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As producers of handmade products we are looking to our supporters to help us SAVE the products that we make!

The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act is going to go into place in February of 2009. This Act will close our business as well as ALL other handmade businesses!

Please read what Cool Mom Picks has to say and join us in our efforts to SAVE HANDMADE!

i hate today...

Do you ever get up in the morning and just not feel good? I'm sure we all do. Today is one of those days! my body aches, i got a nasty text message from a customer, my house is a wreck, i tried to take a nap which seems to have made things worse, i gained 2 lbs., jase and i had an argument, etc...

i have been reading other people's blogs and everyone is so positive. I think i want to barf. I am seriously in a nasty "funk" as Rosemary would say. So, as i have been reading, I've been thinking "why do we blog"? Is it to show off our cute kids? fill a void? inform others? teach a lesson? journal our lives? communicate with family? why do you blog? I'm not really sure why i blog? maybe a little bit of everything?

This post is because I want record how stupid I can be. As. I've been sitting here I have come to realize that I don't have to hate today. I can decide to love today. oh weird! as I was just typing that. the room lit up....the sun just came shining through the cracks in the blinds. let's see what i can make of the day...1st thing on the list, ibuprofen!

Annee & Harvey

Today is Nick and Annee's Anniversary. I have had Annee on my mind all weekend. Saturday was the anniversary of her passing. I miss her.

For those of you that don't know...Annee is my sister-in-law. She is Jason's brother Nick's first wife. She passed away on Nov. 8th, 2005 from Primary Liver Cancer. She had be diagnosed a year and a half prior, just after giving birth to their daughter, Alli. She died just 2 days before Nick and her's 4 year anniversary.

I wonder what she is doing and if she is pleased with what "we" are doing? I have especially been thinking about Becky (her mom) and her siblings these past few days. It is amazing the progress that we can make after having gone through such a difficult trial. I think about Nick too. I know that he is happy even though she is gone.

Friday was the anniversary of my Brother-in-Law, Harvey's passing. He was my sister Dodi's, first husband. He was diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer just a few weeks after Annee was diagnosed.

I think about him in a different way than I think about Annee. I wonder still what he is doing? I wonder if he is happy? I wonder if he is still in pain? and if it is more than what he experienced here? I miss him too. I also wonder about his family and all that has happened since he died. I pray that Dodi and her family can be happy now that he is gone.

I imagine that over the coming years I will still continue to think abou these 2 people that are family of mine. I imagine that even though we won't speak about them at family functions, we are all thinking about them. I imagine that we will all go through similar experiences with our own wives/husband, in-laws and more and I hope that we will all be stronger for having done so.

Annee and Harvey, I am still thinking of you!

Diaper FREE?

We went to Costco 3 weeks ago to buy the necessities. While we were there we chose carefully the items that we had coupons for. Diapers were on our list but, were still VERY expensive! As Jason pushed the Large box of size 5's under the cart I looked Nora in the eyes and said "LAST BOX CHICA!" she looked at me with a smile and said "yes, mom."

So, here we are 3 weeks later and look what Nora has been doing for 2 weeks now. She had her first pee accident today. I blame myself. We were in Hollywood looking for a movie for the kids. I should have known better. Anyway, she is doing great. I can't believe my baby is out of diapers!

Here are some funny pictures of the turkey showing me her big girl panties!

This was one of the first ones I took. I said "Show me your panties!" and up her nightgown went! If you notice there is another person there trying to show her panties too! That would be Sophie! What a little Stinker! She just can't get enough attention.

Here's our BIG GIRL showing us her BIG GIRL panties and a little more.


Making sure they are really there. This is so exciting for ALL of us. We have never been diaper free! Well, at least not since Ladd was born.

Car...something

So, since I talked about my car in my last post I started thinking about all of the cars that I've ever had. I decided to write about those cars and dedicate this post to "all the girls (cars) I've loved before".

Maybe you noticed that in my last post I referred to my car/van as Carleen. I name all ( most) of my cars.

