The Phalen Family

Looking Back

2012-01-10T21:49:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind. I'm usually on top of making goals and getting Christmas put away by the FIRST of January, but not this year. This year we have a very bad cold. Very, very bad. We got home from Disneyland, I put a few loads of laundry in and then we all got a cold. So there are no goals. The Christmas lights are still twinkling, and my days mostly consist of "bungling" up James, watching cartoons and napping. The sink is full. The laundry is piling up and I think it will probably stay that way for little while more.

So I thought I'd share some accomplishments from last year, because I think we should pat ourselves on the back for the things that we DO accomplish (because let's face it, we don't always accomplish the lofty resolutions we make at the beginning of each year).

Paul

got only B's or higher in all of his classes
has really worked hard on sprucing up his resume
has taken opportunities at work to learn and make new contacts

James

was weaned
sleeps in a big boy bed
potty trained (mostly-we still have to practice going out in public, but he's trained 100% here at home)
loves Nursery
eats more veggies

Rebecca

Kicked the soda habit
worked on family history
exercised more often
began "play school" with James

Family Goals

read the New Testament
had a lot of fun family home evenings

I think we had a pretty good year. We will eventually develop our goals for this year, the tree will be put away, the apartment will get cleaned and life will resume as normal. But not today. Tomorrow is not really looking very good either.

A Very Disney Christmas

2011-12-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland for Christmas this year. We woke James up early and opened up presents and then we hopped in the car and drove 10 hours to Disneyland. We had such a blast. James has told us over and over that this is the best Christmas ever. It was so much fun and WARM. I actually got some color...in December! I won't bore you with all the details, but it was amazing and James behaved REALLY well. It was a much-needed break after the year we have had.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

This year's Hallmark

Christmas Eve

Christmas Gifts

2011-12-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

Now that the Christmas gifts have been given I can share with you all the projects that I worked on for months and months!

First up is the gift I decided to give to everyone in my family and a few friends. I had my sister sneakily find out everyone's kitchen colors. I purchased the towels at IKEA for 49 cents each and the fabric cost me anywhere from fifty cents to $1 or so per person. So each gift cost about $2 to make. Then I threw in a jar of of something I had already canned (Plum Jam, Peach BBQ Sauce, Strawberry Jam, Fruit Cocktail, Apricot Jam) and topped the jars with coordinating fabric.

My youngest sister still lives at home and towels and jam just didn't seem like a great gift for her. I really struggled with this because I had ordered the fabric and a pattern to make her the cutest apron. The one fabric came, but the other was on back-order (back in August). There was a big mix-up and I still don't have the fabric to this day! So then I thought I'd make her an oven mitt...which didn't go so well. I was running out of fabric and didn't have the right materials for it and it kept fraying. So finally I went a completely different route and put together this awesome cookie kit.

I started out making a snowman kit for James and it was so easy that I decided to make a few more for a few friends of ours. They are so cute and such fun for kids to have a special kit just for their snowman :) Now we just need some snow; snowman kits are much more fun with snow.

Some other gifts that we put together:
We made these ornaments and James painted them. He came up with some interesting color combinations.

We also made Christmas cards for our family and local friends this year. James laughed the whole time and some cards were better than others with all the toe-wiggling that was going on.

I also finished our new Christmas stockings. I was done by December 2nd and was so crafted out I swore I'd never look at my sewing machine again. But I'm already concocting plans for next Christmas....I'm hopeless.

Christmas Advent

2011-11-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

This year we are starting some new Christmas traditions that I'm excited to share with you.
A Christ-Centered Christmas
Last year we were given a fantastic book for Christmas.
The book is divided into 7 chapters:
Mary--Ponder
Joseph-- Serve
The Angel--Share the Joy
The Shepherd--Testify
The Wisemen-- Journey Another Way
The Lamb-- Give Thanks
The Christ Child

The idea is that each day you read a set of scriptures that discover the main subject and a principle. After the lesson, the coordinating piece/s of the nativity are put in place with the idea of the Christ Child being added to the Nativity on Christmas Eve. There is also an activity that goes with each lesson. I'm so excited to start this tradition in our family!

Advent Calendar
This year I decided to do an Advent calendar. I wanted to do it last year when I saw this adorable tree at Pottery Barn Kids. So I bought the felt for it. Turns out it was quite the project! After months of planning and cutting and stitching and stitching and stitching, it is finally done! I'm so glad that it is completely finished and ready for Christmas!

J. wanted his picture taken with "his" tree.

I wanted to include scripture readings and activities for each day. I used the seven readings and activities from the Christ -Centered Christmas book and had to do a bit of research to come up with my list because I wanted to use both the Bible and The Book of Mormon accounts of Christ's birth. Paul is gone during the day so for some of the more crafty activities I color coded the cards for things we do without Daddy, and things we do with him when he gets home.

Christmas Books
I had also read about this great idea of wrapping up 24 Christmas themed books and opening one each night up until Christmas. James loves books! So I got a bunch of off freecycle, went to DI and picked up the last few from the clearance section at Deseret Book.

So...with that in mind I give you my ridiculously long and complicated Christmas Advent List:

December 1st

Scripture: Isaiah 7:14

Activity: Make Paper Chains & Snowflakes

Book: Christmas Snow by Dawn Sirett

December 2nd

Scripture: Isaiah 9:6

Activity: Make Wrapping Paper

Book: Fun with Reindeer by Igloo Books

December 3rd

Scripture: Micah 5:2

Activity: Make Play-Doh Snowmen

Book: Baby Kermit's Christmas by Louise Gikow

December 4th

Mary

Scripture: Luke 1: 26-56; 2:5-7, 19

Activity: Make Heart-Shaped Ornament for the Tree Representing what Mary Pondered in Her Heart.

Book: O Little Town by S. Harrison

December 5th

Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-15

Activity: Christ's Birth FHE Packet

Book: Little Snowflake's Big Adventure by Steve Metzger

December 6th

Scripture: John 1:14

Activity: Bake and Deliver Cookies to Friends

Book: Warm in Winter by Erica Silverman

December 7th

Scripture: Isaiah 40:11

Activity: Send Christmas Cards to Soldiers

Book: Christmas Wishes by Tony Mitton

December 8th

Scripture: Jeremiah 23:6

Activity: Have Dinner by Candlelight

Book: Saide and the Snowman by Allen Morgan

December 9th

Scripture: Jacob 7:11-12

Activity: Make Christmas Hand & Footprint Crafts

Book: Pooh's Jingle Bells by Kathleen Zoehfeld

December 10th

Scripture: 1 Nephi 10:4

Activity: Hand Deliver Christmas Cards to Friends

Book: Santa's On His Way by Mark Shulman

December 11th

Joseph

Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25 & Luke 2:1-7

Activity: Donate Food to Homeless Shelter

Book: Away in a Manger by S. Harrison

December 12th

Scripture: 1 Nephi 11:20-24

Activity: FHE: Tell the Christmas Story using Little People Nativity Set

Book: A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M Schulz

December 13th

Scripture: 1 Nephi 11:27

Activity: Wrap and Mail Christmas Presents

Book: The Biggest, Most Beautiful Christmas Tree by Amye Rosenberg

December 14th

Scripture: Heleman 14:3

Activity: Make Ornaments for Gifts

Book: The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott

December 15th

Scripture: Heleman 14:5-6

Activity: Make a Christmas Craft

Book: My Christmas Wish-epersonalizeit.com

December 16th

Scripture: Luke 1:30-31

Activity: Make Hot Cocoa with Marshmallows

Book: The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck

December 17th

Scripture:3 Nephi 1:13

Activity: Elf! Someone

Book: The Twelve Days of Christmas

December 18th

The Angel

Scripture: Luke 2:9-14

Activity: Listen to Christmas music that reflects on Christ. Turn off the TV, laptops, cell phones. Sit around the Christmas tree and drink hot chocolate.

Book: Hark the Herald by S. Harrison

December 19th

Scripture: 3 Nephi 1:19

Activity: FHE: Put on PJs & Go for a Drive to Look at Christmas Lights

Book: Franklin's Christmas by Paulette Bourgeois

December 20th

Scripture: Luke 2:4-7

Activity: Deliver Christmas Goodies to Friends

Book: Snappy Little Snowtime by Dugald Steer

December 21st

The Shepherd

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-2

Activity: Decorate Shepherd Staff (Candy Cane) Cookies. Share Testimonies.

Book: While Shepherds Watched by S. Harrison

December 22nd

The Wisemen

Scripture: Luke 1:12-14

Activity: Cookie Day with Aunts.

Visit a Living Nativity

Book: We Three Kings by S. Harrison

December 23rd

The Lamb

Scripture: Luke 2:8-11

Activity: Hang a small white stocking on the tree. When we notice a tender mercy in our lives we write it down on a piece of paper and put it in the stocking

Book: Little Donkey by S. Harrison

December 24th

The Christ Child

Scripture: Mosiah 3:5-8, Luke 1:26-38, 46-47; Luke 2:1-10; Matthew 2:1-14

Activity: Write down a gift that you can give to Christ over the next year. Put it in a white envelope to be opened next year to see how we've done. Keep it with the nativity set.

Visit Temple Square to Look at Christmas Lights.

Book: The First Christmas by Sophy Williams

Click the links below to view the printable cards.
Scripture Cards Activity Cards

Halloweekend

2011-11-01T09:26:00.000-06:00

On Friday Paul and James carved a pumpkin: Vampire Mickey (or as James would say, Vampirate. As a side note he calls witches "Wicker Witches" and jack-o-lanterns "Jungle Lanterns") and Mr. Oogy Boogy from Nightmare before Christmas.

We had our second annual Batman marathon. We also watched Nightmare Before Christmas 20 times at least this month. James loves the music and actually sings the tunes all day long.

For Halloween we went to my parents' neighborhood and James had a total blast. At first he seemed a little hesitant, but pretty soon he was shouting, "next house." At every door he would say, "Trick or treat! Thank you! Happy Halloween!"

When we got home he dumped all his candy on the floor and started rolling around in it and making "snow angels." It was hilarious. Love that kid.

Now, bring on the Holidays!

Pumpkin Land

2011-10-26T09:11:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we took James to Pumpkin Land in Orem with some of his Aunts. He had a pretty good time. There was a secret "room" with a bucket of beans in it. If you found it you could bring back a bean for a treat. James grabbed a handful and stuck them in his pocket. The next day was Sunday and while we were at church I realized that he had transferred a few of his "magic beans" to his church pants. Needless to say, there were a lot of beans in and out of the wash this week.

Spooky

My ridiculously adorable niece, Lorelei.

Bouncing.

With most of my sisters.

