kitchen - day 1

all ready to go

Gutted and ready to go

from the living room

from the entry to the kitchen/dining room

from the stairs

when we're helping we're happy

What kid wouldn't jump at the chance to take a hammer to a kitchen counter?!?!  Our kids were so excited to help demo the tile.  They are loving every minute of this remodel.

kitchen - demo

These pictures are all out of order and I am not going to spend the time fixing it - just imagine the demo'ing sequence.  

like father, like son part 2

like father, like son

here's what he does when no one is looking

Lately when Derek and I have gotten on the computer we find videos that Luke has made. He gets on the computer and makes them when no one else is in the room and then he just leaves them on the computer for us to find, never telling us he made them.  They make us laugh hysterically, although if he is not your kid you probably won't find them near as funny. Here is one of my favorites...

You will have to excuse the mess in the background.  Our dining room table is in our front room and it is loaded with pots, pans, cleaning supplies, etc.  My house is in some serious disarray because of the kitchen remodel.

dinner, dinner anyone?

our kitchen BEFORE

Our kitchen is gone - so gone. Where our kitchen once was is now a big, empty room with cold concrete floors, ugly walls with some dry wall missing, lots of spider webs and a continuous cold breeze because of a broken kitchen window.

The window you ask...I spent part of yesterday afternoon harping on Derek about being careful around the window - I was worried he was going to break it. When he had finally had enough of me he quietly put his tools down and walked away to go find another job (I am assuming he went looking for the job that was farthest away from his crazed wife who was so sure he was going to break the window) I took over the job of carefully removing tile from around the window. I felt much better now that I was in control of the job knowing that I would be much more careful then Derek....CRACK! I guess I got a little heavy handed with the hammer and now I was to blame for the destroyed window. After a few minutes of complete shock I burst into tears and locked myself in the bathroom for a minute to compose myself. Derek was waiting with a hug and some comforting words "glad it was you and not me" So now we get a nice new window to go with our nice new kitchen.

The demo took about 3 hours and wouldn't have happened without the help of good friends. The Wrights, Hawkins and Smiths came over and went to town with sledge hammers, crow bars, etc. I can't even begin to tell you how much we appreciate them and all the work they did.

We now have our refrigerator sitting next to the sofa in our family room. We may never move it back to the kitchen because the current set up makes it very easy to grab the Ben and Jerry's out of the freezer without ever leaving the comfort of the sofa. Next to the fridge is a folding table to hold our crock pot, electric skillet, paper plates, paper cubs, etc. This will serve as our kitchen for the new few weeks. We are hoping that people will take pity on us and invite us to dinner so we won't have to use our make shift kitchen. We must seem fairly pathetic because today was our first full day without a kitchen and we had dinner tonight at a friend's house.

I am feeling nervous about this whole remodeling thing - wondering if I made good choices for cabinets, counters, appliances, etc. I wish I could enjoy the whole process more but if I am being completely honest it is just making me way stressed out. Derek is handling it all very well and trying to keep me sane. He has been amazing with finding all the things I want. For instance he found the sink I liked but it was on the pricey end for our budget. He spent hours searching for it on the Internet and found the exact sink plus an amazing faucet all for less then the original price of the sink. He gets a gold star for all his work on this project.

Here is just a few pictures from the beginning of demo. I ran out of room on my camera so Rona went home and grabbed her camera to document the day. As soon as I get pictures from her I will post them so that everyone can see the progress we are making.

     Rona and me trying to look busy

Derek getting ready to take down the first cabinet

but mom, everyone is doing it

Some of our nieces have been posting about their hubbies. I decided to follow the crowd so here is everything you ever wanted to know about the dude I married...

What's his name?

Derek Lee Baker

How long have you been together?

We met May 7, 1988 at an Angels game (thanks to Ryan Jones) and have been together ever since (as long as you don't count the few break-ups and missions) So what is that? 20 years this May!!!! Yikes - when did we get so old?!?!

How long did you date?

This is kind of hard to answer since most normal people stay together once they are dating. We met in May '88 but didn't start officially dating until September. We then dated until Derek left on his mission to Chile which was in June(?) of '89. We had a few minor break-ups during that time but for the most part we were together that whole time. I faithfully wrote him on his mission until I did a bad thing, a very bad thing - I Dear John'ed the love of my life after about 18 months. Long story, so we won't go into it. I left on my mission in May (1 month before he got home) We had no contact with each other until I got home in December of 1992. We met up a few days after I got home from my mission so that we could talk and "officially" end the relationship -well, that didn't happen. We got back together - he went back to BYU after Christmas and I stayed home. We couldn't handle the separation so I moved to Provo in February of 19993. We were married on June 26, 1993 and we have been together, uninterrupted, ever since.

