Nevares Fam

It's been a Crafty Summer!

2010-09-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

So this summer I had the time to work on some sewing and crafting projects, one of my favorite things to do. It all started with this UGLY I don't even know what you would call it that I bought at Goodwill for $1.00. I thought, "I can paint that and do something with it", so I gussied it all up and hung it in my laundry room.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

What do you think?

Next I did a couple of sewing projects. I bought this denim dress at Walmart on clearance, and didn't try it on until I got home. Well, I discovered that it was a little short for me, so it hung in my closet for awhile. Then I remembered I had this awesome fabric so I decided to add a little bit to the bottom for length but it also made a fun, funky dress that I love!

And I made a headband to match!

I also made this pillowcase dress out of 2 bandannas for Eva for the 4th of July. I added the white petticoat under it for a little volume, and she looked so cute in it! I think I might change out the ribbons to black ribbons so she can wear it at other times besides patriotic holidays.

For Eva I also made this hair clip for the 4th of July (she wore it with a

different outfit than the bandanna dress, of course!)

Next I learned how to make fabric rosettes, so I made myself a necklace out of them. I LOVE it, and I got so many compliments on it when I wore it to church!

The rest of the pictures are of headbands I have made, for myself or for gifts. I have made several more but forgot to take pictures before I gave them away! I think I have become addicted to making headbands. They are so trendy right now and I love wearing them in my hair, plus they are easy to make and much cheaper than you would pay in a store. The hardest part is coming up with the design!

Don't you wish you had my mad skillz??

Lastly, I wanted to tell you about Rocky's "craftiness" that he's been working on this summer - our garden! He and a friend built these planter boxes last fall in our teeny tiny side yard, and this summer we filled them up with fruits and veggies! We put in blackberries, strawberries, watermelon, squash, zucchini, green peppers, and several herbs. They look like they are doing well, but it wasn't a great crop this first season. Some plants did better than others, and some didn't make it at all. It was pretty much a trial for us, because we definitely don't get full sun on the side yard. We are going to try it again next summer, and hopefully we'll have better luck. But it's been fun learning!

We did get a couple of good sized squash. Yum!

If anyone has any gardening tips for us, I'd love to hear them.

Well that's it for my crafty post. I hope this summer you got to do something you enjoy! Stay tuned for one more Fun Summer post!

It's Been a Fun summer! (Part 4)

2010-08-27T23:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lame post titles, but it has been a fun summer! And this post is all about probably one of my favorite things this summer! Rocky and I celebrated our 10th anniversary in July, and for our anniversary we got to go to Disneyland and Club 33 - without kids! First we started the day at California Adventure and rode some of the best rides ever! In this picture, you can see one of the rides we rode, the roller coaster. We spent the day with 2 of my favorite people, Lenny and Anna, Rocky's brother and his wife. I love spending time with them!

Here we are standing in line for the Toy Story ride, another awesome ride. Mr. Potato Head was keeping us entertained during our wait!

As we walked around California Adventure we kept seeing these green army men driving by. We loved them so much I had to snap a couple of pictures! They are the army men from Toy Story. They were talking to the kids and telling them to be good students

and listen to their parents!

We also rode the Tower of Terror - my favorite - and Soaring over California, another awesome ride. Then it was time to head over to Disneyland for some more rides. But not before we stopped in front of the big letter N and took a picture.

At Disneyland we rode Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Buzz Light Year. It was so much more crowded at Disneyland than California Adventure, so we didn't get to ride as much, plus, we had to hurry up and change clothes so we could go to Club 33!!!! You may be wondering - what is Club 33, and why is it so special? It's a very exclusive club in Disneyland, in the New Orleans area, and you have to have a membership to get in, or go with someone who does, and the waiting list to get a membership is like 14 years because they only issue a limited number of memberships per year. It is a restaurant that was started by Walt Disney years ago, and still maintains its somewhat "secret" status. For more pictures and a little bit more history, you can visit my sister-in-law Anna's blog, here:

http://soimarriedamexican.blogspot.com/2010/08/club-33.html

So we changed into some nicer clothes (they have a dress code) and made our way over to Club 33!!!! We were so excited that we could hardly wait. When we got there, we had a little bit of time to wait, so we snapped a few pictures. You can see the "33" sign - that is the only way that the restaurant is identified. Most people walking by probably don't even know what it is.