Family Portraits 2011

2011-10-12T20:35:00.006-06:00

Our friend Susan has taken our pictures now for a few years. I just love her! I am really pleased with this year's portraits. James was giggly and smiley for the entire session. I hope this becomes a habit with him. Without further blah blah-ing, here are my favorites:

Holiday Crafts Preview

2011-09-26T14:54:00.003-06:00

I realize that it's early, but I've been busy getting ready for the holidays. I like to be able to enjoy the season, so it takes a lot of planning! So this is what I've been working on for the past few weeks:

Fall Decor

Felt Leaf Garland

Melted Crayon Leaves

Still To Do: Paint Leaves, Fall Pillows

Halloween

Woody Costume. It cost me under $4 to make since I already had a yellow shirt and jeans. The fabric for the vest cost $0.63. The Sheriff star cost $1.99. The bandanna cost $1.00. I wish he'd wear a hat, but it's not worth the money since he won't.
Still To Do: Treat Bag

Thanksgiving

the inspiration

Thankful Tree. The idea is that each day in November leading up to Thanksgiving you write something that you are thankful for on a slip of paper and put it a leaf pocket on the tree. I got the idea from pottery barn (what's new?). I'm not going to lie, it was a LOT of work. Cutting out all those little leaves, hand stitching the numbers and word, then using the sewing machine to put it all together. I'm so glad it's done. I got the felt at 4 sheets for a dollar. I used 5 sheets of felt and an old pillow case. The "dowel" is really part of a hanger. So it was an extremely cheap project. I just love how it turned out!

Still To Do: Finger Puppet Favors, Table Runner

Christmas

Pottery Barn Knock of PJ's. I followed this tutorial. I don't have much experience making clothing, so this project took me a few days. Next time I think I will just purchase a real pattern. This one didn't quite line up and since I haven't really dealt with much clothing there was a little more guess work than I would have liked. Overall, they didn't turn out bad. They are a little big, but at the rate he's growing they'll probably fit by Christmas.

I'm excited to share what I've come up with for our Christmas Advent. After I've put it all together I make sure to post it. It's going to be awesome.

Still To Do: Stockings, More PJ's, Update Wreath, Advent Calendar, Update Tree Skirt, Christmas Gifts (you'll have to wait until Christmas to find out what I'm making!).

Birthday Purse

2011-09-26T09:30:00.001-06:00

My sister's birthday is this week. She had an old dress that she didn't want and requested that I make a purse from it. So I did.

Happy Birthday, Rosi!

Farewell Summer!

2011-09-12T17:19:00.000-06:00

Summer is over for us. Paul is back to class, James and I have started preschool and we have a fairly established schedule going. We had a rocky start with a horrible cold, but I think we're all finally on the mend. Thank goodness.

Utah County Fair

Then he ran over to the river and fell in. Good thing it wasn't deep where we were.

We finished off our summer by taking a nice walk around Temple Square.

I'm looking forward to Fall!

Room Re-do

2011-09-12T16:59:00.000-06:00

I recently decided that it was time to update James' room. His room had been set up as a nursery before with the crib, the changing table and cutesy animal border. I had planned on using a twin mattress, but he refused to sleep on it, so I opted to convert his crib to a toddler bed.

Before:

"changing table"

In Between:

$5 at DI

After:

I should have cleaned his room before taking this picture. You get the idea.

I love how it's turned out!

Peaches

2011-09-12T16:28:00.000-06:00

Last week we picked up a box of peaches at the Red Barn. On Friday I canned. All. Day. Long.
First there was fruit cocktail. It took forever to prep the fruit. Peaches. Pears. Grapes. Cherries. My hands were raw, numb and water-logged by the time I finished that. 6 pints took way longer than 6 pints should.

Then I went to get gloves. Peach Pie Filling was next. I wish I had more peaches now so that I could make more of that. Holy crap, it's good!

And then I made some Peach BBQ Sauce, which might sound weird, but is actually pretty amazing.

And I am really hoping that I don't acquire a big batch of fruit anytime soon. My feet hurt.

More Summer Craziness

2011-08-10T14:03:00.000-06:00

What a crazy busy summer we've had so far. Last week was ridiculously busy. I feel old now. Our ward had a carnival last weekend. James had a lot of fun playing in the bouncy house. I made cake and cupcakes for the cake walk (of which James did NOT like playing along).

On Monday my sister, Roxanna, moved. So Lorelei came and spent the day with us. James had a lot of fun getting into her toys, reading to her, and calling her cute.

"Big scary truck! It's angry! Grrrrrr. Thee End!"

Tuesday I tagged along with my younger sisters and went clothes shopping for school. They are pretty hilarious. Seven hours of that just about put me in my grave though.

On Wednesday I helped Roxanna clean her old place. Then we visited my family in Spanish Fork.

On Thursday all but one of my sister's and I packed a picnic and headed up to Bridal Veil Falls. We had a great lunch and it was so nice up there. Afterwards we headed to Riverwoods and spent the majority of our time in Blikenstaffs. Rosi spent the night in James' room (and James spent the night in our bed--a recent and horrible habit that seems nearly impossible to break).

On Friday Roxanna and I took Rosi to look for rings and wedding dresses. It was a lot of fun!

On Saturday I got up bright and early to pick up my bountiful basket. I am usually pleased with what I get, and this week was no different.

On Sunday I woke with a cold. Probably from all that running around all week. I'm exhausted!

Paul has one more day of finals and he's done with school for 2 weeks. I already have a big long list of things around the house to help me with.

Pioneer Day

2011-07-26T14:05:00.000-06:00

We had a great weekend.

On Friday we attended the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Pioneer Day Concert. This year was a tribute to our soldiers and it was absolutely awesome! So glad I got to go.

On Saturday morning I picked up my produce from Bountiful Baskets. I got all of this for $15. I am so excited to be able to afford produce now!

Paul got off work early on Saturday and we went for a drive. We went up to Utah lake state park and found an awesome trail. We went for a nice, long walk along the river there.

Later on we took James to the splash pad in Spanish Fork, picked up Slurpee's and went for another drive. We used to go on drives in the country all the time when we lived in Springville. It was really nice to just drive around and enjoy the scenery.

On Sunday we went for a walk up at the Provo temple after church. It was hot, but we had a good time. James loves the temple.

On Monday we woke up early and went to the parade in Spanish Fork. Luckily the weather was decent so we didn't fry. We headed back to my parents house where we ate BBQ, played in the kiddie pool, went to the park & played and finished off the day with ice cream cones and fireworks.

playing the piano at Grandpa's house

he wanted his picture taken in front of this rock

Cosmobile a the parade

Fireworks!

I hope you had an equally awesome weekend!

2011-07-17T18:34:00.000-06:00

Paul recently took a trip to Dallas with his boss's boss for a huge food convention. He slept in luxury accommodations all paid for by the school.

Cowboy on Stilts

The Resort

James and I had movie nights every night, ate lots of fruit snacks and hot dogs. We stayed up super late every night and James slept in my bed, which is probably going to cause some sleep issues in the future. I don't like sleeping alone though and in order to not freak out I had to be truly wiped out before going to bed. I feel so much safer with Paul around.

I took James to his first movie. He really wanted to explore the theater, but after about 45 minutes of that, he finally passed out. I don't know if I'll be taking him to the movies again anytime soon.

In front of the theater

One of the few times he wasn't squirming around

And then there were the things that Paul does around the house that I didn't realize that he did.
Like taking out the trash (needless to say, the place was pretty smelly after a few days) and filling up the humidifier (it actually will run out of water!). Not to mention his hour or so of play time with James when he gets home from work that gets all of James' wiggles out. There was also a spider incident that was particularly horrifying.

We are so glad that he's home. Paul and James have been playing pretty much non-stop since he's been back. Now we just have to get back into some sort of schedule. What a crazy summer it's been so far!

Another Bag.

2011-07-11T17:58:00.000-06:00

Although I adore my stripey summer tote, I needed something that I could use when wearing stripes. I left the house the other day practically matching my purse exactly. It was horrible. And so...

Sorry it's sort of fuzzy. You get the idea though. You wouldn't know it, but the fabric I used is actually cut from some cloth napkins that I picked up from JCPenney for $2. For the free pattern, go here.

Strawberry Jam

2011-07-08T09:03:00.000-06:00

A few days ago I was going to make James a sandwich and realized that we only had 2 jars of jam left from last Fall's stash. Sooo, it was time to make more! I found some great deals on strawberries and ended up being given some from the weddings last week, so I had plenty.

I love Ball jars. They're classic. They're American. They rock.

Our recipe actually said that it would make 12-8 oz jars of jam, but we ended up with and equivalent of 15! I wasn't really prepared for that, so we ended up putting the extra into a freezer jar, and yet another in my fridge.

James helped me count (1-9 over and over and over :) and crush the berries. He also helped eat the berries before they could be made into jam. And don't forget helping me to check on the jam constantly with his darling little, "I wanna see!"

Homemade strawberry jam is absolutely delicious!

Independence Day!

2011-07-05T15:16:00.000-06:00

Our weekend was crazy busy. It started on Friday with Paul going shooting while I went shopping with the girls. Then there was a baby blessing, a priesthood ordination and a pre-wedding BBQ.

On Saturday we had two weddings at the Salt Lake temple. My brother got married at 11:40 and Paul's (adoptive) sister got married at 12:30. It was in the triple digits outside and I still can't wear shoes from the blisters I got. That evening there were two receptions and I'm pretty sure we were all asleep within 30 seconds of hitting our pillows.

Sunday there was another baby blessing, a luncheon, family blessings, and family dinner.

Monday we woke up and went to the Freedom Festival in Provo. We saw the parade, walked around, got James his first cotton candy, made a craft, jumped in a bouncer and general fun was had. Then we went home and set up his pool on the patio, played with bubbles and got ready for a BBQ at my parent's house. I brought sidewalk chalk and everyone had fun drawing while Paul cooked up the food. Then we watched Wizard of Oz and blasted off a bunch of fireworks. James was scared at first but ended up having a good time.

"I'm bouncing!"

First taste of cotton candy

My sister Reanna drew this

Grillin'

Patriotic Trifle. Yum!

fun with fireworks

Watching the fireworks with my little man

Very tired. Watching the Wizard of Oz.

For the last few weeks we have been watching two awesome shows on Netflix. I would highly suggest them both! I love our country. I feel truly blessed to live here.

I hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Molded Crayons

2011-06-30T17:10:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking about doing this for a while, but just haven't got around to it. So today we went to the dollar store and picked up a tiki mask ice cube tray.

Then we peeled crayons, broke them up and arranged them in the tray, stuck it in the oven on 200 degrees and waited.

This is when I realized that my dollar store ice cube tray wasn't silicone...it was plastic, and it was melting in my oven! Eek! So I took them out a bit prematurely. The backs aren't beautifully melted, but after a quick trip in the freezer they popped out just fine.

They turned out cute, but I've learned my lesson: make sure your ice tray is silicone before putting it in the oven.

Why I Love Summer

2011-06-30T17:02:00.000-06:00

I love summer. Love it.

We eat watermelon, berries, and salads constantly.

