11.27.09

The day after Thanksgiving slump - also known as Black Friday.  I didn't go shopping, I didn't plan on going shopping and I didn't care if I didn't go shopping.  I have no desire to go out with all the crazies to get a good deal.  As usual I have most of my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving and so this day is mainly a day to relax and have fun. . . EXCEPT . . .  Peter was not himself this morning and then got a fever later in the day and then had a round of diarrhea.  SO I got to spend part of the day holding Peter.  OR should I say Dave got to hold Peter most of the day.  Peter would come to me but then decide he wanted Dave most of the day.  I hope he feels better tomorrow.

11.26.09

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!!

I love turkey and pie.  So today is a good day.  Of course Angie and I have spent most of the day in the kitchen making dinner or cleaning up after dinner.  I must say that Dave makes the most delicious rolls and we were more then happy to have him make them.  The kids played outside and with the race track in the front entryway.  It was fun all day long.  I had to take a picture of all the men aound the computer.  It is kind of a joke when they get together and can't agree on something.  Off they go to the computer to get the answer.

What I am thankful for:
A wonderful husband
Two healthy children
A home to live in
Dave's Job
The gospel in my life
Christ and all He has done for me
Good friends who help me to be better and achieve more
Family who love me
My parents, in-laws and all those related to me
My talents and gifts
My testimony of the Savior and his love

11.25.09

This morning we left around 9 am for our trip to my sister Angie's house.  It is funny how much stuff we need for 10 days.  I am bringing sewing projects to work on while Dave is gone on his business trip.  It will be fun to stay with my sister and her family while he is in Ohio.  The back of the company car is full.  I guess I'm glad the company let us borrow it or else we would be taking less.

The trip was pretty uneventful except for Kirstens panic attack when she was way too hot.  {The sun was beating down on her and she had chosen that morning to put on a sweater.}  She got her arm stuck trying to take it off, but we had to leave it on because we didn't have a shirt to put on her without taking the whole back of the car out.  She survived once we moved some air around her and covered her window with a pillow.  Silly girl.

I'm sure Kirsten's highlight was stopping at the Dairy Queen for lunch and getting an ice cream cone afterwards.  YUM!!

11.24.09

Waffles for Dinner?  Kirsten and Peter thought they had gone to HEAVEN.  I was trying to figure out what to cook that wouldn't have leftovers since we leave in the morning and I didn't want to throw something away.  So while talking to my friend Liberty she said - I always make breakfast foods if I can't figure out what to cook.  It was perfect - I got rid of my eggs and will get rid of the milk in the morning and there won't be a thing left to go bad while I am gone.  (Well not really but the big things that could go bad.)

Kirsten kept saying - we have NEVER had this before.  {Does she space out during the waffles we have weekly?}  Silly girl.

11.23.09

Okay, I don't know who is cuter.  Peter or our friend's little girl Daphne.  Peter was so facinated with her in her carseat that I thought he just wanted to get in to the car seat.  He was actually working to get her out and hold her.  It was so funny when I asked him if he wanted to hold her he said "da" (which means yes in toddlerease.)  So I made him sit in my lap so I could "help" him hold her.  He was kind of gentle with her and just loved sitting there looking at her.  She was getting a bit fussy and so I said I wanted to pick her up and walk around with her.  So he stood up and tried to hold her.  She was so patient and let him squeeze her.  I finally told him she wasn't a doll and that I needed to hold her softly.  He replied with something about the fact that she was a doll.  Isn't he just the cutest thing ever.  (Oh yeah and isn't Daphne so sweet.)

11.22.09

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

This is an inspirational video put on by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is amazing and touched my heart as we begin our holiday of Thanks and Gratitude. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

11.21.09

I can't believe it.  I won one of the contests I put my name in.  That's pretty cool.  The book I will get is pretty neat.  I was pretty shocked this morning when I got an email saying I won.

11.20.09

Now I know how my mom felt everytime my sisters Angie and Alicia got out the paper and scissors.  Little pieces of paper everywhere.  Kirsten was at a friends house today and learned all about the art of snowflake making.  I helped her with the folding and while I was at it cut one of my own.  {What you can't see is the little pieces of paper all over the floor - even after she "cleaned" them up.}

11.19.09

How do they learn to do this?