In this picture Anna is showing how to use the intercom that you have to speak into when you arrive so they can check and see if you are actually on the reservation list. Don't have a reservation under a member's name? Sorry, you won't be getting in!

Once we got inside it was fun to see all the props that have been used in old movies, and see how the restaurant has maintained the historical quality of when Walt Disney created it. When we got to our table, they pulled out our chairs for us, put our napkins on our laps, and were always close by if we needed anything. At one point during dinner, we got up from our table to go out on the balcony to watch the fireworks, and when we came back to our table our chairs had been pushed in, our water glasses refilled, our silverware straightened, and our napkins refolded! They did that every time we left the table! So on to the food. I took a picture of each of our courses - Rocky had a 5 course meal, and I had a 3 course meal.

Here are the pictures of my courses:

Appetizer - delicious!

Main course - delicious!

Dessert - delicious!

Everything we had was fabulous! I don't remember the name of anything I had, but I loved every bite! And the presentation of each dish was beautiful (hence, the pictures!). I was impressed! Then, finally, here is a picture of the toilet. Too unique not to take a picture! The bathroom itself was also so quaint and charming. I took home a few paper towels from the bathroom as souvenirs (they had "33" embossed on them).

We had such a fun day! Even though we missed the kids, going to Disneyland without the kids is THE way to go! I got to ride all of my favorite rides, didn't have to mess with a stroller and stroller parking, and didn't have to make sure every 2 seconds that the kids were accounted for. And it was fun to spend time with Rocky - it was in celebration of our anniversary after all! And just because I don't want to end this post with a picture of a toilet,

here's one more cute picture of us!

It's been a fun summer! (Part 3)

2010-08-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

Every summer - the hot, hot summer - we get together with our bestest friends and decide to do something crazy - go somewhere even hotter! For the past 3 summers we have taken our families on a little vacation to Palm Springs (it was about 110 degrees!). This summer we went with some new friends, too, and had such a fun time! We went to a really nice hotel that had 2 water slides, a lazy river, a splash park, and a big pool. We stayed for 3 days and just enjoyed hanging out by the pool and eating out! Every year we go to our favorite Mexican restaurant that we discovered the first time we went, and now we go back there every year. Yum! I didn't take many pictures of our little vacation, but here are a couple of cute ones of all the kids.

The next fun event this summer was Eva's birthday - our little girl turned 4 years old! She decided that she wanted a Little Mermaid party, and what a fun party it turned out to be! We invited all of Eva's Joy School friends for an afternoon get together complete with games, art projects, cupcakes, and dressing up. They all had so much fun playing and partying together!

Happy Birthday to our beautiful girl!

It's been a fun summer! (Part 2)

2010-08-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

I'm back with more of our exciting summer! We didn't take any big trips or do anything really exciting, but we kept busy with small trips, fun playdates with friends, and, of course, more swimming! And it hasn't even been a hot summer here at all - I think we've turned on our A/C maybe 5 or 6 times! Anyway, today's post is all about 4th of July, which was so fun this year. We had a ward party at the park where we had a bike parade and played some old school games, like tug of war and 3 legged races. The bike parade was my favorite, and Eli, Eva, and I really had fun decorating their bike and scooter! We went to the dollar store and pretty much bought everything we thought could work, and I think we did a pretty fancy job!

All lined up, ready for the parade to start!

And they're off!

Later it was time for the games! The tug-of-war match up was the primary kids against the primary teachers, and the kids won!

Then we had 3 legged races - so cute and so fun!

We spent the actual 4th of July BBQing and watching fireworks with Rocky's family. Here's a picture of our little family in our patriotic colors (try to not look at Eva's sourpuss face), and the kids with their cousin, Daniel (Eva has a cute face in this one!).

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope your 4th of July was as fun as ours! I am so grateful to live in this beautiful land where we have so many opportunities and freedoms.

Stay tuned for more fun summer posts!

It's been a fun summer! (Part 1)

2010-08-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

Since our summer is just about over (Eli starts 2nd grade on Wednesday!) I decided to do a couple of posts all about our summer. Enjoy!