We get to play in the sprinklers every day.

We watch fireworks every weekend (we live right by the school, and after every Orem Owlz game fireworks go off).

The food. We eat food off of the grill almost every day of the week. Have I mentioned that my husband is a grill master extraordinaire? Because he is.

We sit on the full-shade patio, read, play in the kiddie pool, draw with sidewalk chalk, play with bubbles, then go inside to our air conditioning and Popsicles.

We can take walks at 9:00 pm and feel the heat of the day leaving the earth

I love the sunshine, the heat, and the smell of sunscreen in the morning.

I get to sport my super cute flip flops

We play outside!

I love waking up to sunshine.

We make lots of crafts to keep us occupied.

The only downside to summer is the mosquitoes. I have no love for them. They especially irritate me when they attack my gorgeous little boy and leave him looking pock-stricken.

Which brings me to another thing I love about summer: Raid!

2011-06-27T16:17:00.001-06:00

So today I was supposed to clean the whole house. I started in my bedroom and didn't get much further. I was trying to put some fabric in my fabric drawer and it didn't fit. Soooo, I took the whole drawer out and reorganized it.

Before

Ta da! This is what I did today. I still have a few loads of laundry and a pile of dishes in the sink, but at least my fabric is organized.

Happiness Is...

2011-06-27T13:45:00.000-06:00

These are currently sitting on my table. I smile every time I see them.

Happy Daddy's Day!

2011-06-19T08:31:00.000-06:00

For Father's Day this year James got to do a little painting using his brand new easel. I cut his masterpiece up into ties for cards.

Someone stole one of Paul's grill tools right off of his grill. JCPenney sends me $10 rewards every other month. There was a great deal on a set that was usually $30 and I got it for absolutely free. I picked up some specialty sauces and spices (he never buys these for himself), Dad's Root Beer and called it good.

And this is what we made for my dad:

Paul's Grandpa will get a similar painted tie. He has become more alert since we left Michigan. We keep hoping for the best.
The best dad's I know:

Me and my daddy. I love him soooo much!

Paul's grandpa took on the responsibility of raising him and his brother. He is a great man.

And last but not least, Paul. Thank you for being such a great daddy to our son. We love you!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Birthday, James!

2011-06-17T09:14:00.000-06:00

My baby is two! He requested waffles for breakfast, so I made up a batch from scratch since I ran out of mix (he eats a lot of waffles). Then we cleaned the apartment (the kitchen in particular--making cake is messy business!).
If you sign up for the Birthday Club at Toys R Us, you get a few dollars to spend at the store. So we went and picked out a toy. He finally decided on a little tractor that makes big tractor noises (I'm secretly looking forward to the day when the batteries run out).
Then we came back home to get ready for his party.

The Tractor

Playing with his balloons

The Cake!

He was so excited to blow out the candles.

Opening presents

To make the day even more perfect, he went to bed early in his big boy bed and stayed there all night. Yay James!

Two.

2011-06-15T10:49:00.000-06:00

My baby turns 2 tomorrow. Where has the time gone?

Summer Bag

2011-06-07T19:23:00.000-06:00

I saw this bag online and really loved the red and navy stripes. So I went to IKEA and picked up some canvas for less than $3. I followed (mostly) this tutorial here and this is what I came up with:

It's a decent size tote with a total of 5 pockets on the outside and 1 on the inside. I couldn't love it more!

Michigan

2011-06-06T08:14:00.000-06:00

Grandpa Update
Paul's grandpa was moved to a different hospital that specializes in rehab. After being there for a week he was completely weened off of the ventilator. Sadly, it doesn't look as though he is going to come back to us. Both hemispheres of his brain were damaged, and while his lower cognitive thinking is present (waking, sleeping, scratching itches, eating) he will likely never speak, walk, or even communicate other than squeezing hands of people he knows. He drifts into sleep after only a few minutes of wakefulness. His body is strong though so it could be a long time before he goes, or he could have a stroke tomorrow . It was heart-breaking to see Paul with him as he said his goodbyes.

Henry Ford Museum
We took James to the Henry Ford Museum. He had so much fun looking at all the cars, tractors, trains and everything else there. Sometimes it was hard to keep him off of exhibits. He's fast!

with his "pee-pa" in the Rosa Parks bus

Ford's Model-T

"choo-choo!"

Greenfield Village
My favorite part of the trip was Greenfield Village. We went for Memorial Day and they had a Civil War re-enactment going on. It was awesome! I'm a huge American history buff and this place is just full of it!

Henry Ford home

Robert Frost home

Robert took this picture...the mural was cool. You'll just have to believe me.

Detroit Zoo
We had really looked forward to the zoo, but it was sort of disappointing. A lot of the animals weren't out due to construction going on. There were also about a million obnoxious kids there screaming and throwing things at the animals. We stopped what we could and really tried to stay away from the groups, but ultimately we just hurried out as fast as we could to get away from them. I guess I should really stop comparing zoos to the San Diego zoo. I'm pretty sure I'll always be disappointed otherwise.

Looking at all the butterflies in the Butterfly House

Ghetto Tour

We took a tour of the city of Detroit while we were there. I'm sure I've said it before, but there is such an absence of the spirit there. So much sadness, hopelessness. As you drive through the neighborhood it's obvious that a hundred years ago these homes belonged to wealthy people. They probably didn't lock their doors and their kids felt safe on the streets. Nowadays that's furthest from the truth. I hate seeing such beautiful homes cared for so poorly. I just can't get over how there is no pride whatsoever in these communities. And it isn't just limited to homes. Churches, libraries, high rises, old factories are all left abandoned, shot out, burned up, graffiti everywhere. It's sad.

this entire place has had all the windows blown out of it, graffiti is sprayed all over the rooms. And it's not the only huge complex left empty like this!

The Rest
Paul ended up helping Robert really fix up his place. He replaced about 9 light fixtures, installed a whole drapery/window panel, fixed all the locks, hooked up the tv and did a bunch of other various things around the house. I'm sorry he didn't get to relax more, but he is a very giving guy.
We had a cupcake party while we were there.

James' cupcakes

We visited grandma a few days. The last day we spent all day with her. When she found out that I love American history she went ahead and showed me her vast collections. She even gave me some very retro school posters (which are coming in the mail. I'll post pictures once they arrive). She has every book you could ever want to read as American authors go. It was a lot of fun listening to her stories and watching her excitement to share something she is so obviously passionate about.

The flights were long (layovers each way) and we are very tired. Paul is back to work already and James and I have the singular goal of unpacking and getting back into our routine. It's good to be home.

Baby Shower!

2011-05-22T16:36:00.000-06:00

I got to help throw a baby shower for my cute sister, Roxanna way back in March but was waiting for Reanna to get me the pictures she took.

I had fun putting together a diaper cake for her:

My sister Reanna and I made this cute cake! It took us awhile to get it right, but ultimately I think it turned out pretty great.

I am sad to say that pictures do not exist of the following, but it looked (and tasted) amazing.

Rachel made cucumber sandwiches and I made Raspberry Lemonade Punch, and dipped some strawberries.

We played the diaper game (guess the candy bar smashed in a diaper..so gross but fun!), and guessed baby food flavors (which wouldn't be so bad with a little salt).

Roxi sniffing a diaper.

Everyone seemed to have a pretty good time and I Roxanna got a lot of great gifts!

James was the only boy there. He got a lot of attention.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

2011-05-18T09:20:00.000-06:00

We've been cooped up again due to rain. So I busted out the sewing machine and worked on some projects I'd been meaning to get to.

First project was an art smock for James' birthday. We ordered an easel and art supplies for him. I'm pretty sure he's going to love it!

I used some sweet blue pleather. Ha ha, never thought I'd use that. I started out tracing a shirt and adding a little over an inch to make sure it was big enough to grow a bit with him. Then I made up some bias tape binding the whole thing, added a pocket and hammered on a snap. Ta da!

Then came the blanket. All he's had are his little baby blankets, and twin sized are just a bit big for him. So I used my coupons and got some cheap fleece. It ended up slightly crooked (I don't have any sort of measuring mat and it was bigger than my table). Anyway, besides the slight imperfection, James loves it and has been snuggling up in it all day--it being rainy and all.

Then James went down for a nap so I brought out the train set that he hasn't been able to play with. It's one of those little wooden ones that really needs to be nailed down to be played with or otherwise it just falls apart. Anyway, Paul and I talked about it and a train table was out of the question since we live in a really small apartment. We don't have the tools to cut and sand down a board, so we decided to go cheap. I went and purchased a few thick poster boards and hot melt glued the whole thing down. I know I'll probably end up replacing the boards at some point, but he has had a blast playing with for the first time since Christmas.

Then I decided to make a patriotic bunting for Memorial Day (and realistically, the entire summer). I love it! I was needing something to decorate with after the Easter stuff came down.

After James woke up we decided to paint something for Grandpa Robert's birthday. I pointed to where he should paint next and he did all the work. He loves painting.

And then I cleaned the apartment. And watched an episode of Caillou that I'm pretty sure I've seen at least 50 times already.

And now I have nothing to do and we are expecting rain for 2 more days.

New Teeth!

2011-05-14T10:02:00.001-06:00

When James' first baby teeth came in we noticed that they looked sort of funny. We took him to the dentist right away and found out that his new teeth had enamel defects. Apparently there are a few risk factors that cause enamel defects in primary teeth. Some of these are:

birth difficulties
chronic ear infections
chronic illness during the first year of life
mother's health during pregnancy (such as pre-eclampsia)
critical jaundice
taking antibiotics for extended periods of time

Just one or two of these could cause enamel defects, but every single scenario rings true for poor little James. His four top front teeth broke down as they came in. We had a very strict brushing routine, even when he was was only 7 months old. Every time I would nurse him I would have to brush his teeth. Even in the middle of the night. After brushing his teeth I had to take xylitol wipes and wipe out his whole mouth (to kill bad bacteria). Luckily he liked the taste of the wipes and would frequently request to chew on one during the day. The kid loves brushing his teeth and does a really great and thorough job for his age.

When he was 7 months old the dentist told us that the teeth would eventually need to be capped but that he wanted to wait as long as possible. So every 3 months we have gone in for fluoride treatments. Last month we decided that it was time to get this taken care of. I might also add that I have been freaking out about this since he was 7 months old (a year and a half...but who's counting!). At the same time I have really been disturbed about how some people look at him. Some people will say he's so cute but then when they see his teeth you can see a look of disgust on their faces. Like he has improper hygiene or something. It's irritating. If any of you have ever seen his teeth you'll know just how sad they've made me. You always dream of these perfectly cute little teeth coming in, and when they are rotting out of their mouth upon arrival it's devastating. I felt guilty for so long, as if I had done something wrong.