My first car was a 1974 Toyota corolla. She wasn't all mine(she was a family car) but, I drove her nearly everyday. She was Red, Hot and Rollin'!( had a sticker on the back window exclaiming so). She was paper thin and with only a 12 horsepower engine she maxed out in 4th gear at 55 MPH! I loved this car. She had only 20,000 miles on it when I got it in 1991. It had been sitting in a garage in Morehouse , Mo. for nearly 20 years and she was still sporting the original tires! What a gem. She looked kind-of like this and I called her Car.
My next car was a gift from my dad just before I left home for my second year of college. She was a 1988 Mazda 323. Blue, with a sunroof and some phat gold rims. She had a few battle wounds from her days spent in East St. Louis, Illinios. But, a few bullet holes didn't stop her from driving across the country 4 times! She had a nice stereo and the sunroof kept me sitting with her for hours. Through boyfriends and breakups she was always there for me. "Cari" left me in Provo, Utah after suffering a blown engine. I would see her occasionally parked in a parking lot near the University Mall in Orem. I still think about her often.
This pic shows a small likeness...those gold rims really brightened her up compared to this one.

After the loss of my beloved Cari I was blessed with Carlene (not the same as Carleen).Carlene was a 1990 Toyota Camry, Light Blue. She was good to me but, we really never seemed to bond. My Dad provided me with this car as well. He even drove it to Utah for me after selling Cari to that nice Hispanic man for $400.00. I gave my dad the $400 Bucks and he presented me with Carlene one day while I was working at Barnes and Noble in Orem. He had driven her all night and all day from Southeast Missouri and hitched a ride back to MO via SWA after spending a few days here with my brother and I.
Carlene had been in our family awhile and had quite a history. She was originally my oldest sister's car and after a devastating accident my dad bought the car from my sister at a greatly reduced price. He did some repairs and then, she was all mine. Thanks Dad! I drove her back to Missouri when I moved back there in '98? and Missouri is where I left her. I moved to California after a while and Kimberly (little sis) inherited her, I think.


The next car I had was the whole reason I am married to Jason. Apparently, the first time he ever spoke to me...he asked me about my car ( I don't remember that well). Carly was her name and she was definitely the funnest car I ever had. She was a 1995 Mitsubishi, Eclipse, RED! She was totaled at one point too and I actually had to buy her from my Dad. He was driving her when I came home from California and I decided that I HAD to have her. I made $250 a month payments to my dad and was able to pick her up in Missouri when My little Brother, Adam, came home from his mission. We put her on a trailer and drove a truck(for a friend from Utah) from Missouri to Utah with her towing behind. Then drove her from Utah to California. She then moved with me to Utah when I finally moved back and soon after is when I met Jason for the first time. I sometimes think he married me for my car. He obviously didn't know what he had gotten into. The car was NOT worth it( she fell apart and ended up selling her to Jason's stepdad! However he lucked out with the girl! Carli added so much to my life at that time. I dated a ton and loved cruzin around with my girlfriends with the sunroof open and the music blaring! lol now, it seems so silly. Anyway, she prepared me for Carla. I knew I needed to settle down after her.

The next car I had, was actually "ours". It was the 1st big thing Jase and I bought together. We actually still own her. Carla is her name and she is wonderful! She is a1997 Nissan, Altima Champagne in color. She is 11 years old and is still kickin! Jason drives her to Salt Lake everyday now and she has been there for us when we had NO OTHER CAR to depend on.
She is more mature than Carli was. She really knows how to treat a girl right. After all she is a girl! She also prepared us for the big one!

Carleen (named after Jason's mom, Kayleen). She is a dream. I never thought I would love a mini van but, holy cow! She has heated leather seats, a DVD player for the kids and she is a lot bigger than Carla but, still gets great gas mileage. We got her just before Nora was born. A friend of a friend of ours was selling her and we were in the market. She wasn't in perfect shape but, that was ok cause it made her price just right for us! I love that I can put on a movie for the kids and they will be quiet for 2 hours while I drive. We can stretch out on a long trip or haul all of my demi-dos stuff and/or a friend of mine and her kids too. We have driven her to Missouri (a couple times), Texas and New Mexico and soon to be California! We love her!

Halloween IS my FAVORITE Holiday!

I know everyone and their dog is posting about Halloween this past weekend...guess what so am I, but maybe my post won't be like all the others...let's see.