It all started with Eva's graduation from Joy School. Such a proud Joy School graduate! Here she is in her graduation cap showing off her diploma. During the ceremony, the girls sang the "Oh Boy! I've Got Joy!" song that they sang in the Primary talent show (see previous post). This time they actually managed to get the signs right! Of course it was so cute, all over again. The other 2 pictures are of Eva with her best friend, Clara, and her other Joy School friends. It was such a fun school year with great friends!

We also spent a lot of time swimming and playing with friends this summer. One of Eva's favorite things to do is dress up! And both Eli and Eva became stronger swimmers this summer and have enjoyed swimming in the pool, the beach, and the lake!

Well that's all for Part 1! Stay tuned in the next few days for more exciting summer posts!

Eva's got Joy!

2010-05-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

This adorable video is from our Primary Talent Show that we had tonight. Eva performed a song, "I've Got Joy", with her Joy School friends, and it couldn't be cuter! There are 6 girls in her Joy School, and they all love each other so much and have tons of fun together. This is a song they learned back at the beginning of the school year, and it was one of their favorites, so we relearned it and added some cute moves so they could perform it in the talent show. They were so thrilled to be performing up on stage. Eva especially loves the spotlight (are you surprised???). I think we are going to love this video for years to come!

I still laugh every time I watch it because aside from the hilarious upside down signs, I know Eva too well - about halfway through the song, she starts moving from foot to foot, and that means she needs to go to the bathroom! Right after the song was over we ran rushing to the bathroom (and made it just in time)!

Eli's First Piano Recital

2010-05-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

Eli had his first piano recital on Friday, May 21st. He started taking lessons the first week of April, and his teacher already wanted him to perform in the recital! He performed two songs, "It's a Small World," and "I Like You." He did an awesome job and looked so cute. You can watch the videos of each song here. One of them is a duet with his teacher, and the other is a solo. Enjoy! (Sorry about the poor video quality! And I can't figure out how to get two videos from YouTube into one post, which is why one of them is blogger.)

Also, here are some pictures of the recital. His teacher did an incredible job with the room set-up, programs, awards, etc. I was so impressed! Eli received a medal for a being a 1st year piano student who practices at least 5 days a week. I am so happy that Eli is learning how to play the piano, and so excited to see him improve and learn to love the piano like I do!

People have been saying...

2010-02-10T17:56:00.001-08:00

...that it's time for a new blog post. So here you go!

My talented husband!

2009-05-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

On Friday we took our boat out to the lake for a couple hours. It was our first trip of many for the summer season! Let me know if you ever want to come - we love having friends join us! Anyway, here's a couple pictures from the trip. Rocky is a great wakeboarder and was jumping lots of waves. This picture was the clearest one, but I have several others that show him catching major air!

Here's a picture of the kids, trying to smile in the sun! They love being on the boat, but don't love having to wear their life jackets so much.

Eva prefers to stay dry, but Eli loves jumping in the lake for a swim to cool off. Soon he's going to learn how to wakeboard like his mom and dad - yes, I wakeboard too!

Blog Catch Up!!!

2009-05-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't posted in almost 2 months! But finally I am trying to play a little catch up. If you scroll down, you will see 3 new posts! I haven't yet attempted to blog our trip to Hawaii because I took so many pictures and it would take a really long time! So that is yet to come...stay tuned! In the meantime, enjoy these cute pictures of the kids!

Trip to Legoland

2009-05-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to some very generous cousins, we received some free tickets to Legoland! So we went while Eli was on spring break and had a great time! Eli was just tall enough for some of the big roller coasters, and he loved them! Eva enjoyed some of the smaller rides, and they loved seeing Bob the Builder and all the Lego statues! We also got to watch a 4D Lego Racer movie, which was really cool. Hence the funny looking glasses!

It was an awesome day that we got to spend together. We had lots of fun!

Thanks Seth and Amber!

These last 2 pictures are of us riding the fairy tale story boats, the last ride of the day!