On Thursday night we stopped giving fluids and food to James. We arrived at the hospital at 6:27 in the morning to fill out paperwork and get admitted. Shortly afterwards the anesthesiologist came in and gave me a run down of risks, at which point I pretty much lost and started crying. Every nurse and doctor that came in that room had to deal with my bawling. I'm sure they thought I was a basket case, but...whatever.
I got James all dressed up in his little gown and socks and they let him play with some toys to pass the time. When they came in to get him he started yelling, "Mommy, help!" I totally lost it. The nurses were great and they got me a warm blanket, a diet coke and left me alone in a dark room with a tv to wait.

playing with toys before

duck feet!

my waiting place

I'm pretty sure they had to strap him down to sedate him. He has some bruising on his forehead and arms that makes me think the poor little guy was tied to a table. Everything went well, but it took a little longer than expected. In the recovery room his oxygen levels dropped and he turned blue. As a result he got strapped up to monitoring equipment. They were having a hard time stabilizing him so they brought him to me to hold. It took four people to keep him from ripping off the monitors and his IV. After he was stabilized they took off all the monitoring equipment and said we could leave when he was drinking. He was so wiped out that he just fell asleep in my lap for about 45 minutes. It was quite the ordeal. Start to finish it was about 4 hours.

Sleeping it off

Once I brought him home he was extremely upset and screamed and cried for hours. When I gave him his medicine he screamed so hard that he stopped breathing and turned blue. I think it was equally traumatizing for us. He wasn't eating or drinking even though he kept crying about being hungry. It was so frustrating to see him go through that.

Kindy came by to see how he was and he perked right up. He ate and played and was back to normal by the time she left. Paul decided he had been through so much that he deserved a toy. So we went to the toy store and he picked out this pretty sweet fire truck. I am glad it is finally over and that my little boy has the teeth to match his beautiful smile.

Before

After

I Love Being a Mom!

2011-05-09T17:32:00.000-06:00

Earlier in the week I had read an article on ksl about a woman who had been a mother to 18 children and was waiting for her next two kids. She started adopting children when she was only 23 years old! Something she said really impressed me. She said that while it's nice to get things for mother's day, we should focus on being grateful for our children, for without them we wouldn't be mothers.

This Mother's day wasn't anything special. We don't have money for cards and flowers right now. I know that in the future there will be lots of flowers and cards and little primary crafts on Mother's Day, but yesterday it was just playing with my son. I love him so much.

Easter!

2011-04-25T09:07:00.000-06:00

I love the Friend (PS, it has it's own website now with fun stuff for kids!). As soon as James was born I got a subscription and have read it to him every month for nearly two years now. This month they featured a week of study following the last week of the Savior's life. It has been a real blessing in our home this week.

A little over a week ago, Paul's grandpa (who raised him) took a very bad fall. He broke all of the ribs on the right side of his body. He cracked vertebrae. He had a concussion and was bleeding from his ears. When he was in the hospital he was quite ornery and as a result was drugged up so he would sleep. There wasn't much we could do, but we have been praying for Grandpa and his name has been on the prayer roll in the temple every day. On Thursday they decided to try to take him out of his coma. On Saturday Grandma was told that there was no brain activity and that it was time to think about letting him go. Grandma was strong and made the calls to her grandchildren to give them the sad news that Grandpa was dying. During church today we felt the love of the Savior and the peace that the knowledge of the resurrection brings. After church we decided to go and walk around the Provo temple grounds. While we were there we got a call informing us that Grandpa had woken up and while he was in pain, he was responsive! We know he is not out of the woods, but we are overcome with the love of the Lord today.

We also had some fun! On Saturday we took James to the Orem Easter egg hunt. He won a ball and free bowling (which I'm really looking forward to!) and got a decent amount of candy for a 2 year old. Most of it was too hard for him, but he had fun!

Sunday morning he got to debut that sweet bow tie. Everyone thought he was just the cutest thing. Like I said earlier, we headed to the temple afterwards. There were hundreds of missionaries there and several were following him around and taking his picture. A few of them even requested to have their pictures taken with him. It was pretty funny. Then we went home, had leftover pizza and took a nap before heading over to our friend's for dinner and an egg hunt. I think the kids had a lot of fun. James loves B. She's 18 months older than him and he really looks up to her and tries to imitate everything she does. It's cute. And A. just has him whipped. She's only 10 months old but she's the only kid that can just take something from him and get away with it.

Pointing out the yellow flowers

A New Shirt for James

2011-04-23T13:56:00.000-06:00

I've never really messed with sewing clothes before (other than James' halloween costume, but let's be real, a cape isn't clothing). I'm mostly into craft sewing, but necessity forced my hand. James has outgrown his t-shirts. Well, I should say his head has outgrown his t-shirts. So I looked through the DI pile and found this awesome Abercrombie and Fitch polo that Paul put in the pile a LONG time ago (I've been secretly holding on to it because I really liked it and hoped that one day he would fit in it again).

I started off by cutting off the sleeves and using a shirt that fits as a template.

It took me about 2 hours to really figure out what the heck I was doing. All in all I'd say it was worth it and it looks great. There are a few more of these that I need to do but after dealing with the frustration of the last one it might take me awhile to get the motivation. I think I'd like to try sewing with a pattern next.

Already covered in food.

More Easter Projects

2011-04-22T11:10:00.000-06:00

I decided to make James a bow tie. I followed this tutorial over at delia creates.

I picked up this basket from DI for fifty cents. I used the same yellow fabric to line it and opted to make felt grass vs. purchasing the plastic variety.

Easter, here we come!!

Farm Country

2011-04-16T10:04:00.000-06:00

We took James to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point yesterday. It was so much fun. He had been last summer, but his personality and language skills have really exploded since then.

He called all horses, cows, donkeys, alpacas, ponies and other big animals "cows." And he made sure to shout it at them and let all the animals know that they were, in fact, cows.

feeling the wind on the wagon ride

"cow says 'moo!'"

there is a little kid's sized Jail house there. James didn't like being behind the bars at all.

me and my not-so-little boy

feeding the goats

feeding the chickens

I wish that we had a family pass to Thanksgiving Point because I would be there ALL the time. We had a great time. I can't wait for when we visit the Detroit Zoo this summer. I think he's going to have a blast!

Spring!

2011-04-08T23:11:00.000-06:00

While it currently doesn't look like Spring, It is!! Here is what we've been up to lately:

homemade pizza. YUM!

I don't know how he managed this.

Playing at the Park

New books from the library

I picked up this food tray from DI for 50 cents! And yes, he will eat all this food for lunch.

He piled up all the bedding and pretended to sleep.

I love this kid

I picked up the wreath at DI for $1 and the flowers from Joann for under $2. I just painted it white and hot glued the flowers on. SO much cheaper than pre-made wreaths.

My sister and I both made one. We blew the eggs ourselves and painted twigs from her yard. I love it!

James just loves this peeps bunny garland made from felt.

Scary

2011-04-01T09:46:00.000-06:00

James loves the vacuum. The other night we were sitting in his room reading a book when Paul started vacuuming. James hopped off my lap and ran out in excitement to chase the vacuum. I'm not exactly sure why, but he came running back with a frightened look on his face, so I said, "are you scared?" To which he replied, "Yes, I scared!" Then he ran out to tell his daddy, "I scared! I scared!" Paul just chuckled and kept on vacuuming and James just kept following him around shouting, "I scared!"

Then last night he was sitting in his reading corner looking at some new books and all of the sudden he started screeching. He got up with the book still open to the page and was practically shaking when he came up to me. At first I didn't know what he was going on about, but after he climbed on my lap he showed me a picture of a wolf and said, "Scary! Scary! Grrrr! I scared!"

ha ha ha, he's hilarious.

Learning Time

2011-03-28T23:11:00.000-06:00

I know there are a lot of kids out there J's age that already know their alphabet and some numbers and who knows what else. Probably most of them are girls...just sayin' (there's that dropped g I was talking about earlier...ugh).

Anyway, despite the fact that my toddler is not that advanced, we do have learning time every day.

We have 2 learning corners in our apartment. The first one is the reading corner where James spends a great deal of time (I'd say at least 2 hours a day are spent in this corner).

The second corner is in the dining room and consists of a box full of fun stuff: flash cards, coloring books, busy books, learning pages,crayons, finger puppets, stickers and tons of paper. Whenever I go near this corner James gets really excited. He loves going over his flash cards and I think it may be time to either buy some more or make some more as he knows them all now.

Recently I decided to try teaching J. the alphabet. James is not one of those kids that can sit there and do one thing for very long. He's very high strung and full of energy. So every day we color Aa and say it and then he tells me what it "says" (which is sort of an a-like growl :) I think I'll give it another week to really get it in his brain before moving on to B.

He knows some of his colors like blue, yellow, green and red. We have shampoo and soap bottles in those colors in the shower and that's pretty much how he knows those colors. ha ha, he's awesome.

We haven't really worked too much with potty time since I've been back since I'm sick and don't have the energy, but we have had some interesting and very hopeful potty experiences this week (caution: potty talk):

#1: James took off his diaper, poo'd on the floor and smashed his dad's ped egg into it (it was thrown out, promptly). I rushed him to the bathroom and sat him on his potty while I got the shower going. There was a lot of me talking about how we DON'T poo on the floor. I told him he could poo on the potty or in his diaper. Then I put him in timeout (we've had a lot of these lately...he's turned into such a button-pusher lately) while I cleaned up the mess.

#2: Without being prompted, he got potty elmo and put him on his potty. Then he went and grabbed his potty and asked me to take his diaper off. So he sat there with Elmo and peed! I heard a "woo hoo" and went and checked. He got a snack for that one.

#3: today he came running into the room saying "poop, poop" then guided me to the bathroom and sat on his potty (dirty diaper and all). I told him next time he needs to come to me sooner so he can GO on the potty. we'll see what happens....

Utah

2011-03-28T07:39:00.000-06:00

It's never been a secret that I'm proud of my California upbringing. When I came to Utah for the first time I was hit with serious culture shock and almost left within the first month.

Over time I've come to call the great people of Utah "Utards." I know. I'm mean. A few weeks ago I started realizing that I've picked up on a very disturbing aspect of a "Utard" in my language. I have started dropping the g's off of everything. Examples:

How you doin?
Are you bein' silly?
What you been up to? (not a dropped g, but extremely annoying nonetheless)
I'm makin' pie.
I'm just doin' the laundry.

And those are just a few I've been guilty of. I don't know why I've just now succumbed to the Utah "accent." I've lived her for 5 1/2 years and I'm just now picking it up. Gah! I have been catching myself and trying to correct it, but just now I yelled back to the other room, "James, what you doin' back there?" ha ha ha. Yeah.

I have been really looking forward to finishing school and hopefully moving out of the state

Anyway, today I was watching Mountain of the Lord. If you haven't watched it, I would highly recommend it. It's a movie that the church put out about the building of the Salt Lake temple. I'm so honored to have been married there.