How old is he?

37, he'll be 38 on March 7th. He is one month older then me - I will be 38 on April 4th.

Who eats more?

I'm going to say me although I'm not 100% sure of this. I have a bad habit of not eating for most of the day and then start eating at 6pm. This is also the time that Derek is home so I know that I am eating more then him at night. During the day I'm not so sure what he's eating. He definitely eats more when it comes to sweets. He loves ice cream!

Who said I love you first?

To be honest I'm not sure. I am going to have to ask the man himself

Who is taller?

He is by a long shot - he is 6'4" and I am 5'8"

Who can sing better?

This goes to him too. He has an amazing voice. He participates in our ward and stake choirs at church. He has been in a few musical productions and is often asked to sing at missionary farewells, funerals, etc.Who is smarter?

Hey, I'm not doing to well on this. He is smarter (although he is so nice he'd probably tell you I was) Look at him...doesn't this photo of him just scream "Hey, mister look at me, don't I look smarts? You's know I do." (Note...you really should click on the picture to truly appreciate how good looking Derek is.  The mullet is one of the finest you'll ever see)Who does the laundry?

By the looks of the piles by my washer and dryer - no one does the laundry. I would have to say me but he always helps. I tend to do all the washing and then he and the kids put everything away.

Who pays the bills?

Thankfully he does. I hate dealing with money.

Who sleeps on the right side?

Looking at the bed, he does. The right side is next to the door and I want to be protected when a crazy, murderous man comes into our room so Derek gets the right side. You think I am joking about the crazy, murderous man but I am not.

Who mows the lawn?

Emilio, but we keep that on the low down at Baker family gatherings. I realize that it is appalling that a Baker boy would have a gardener.

Who cooks dinner?

Me mostly although Derek is a really good cook. He makes yummy chicken and rice and he can also make the best crepes

Who drives?

This is a toss up. Around town it's mostly him but on long road trips it is always me. I get so car sick (even if I am sitting in the front seat) I also get totally bored on trips since I can't read or do anything else because I'll throw up so I drive. Derek can sleep, read and enjoy the ride on long trips so he is always passenger for these outings.

Who is more stubborn?

I think I would say him although I'm not sure if he would say the same. Honestly he is not really that stubborn I just think he is more stubborn then me. When he is stubborn he is nice about it

Who kissed who first?

I know he will say I kissed him first but that is just not true. He kissed me first - end of story!

Who asked who out first?

I am guessing he asked me but to be honest I don't really remember.

Who proposed?

He did in Feb. 1993. He wrote a song for me (bet a few of you didn't know that he wrote music) He took me to Sundance in the snow (it was beautiful), sang me the song he wrote and then got down on one knee in the snow and proposed.

Who has more friends?

We both have a lot of friends but he knows way more people. He is very outgoing and nice and I tend to let my insecurities stop me from putting myself out there. He introduces himself to everyone and finds out their names. He is super social and enjoys being with people.

Who is more sensitive?

Depends...we both cry during movies or when someone shares a heartfelt story. He is more sensitive to others feelings then I am. I think we are both spiritually sensitive although he may have the slight advantage.

Who has more siblings?

He does. He is the baby of 7. I am the oldest of 5.

Who wears the pants?

I think we share them. At times it may be him, other times it may be me. We have a pretty good relationship and are willing to let the other one lead at certain times or during certain situations.

big in canada

One of my parties has been featured on At Home with Kim Vallee  Kim is an entertaining expert in Canada.  She shares tips, ideas and resources on her blog.  Not to long ago she shared the cookie jar idea we did for our Halloween party.  

The party that she spotlighted was a 40th birthday party I did for a friend.  Instead of going the traditional "over the hill" route we went with prehistoric man.  I loved decorating this table.  In fact I am recreating this table tomorrow night for an etiquette dinner with some of the youth from church.

Kim speaks french I believe, so it was fun to read the post and "hear" some of the words she used compared to how I would say things.  I love that parties are parties no matter where you live - we all can appreciate having a good time.

quick update...

Here is the latest...

• You are all painfully aware that we got a new computer and now do nothing but make highly embarrassing videos and take crazy pictures.
  
