oh canada, you send me joy

this post could go on forever. long story short, rett and i went to canada to hand deliver orders to customers in our top 3 cities. i have to add more of my story to another post later. it's too good. here is what babysteals said: and here is a little of the video:

and press release.

What's blooming in my garden!

Took a photo of each iris and flower in my garden yesterday and put together this iMovie!

This is best watched on YouTube by clicking the logo in the video.

What did you do this holiday weekend?

Knock, knock...is this thing on? Yeah, it's been fo-ev since I've posted, mainly because - well, I always put work before my real life (that must change, don't you think?) and second? I also blog here and here!
Tonight a friend asked me, "What did you do this weekend?" My first thought was to respond with how I was feeling, which was that I really didn't quite accomplish all I was set out to do and quite frankly, felt a bit like a failure. UNTIL I decided to answer her question literally, by just sticking to the facts. Here they are:
Friday night: worked (to get ready for a KidSteals.com 3 day sale!), and finally took the kids to Fro-gurt at 10 at night. Worked again when I got home- fell asleep in front of a spreadsheet at my computer at 1:30am.
Saturday: Worked. Eric brought me and the kids Einstein's (my Saturday morning fav!)
Took Brandon to a garage sale and to get an Iris garden tour by a 90-year old Iris collecter. I'll be writing a post about this, as it was pretty darn special.
Planted all of my container pots in the garden.
Dug up mint plants in my tropical garden that are completely taking over!
Deadheaded the garden.
Planted several packs of annuals.
Cut Easton's hair into a faux hawk (yes, I am THAT kind of mom. It looks awesome BTW. Cut me a break it's his last week of school!)
Right after cleaning up the crazy mess (and showering) after cutting Easton's hair, I got a call from Rett (my business partner, the other owner of Steal Network). He asked what I was up to and I said just working around the house. So he said "I'll be there in 30 minutes, can Easton watch your kids?" Uhhhhhh.....SURE. I had to bribe Easton, but I knew Rett must have had something super cool up his sleeve. Well, BOY did he ever! The doorbell rings and I hear Eric yelling, "NO WAY"! I couldn't possibly imagine what was going on. To my surprise, there was Rett, his wife Christine, and Emily (known to BS fans as Emily K) and her husband Ted in an Excursion LIMO! Off we went for a surprise night on the town! Tuscany for dinner (SO amazing- and uhhh, the menu lights up. I was totally impressed by that, HA!) and downtown dancing (ahem......booty shakin)! What a FUN surprise night!
The rest of the weekend in a nutshell:

Work- caught up on a ton of emails but still somehow, seemingly have thousands to go.
Eric and Easton helped my sister and her BF Brock move into their first home! Congrats Brock and Sara!
Thinned my peach tree (you pick off about half the fruit on the tree, spacing them out as evenly as possible for bigger, more healthy fruit!) This took what seemed like forever!
Planted even more plants, cut Brandon's hair (not like his brother's, don't worry)
Downloaded 800 photos on to 2 different computers
Made lots and lots of fresh guacamole.- and ate it ALL.
Got a facial at Gardner Village
Powerwashed almost everything known to man including the garage, driveway, steps, porch, lawn furniture, pots, kids outside toys, deck, deck furniture, you name it - I powerwashed it- and my arm is feeling it!
Gave Jane a mani/pedi
Restored (more like cleaned) a new (old) bistro table for our basement.
Eric fixed our outdoor lighting and re-did the timers.
He also totally reorganized the garage and hung the skateboards and longboards high on the wall. No more tripping on them or the danger of Jane trying it for herself.
Visited my Grandpa's grave for Memorial day.
Did my 'round-up' trick on weeds (ahem- morning glory) in the backyard (I'll post about this- it's totally worth sharing!)

And in between all of that, lots of work in small segments here and there.
Took the kids to Cheesecake factory for dinner (YUM!) Yes, Brandon completed 75% of this burrito. That can't be healthy. That thing was half the size of him!
And tonight- work! Until now, as I write this post past 1:20am. One of these days I'll catch up. On life AND on blogging. Meanwhile, after writing it all down, the next time someone asks "What did you do this weekend?" I'll focus on what I DID do, vs. what I didn't do.