Best Friends

2009-05-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

We have some friends who live about 2 minutes away from us, and we were so blessed to meet them about 6 years ago and become good friends with them. We actually moved away from each other, but then they convinced us to move back closer to them and we're glad we did! Our kids are pretty close in age and because we spend so much time with them they have become best friends! I just wanted to post these cute pictures of our kids together at our ward's Easter egg hunt. They're too cute! We love the Boyer's!

L-R: Brooks, Clara, Eva, and Eli

Clara and Eva

Eli and Brooks hammin' it up! They are just like their dads!

Easter Fun!

2009-05-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

Coloring Easter eggs in our jammies! Piglet helped, too!

Easter treats!

Look at all the eggs we collected at the Ward Easter Egg Hunt! And they're all filled with candy!!!

Pink curlers at night = beautiful curls on Easter Sunday!

All dressed up in our Easter clothes!

Another Easter egg hunt with all the cousins at Nana's house - even Zoe!

We had a fun Easter with all the activities and dressing up, but more importantly it was a beautiful day to remember the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We're going to Hawaii!

2009-03-21T14:46:00.001-07:00

So I just wanted to share that little bit of information! Rocky and I (no kids!!!) are finally going to Hawaii. We are going in May with Rocky's brother, Lenny, and his wife Anna. We are so excited!!!! Rocky's entire family has been, except us, so now it's our turn! Can't wait! Here's a picture of the resort we are staying at:

Are you jealous yet???

We had such a fun day!

2009-02-11T22:07:00.001-08:00

Living in southern CA is great - from our house, the beach is only about an hour away, and in the opposite direction, the mountains are only about an hour away. So today, we "drove to the snow!" I love it that weather can be so pleasant where we live, but if you want to experience winter for an hour or two, you can! We went to Palomar Mountain and as we drove we watched the temperature gauge in our car go from 60* all the way down to 36* once we got to the top of the mountain. You can't tell from the pictures, but we were totally unprepared to play in the snow - no snow pants, no boots, no waterproof gloves - but we had so much fun! Needless to say, our pants, gloves, and shoes / socks were all soaked within less than an hour! We'll do better next time! But for today, the kids enjoyed every minute and it was worth it!

Anna took this family picture of us - it's a good one, don't you think?

Eva making a snow angel. That's the observatory in the background. It has a 200 inch telescope inside of it!

Eli just loving it!

Eva's favorite - eating the snow!

Check out this video! Aunt Anna and Zoe came with us to play in the snow. Zoe was a great addition to the sledding experience - we attached her leash to the sled, threw a ball, and off she went, pulling the sled behind her! Eli had a blast, and wanted to keep doing it even after many face plants in the snow!

Eli's Shiner

2009-01-15T18:50:00.001-08:00

Scooter accident.

Handlebars --- meet Eli's face.

A little crying. Lots of ice.

It's not so bad, is it?

To Britney:

2009-01-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

Keep making good choices. We love you!

Be careful what you wish for...

2009-01-14T18:48:00.000-08:00

...because you just might get it! We spent the week in Ohio last week, and can you guess what we wished for? SNOW!!!! And we got it! But not too much, just the perfect amount. Enough to play in, go sledding,

make snowballs,

snow angels,

and even a tiny little snowman!

It snowed almost the entire first day we were there, then the next few days we had freezing temperatures so everything turned to ice! Eli was thrilled about that - icicles make good popsicles!

We had a fabulous time in Ohio visiting grandparents, aunties, uncles, and favorite cousins. The favorite activity of the week was playing outside in the snow! They didn't mind the 20 minutes it took to get all bundled up - as long as they were warm and cozy inside, they could play outside for hours! Then, of course, when they came in they drank hot chocolate and put their toes by the fire. We miss our Ohio family!

Elf Yourself!

2008-12-17T22:18:00.000-08:00

I know everyone's making these videos, but I couldn't resist! It was too much fun. Hope you get a good laugh!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

What is Eva doing?

2008-12-16T13:03:00.001-08:00

Why, she's getting herself dressed, of course!

See? She did it! Good job, Eva!

Well, that's better... at least a little more functional, and warmer, too!