• I gave my Stake Conference talk last Saturday and now my sick, flu like stomachache that I had for 3 weeks is gone.
• Sunday, Derek was called to serve on the High Council at church.
• I am in the process of packing up my whole kitchen so that Derek and I can demolish it this Saturday.  We are completely gutting it so that work can start Monday on the new kitchen.  This will mean one of two things - you will not see posts from me for awhile because I will be busy with kitchen jive or you will see numerous posts from me because I will use the blog as my outlet for all the stress the kitchen will cause.
• The kids are all healthy and happy.  Megan is getting ready to start Road Shows, Emily is busy enjoying tweendom, Nate is loving the Wii from Santa, Luke is always busy making us laugh.

That is all I can think of at the moment.  No, I still have not downloaded pictures but I will (eventually)  I will try to get back to posting more then crazy videos soon.

more photo booth

I'm losing my mind

Isn't he sweet?!?!

yes, we think we are funny

I may regret posting this incriminating video but I just had to do it - we have been laughing so hard that the tears are flowing.  I will spare you the rest of the videos we made this afternoon. This alone is worth the price of the computer.

a very belated thank you!

This year I participated in Pink Christmas. You can read more about it here. The person who gave to me was Mique. She absolutely spoiled me. I do have pictures but as noted in a previous post I have yet to download them. I did not want to write this post without pictures but I feel so bad for not publicly saying thanks to Mique that I am writing now and will post pictures later.

I am sure she spent a great deal of time creating my fabulous gifts. It was obvious that she spent a ton of time thinking about what to do for me and she completed everything with great skill and beauty. She made me an adorable camera strap because she knows that I have started messing with photography. She also created a cute covered binder for me to keep all my party planning notes and ideas in. You'd think she had known me for years because her gifts were so perfect. She also made me a fabric banner that says "celebrate" yet another shout out to my love of parties. She paid so much attention to detail - picking out perfect fabrics and just the right word.

Mique, thank you so much for your kind and generous gift. I love each item you so lovingly created. Thanks for spoiling me!

If anyone is interested in seeing some of the gifts that were exchanged you can check them out here

big kisses for the UPS guy

This was delivered today. I've always told myself and the kids that it's what's in the inside that matters but when it comes to this I'm all about the outside...I can't get over how pretty it is.

new year, new calling

Last Sunday I was released from my calling as Enrichment Leader and put into Primary. I am teaching the Valiant 12 girls. This is the group of girls that are 11 yrs old but will turn 12 this year and start going to Young Women's. I am teaching a great group of girls, one of them being Emily so it should be a really fun year. I enjoyed my time as Enrichment Leader but am excited about this new opportunity to teach in the Primary.

Since we are on the topic of church...I have to speak at Stake Conference this weekend. I'm feeling scared and nervous so hopefully all will go well. My talk is written. I spend time each day going over it so that I will be comfortable once I am standing at the podium. I wish I was like Derek - he doesn't mind speaking, what a great gift.

now derek will have to take me

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

Now I know why I have always wanted to visit - it's the city I belong in. If the Internet says it's so, it must be. You better start booking the trip Derek. You think I'll see Daniel Radcliffe? How about those cute princes?

will someone down load my pictures?

I have no desire to spend the time downloading pictures. I realize it doesn't take long but for whatever reason I am just not motivated to do it. So pictures from our trip, Christmas, New Year's etc. still sit sad and lonely in my camera. I will try to convince myself to take care of it this week but I make no promises.

If you are feeling sad at the serious lack of pictures on this blog let me direct your attention to this post Here you will be able to get a glimpse of the wonderful man that I married. It should fulfill your desires to see pictures of the family (at least for the time being) Yes, it's pictures, like the one in the above mentioned post, that make me remember why I married Derek in the first place.

welcome 2008

Wishing everyone a great New Year. We are happy to be starting the new year off healthy - finally! We are looking forward to a great year!

denise baker reporting

(dramatic music plays)

(announcer) "Flu Watch 2007"

(anchorman) "Denise, what can you tell us about the latest flu developments?"

(top paid, gorgeous reporter Denise Baker) "Well, we had a bit of a calm in the flu storm last night. Nathan spent a horrible day throwing up but ended the evening well with a small cup of chicken soup and jello. He managed to get some much needed rest and kept the food down. Everyone here at (dramatic music plays) "Flu Watch 2007" had our fingers crossed and with the rising sun this morning felt good about the worst being over.