Sweet Baby Jane turned 4!

jane loves the killers

my 3-year old daughter jane, singing songs from my favorite band, the killers:

A Fan Poem!!

I log on to our BabySteals Facebook page to find this amazing poem written by our customer and fan Emily Brown Weaver. Thank you Emily I am so humbled!

Ode To Baby Steals

I'll fully admit,
that often it's true,
my dishes are dirty,
I've laundry to do,
There might be spaghetti stains splattered on walls,
and chocolate (I hope) is smeared on the walls.

It's nothing I'm proud of,
I know it's a shame,
I'm not always quite at the top of my game.
My husband, thank goodness,
is quite understanding,
and frankly is happy the house is still standing.

But one thing I know,
and I safely can say,
Is that I'm topnotch at 10 sharp every day.
I mean, with three kids, and a mortgage to boot,
You've got to be savvy when buying their loot.

I've searched round the country, and even the globe,
with my sensitive sense and my laser mom probe.
The deals aren't in england, in russia or guam,
but rather are found on babysteals.com

If you've got a munckin in diapers I'm sure,
You'll instantly see why it's such an allure.
From shoes to pajamas, from blankies to toys,
In colors that suit all your girls and your boys.
You'll quickly forget all that dreary housecleaning,
and find that it's much more enjoyable stealing!

You'll want to tell all of the moms that you know,
rave about babysteals places you go,
but careful, I'll warn you, cause they'll steal it too,
and sometimes they might do it faster than you!

So at that sweet magical hour every day,
You'd best pay attention log on straight away,
Or else I'm afraid you will pucker and pout,
when you find that the steal is all gone, and sold out!

Funny things 3-year olds say

"OH MY CWAP - are you kidding me?"

So Jane this Christmas was so scrumptiously cute I couldn't handle it. It was the first year she really "understood" what was going on. It was so much fun watching her open her presents. I had to share this hilarious video. You can tell by her language she's raised next to two boys....her phrase in this video quickly became a "new and frequently used word" to babySTEALS.com fans in forums and chats. Too funny!

A hint for the super loyal BabySteals fans...

...I would start a frenzy if I posted this on the BabySteals facebook page, so I hope this does the trick!

Black Friday Shopping...

I admit- one of my fav things on Thanksgiving is getting the ads in the paper for Black Friday! I spent some time late that night scouring the ads and devising our plan. Instead of getting up mega-early and hitting the crowds, we slept "in" until 7, and Eric and I went to Walmart expecting police, fights and no parking spots. Instead- no lines, small crowds, found a close parking spot, etc! Went in, grabbed the big SONY LCD for our bedroom (we've had the same TV in there for 15 years, it's about time!) grabbed tons of other doorbuster deals we wanted and left for Shopko. Again, no line, no crowd. They said they were out of what I wanted, but I walked to the back toy isle anyway. Sure enough they were gone but right then some lady takes one out of her cart and puts it on a random shelf! (I know, I'm charmed). Then Target, Old Navy, Sams Club, and Fashion Place Mall. Same thing. Everyone else in Utah must have got up at o-dark-thirty and hit the crowds but I sure didn't! Finished about half the shopping for the kids in just a few hours. Got home just in time to get to work on a crazy day on the websites. Score!

I got my Dodge Ram!

With BYU beating Utah today it's time to tell the story behind my new dream truck! It will all make sense in a second. However, keep this note in the back of your mind: anyone who knows me and knows me well knows that I have a giant junior-high-married-girl crush on Bronco Mendenhall, the coach of BYU Football. (No, Eric does not care, he plays into it because he knows it's a joke.) During my time working at KSL I was able to see Bronco a few times as he came in to speak to the staff as well as during radio broadcasts. Let's just say I got teased a lot by coworkers about my innocent married girl crush. I digress.