Letters from Santa

2008-12-11T19:02:00.001-08:00

Our city does the coolest thing - they send a personalized letter to your child from none other than the man himself, Santa Claus! So today Eli and I went to get the mail, and what did we find in the mailbox? A letter from Santa, of course! When Eli saw that it was a letter for HIM from SANTA, he pretty much skipped home with a smile on his face, almost giggling! He was so excited to read that letter!

And it was good news! Santa checked his list, even checked it twice, and Eli was a good boy this year, so Santa WILL be coming for a visit on Christmas Eve. Yay!

Guessing Game - What's in the bag?

2008-12-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

If you guessed a poopy Princess Pull-up and about a gazillion wipies, you would be partially right. If you guessed puked-on jammies that will never see the inside of a washing machine (only because just yesterday I finished washing 2 sheets, 2 pillowcases, 4 blankets, 6 stuffed animals AND 2 pairs of jammies for the same reason), you would be partially right. If you guessed BOTH you would be right on! Puke and Poop - that's what we've been dealing with at our house the last couple of days. I know, not such a pretty picture! I'll be nice and won't share any actual pictures (sorry - didn't think to take any while I was in the throes of cleaning up the aforementioned messes!). Lesson learned: Pull-up Princess diapers aren't really meant to hold runny poo. And thank goodness for Costco wipies! Let's just say that it's not the first time I've had to scrub poop out of the carpet.

Oh you want to hear the about the first time do you? It's actually quite funny, really. So Eli was having a sleepover with his cousin Daniel at our house. The 3 of them (Eli, Daniel, and Eva) were upstairs playing, and I was downstairs cleaning up. They called for me about something, so I went upstairs to check on them. While I was up there I smelled that Eva was stinky, but I was in the middle of something downstairs, and I wanted to finish that and then I would come back up and change her and get her ready for bed. Well no sooner had I gotten back downstairs than I hear Eli and Daniel SHOUTING that Eva pooped on the floor. CRAP! (literally!) So I ran upstairs and yes, I saw Eva's poop on the floor - in 3 different places. She had actually decided to get herself ready for bed. Even put her clothes in the hamper and diaper in the trash can, but not before the poop fell out onto the floor! Now what, you ask? Like the darling little angel that she is, she tried to clean it up herself. Yes, she had gone into the bathroom and gotten a washcloth then SCRUBBED it into the carpet. Which I then had to scrub right back out. I just stood there, not even knowing where to start - the naked baby with poopy hands, or the poo just staring at me, threatening to stain our beautiful carpet the longer it sat there. Sorry to say that the carpet won. Eli cleaned Eva's hands for me. So there you have it. The story of the first time I had to scrub poop out of the carpet. Aren't you glad you asked?

He's one smart cookie!

2008-12-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

Eva and I attended Eli's 1st Kindergarten Awards Assembly. Eli received an award for outstanding math achievement! It was fun to see him up on the stage with the other kids (if you look closely, he is the smallest one!). Now, while I love supporting our kids in school events, there will be 3 of these assemblies per year, with each child being in elementary school for 6 years, times however many kids we will have...maybe my math award winner can do the math for me and figure out how many of these I have to attend!

Eli and his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Blanchard:

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

We hope you enjoy your turkey and all the trimmings! Here are a few things we are thankful for:
Eli - my family, friends, Jesus, and cars
Eva - Ariel, Jesus, Sleeping Beauty

Welcome!

2008-11-22T22:42:00.000-08:00

Hello blogging world! Let me be the first to welcome myself to blog land! I have overcome some of my fears and worked hard to learn how to do this, not to mention I have succumbed to the pressure I have felt not only by others but myself to start a blog. So here I am, fellow bloggers! Can I get a round of applause, please? I'm ready to share my life with all of you, ready for some fun! Please feel free to share your words of wisdom, as I am just a beginner, venturing out into an unknown land...

Eva Loves to Dance!

2008-11-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

This is Eva dancing! Watch the whole thing - she can't seem to stay on her feet!

Crazy Eli!

2008-11-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

This is Eli acting crazy! He wanted me to take a video, and then he wanted to watch it over and over and over again! He was cracking up! I have crazy kids!

Check it out!

2008-11-07T15:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's my 1st blog post, inspired by Chelsea. The pressure I'm putting on myself to create a blog is finally being released - big exhale.... Let's see if this actually comes to pass!