While I was raised in California, my roots really are here in Utah. My ancestors traveled from Denmark and England to join the saints. They crossed the plains. They gave up everything they had to be here, in this state. They helped build temples, towns and worked much harder than I probably ever have for anything. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm going to try and not be such a hater. Yes, Utah has it's weird culture and sometimes people, but there is a lot of sacred ground here. This isn't a bad place at all.

That being said, I still want to move to Texas. :)

Michigan

2011-03-24T10:45:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, Day 1:

We get to the airport just shy of 2 hours early. The lines are longer than I thought they would be and there is only one person running security. Walking in line with a toddler for 45 minutes is not fun. We end up having to rush to get seated and don't have time to get any breakfast (which I was counting on) so we're hungry the entire flight. As it turned out, the flight was packed and we got to sit next to a rough and smelly fellow in a velvet camo shirt.

The first 30 minutes of the flight, James slept. The second hour he spent playing with the activities I brought and eating fruit snacks. The remaining 2 and a half hours were spent wailing and trying to get away.

We finally arrive to Detroit and realize that our terminal is like 2 miles away from baggage claim. I had checked the stroller with my luggage, so we walked and of course J. wanted to look at every shop we passed.

Grampa Robert didn't know how to install the carseat, so I had to figure that out in the freezing cold Michigan wind. I might add that this carseat was a big kid booster so I was paranoid that he was going to die the whole time.

We go and check out the new place, pick up supplies and start working on this huge mess in the basement.

one corner of the basement

Wednesday, Day 2:

Basement, basement, basement!

James was helping and kept repeating, "trash, trash, trash!" all day.

Thursday, Day 3:

We are really rushed to finish the basement and finish packing the upstairs because tomorrow is moving day! It was stressful and after 10 or so trips in the car we were finally ready.

Friday, Day 4:

Moving day! The movers showed up bright and early and moved fast! By noon we only had a few things left in the Detroit house.

We all take showers and Robert notices swelling in his right leg. After a long discussion I end up taking him to the emergency room to get it looked at. The ER was scary. Crack heads EVERYWHERE.

9 hours later: He has a blood clot and is admitted to the hospital. Laura (my mother in law) had to come and get me because I had no idea how to get home.

We get to bed around 1am.

one of our many hospital visits

Saturday, Day 5:
The dumpster is dropped off and I start moving the huge heap in the basement up the stairs. After I finished I was ready to die. It was such a long day and I am still recovering.

20 foot dumpster, filled to the max

The doctor's also find another clot this day.

Sunday, Day 6:
Back to the Detroit house to finish cleaning. Back and forth to the hospital checking in. Unpacking the new place...by myself.

Monday, Day 7:
Robert is told he'll be able to leave on Tuesday. More unpacking. At this point James is just irate and livid and unhappy with his current situation. He's bored and doesn't mind screaming for hours on end for no apparent reason.

Tuesday, Day 8: Robert is finally released from the hospital around noon. We run a few errands (pick up prescription, get a few things for the house, etc.) Afterwards we go to grandma and granpas so they can meet my little James. When we get home we notice swelling in the same leg and head to the ER in the ghetto this time. I wasn't allowed in the back at all this time, so James and I got to hang out with a bunch of sick people and crazies. At one point a lady was screaming that the hospital owed her an ambulance ride home and was removed by security. And there is a ton of security at this hospital. Not only do you have to go through a metal detector, but there are like 5 guards at the doorway.

Anyway, it turned out to be nothing. His body has to adjust to having thinner blood is all--which apparently includes pain and minor swelling. So we got home late and I packed.

Wednesday, Day 9: first thing in the morning we head to the airport to go home. Another packed flight with one free seat...right next to me. James was fairly good the whole flight. He spent a lot of time sitting on the floor playing with his cars and didn't start screaming until it was time to strap down for touchdown. He wanted to play on the floor still and had a temper tantrum. Everyone around me thought it was his ears. I just let them think that he was in pain vs. having a two year old moment.

tv wasn't hooked up so we watched the Pooh DVD we brought over and over and over and over and ....

if I were an animal person I'd get James a puppy since he had so much fun. Unfortunately for him, I'm NOT a dog person.

one of the nights we were there the moon was really huge. I can't really remember when, but James was in awe.

eating pizza in his rocking chair at the new place.

It was a long trip and I'm glad to be home. I'm still sick with a wicked cough and am beyond tired. James was thrilled to see his daddy and all of his toys again :)

Moving

2011-03-14T22:16:00.000-06:00

This time it's not me! Woo Hoo!
I'm taking J. and going to Detroit tomorrow to help James' Grandpa C. move. He has lived at his house for 12 years so it's going to be a big move. I'm excited and terrified all at the same time.

Terrified:
of being alone with James on a plane for nearly 4 hours
of not being able to handle the luggage, the stroller, and the toddler
of freaking out because my toddler is so energetic and friendly (I sometimes wish he'd just be shy and stay by my side instead of just taking off!)
of not getting everything done in the one week that I'll be out there
of J. trying to be too clingy when I need to get things done
of messing up J.'s sleeping schedule
of failing to get J's ears to pop and dealing with screaming the whole way
of going to colder weather
of getting shot at by gangsta's

Excited:
to see Robert
to get out of Utah
that it's not me moving
to maybe get out a little bit while I'm there
for J. to meet Paul's family

I guess I have a lot of fears, but I'm sure we'll be fine and James will be my little trooper. See you in a week!

Again...

2011-03-11T21:23:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready to go to Michigan for a week to help James' grandpa move. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. Moving sucks, but I'm a pro...which is exactly why I'm being flown out there.

So today I wake up and what do I feel coming on? ANOTHER FREAKING COLD! I'm so mad I could break something. Ok, probably not. But I am very upset about this. We've been sick since January and well for only ONE WEEK now. So now I am going to be battling a cold and flying across the country with a toddler in arms all by myself.

I'm going to go cry now.

The Church Bag

2011-03-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to finish this project for a very long time now! I finally just decided to finish it already! I was originally planning on just making a tote, but after finding a tutorial online decided to make him his own messenger bag instead.

The finished bag.

Inside Pocket

Wearing his new bag

playing

I followed this tutorial for the messenger bag. I opted out of grommets and the clips and just sewed the shoulder strap on. It was relatively simple, but I should have made my bias tape a little wider than suggested. The binding is a little sloppy as a result, but overall I'm pretty pleased with it. It's probably one of the more complicated things I've made.

I'm going to finish this fun tutorial for a seek and find bag but I'm waiting for the huge coupon event next week to pick up a few things.

I never finished the quiet book. However, I did take the ONE page that I made and backed it and added a tie to it so it can be easily rolled up and played with.

Here is the link for the little pouches for crayons and other knick knacks. I actually just used the plastic vinyl from old sheet covers for both this project and the seek and find project. No need to go and buy clear vinyl.

I went here to print off some church themed coloring pages and put them together in cardstock.

I also picked up a few folder games for free from Green Jello with Carrots over the past few months. I printed them at 50% and used colorful cardstock as the background.

I threw in our collection of the Book of Mormon for Toddlers books and a few missionary action figures and the ultimate church bag was finished! Woo hoo! Hopefully we can get through Sacrament meeting this week without a major meltdown.

Some Randoms

2011-02-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

Some things I'm loving right now:

Went for a walk the other day and saw hope in the trees! Little buds of life everywhere! I can't wait for Spring!

My boys make me so happy!

The parking spot closest to the apartment. I really hate having to park so far away and have to haul in groceries and my little boy all the way through the parking lot.

"oh man!" from my little man :)

Not being sick (which is going to be changing very soon for me. A week after we kicked the stomach flu's butt, Paul has a cold!).

I can't wait for these:

Some projects I'm contemplating:

You may think I'm crazy, but I've begun preparing for Christmas. This year I want to give each of my family members something homemade. I have a lot of family members and projects take a lot of time. I have planned what I will make for each person and have to complete 1-2 projects a month to be done by December. This way I can take advantage of the monthly Joann coupons, too! The thing that sort of stinks is that I won't be able to share these projects with you until after Christmas! I can share this with you though:
I am going to make a few of these for my cute little nieces! My sister is due in April so I'll have 4 pretty girls to make these dolls for. I'm really excited!

Another thing I'm super excited for is the celebration of the boys! A few bloggers have gotten together and are making strictly boy things! It's so refreshing to see so many little boy things being created. It seems like there are cute little girl projects everywhere, but boy stuff is hard to come by!

Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

I didn't have much time to plan Valentine's Day this year seeing how we were sick the week before.

I woke up to a card from my boys (James picked it out...he loves Mickey). Paul had left it before he went to work at 5:30. James was a good boy and let me sleep in until 8:00 before fussing.

James and I did a little craft for Daddy. He colored a bunch of paper and I cut the little hearts. I held his hand to write the letters (which he gets a kick out of). Isn't it so cute? Then we strung some hearts up on ribbons. He had such a blast. I let James pick out a balloon (he calls in Ribb, like ribbit).

I dipped strawberries for dessert.

Paul got out of class earlier than expected so we went and picked up some Macaroni Grill to go and brought it back home. We spent the evening watching Secretariat and even got to go on a walk. We also introduced James to shadow puppets. He had such a blast making little animals with his fingers on the wall. He literally laughed himself to sleep :)

I can't believe it's been 4 years since Paul and I first got together. Sometimes it seems shorter, sometimes it seems we've never been apart. We have been through a lot but we are better, stronger people for it.

I am so thankful that I get to spend the rest of forever with my sweetheart!

Not Much to Report

2011-02-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

I realize it's been forever since I blogged. Sadly, as I look back on January the only thing that really happened was all of us catching a nasty cold and being holed up in the apartment due to freezing weather. I am very pleased that it's over.

UPDATE: just after I finished typing this James started throwing up. This went on for 10 hours. It was horrible to say the least. 5 loads of laundry, one blessing and a roll of paper towels later, he's back to his old self. He even managed to scribble on every wall in the apartment while I was in the bathroom this morning. Thank goodness for washable crayons!

James is growing up so fast! He finally got his glasses and is just so cute! He is pretty good about wearing them. After an hour or so he'll usually need a break since they are pretty snug (they have to be that way to stay on).

His language skills have just exploded over the past few weeks. He always has something to say and no matter what you say back to him, he'll always ask you why.

Going for a ride in his wagon.

Just lounging.

The picture above inspired us to get him this chair. He loves it!

VERY excited for dinner at In-N-Out

January

2011-01-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

I always look forward to the New Year. It offers a fresh start, a new beginning. We always end the year wishing that we had done better and making new goals. We actually kept a few of our resolutions last year. We didn't become the perfect people that we had hoped for in one short year, but we made some progress :)

This year we are resolving to be more prepared. There are many things that we need to prepare ourselves for, not just food storage--although that is certainly on the list!

I haven't been feeling well for the past few days so we haven't really started some of the things I was hoping to start right away, but oh well. I want a little preparation time to set things up for success anyway! I hope you all made some good goals for this upcoming year.