Friday morning I got up and got the kids' breakfast first thing, like always. Then I started prepping Ladd's costume for him to wear to school that day. Things went well with getting him dressed and off he went with Kenzie to the bus stop. The girls and I spent the day doing who knows what? We met Ladd at the bus stop where we were greeted by Anakin, Obi-Wan, Raggety Ann? and both the White and Red Power Rangers. After a few snaps of the camera by some of the other moms we were headed home where I was told by my very humble son "Mom, I had THE best costume at school! When we had the parade everyone kept yelling at me, COOL! Mario! That is the BEST Costume!" I was happy that HE felt so happy about his adorable Super Mario costume that I made. After We got home and got him stripped out of the Sweaty overalls (made of fleece). We had lunch and I noticed that I had missed a phone call from my friend Anita. I listened to the message and started to feel sick as i thought about what she had just said. "where were you during the Halloween parade at school? I looked for you and didn't see you. Just wanted to make sure everything was ok." OK. it was. 1 of my 3 children was at school and I was trying to get showered so that I could take 1 of the 2 at home to the doctor (on Halloween, mind you). So. I keeping thinking.."Am I the worst mom ever?" I don't think so either. What is this thing with parents going to the school to watch their kid walk by in the costume that they just dressed him in 10 minutes before? I had NO idea! We never had parents at school during our Halloween parade...no. not even in kindergarten! By theway... i don't go to the bus stop either. and i only volunteered to help out in his class after the room mother called me and said " i am desperate. can you please help us out?" I must be the worst mom ever!

anyway, after lunch we were off to the doctor's office to find out why I haven't been sleeping for the past three nights? I mean, why Nora hadn't been sleeping. No reason. No ear infection. No sore throat. No diaper rash. No NOTHING! ugh. I haven't been sleeping for NO reason.

When we got home from the Dr. it was time for me to start getting ready for the BIG night. We had Trunk or treat at 5:30 and Jason was planning to be home at 4:30 so I would have plenty of time to paint his face! He was dressing up as Frankenstein and I was dressing up as his Lovely Bride so I had a makeup job to do on myself too. We got everything done and got to the church at 5:40. Not too bad considering...Jason had to drive very cautiously since I had to lean over in order to sit in the car. My hair was too tall to sit up strait and Jason could hardly see over it. Jason took the kids around the church parking lot and arrived back at "carleen" ( my Car/Van What? doesn't everybody name their car?) within 20 minutes! I was nearly empty handed and we were ready to scoot over to Becky's & Jeff's house for fabulous evening of Halloween Hysteric's!

We enjoyed taco soup, sugar cookies, orange bubbly w/ critter ice and the company of my friend Kim and her girlfriend Jenny (who is Becky's Sister)! We were having a great time when all of the kids come running downstairs screaming! "MOM! Sophie just blew chunks all over Kenzie's bedroom!" ( not exactly in those words). I jumped up and ran to her aid as she continued to vomit all over her beautifully crafted black and purple satin Witch Cape and her purple and black striped tights and her new black suede boots! Fun Night! huh? I spent the next 1/2 hour spraying and scrubbing as Jeff and Becky desperately sucked up ( with the carpet cleaning vacuum thingy) the yummy taco soup out of their child's bedroom floor.

Wanna see some cute pictures of our fun costumes? sorry. I don't have a one even though I had the camera near ALL DAY LONG!

Proud of Me!

Ok. So, I am just gonna take some time out to brag a little.... (Is that inappropriate?) oh well...I'm gonna do it anyway. We have once again been given an award for our little booth. A few weekends ago we were at the Battlecreek Boutique in Pleasant Grove and were given the Fun & Fresh Award along with a little gift and I am so excited about it! We did fabulous at this show and I have to say I adore Raquel-the owner. What a gracious person. Thanks so much for the award and for supporting me and my business.

Good Things Utah!

We went to the Good Things Utah show and sat in the audience a month or so ago and gave away a gift basket to the studio audience there. It was so much fun! After the show we got to meet the hosts and they asked us about our products and told us that we should come back and do some giveaways for Tues. and Thurs. trivia. They were so nice... they said "we need to get some of your stuff so we can wear it on the show." So, about two weeks ago we went back to the show and met with Angie, Nicea and Reagan (Marti was off that day) and we left them all with some products and a large gift basket worth over $75 to give away on a trivia day. One Wed. they announced the prize for Thursday trivia and talked about Demi-Dos a bit and then on Thurs. they gave the prize away to a lucky viewer named Julie ( she blogged about her winnings... here)

Congrats Julie! I hope you will enjoy your winnings!

I am very excited about the opportunities we have been given with demi-dos we have some exciting things coming up so stay tuned!

p.s. I am trying to get the 2 clips of the trivia things so that I can post them online for you all to see!

TAGGED!

Ok. So...I tagged myself. Lame. I know but, I loved Anita's post with me in it and decided that it might get me excited about blogging again. So, 4th pic in 4th album in my Pics....


