More Lindsay and Mari E Couture

Mari released her spring line of headbands and Lindsay got to model them! 

My big baby and my little baby...

We have had two monumental events this week, one involving our first born and the other involving our last born! Christopher turned 27!  We are so proud of him! He is a nice, smart, handsome young man!

It really is hard to believe this grown man came out of me!

 Granted he wasn't quite this big when he came out... thank heaven.

Birthday dinner with the grand-parental units.

And Luke, our baby, got his license. Go Luke! Watch out ladies!

It is nice to be appreciated!

So after spending 3 days in Salt Lake helping Court and Josh fix up the cute little house they bought (They bought the cutest little home in Sugarhouse, you will have to link to their blog in a few weeks to see the transformation) I came home to an absolutely spotless house! Everything was clean, laundry done and folded, beds made... what??? I was so happy! What a great husband I have! BUT then one by one my children pulled me aside to tell me how their dad made them "Do everything" while I was away. "Mom he was crazy, you set down a glass between sips and he would tell you to load it in the dish washer", "mom we had to work the whole time you were gone, it was torture" and "He made me clean my room and then came in and told me it wasn't good enough!"

I explained to them that dad did a great job, he just hadn't learned the art of the ever so delicate mom/nag balance. You see every mom has the potential of being the biggest nag ever (brush your teeth, do your homework, put your dishes away, pick up your dirty socks...etc) we have the need and absolute right not to be our children's slaves yet we realize how we sound, so we learn to pick and choose. "I will ask them to do this and I will do that" and even more often " I will ask them to do this and I will do that and ignore this and this..." I appreciate my husbands efforts, it made me so happy to come home and have nothing to do but unpack, but I have to say my children have never been so glad to see me! It's good to be appreciated!

So I have ten days to lose ten pounds...

Three months ago I declared "I have three months to lose ten pounds!" You see we are going to Hawaii on April third and I have accumulated some unwanted junk in the trunk (and arms), add to that that we travel with three skinny, young thangs ...ugh! So 3 months/ 10 lbs... totally doable right? I was confident. A month later it became "Two months to lose ten pounds, it will be difficult, but if I buckle down, I can do it!" and then "One month/ten lbs... possible, if I starve and run like 100 miles a day..." and alas now "ten lbs/ten days...:" so any way, I think I better get started... maybe next Monday?

You should have seen the ones that got away!

Steve and the boys do more than golf at Valencia Country Club!

My husband is a brave man...

So this morning Steve tells me my hormones are unbalanced... 

silly man.

Doesn't he know that snippiness can turn into homicidal rage in an instant?

And since I am on a hormonal rant... who the h-e-double toothpicks invented running? 

Home Improvement!

We were busy this last few months around the old homestead!

 We tore out the built in BBQ which was taking up too much needed space, 

bought a small bbq and a lot of furniture! 

Now that we are done... time to invite the friends over and fire up the grill!

Pretty n'est pas?

We also added two new fountains. This is the one in the front courtyard! Love it!

For years I have wanted a house with a red door and black shutters. In my mind the house was white. 

But since my next door neighbors house is white we opted for a taupey grey/tan color, white trim, 

black shutters and awnings and, of course, the amazing red door! I love how it turned out!

I need a volunteer!

Someone volunteer to change my blog design up! I don't know how... Please, please please! I just want something cute and more hip than what i have...

Happy Valentines Day!

Steve bought me a bike for Valentines Day!

It's just a 3 speed cruiser for pedaling around on little errands.

I rode to yoga, then came home and got Steve to ride to Trader Joe's with me to pick up a few

things for dinner. He bought himself a bike too...

Isn't it cute?

Steve's bike!

I wanted a basket on my bike for trips to the market. Here are the goods from TJ's!

Yum organic fresh squeezed Oj and pomegranate seeds!

I love to walk around the lake everyday and now I can ride too!

I am pretty sure my husband is Latino... and I think this little

accessory proves my theory correct. He denies his latino

roots but he had the bike shop put a Dias de Los Muertos head on his bike.

I don't know why he doesn't just admit it, I happen to find Latino men muy guapo!

Our yummy Valentines day dinner! I made kabobs, spinach salad with heirloom tomatoes from the Newhall farmers Market, broccoli , carrots, and couscous with currants, pine nuts and shallots (also from the Farmers Market, I went with my cute friend Kerri and her adorable daughter Sienna on Thurs.) The older I get the more of a home body I become. I am happiest in my house, eating delicious food that I make (no waiting for a table and spending too much money on mediocre food!) and spending time with the people I love most!

It was perfect day for me!

Patrick Got Accepted to BYU!!!!

The following is a really corny recreation depicting actual events which occurred

in the Spiker household on February 13th 2009.

Patrick high fives his brother upon reading an email

from Brigham Young University stating he has been accepted.

He will be attending BYU this fall.

Patrick doing the happy dance.

Patrick hugging his proud mother whose exuberance

about the good news is evident on her face.

Patrick then celebrated with dad while calling friends

and family to tell them the good news!

Lindsay and the Three B' words

Well I know the title probably led you to believe this post is about Lindsay and three of her friends... but in this instance the three b' words are Birthday, Brunette and Boyfriend... (although Lindsay calls him her special friend). Yes, Lindsay turned 21 years old... think of all the time I will save not having to search her purse for fake ID's....

Lindsay looking at her favorite cinnamon creme cake and wondering "How can I move out and still get my dad to pay for everything.... I know, I will wish for it and blow out all my candles and my wish will come true..."

                    In case you didn't notice Lindsay is now a deep auburn/brunette. We love it. I even considered doing it! 

But i am too chicken... Here is the birthday girl making the sugar fly!

This is Lindsay and her 'special friend', Curtis. He is nice. 

I like him because he encourages Lindsay to clean her room. And he has a crush on me... 

We love you Lindsay! Happy birthday!

Christmas, Kisses, Cookies, New Years and Zombies???

We had a very relaxing, fun Christmas. As you will see below we did a lot of fun things while Court and Josh were in town. We spent New Years seeing the musical Smokey Joe's Cafe... can't say I recommend it. But we still had fun, as you can see above, we wore our party hats!

We decorated cookies...

And everyone wanted to kiss Mari... I am not sure why. She has violent tendencies. Anytime someone says or does something she doesn't like she threatens to stab them. I think she may need professional help.

Some of the finished cookies.

The boys thought it would be fun to shoot my recessed lights. They left the nerf darts on the light and they melted. Did I mention this was a 'boy' idea???

I got all the men/ boys those cool remote control helicopters, which they loved!... for fifteen minutes. Then they were all broken.

Courtney getting even with a nerf gun. A girl can only take so much tormenting before she strikes back!

The guys spent a lot of time watching football on the couch.

Lindsay..... soooo not a morning person!

On Christmas morning we had a fright when a zombie entered the living room unexpectedly! Courtney stabbed her thru the heart with some kind of zombie killing weapon and all was well. Seriously though, have you ever seen a scarier picture of a cute girl? Click on it for the full effect!

The girls snuggling down to watch Christmas Vacation

Two of my handsome men.