Oh yeah, and have I mentioned that I'm ready for Spring? Right. Now.

Sorcerer's Apprentice

2010-12-31T00:15:00.000-07:00

Christmas!

2010-12-25T18:31:00.002-07:00

We held our 4th annual cookie day with my sisters this year! As usual, Reanna made some pretty scary cookies. James got to decorate his first cookie! There was a lot of frosting and half-eaten candies, but he had a lot of fun.

Decorating his cookie.

After years of failed cheater houses, we decided to make our own. Martha Stewart provided the recipes and inspiration. They actually turned out amazing. Sadly, this is my first successful gingerbread house EVER.

On Christmas Eve we headed up to Salt Lake for the day. We walked around temple square for most of the day. We took James to the visitor's centers and the Beehive house. He had a lot of fun running around the Joseph Smith Memorial building and looking at the pretty trees and fountains. We probably should have started a little later than we did because by the time the lights were turned on James was ready for bed!

I made orange rolls after James went to bed and we unloaded the closets full of hidden presents. I'm so grateful to all the people that knew of our situation this year and thought of him. I'm pretty sure he had the best Christmas ever! THANK YOU THANK YOU to all my amazing friends!! We are truly blessed.

We have spent December studying the New Testament and reading about Christ to James. In the December Friend there was a tree with lots of little ornaments. Each ornament has a scripture that answers a question about Christ's birth. We would read one every night at dinner and let James put the ornament on the tree (with help). He really loved this. We got this great book for Christmas about making Christ the center of the holiday in our home. We got some great ideas for next year and will be starting a wonderful new tradition next year!

At the PIE in Salt Lake City.

Christmas morning was awesome. I think I woke up first...pretty sure I did :) James ran out into the living room and just stood there with wide eyes whispering "wow" over and over again. It was so cute. He ran over to the powerwheels, hopped on and said "bye" and waved, like he knew he could drive it away! He's so funny. He's having so much fun playing with all of his toys. He only had baby toys before and was very bored with them. I wish I had taken more pictures, but we have it all on video.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! We're excited to start a new year and make new goals for our family.

Christmas Festivities

2010-12-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy with Christmas festivities that I almost forgot I had a blog!
Here are some highlights of what we've been up to.

Made Christmas cards for the elderly with my sister.
Collected tons of clothing for poor children in El Salvador. Paul started the drive last week and sent the clothes home with one of his International employees. With only 5 days we managed to collect more clothing then she could take with her!
Made candy: caramels, chocolate covered cherries, orange truffles, mint truffles, fudge and divinity. whew! Thank goodness that's over with.
Watched a million Christmas movies.
James learned to say "ho, ho, ho!" It's absolutely hilarious. Any time he sees anything remotely Christmas related he shouts it as loud as he can. It's awesome.
Attended our Family Christmas Party. It was our first year with the new tradition and it was a lot of fun. Yay for new traditions!
Wrapped James' presents--Finally!

Now we're getting ready for Paul's work party tonight. We have our annual Sister's Cookie Day coming up and then we're spending Christmas Eve in Salt Lake (hopefully it's not freezing cold). I have been really bad and haven't taken pictures of anything this year. I need to charge the camera battery and get on that probably. Have a great Christmas everyone!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T09:22:00.001-07:00

The original plan was to go to my parents but we ended up doing our own thing this year. I'm so glad that we did! I love having our own family traditions.

The Menu:

Roast Turkey with Apples and Oranges

Southern Cornbread Stuffing

Apple-Orange Cranberry Relish (Grandma Cohoon)

Green Bean Casserole (um, thank you Paula Deen!!)

Sweet Potato Bake

Pumpkin Pie

Cherry Pie

Frozen Cherry-Pineapple Dessert (Grandma Willardson)

Hawaiian Rolls

Spinach Dip

On Wednesday I prepared all the casseroles and made the desserts and appetizers. I also made up some monkey bread dough for the morning so we'd have something to snack on during the day. Wednesday was a much more hectic cooking day for me, but I managed to get it all done fairly stress-free.

Thursday morning we woke up early (like every single morning since becoming parents) and I finished making the monkey bread. We chowed down on that while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with James. He jumped around and danced with each passing float.

After that Paul started on the Turkey and football commenced. I started cleaning up in preparation for Christmas decorations--which by law in our house must go up the day after Thanksgiving. I got the boxes ready to put away the Fall decor and moved the Christmas boxes in the house. At this point we were starving. Smelling that turkey was killing us! So we brought out the dip a bit earlier than expected, but whatever.

After the turkey exited the oven, my casseroles promptly entered. It was not as stressful as last year. Probably because it was just us. I'm kind of sad that I didn't grow up having Thanksgiving dinner. I feel like I missed out! I love Thanksgiving and hope that James will grow up loving it, too.

Can I just say that Paul makes the best turkey EVER? Because he does. He really does. We have been eating Thanksgiving dinner for two whole days now and probably have another two days worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm ok with that :)

First Taste

Yum!

I finally figured out how to get him to eat carrots: Spinach dip!

The spread.

Helping me check the lights.

We are so grateful for our many blessings this year and the many wonderful people in our lives. I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Christmas Crafts

2010-11-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

I think I'm finally done with my Christmas decorations...mostly :)

This is what I've been up to:

I am always looking for ways to center our home around Christ at Christmas. This year I decided that i wanted to make a nativity for under the tree that James could have access to (and hopefully distract him from the things he most definitely can NOT get into).I found the creche at DI for fifty cents. I constructed Mary, Joseph and the manger from Popsicle sticks. I have a little sheep in my Christmas decorations that I'll add once I get them all out.

I made this year's wreath by taking apart the pine cone wreath that I made a few years ago. I got these poinsettias last year on Black Friday for nearly nothing.

The stockings were my biggest project by far. I had to stitch out all of our names. In hindsight I should have put Mom and Dad instead of Paul and Rebecca....Oh well. My sister helped me stitch the trees since it took forever and I was bored with it. Ultimately I think they turned out great and I love them!

Here is James playing with my tree skirt. I made it from fleece that I have been holding on to for years.

I invited my sisters over and we all made these cute stars.

I still have to figure out what to do with all the glass balls that aren't going on the tree for the safety of the resident toddler. I'm leaning towards some sort of garland. We'll see.

Only a few more days until we get to put all this stuff up!!

Gratitude

2010-11-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

This season I have been trying to be more grateful. I really do have so much to be thankful for. This year has been trying for us at times, but always in the background is the love of the Savior for us. We have felt His love on many occasions as we have traveled down the path of life.

I am thankful for my family. My husband works SO hard at school and work. I know that sometimes he is overwhelmed with all that is on his plate and yet he pushes through, not complaining so that I can be a stay-at-home mom.

I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has entrusted us with a precious child to raise and love and cherish. He brings so much happiness and joy to our lives. I love that my home is filled with little laughter. I feel that I have much to learn from him and enjoy every moment of being his mother.

I am thankful that no matter where we live we can bring the spirit into our home. Moving around so much makes it difficult to feel "at home" but the spirit in our home is always the same.

I am grateful for eternal families. Having lost so many loved ones can be very difficult during the holidays, but the knowledge of the gospel and the special bonds we share make all the difference.

I am thankful that our Savior loved us so much that He volunteered to be a sacrifice for each of us. I am so glad for the atonement and for it's application in our lives.

I am grateful for amazing friends. We have been so blessed with friends who always seem to be in tune to our needs and are always giving of themselves. Through our friends we have been able to feel the love and compassion of the Savior and look forward to the day when we are in a position to help others in the way that we have been.

I am thankful for a plan in a bad economy. We have steady income with benefits and the prospect of moving up in Paul's current job. Even though things are rough and I get antsy to be in a home of our own, we do have a plan and slowly but surely we will get there.

I am grateful for the scriptures and for the children's scripture stories from Distribution. I love walking past James' room and seeing him "reading" his favorite books (if you ask him he'll tell you that everyone with a beard is Jesus).

What are you thankful for?

Leukoria

2010-11-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

When James was just a few months old we noticed a white reflection in his left eye. Knowing full well that this was a symptom of a horrible eye cancer I was very nervous. I took James to his pediatrician to get his eyes examined. After looking in his left eye the doctor left the room and brought back two more doctors. Each of them examined his eyes and came to the conclusion that there was nothing blocking the reflection (i.e. tumor). I was relieved. His doctor said that his eyes weren't tracking 100% together but that it should probably go away within a few months.
Well, it didn't. In most photos of James his left eye has a white reflection. I made an appointment with an orthopedic opthalmolagist three months in advance because they are apparently hard to come by. When the day finally came I was a mess. I was, of course, assuming the worst. That my baby had cancer, would lose and eye and our world would never be the same. I walked out to the car and the battery was dead. Despite Paul coming to jump the car as fast as he could, we missed the appointment and they refused to see us. The receptionist told me how important it was to get him looked at right before informing me that the next available appointment was in April of next year!!
And so I made an appointment at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City for two weeks later. This time I was much calmer. I can't honestly say that I've ever felt prayers on my behalf before this. Family and friends were praying for James and his name was on at least 2 different prayer rolls.
Initially he did very well on the vision tests. They hold up huge flash cards with a box made up of varying sizes of lines. Some are so faint you can barely see them. At one point James was pointing to boxes that my eyes couldn't even make out. Then they dialated his eyes and the opthalmolagist ruled out cancer right away. He then explained that the optic nerve in his left eye has partial "coating" on it. The nerves in our bodies are protected with a special coating very similar to electrical wires. However, in the eyes the nerves are exposed. In James' eye the very tip of the optic nerve is covered causing it to appear white (called leukoria) in flash photography. There was a lot of screaming while the doctor looked into his eyes. He was also able to determine that James is near-sighted. He said that most kids with glasses are far-sighted because it is very obvious that they can't see and that most near-sighted children aren't diagnosed until they are doing poorly in school since they can see up to some point. So it turns out that it was a good thing that I took him in because I honestly didn't think that he had vision problems. Now to get some glasses that don't make him look like Harry Potter. And then to learn the secret of keeping them on his head...

Dorothy Jean

2010-11-05T08:10:00.000-06:00

My grandmother was born in October of 1922. She died the day after I returned to school from Christmas break in January of 2006. When Grandpa died in 1995 Grandma moved from her home in San Diego (now worth a TON of money) to the middle of nowhere to live with us. I'm so grateful that she moved to Aguanga. My life would have been very different had she not.

I've been thinking about her a lot lately. Grandma was more like a mom to me in so many ways. I've missed her terribly at all of the major milestones of my life, even though I receive so many confirmations that she is there. I miss her. She would have loved Paul and adored James. I know she would have doted over him and I'm sad that he doesn't have that like I did.