This picture is from last Fall...zuichinni harvest! My oldest sister Chantal came out for Women's Conference. We had a great time making zuichinni bread going to the Corn Maze and eating out at Ruth's Chris!

I tag anyone who reads this! Go!

It's Ladd's Birthday!!!!! It's My Birt-day?

Every year for the Kids' birthdays I try to start off the day special either with decorations to come downstairs to, breakfast of their choice or a special party of some kind. This year we had decided that Ladd wouldn't have a "party" but, we still wanted "his" day to be special but, I kind-of spaced it until just a few days before and then kind-of forgot that he had a soccer game that morning and we wouldn't have time for IHOP (his favorite breakfast place). So, I improvised...
Ladd got to have homemade pancakes with Mrs. Buttersworth's Syrup and lots of Candy sprinkles! I had some of the candles left from Nora's birthday last month and sprinkles too so we decorated the triple layer of pancakes and he was very pleased!

Nora is still a bit confused about the whole birthday thing...her b-day was in Aug. and I don't think she's gone more than a day without saying.."is my birt-day?" She knows that she is 2 now and seriously thinks that EVERYDAY is her birthday! so, she helped Ladd blow out his birthday candle that morning.

I think he's excited about the triple stack pancakes!

They ALL were...they wouldn't even look up to smile for the camera.

One down, two more to go...

"Is my birt-day!" she says.

The next day...we had a Jason approved birthday cake with more sprinkles and fun curly candles! and presents!

Happy Birthday Ladd! What a Big 6 year old we have.

& a big 2 year old too!

Big Kids!!!

So, last week one day Ladd saw his friend Kelton riding his tiny little bike with NO training wheels and was amazed that he could not only ride without the wheels but could ride through grass and back onto the side walk and NOT crash! He told me then that he wanted to learn to do that " 'cause it was sooooo Cool!" I made him a deal..."after Nora is down for her nap and Sophie is gone to school we will work on it." to my surprise, he did it within an hour! I had been putting off letting Sophie, who has been ready to ride solo for awhile, ride because I thought it might hurt his feelings. When Sophie got home from school he ran to his bike to show her his new accomplishment....Yeah! Ladd.

Still looking a little timid...

Of course then Sophie wanted to give it a shot. So, I took her t-wheels off and with one push she was off! Sophie takes after mom and Ladd is definitely his father's son!


UPDATE! Ladd is now refusing to ride his bike after a minor crash he had...Sophie is a master rider and has been grounded for riding in the street and taking off on her bike without permission. Ugh! the stresses of being a mother.

Silent Auction Fundraiser

On Saturday, August 16, 2008, Stephanie Nielson was in a plane crash with her husband, Christian Nielson, and his flight instructor, Doug Kinnear, near St. Johns, Arizona. Doug Kinnear passed away soon after arriving at the Maricopa County Hospital.

Christian & Stephanie remain in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center where they are expected to be in a chemical induced coma for several months. The Nielson’s hospital bills are expected to be in the millions. Christian has sustained burns on over 30% of his body. His wife Stephanie’s body was burned over 80%.

For the past four years, Stephanie has welcomed us into her charming abode through the NieNie Dialogues. Far from being a product of creative editing, the Nielson’s don’t just shine through the selective lens of a blog. They are ingenuous examples of family devotion, eternal romance, and Christ centered faith.

Knowing the financial burden at hand, Demi-Dos is eager to join the club of rallying friends and family. We will be donating a portion of all of our proceeds from the 2008 Swiss Days to Nie and her family. We are also going to be holding a silent auction on labor day. We will post the auction items Sunday evening on demi-dos.com and will open up the blog for comments/bids at midnight on Sunday. Please be generous in your bids. And thanks for your help!

If you would like to make a monetary donation you may do so at Any Wells Fargo Bank under “Stephanie Nielson Fund or at any Bank of America under the "Christian and Stephanie Nielson Rehab Fund."

For more information and updates on the Nielsons or for other ways to donate, check out: www.nieniedialogues.com or www.cjanerun.com

where have i been?