But as all our viewers know, Chuck things can take a turn quickly. So, the violence continues. Nathan has again begun to throw up. Professionals have been called but they all respond the same, "It's going around right now, there is nothing we can do for him." All they can offer is this advice, "Watch for dehydration and if you see the signs get him to the ER."

We will continue to monitor this situation here at (dramatic music plays) "Flu Watch 2007" We will let you know of any changes. Chuck, back to you in the newsroom."

#5

Need I say more?!?!?!

and still contiunues

The vomit count here at our household at 4:29 pm...

Nate - 4 and still the reigning champ! If he can't start to keep some stuff in his tummy I think we will need to make a visit to the doctor tomorrow.

and continues

Vomit on aisle 3 - clean up!

The violence continues (and it does sound violent, trust me) 9:41 am, second one of the day.

the vomit report continues

Nate woke up and immediately ran for the bathroom to throw up - stop the insanity!

the vomit report

Here is the latest, because I know you all are dying to know who has been throwing up.

Nate continues to be the master thrower upper. He had his head in the toilet again at 9:42 tonight. He is not keeping anything down - I'm sure the pintos and cheese from Taco Bell didn't help. He swore to us that he was feeling better and he seemed to be doing fine so against our better parental judgement we gave in. It seemed like a good call since there was no way Derek or I could stomach cooking and we are way to stinky and greasy to walk into a grocery store for soup (and yes, we are still in our jammies) Driving through and having some one hand us food sounded good. Tomorrow I am going to have to will myself to the store to get soup, jello, popsicles and ginger ale (after I shower, of course)

The rest of us are dragging along. Emily has started to feel worse tonight - we are keeping our fingers crossed that it turns out to be nothing.

To quote Luke he feels "awesome". I will be shocked if he escapes this.

I mentioned in my last post that Dave's family and Grammy got hit as well, but it gets worse...Jodi and Deanne (Derek's cousins) were here visiting from Utah for Christmas. They had Sunday dinner at Grammy's along with us and Dave's family. Once we all got sick we called Deanne to see how she and her family were doing - all were well. We didn't bother Jodi since she and her family were spending Christmas at Disneyland. Deanne hadn't heard from her so we figured all was well. Wrong!

Jodi's family spent Christmas day at Disneyland by going on one ride and then spent the rest of the day with various family members sick. They even braved the drive home to Utah with people throwing up.

Still not sure why Santa felt compelled to share this with all of us but at least we have a Christmas to remember. Here's to Deanne's family and Luke...stay healthy!

have yourself a sickly little christmas

Not only did Santa bring a Wii for Christmas he seems to have also brought the stomach flu.

Emily started off the festivities Christmas morning around 4am with a trip to the toilet to throw up (I think she was the only kid to make it to the toilet - good thing we have plans to rip out our carpet and get new flooring)

Nate was next and the poor kid had a miserable Christmas - he continued to throw up the whole day. He felt better this morning and tried eating but it didn't go over well - two trips to the bathroom after eating.

Derek and I didn't feel great in the morning but figured it was because we were tired - wrong! He and I ended up staying in bed nearly the whole day, except for the time spent hugging the toilet. My brother and sister-in-law were here and I felt so guilty for abandoning them - we weren't exactly the best hosts. I hope they don't get the gomboo.

Megan was ok for most of the day but by the evening she wasn't feeling 100% I think it was about 1:30 this morning that she began to pay her respects to the toilet gods. It is now 12:20 pm and she is still sleeping.

Lucky little Luke is happy and healthy and we are hoping he continues to be.

Santa also remembered Uncle Dave's family and Grammy Baker - instead of enjoying Christmas dinner together at Grammys we all spent the day in isolation at our homes.

We look wonderful today sporting sleep hair and wearing jammies we have been in since Christmas Eve. We are hoping that there are never more then three of us needing the bathroom at one time - that might be a problem. We are looking forward to enjoying our Christmas presents when we feel better.

Hope you all had a healthy and wonderful Christmas.

bitten part 2

I feel the need to explain myself...I did not not like the Twilight series. (that sentence doesn't seem right so re read it if it didn't make sense the first time) I enjoyed the books - except for parts of New Moon, which I explained in my first Twilight post. I thought it was a fun, easy read type of book that was a good escape, especially while on vacation. I simply didn't love the book as so many others seem to. I think people have gotten the impression that I hated it. That's not the case - it simply did not live up to, in my opinion, the huge amounts of hype I heard before I finally read it.

