I went overboard on all the ornaments. To quote Mr. Sonboul... "It looks like a Martha Stewart Tree", which made me grin with holiday cheer. LOL it's fallen over once and to keep it from happening again, we tied it to the ceiling.

Mr. Sonboul has been working (for Enterprise Rent A Car) for about 13 year and we have been to a ton of Christmas work parties. The company spends major money on these parties and they are always enjoyable. There is delicious food, jamming music and friends to celebrate with. This company really knows how to party and having my name on the guest list is the best! This year the company decided to take ALL their employees to Medieval Times and I've always wanted to go there.



I was a little nervous about the food since I am a vegetarian and the joint is a meaty place, but to my surprise they had something for everyone. I think the funniest part is that you don't get any utensils and have to eat with your hands. As soon as we were seated in the Yellow Knights section, the show began and the food came rushing out. Every time we finished eating something, more food would show up.  To sum it all up... every moment was a blast and packed with cheering for our hero. I definitely want to take the boys here. There is no doubt, I know they will LOVE this place!