11.18.09

Again with Peter. This is Peter with my eyelash curler. . . I guess he has seen me do it so many times that he figures he should do it too. I just laugh at him but it can be annoying when I want the item he is "using" or if it is something that will leave a mark. Oh the joys of motherhood. . . is this what I signed up for?

{Do you like the red mark on his head?  I am still not sure what happened, all I can figure is that it is a rug burn or something like that.  If you ask him about it he says (in his cute whiny voice- as opposed to his ugly whiny voice) "I got an owie on my head."}

11.17.09

Peter insists on riding his bike to go and pick up Kirsten.  Today's ride was a little brisk.  He doesn't care, he just wants to ride his bike.  The other day I "made" him ride in the stroller instead and he screamed and cried the whole way.  WHOA, I guess I learned my lessson.  It just takes twice as long if he rides over there and back. . . but who is in a hurry???  Oh yeah, ME!!! 

11.16.09

If I didn't love this computer so much I would be about ready to send this back. Today I came up to check email or something like that and the screen didn't come up. I figured Dave had turned it off completely and so I tried to turn it on - finding out that I was actually turning it off as I was doing it. SO then once I figured out it wasn't the computer being off I realized it must have something to do with the monitor and so I fiddled around with it for awhile. Nothing. Dave came home and seems to think it has something to do with the HD card, I think or was it something with the cord. Either way they are going to have to fix this because it isn't that old.

Lucky for me we have both a laptop and the old computer monitor. I never realized how big that new one was until I had to work on this one for the evening. The clarity and size are so great for doing things in Photoshop. Hopefully it will be a quick fix and we will be back to only one monitor sitting on the desk real soon.

11.15.09

Here is our early morning alarm clock. Isn't he cute? He gets up somewhere between 5:30 am and 6:30 am. He used to not be able to get out of his room and so you would here this . . . MOM, Mommy, get out. Maaaaammy. . . until either Dave or I got up and got him out. Now he has mastered the doors {much to mommy's dismay} and just lets himself out of his room and comes to see us every morning whether we are awake or not. "I want faffles" he will say. {that's waffles}

We are off to start our day whether we want to or not. Trying to have him snuggle in bed is like snuggling with an escaping animal. He doesn't sit for long and then -- ouch-- an elbow in the rib or a nice head butt. By about that point I'm out of bed and ready to go myself.

11.14.019

Today has been a busy day. Our friends and hometeachers, the Billings, had both a baptism and a Eagle Court of Honor for two different kids. SO we have had a busy day. In between the two events we had a birthday party for our friend Sierra. She turned 3 and we went to the Arabian Knights Farm in Willowbrook. They let us feed the animals, play games, dance and eat cake and ice cream. The kids had a lot of fun. Peter couldn't stop talking about the tractor that was pulling the wagon. "I saw a tractor. . . I saw a tractor", he yelled over and over again at dinner. He is a funny kid. Our day ended with the kids high from the sugar rush they have had all day. I don't think I was much better. It has been a long day and I am glad they are sleeping quietly and I'm thinking it might not be such a bad idea.

11.13.09

OOOOooo! It's Friday the 13th. Are you scared? I didn't think so.

Our Relief Society group had a Swap 'n' Save. What is that you ask? It is where everyone unloads all their "junk" at the church and we all go through it like it is a garage sale. But the fun part is. . . . drum roll. . . IT'S ALL FREE!!! We have many struggling students and other various groups of people who could really use this. Many of us brought in 4+ boxes of stuff and came out with 3 or more bags full. . . Wait. . .that isn't right. . . we should be decreasing the stuff in our homes. Hee! Hee!

Anyway I scored - one of the sisters brought in a king size comforter with all the fixins' that was beautiful. I thought about it for a minute and boom I have a new bedroom set, complete with dust ruffle, comforter, duvet cover, pillows, etc, etc. I will get a picture of it soon. {the cool part is that it is made of Duponi Silk . . . Yummy!!}

I also came home with clothes, books, art for the walls, new drapes, etc. It was SOOO cool!! Although at the end - we ended up with the back of Jason's truck full of the clothes. Suzanne's full size truck full of various items. Stephanie's and Amy N's cars full of stuff. Greg's truck half full and our truck full of the rest of the stuff to take to the various organizations to drop off. It was a lot of work but it was so much fun.