I am not hating on Edward, Jacob, Bella or any of the other Forks folks. I'm not loving some of the other freaks - Victoria especially creeps me out. But I happen to love Alice and I'd like to think that if I was a vampire I would be her - the girl can throw a party.

So if anyone was planning to not read Twilight and beyond because of my post (although I am pretty sure I don't have that much power to persuade) just read them. So I didn't love them (I liked them) Millions of others love them - maybe you'll fall into that group. Just head my warning... if you haven't read them yet try not to listen to the hype - I really do think talking up something...book, movie, whatever does make people expect a lot and often tends to mess up ones opinion.

So there...I have spoken my peace.

side note...love them or like them, I do want the story to continue so I can find out how it all ends.

snow in california

Derek is out of work early today so we are taking the family and heading to the snow. Fake snow, but hey, it's good enough for us So Cal'ers.

The Disneyland parade during Christmas ends with snow falling all down Main Street and other areas of the park. It really is a site to see with the snow falling and Christmas lights everywhere. There are plenty of videos on You Tube just search for "Disneyland snow" if you're interested in checking it out.

bitten

So I finally jumped on the bandwagon...the bad thing about jumping on said wagon so late is that I was expecting too much.


While on vacation I read Twilight, New Moon and half of Eclipse (I finished the rest of the book when I got home) My thoughts...not as good as all the hype led me to believe but still enjoyable and a good nice easy read - a little brain candy.

New Moon was my least favorite of the series - took far too long to get to the exciting part of the plot and I also thought it was a bit predictable. Jacob Black? Come on, you could tell where that was going well before Stephenie got you there. My other complaint...it all seemed like a bit too much to have happen to one girl - how realistic is that? Dumb question, I know - I mean how realistic are vampires and other monsters but still...

With all that being said I still enjoyed reading the books. I don't read many non gospel type books at the moment so it was fun diversion while on vacation but my first love is still Harry. Edward may be a smokin' hot vampire but he can't compete with the boy who lived. I'm still mourning the fact that there is no more Harry goodness to read. Three cheers that we at least have the movies to look forward to.

Speaking of movies, and Twilight, and Harry...did you see who they picked to play Edward in the Twilight movie? Cedric Diggory?!?!?! Not working for me. Is it working for anyone else?

some 80's christmas spirit

I saw this on Kristi's blog and loved it and wanted to share.

monkeys and spiders and bats, oh my!

Derek and I got home last night from our tropical adventures. We could have done without the wet, cold weather that welcomed us when we got home but it sure was nice to get back to all the hugs and kisses from the kids.

We had a ton of great adventures and yes, we saw a monkey as well as a humongous spider and lots of bats. Once I get pictures downloaded I will fill in the details. Derek had a great diving trip in Cozumel. We had fun snorkeling. We went cave tubing, shell collecting and exploring on islands.

For those that asked...we went to Honduras, Belize, Mexico and the Bahamas. We also spent a little bit of time in Miami.

Updates coming soon.

we are off

Derek and I are off for a vacation. Here is just one of the adventures we have planned

orem?

Who reading this (besides my sister) lives in Orem? My parents are looking at a house there and I want to find some things out.

reflections

I was looking through pictures and realized I was a bit behind posting some of our family events and accomplishments. In October Megan, Emily and Nathan participated in the Reflections program. The middle school did not do an awards night so I have no pictures of the girls but here are some of Nate.

The theme was I Can Make a Difference...

Life Is Wonderful

One of my favorite songs and a good reminder for all of us...Life is Wonderful!

merry mraz!

Here is a little Jason and Toca to help you get into the Christmas spirit. Enjoy!

all i want for christmas is this...

This giveaway is unbelievable - yes, my heart sped up when I saw it. Can you imagine more than $7,000 in entertaining goodies - what a party you could throw. If you're interested head over to Hostess with the Mostess and check out the prize package - then throw your name in to the mix to see if you can win this fabulous prize.

a must see

We, along with most of America, saw Enchanted this weekend. Loved it! If you haven't seen it yet add it to your must see list

i'm no paparrazi

I am seriously lacking pictures from Thanksgiving - not sure what I was thinking. Maybe I was just spent from cooking and cleaning. I did manage to get this shot of Donevan (our nephew) crying like a baby. Ok, maybe he wasn't crying like a baby but it's still a funny shot.
We had Donevan and Dusty over, as well as the Webbers from our ward. It was a fun change of pace to host Thanksgiving at our home since we are usually at my parents or Derek's mom's house.