I'll make a long story short. I got an '09 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi. It's sooooo pretty. But the '09's were verrry hard to find right now, because they're rollin out the '10. I wanted an '09 because they have a lifetime powertrain warranty. The one I finally found with all the features was the l-a-s-t one on this particular lot yet wasn't in the list of their online inventory. Of course! I noticed it had two BYU decals on the windows in the back which seemed odd for a new truck but hey, I'm a fan! They called it the 'manager's demo' which meant they hadn't sold it on purpose so they could use it for sales purposes. I didn't like that too much- visions of employees driving it home for a weekend rally or all the test drivers taking it for a spin. I got over that after a few days (ahem, they let us take it home for the weekend) and we decided to buy the truck. I was so excited. Of course they gave it a complete overhaul - took the stickers off, detailed it inside and out, etc. When we were in the finance department buying the truck, the finance manager says to me,

"So, you're buying Bronco's truck, eh?"

"WHAT? You mean Bronco Mendenhall?" (I get shaky even typing his name).

"Yeah, with our BYU sponsorship we loan him the cars of his choice and he drove that for a month or two and just dropped it off the day you came in!"

TOTALLY MEANT TO BE!

Isn't she pretty!? I loved it before but now I love it that.much.more.

My geekiness revealed

here's my sellout for a flip phone for the company!

For the BabySteals Fans...

....that click over here tonight, it totally is "That Baby!"

PS. for everyone else, the BabySteals Facebook fan page has some really awesome moms in there. I sit here working and sometimes have a hard time focusing because I want to go in and see what they're saying! It's work, but not work! Anyway, a few days back someone (Cami?) found my personal blog (I don't talk a whole lot about work on here!) and linked it on there. Of which some super smart moms figured out that BabyLegs will be a future steal (which I totally may or may not be confirming!) based on the pictures below. Busted! So, someone posted my blog tonight, in the midst of them asking for a hint about what tomorrow's steal is. So some moms will click, and hey, why not give them the surprise! :)

xo

PS. If you do, leave a comment and tell me you've been here!

She's like butter...

So my mom (her website here) has come by twice this week to do product shots for upcoming BabySteals and KidSteals features. Jane has been mostly great, but a bit testy at times (not quite like when she was filming for a part in Baby Signing Time). Some of the shots turned out amazing. Here are just a few of the super darling ones! I can't believe she's growing up so fast right before my eyes! Enjoy, family!

My cousin Kristyn brought by her darling son Brennan and he was our guinea pig for even more shots!

Halloween!

Yes, I realize these photos are dark, and grainy. My Canon Rebel xti is totally messed up and won't go out of manual mode! I'm trying to get it fixed, but in the meantime, here's pictures of my cuties on Halloween I traveled over 8 hours on an airplane to take! (Aruba pics coming soon)

Jane was a witch (not just ANY witch but a darling witch) and Brandon was Ben 10. We landed at 4pm with just enough time to get home, show my parents all of our photos and get the front porch decorated for Halloween. I played a scary soundtrack through the window, and put the crabapples from the tree in a silver bucket, added food coloring and dry ice and voila - a bucket of boiling eyeballs! Gross! (bad picture on the bottom right)

The highlight of trick or treating however, was most definitely Jane's curiosity. She spent SO much time on each front porch inspecting every little decoration on their porches. The last house we visited across the street, (above) Jane was totally curious before knocking because they had a lighted skeleton in the ground. She stood there for 5 minutes pointing to it and saying 'scary' but wouldn't go to the door. Finally she did, then suddenly decides to GO RUNNING INSIDE THEIR HOUSE after seeing kids toys across the room! Keep in mind we've never been inside their house, nor do we know them. I have half of it on film until I was so embarrassed calling her to come back I turned it off. She would NOT come back! She climbed inside a giant toy car and wouldn't get out. I had to go inside and pry her screaming from the car. Of course they were gracious as I apologized, (and they were cracking up) but seriously Jane why did you run in their house uninvited! I'll definitely remember that for a long time. I might have to post the video if I can get over the embarrassment of my voice!

...and thanks to her big brothers and their super sneakiness, almost all the candy is already gone!

caramel apples

to soak in a bit more halloween before our Aruba trip, we made caramel apples with some of the amazing apples from our yard!

t
we also finished brandon's halloween costume - he decided to be Ben 10 this year. jane is going to be a witch- and it is the cutest witch ever! I can't wait to trick or treat with her!