For those of you that don't know...I have been at my business site... demi-dos.com. I hope to post some fun stuff soon. Until then, check out what I have been up to at demi-dos.com

Easter Pics...Belated

happy easter!
nora would only make this weird "cheese" face when i got the camera out... oh well. she's still a cutie.


sophie posed nicely...she "looks" so sweet. would you had ever guessed that she is the one that dumped out a whole bottle of baby powder in the floor on saturday?

the 3 amigos or the 3 stooges?
the kids were "cheesing" for me on the front porch. they were all 3 wired after only having had 5 jelly beans before church. i think the Easta Bunnie will be coming on sat. next year.

ladd was looking very handsome in his argyle sweater and seersucker shorts. i love this kid...so cute and such a sweetheart.

not quite sure what ladd is doing here but, nora sure looks cute...and sophie too.

looks like the Easter Bunnie didn't get the laundry in the washer before church....good thing we all had new outfits! "Thanks, Easta Bunnie". It was a lovely day. Hope you all had a good one too!

newlywed update

so i decided that i would try and post this week since i haven't in about 2 months or something. i just never feel like i have much to say...and i'm busy doing other stuff. so, now there's the dilemma...what the heck do i write about?

i guess i could write about Easter and how cute all the kiddos looked at church on sunday or i could tell the story about how ladd comes to me every few days with a new product that we need to order off the t.v. or even give an update on the newlyweds...maybe i will get to post on all 3 of these things. i think i'll go with the update today since it is probably the littlest amount of typing and i have a TON to do today.

so in february i went to missouri to visit my family...it is always exciting since i don't get to see them often. the trip started out crazy because they had been having ice storms for a few days and some flights had been cancelled. my flight was not cancelled but was over booked and i was traveling with nora on my lap. the flight is a 3 hour flight and i was ready to get off at an hour into the flight! i was renting a car since the drive is another 2 1/2 hrs. to my home town. however it took nearly 4 hours to get there since the roads were covered in black ice. i saw nearly 50 cars off the roads during my travels that evening. luckily i made it there safely in my bright blue crysler PT cruiser (dumbest car ever) but was exhausted. i knew that my sister and i were going to be going to see my parents at my grandma's house the next morning so i went to bed soon after arriving at her house.

i had heard that things were going well with the newlyweds and both my mom and dad sounded happy every time i had talked to them on the phone. i was feeling a little nervous about seeing them though. i don't know if it was fear of thinking it was a mistake that they had gotten remarried or what, but i was both nervous and excited to see the 2 of them together.

when we got to my grandma's house that next morning my dad greeted us on the porch with about a dozen chickens. nora was thrilled! my mom was standing just inside the door and seemed very happy to see us and very relaxed. i was pleased. they both seemed so happy. we kissed and hugged and made it to the living room and sat down. i made a few newlywed comments and they laughed. my mom pulled out some pictures that they had had taken at

wal-mart. they were nice. i noticed her ring in the pictures and checked out both of their rings as we talked. (my mom had only ever had a simple band and my dad lost his in the river, year's ago). so, the rings were a sign that this was all very real. we sat and visited for a while and then my sister and her husband took off with my dad to checkout a four wheeler that he had recently purchased. this left me alone with my mom for a while... i asked her how things were going and she said good, NOW. of course i questioned the "NOW" and she told me that they had argued and she was ready to leave. she thought that she had made a mistake. she said my dad said that they should talk and this made her even more angry. i was confused. she said to him "it's been 43 years and NOW you want to talk?!" he said "yes. i think we should talk". she decided that they probably should this time and they did. she said "things have never been better". we stayed and visited the rest of the afternoon. i watch them interact with each other and they seem genuinely happy. we had a great visit there that day. nora and i even took the new four wheeler out for a drive.

it just goes to show you that people can change, never give up and communication is key. the things you learn from your parents...hum. i pray that i don't make the same mistakes that they have and/or that when i do make them that i am not so proud that it takes 43 years to make things right.

i talked to my mom a few days after i got home and she said that they had been out riding the four wheeler and were covered in mud. she said that it was the most fun she had had in years. she said "we are really enjoying each other".

i love my parents i am so grateful for all that they have taught me. i am so proud of them and the example that they have been for me. it hasn't been easy but, i would guess that it has been worth it!

what have you learned from your parents? anything?

birthday girl

Sophie turned 4 on Wednesday!


We went to Kangaroo Zoo to jump around with some friends!
All of the kids enjoyed themselves.


Nora was right behind Sophie all day long.

Nora and I braved this slide together. She would have gone alone had I let her.

K and sophie racing to the end of the obsticle course!

B was surprised to see me...

Amy kept the kids laughing as they tried to stay on top of this crazy thing!

Sophie and A held on tight!

Sophie is just one of the boys!

Best friends, Ladd and D-man, just hanging out!