After dinner we bundled up and headed outside to watch Elf. Derek pulled out mattresses, pillows and blankets so everyone was able to find a spot on the sofa or mattresses. It was a bit cold but us wimpy Californians managed to handle the 50 or 60 degree weather. The pictures below aren't great but since it's all I've got to commemorate our Thanksgiving I thought I'd better post it for posterity's sake.

we got noticed

I was checking out one of my favorite party blogs today and look what I came across... this post from At Home With Kim Vallee.

vacation, all i ever wanted

The kids are out of school this week and this song has been running through my mind all morning. We needed this break - yeah for vacation!

remember

I gave the visiting teaching message this month in my companionship. Since last month was conference there was no set message so I had decided to use the talk by Elder Oaks, which I believe was titled Good, Better, Best (one of my favorite talks from conference) A few days before our appointments I felt like I should change the message and instead I focused on Pres. Eyring's talk O Remember, Remember (another fav talk from conference) I felt that this was an especially good topic with Thanksgiving coming up.

As I was preparing the message I was thinking about my own family and what we could do this month as we prepare for Thanksgiving that would allow us to remember God's hand in our lives. It needed to be simple enough for the kids and out in the open so we wouldn't forget to do it. I decided to do a remembrance jar...each day we can write down a quick sentence or two about how we have seen God's hand. I was just going to use any old jar but then remembered a post I saw on Amy's blog about glass etching. I decided to try my hand at it to see if I could spruce up the plain glass jars that I had. My first attempts were not great (I needed to use more etching cream) but I still love the results. It turned out to be such an easy craft project that Kari (my visiting teaching companion) and I delivered them to our sisters as well so that they could use them with their families.

If you want to make these for your own family check out Amy's how to. I also ended up making a monogrammed one like Amy's for one of Megan's friends and am trying to think up other reasons to make more. I may try to incorporate the idea somewhere on our Thanksgiving table.



I used stickers from the scrapbook store to write remember. I mixed up the fonts because the word was so long and I was making 4 of them - I didn't want to buy so many stickers just to get all the letters in the same font. Each jar was a variation of the different fonts. I found the glass etching cream at Michael's but I am sure you could find it at any craft store. I had the jars but they also can be found anywhere. I buy a lot of glass stuff for parties at Big Lots - the prices are good.

more family good bye pictures

Here are a few more pictures of our last night with my family before they headed off to Utah. I love the dogpile picture above with Derek, the kids and my brother Garin. Someone in the dogpile got hurt - any guesses?

Derek doesn't do many horsey rides at home with the wood floors so this was a fun treat - lots of room and carpet in my parents empty house
Grandma Wood trying to convince Luke to give her a kiss. He is thinking about it...

STOP right there!

I have posted party pictures. If you want to go through them in order as they were written (kind of a tour through the party) then scroll down to the post titled...let's get this party started (I think that is what I titled it) then read backwards - meaning read from the bottom post up to this one.

send then home with a sweet treat

I am a firm believer in party favors, take home gifts, swag, whatever you want to call it. Derek doesn't understand it - he figures we threw a party and people enjoyed it why do we have to give them a gift but I love it and think it is a nice way to send people home and thank them for coming.

I couldn't think of any grand Victorian themed take home gift so I decided to go with chocolate chip cookies - who doesn't love cookies. I found the jars at Ikea (told you it was a great party store) and added the labels.

Now I gotta fill all 40 jars. In steps Super Rona, friend extraordinaire. My friend Rona (who also took all these pictures for me) baked the cookies for me. Not some of the cookies - all the cookies. Keep in mind that each jar held a dozen cookies - yikes! She saved my life. The take home gifts turned out perfect and they would have never happened without her.
It should be noted that I am not super woman - this party only happens with the help of a ton of peeps. This is the one party that we host that we charge for. I do not make it a habit of charging people to come into my home for parties but to feed as many people as we do, and to provide prizes, etc. we have to charge. It is $15 a person and we have not had anyone complain yet. My friends, the Wrights, make an amazing meal - the meal alone is enough to make the $15 worth it.

So the guests are a big part of making this party successful because of their contribution. My great group of friends help every year. I don't even have to ask for their help. They just do what is needed before the party and during. Derek is the most easy going husband and is willing to be the party slave. He makes planning and throwing the party so much easier. To be honest, my kids were a ton of help this year too. I am afraid I am creating little party throwing monsters but oh well, they love it as much as I do. I couldn't do this on my own!