As I get older I realize how much I am like her. I remember she used to try to teach me valuable homemaking skills that I really took for granted at the time. She taught me how to make special family recipes and the basics of sewing machines. She would use every cleaning opportunity to try to teach me how to clean house. At the time I thought that this was really annoying, but am grateful that I know how to get any stain out of everything and have good organizational sense.

Grandma had a grand total of 4 cassette tapes and listened to them year round. Andy Williams Christmas, Barbra Streisand Christmas, the 3 Tenors and a Motab tape. As I was putting together my Christmas playlist I made sure to include those songs that I listened to so many times (and made fun of her for :)).

Grandma was a clean freak. I can't say that I ever was as a teen. I was a slob. It bothered her and she would always tell me that that was no way to get a husband. As I've grown up and have a place of my own I take pride in cleanliness. Sometimes I'm even a little anal about it. I'm sure Grandma would be proud.

When Paul and were picking a date to get married, the only day that worked was May 19th. After a few days I started thinking...Grandma and Grandpa were married in May. So I looked it up, and sure enough, they were married in the Salt Lake temple on May 19th, 1941-- 66 years to the day before I was married in the same place. During our sealing it was made clear to us that she was there. My dad and I were so overwhelmed by this that we both started bawling....I hope Paul didn't think it was about him :)

James was born on what would have been Grandpa Willardson's 90th birthday. I feel so close to them being able to share these seemingly coincidental experiences.

Some Random Memories:

We used to make butterfly magnets from soda bottles and sell them at swap meets.
She would gather up all the cans and bottles and we'd go recycling and then spend the money on something fun.
She liked to go to the movies, but never stayed awake.
We went to the mall at least once a week.
She always made sure I had nice clothes to wear to dances and loved hearing every boring little detail of my day.
Grandma always encouraged me to get a good education and was always supportive of the decisions I made of what I would study and learn. When I expressed interest in going to BYU, Grandma wasn't enthusiastic about me moving away. Despite her not wanting me to move, she gladly paid the application fee and took me shopping to get me set up for moving out.
She started up a wedding fund for me when I was 19. When I got married, my dad used that money to purchase my wedding dress.
We used to go on random "adventures" when we were bored (which was often living out in the sticks).
Every Friday Grandma got her hair done. She would always buy me lunch for taking her.
Grandma provided me with opportunities to earn money and learn the value of work. I never did like washing all the windows before Thanksgiving though.
Every time I drink a Snapple I think of Grandma.
When Grandma would say something funny she would say it at least twice for maximum laughs.

She was an awesome lady and love and miss her dearly. I am grateful for eternal families and the knowledge I have that when life gets rough, Grandma is still there for me.

Me and Grandma. I got to rock James in this chair.

At my graduation from MSJC in 2005.

The day I left for school. Grandma passed away the next day.

Halloweekend

2010-11-01T12:13:00.000-06:00

On Friday we attended Orem's Pumpkin Walk. We got to look at jack-o-lanterns that had been entered into a contest, so we got to see some pretty cool ones. James had so much fun running around the gardens and seeing all the other kids dressed up.

On Saturday we watched the first 4 Batman movies. We filled up the air mattress and put the couches up against it so it was like one huge couch. It was SO much fun. James loved it. We are thinking of doing this for every movie night. We didn't have any trick or treaters. Not one. So now we have a ton of candy which I wish we didn't. We had such a great time though. We also got our pictures taken for our Christmas cards this weekends. I'll make sure to post them once I get them back.

Super Cape

2010-10-28T08:58:00.001-06:00

Picking out a costume for Halloween for James has been tricky. He refuses, and I mean refuses to have anything on his head or face. I saw this cute idea over at ServingPinkLemonade for super capes and pretty much made up my mind right there that I would be making one. I had a black dress that got half eaten by my mom's old washing machine before I had one of my own. I had held onto it in hopes of salvaging it someday. Today that dress became a batman cape.

I'll just put him in black pants and long sleeves. To complete the costume I made a yellow belt from 18 cent scrap fabric at Walmart. I'll make sure to take pictures on Halloween!

I love my little batman :)

Autumn

2010-10-25T09:59:00.000-06:00

Autumn has been particularly long this year. It has felt like California for over a month! I have loved every minute of it! However, as I write this there is snow headed my way :(

Before I got married I used to hop on political campaigns every year since I was 17 and couldn't even vote! After I got married I became a poll worker. Last year was the first year that I was not involved with the election season and it was kind of depressing. In all fairness I had a new baby though. This year I was able to start up again thanks to my amazing sister, Roxanna. I really could not have done anything without her! It isn't Fall unless you're walking around with numb fingers dropping off campaign literature! It felt really good to participate in some real grassroots efforts again. I really want to raise civilly minded children. Of course, if you ask Paul, Fall isn't Fall unless football is on in the background 24/7 :)

We had a great weekend at home despite catching colds. Paul and James carved pumpkins! It was so cute. James was so happy to 1: be up on the table without being reprimanded, and 2: squish slimy pumpkin with his fingers. I sorted the seeds from the pumpkin. I have one small baggy left (I made two huge cookie sheets worth!) Every year Paul goes to extra trouble to cut out big chunks of pumpkin for me to process and freeze. That way I don't have to buy canned pumpkin! This year I got about 4 big cans worth of pumpkin (at current prices, that's about $12 worth from a $5 pumpkin)!

Helping Dad gut the pumpkin.

Um, scary! Poor little baby pumpkin...

Playing with the pumpkin that's been sorted and ready to cook.

In case you're wondering how to process your own pumpkin, it's easy! Pie pumpkins are best, but not as cheap or fun to carve, so after I get all the pumpkin sorted, I put it in a pot and cook it on low until it's nice and soft. I add a little bit of raw or brown sugar since big pumpkins like these aren't very sweet. For a big pot like this I added 2 Tbs of raw sugar. You don't have to add sugar though, you can adjust your recipe depending on the taste. Then I puree it, measure it and freeze it. See? Easy! You'll notice how much better your recipes will taste, too.

I've been meaning to make a hanging wall organizer for a long time. It's been in the back of my mind every day when there's not place to put our keys...or the bills, or Paul's knick-knacks when he comes home. I picked up a wooden organizer at DI for $1! It was brown and not so cute, but a little paint, fabric and modge podge fixed that! I am working a back board with a cork board and wipe on wipe off that will fill the entire space and get rid of the ugly color of the side of the cabinet. It might take me a while, but you'll be impressed :) But that might have to wait. This week I'm focusing on getting better, aka sitting on the couch with my water bottle and box of tissue.

Fall Break

2010-10-17T10:10:00.000-06:00

Paul had Fall break this weekend. He helped clean the apartment, changed all messy diapers, let me sleep in and even cooked dinner twice. I feel like I was the one getting a break. I love that man.

My Boys

We decided to take James to Pumpkin Land at the Vineyard Garden Center in Orem. He had so much fun picking out a pumpkin and wandering around the corn maze. He loved being able to peek through the stalks and shout gibberish at unsuspecting strangers.

Telling me all about the pumpkins

Picking the perfect pumpkin

One of the many beautiful sunsets on our nightly walk

We took James to several parks over the break. He loved running around Rock Canyon Park. There is a little park at our apartment complex that is the perfect size for James. We go every day and he climbs the jungle gym by himself and slides down the big slide all by himself. He's grown up so fast!

He grunted with every step up the hill at Rock Canyon Park

He loves going down the slide

"Weeeee!"

I was also able to finish a project I've been meaning to do for a while now. Paul bought me a kitchen mat awhile back through his work. It's industrial grade so it's not as pretty as the more expensive gel mats. It has deep little grooves in it and holes throughout. Needless to say, it's a pain to clean. Rugs of it's size are just so expensive so I decided to make a cover for it. I found a nice stain-resistant table cloth at Target for $6. I used an old sheet for the back side and made a slipcover. Such an improvement! It sweeps off easily and I don't have to take trips to the bathtub to scrub it off. :) When it's dirty I can just throw it in the wash. I also made hand towels to match. What do you think??

Before. You get the idea.

After!

Oh yeah, and I made apple butter!

Gratitude

2010-10-06T21:45:00.000-06:00

General Conference weekend was wonderful. President Monson talked about being grateful for what we have and not focusing on what we don't have. This is something I've really been struggling with lately. I want a house, a yard, a degree, and a career for Paul that will give us some sort of stability for once. I've been wrapped up in this pity party for myself for the last few weeks. I kept complaining that I'm so over the starving student stage of life and forgetting about my blessings. I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful child, and overall health and happiness. These are things you can't buy and they enrich my life more than all the things that don't have.

I mean seriously. It doesn't get better than this!

Beep!

2010-10-01T07:54:00.000-06:00

The first night we moved into this apartment four months ago we noticed a beep that sounded like it was coming from a smoke detector. After a quick sweep of the apartment we concluded that it sounded too distant to be in the apartment. Every night for the last several months we have listened to the beep every thirty seconds as we tried to fall asleep. We talked about it EVERY night. Where was it coming from? What kind of people wouldn't hear that awful beeping in their own apartment?
The beeping has kept me awake every night until last night. Paul stood there under the detector in our room. We talked about how it's such a faint beep that it couldn't possibly be in our room. But he decided to swap the battery just to see what happened. Nothing. No beep! Talk about embarrassing.

Preserving and Crafting

2010-09-28T14:33:00.001-06:00

I love Fall. This year we've had beautiful weather. Some people think it's hot, but coming from Southern Cali, it's perfect! the colors are changing, the nights are cool and the days are under 90 degrees for the most part :) I've been working on a few different projects getting my house all decorated for Fall. I am also realizing that certain measures have to be taken to protect said decorations from the resident toddler...so almost everything is up on high surfaces, but it's still there!

I made this adorable little table runner (smaller like a center piece runner). It really turned out great! Thanks to moda bake shop for the great idea!! I love it! I got the charm pack from Joann's. I just love the colors. I'm really loving aqua right now.

I've always put off canning and preserving thinking that I would get around to it when I had a garden. But I couldn't wait any longer. We have 2 more years of apartment living before we buy a house and I don't get the slightest amount of sun on my patio to grow anything, so I have been scouring craigslist and ksl ads for free or cheap produce from local growers. Today I got all of this for just $5 (minus the toddler)!

Last week my sister and I made cinnamon plum jam from the plums we got at the Red Barn and it turned out great! I'm playing around with the idea of making a sugar-free batch but am a little nervous.
I still have a ton of plums. I see fruit leather in their future. I'll be making apple pie filling and dehydrating some apple slices (so much cheaper than buying apple chips!).
The zucchini has already been shredded up and frozen and bread has been made, the corn is also going in the freezer and the pumpkin will be used promptly. I love making pumpkin pie from fresh pumpkin. It is so much better than canned. Seriously.

Yep. I love Fall.