11.12.09

Today I should have Kirsten's school picture but I don't have my scanner hooked to this computer {it isn't compatible with Vista -too old} and I tried to link with the lifetouch website but it requires this code and that code and a new sign on, etc. I will just include it in my book I guess. Really it is OKAY but Kirsten isn't smiling and so I am in a quandry do I send it back and possibly get one that isn't better? I wish I hadn't spent the money on it - oh well live and learn.

11.11.09

I went to get a new light bulb for my sewing machine. {They didn't have it}

Of course I found some other things to add to my growing collection of pink fabric.

You can never have enough pink I say!

11.10.09

Doesn't this just say - FALL?

I saw this idea on this website and loved the idea. I have been trying to do small quilts to see if I can perfect my quilting techniques and also to have a great sense of accomplishment of finishing something quickly. I started this and then had some side jobs I did in between and then decided I wanted to finish it so it could hang up during the fall {although it might hang there for awhile.} The picture in the corner is from Kirsten. She was watching me put this together and decided to copy it with paper. What a creative child. Most is cut out paper and then some is marker drawn leaves.

sorry the picture is blurry, I took several and none really turned out very clear, must have been the lighting because the other pictures I have taken since look fine.

11.09.09

Here is what you get when you have your 4 and 2 year old children help you sort through the toys to find things to give away. Funny thing is this is Peter's toy and Kirsten is the one who put it in the tote. Don't know if I will get back to the toys, I have other rooms to clear out. Our Relief Society is putting on a Swap this Friday. I have a couple boxes of clothes to get out of here amoung other various things I have been collecting and putting in boxes. I will truly be glad to get rid of some of the stuff sitting in my study.

{Today we also sold the crib on Craigslist, I have tried to sell it a couple of times but this time I guess I priced it just right. Had a bunch of requests and sent it out the door this morning!! YAY!! Now Peter has more room in his bedroom.}

11.08.09

Popcorn treat as a reward for cleaning up the room. It's amazing what a motivator food is for Kirsten. Peter - not so much - but he is too little to understand the concept.

11.07.09

OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!! It was warm and perfect. We played and worked outside almost all day long. It was a nice summer like day to get all those outside chores done. Of course we had to play too. The whole neighborhood seemed to be outside too. Couldn't help it, the weather was perfect!!!

11.06.09

I've been without a dryer for the last couple of days. My dryer stopped working on Tuesday night and I had to ask one of my friends to dry the towels that were in there the next morning and rewash the other load - Ugh!! What a wonderful friend. I had such a busy day on Wednesday that I didn't have time to stop and deal with it and so this morning the guy came and fixed it and we are in business now - except now I have to get the dryer vent cleaned out to decrease the amount of time it takes to dry a load. It never ends around here.

Addendum: We had the vents cleaned out - yikes that was expensive - and they found a couple things wrong. Like the birds nest in the vent. The elbow connector wasn't connected right. And that extra piece behind the vent exhaust cover. I guess we are really lucky that we didn't burn the house down because of all that. Now the dryer actually dries clothes in just about an hour. {not 2 or 3 like before.} Lesson learned. Shoulda done it a couple of months ago when the dryer wasn't working so good. Live and learn.

11.05.09

This picture was taken and collaged by my friend Liberty. I opted to not even make my own from her pictures because it looked great. {I brought my camera and - oh yeah - forgot to take pictures.} Thanks Liberty for sending me the pictures and hosting our first CRAFT Night. We made the cutest wood block pumkins tonight. Annalisa brought the yummiest rice krispie squares! Everyone had a good time!

11.04.09

My sewing/projects class is still going strong. Today we were cutting out hearts and stars for the trees for the Nativity our ward puts on every year. We had lots of help and got almost all of it done during the time we were there. What fun we had as we worked together.

11.03.09

A young boy playing in the leaves on his tricycle. Dragging his feet so the leaves would pile up under him. Such a silly boy. {We were coming back from dropping off Kirsten for school and these shots were so much fun.}

11.02.09

12 Little Gingerbread men just suddenly appeared at my house. Only two got decorated, the rest are going tomorrow to be dressed up by the Young Women at our church. These were requested by one of the people helping to decorate the church for our annual live nativity.

{Kirsten and Peter got to decorate two more I made for them after Kirsten insisted that she have one. They were really easy and the kids had fun decorating them with markers.}