Fall Colors Tour Part I

2010-09-19T12:19:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I can't take the credit because I got this idea from Nienie. We have so many beautiful canyons here in Utah and the Fall colors are starting to show up. Our first stop on the tour was in American Fork Canyon. We apparently should have turned right instead of left to get to the Alpine Loop, but that will just be for another day. It was absolutely beautiful. As we headed back out of the canyon we decided to stop off and let James take a look at the river. He was soooo exited! He kept screaming "wow!" like he always does when he's just overcome with joy. He is so funny.

on Saturday we headed up to Squaw Peak in Provo Canyon. After all this driving around looking at nature James needed some outdoor time. It was 90 degrees on Saturday so we took him to the new park in Spanish Fork and let him play in the water. He had sooo much fun. We had to drag him away when he turned purple, but he would have played til he turned blue.

And the weekend wouldn't be the weekend without a stop off at the Red Barn. I will be doing some canning this week with all of the produce we got. Peaches, plums and blueberries, yum! We mostly got the blueberries for James. He loves them so much he couldn't wait until we checked out. I think he ate over a cup before we even left!

I'm Back and a James Update

2010-09-09T08:08:00.000-06:00

School is back in session and so far so good! Paul is ahead on all of his coursework. Work is crazy for him right now so he's a little stressed, but I think he's doing alright.

I've been working on getting organized around the house. I have started my Fall cleaning, which is pretty much like Spring cleaning only a different time of year. In addition to deep cleaning the apartment, I have been going through clothes and toys and either craigslisting them or giving them away. I still have a lot to do, but I am well on my way. I hit the caselot sale at Smith's today and stocked up my pantry. I'm cutting back on my monthly grocery bills by stocking the pantry really well about two or three times a year. In the long run it really saves money. I've reorganized both bathrooms, all the closets, and every cabinet in the kitchen so far.

I've also got a huge head start on Christmas. Once we decided what James' big gifts were going to be for Christmas I started keeping my eyes open for a trike and basketball hoop. At the beginning of the summer these items were priced at about $40-$60 a piece depending on brand. I had a bunch of R Us cash and as soon as the basketball hoop went on sale I bought it. I only paid $5 out of pocket! I was a little nervous about finding a trike, but as luck would have it this little Radio Flyer was on sale at Wal-Mart for $20 and I had a gift card for the exact amount. I only paid tax. I am WAY ahead of schedule :)

Speaking of Christmas, I'm very excited for the holidays. The cooler weather we've been having has really got me psyched for Fall. I know it'll probably be 100 degrees tomorrow just because I said this, but the mountains are changing colors. It's coming! Paul and I had such a fun Thanksgiving together last year that we've decided to go solo again this year. Christmas is going to be a total blast. James is at such a fun stage. I'm planning on a few different projects for my decorations this year. I'm making new stockings, a wreath, tree skirt, and ornaments. Here are a few ideas:

I love these little stars! Plus I don't have to worry if James rips them off the tree.

I don't think this will be going on my door, but I will be putting this in my house. I think it's so cute!

I can't make up my mind which stockings I like better. What do you think?

I've already got the stuff for this one. Only mine is going to be red and white.

James is finally learning to sign. I started signing to him when he was about 8 or 9 months old. I was just starting to think that he wasn't going to pick it up when he started communicating when he's hungry to me (he makes the sign for eat, only on MY face...so funny!). Pretty soon he was signing for lights, trees, flowers, thirsty and water (he made up his own for this one. He acts like he's splashing water with an open palm...which looks more like the sign for ball, but it's still cute). I'm working on toilet, please and thank you. It's really awesome to be able to communicate with him before he is really talking. He is really good at getting me to notice what he's jibber jabbering about with pointing. Oh, and when he blows it means candle. Cute! I have a little border in his room that has lions and monkeys in it. He'll point to the lions and growl and say "oo oo" for the monkey.

List of words James uses: wow, hi, no, yay, yeah, oh, mama (but never about me :(), kee kee (which generally means that he likes something), uh-oh, up, moo (ha ha ha, why I don't know), and why.

He is in to everything now. I have found him on the dining room table trying to smell the flowers! He dances to EVERYTHING. Commercials, his toys and sometimes the sound of Daddy's snoring. Anything that has a beat. He's recently started "conducting." The cutest was last week when we were watching Music and the Spoken Word and he started conducting MoTab. He loves to spin in circles until he's so dizzy that he falls over. He is a handful, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

A Bad Day

2010-08-20T09:28:00.000-06:00

7:00 am Paul calls from work phone. Says his cell phone is broken.

11:00 am I go to the school to pick up his phone.

12:00 pm T-Mobile says there is no hope and that we don't qualify for a free phone until January.

1:00 pm I find "James'" phone and plug it in. After 4 years and buckets of drool it miraculously still works.

4:00 pm Paul calls from school again. I need to pick him up. His car won't start.

4:30 pm Paul limps into the house. The bottom of his foot had cracked open and his whole foot appears bruised.

6:00 pm Paul flushes his favorite fish. We didn't even notice it die.

8:00 pm - 12:00 am James is screaming from breaking another molar

4:30 am- wake up to get Paul to work by 5:00.

I am so glad that days like that only happen every once in awhile. Thank goodness it's over!

Good Eats

2010-08-11T21:45:00.000-06:00

I have a picky toddler. He refuses baby food, vegetables and anything that resembles protein. But a toddler can't live off of fruit and grains alone! And that's where Deceptively Delicious comes in. I had seen this cookbook before but had never really needed it since I have no problem eating my veggies. For a minute I thought that by hiding vegetables that I'd be missing out on a valuable teaching opportunity and teaching him that he doesn't have to eat vegetables. But when I was cleaning green beans out of the carpet I changed my mind. He's too young to intimidate to do anything. He's already having terrible two tantrums and I can't give him any supplemental drinks since they're milk based. Best decision I ever made....well, one of them anyways :)
I decided to start off with banana bread since I had some very ripe bananas and James loves bread so much. Besides bananas, it has whole wheat flour, egg whites and cauliflower in it. I would have taken a picture to show you, but the boys devoured the whole thing. It is amazing. I can't wait to try out all the other things in that book! Watching James chow down on food other than cereal makes me happy.

More Summer

2010-08-08T12:30:00.000-06:00

We went to Salt Lake the day before Pioneer Day and walked around temple square. We try to make it there once every few months. I love it there. It always makes me think of where it all started and how grateful I am to have my little family forever.

Pioneer day we woke up and made a big breakfast. Then we went to the Provo festivities. There was a car show, live music, delicious food and the pioneer village. It was super hot so we didn't stay long, but it was still a lot of fun. I love that it's a paid holiday here in Utah!

Studabaker!!

James was so fascinated with all of the flags. I think I must have replanted 10 of them!

After that we went to feed the duckies.

He has this fascination with trees and plants in general. So cute.

Sometimes when it's too hot outside I take him to the mall to play. He's more interested in this big water ball thing then the playground.

The vacuum is one of his favorite toys. Especially when it's on! It is extremely difficult to vacuum when a rather fast toddler is chasing you down and trying to stick his fingers in it.

He points at what makes him mad now. In this case it was his Daddy saying that he couldn't have Dr. Pepper. Look at those tears!!

Comfy.

Guilty look.

Playing with his best bud, Hudson. They have so much fun together.

Being a goof at church.

Doesn't he look so grown up? Where did my baby go?

Naptime for the boys. Cleaning time for me!

I'm making a quiet book for church. This is the first page. What do you think? I'm pretty stoked with how good it came out considering I had to freehand the temple before stitching it.

He disappeared for a minute and came back with Daddy's tie.

Ok, he makes me laugh. I was taking pictures of him to distract him while we were waiting at the doctors and he started squinting every time the pre flash light would come on. He thought it was so funny. I have like 10 pictures of nothing but squinting.

Paul saw this football armor and had to try it on James. Unfortunately, James didn't think it was too much fun.

Paul's getting ready for Fall semester and is pretty busy with work and school. James has one molar all the way in and is working on three more. He isn't having a blast with that, but he does manage to keep a pretty good attitude. He's growing so fast I just can't believe it. I love my little man.
I've been working on a few projects and trying to get my groove back with organization, etc. Other than that we're just enjoying the summer and looking forward to the holidays.

Summer Fun

2010-07-16T21:05:00.000-06:00

Paul's uncle (and James' honorary Grampa) came to visit us for three weeks. We had SOO much fun! Here are some pictures of our many adventures:
We started off by getting our pictures taken. Susan Monson did a fantastic job capturing some amazing photos. James was grumpy the entire time and she still managed to turn some of those cries and whines look like smiles! I am VERY impressed.

And then there were are many visits to various parks...

For the 4th we went up to Park City. It was so much fun. That pool was so warm it was like bathwater!

There was a play area for kids at the Canyon's resort. James had such a blast playing in the sand box! He is so good with other children and plays very nice.

We took a drive up the Nebo Loop and took a short hike to the Devil's Kitchen.

Robert bought James a bunch of presents when he came. Among them was this cool tent that is shaped like a jeep. James has really loved playing it in.

This is James' first time in the pool!! He doesn't really like his float and makes us swim him around. So much fun though!

My sister, Rachel, was married in Manti last week. It was so hot and poor James was teething so we ended up leaving before the reception. What a pretty temple though!

Breakfast at Magleby's. Sooooo good!

We went to the toy store and they have these cute little shopping carts. James loved pushing it around. He had such a blast.

Playing with his little piano/xylophone and in his tent from Grampa Robert.

Playing at the zoo.

This is the view from the top of the LDS Conference Center in SLC. The whole top of the building is made up of gardens. It's quite the sight.

We went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point that day before Robert left. James had a BLAST. There is this little cave and James just walked right in and started playing with all the kids. All the little girls were giving him kisses and asking me questions about him. Of course he was hamming it up. I love that kid.

So that sort of sums up our month so far. We caught a cold when we got back from Park City, so that was a little bit of a downer. But all in all we've had a fantastic summer!

One.

2010-06-17T08:40:00.000-06:00

James turned one yesterday. I really can't believe that it's been a year. I love this kid so much and even though I can count on my fingers how many nights of good sleep I've had in the last year, it's been the best year of my life. I am so blessed. Here are some pictures from his birthday party!

I saw this on the back of a cake box and thought it was so cute I just had to make it.

The masher cake.

He loves his balloons. He takes them everywhere.

I love this hat. It's so cute. He wouldn't let us tie it on though, so it's always just sort of sitting on his head.

All decorated for the party

You can't see it very well, but I made this super cute banner!

As soon as we finished singing happy birthday to him he starting crying. It was so funny. I have it on video, I just need to upload it.

He loves all of his new toys. In this one he's trying to drink out of a little flashlight :) He's so funny.

In the end, he decided that he loves cake.

And then there was the birthday bath.

Which was quickly followed by a birthday nap :)

May

2010-05-31T13:11:00.001-06:00

is a crazy month for us. First my birthday on the 5th, then Mother's Day on the 9th, our anniversary on the 19th, Paul's birthday on the 25th and my sister's high school graduation on the 27th! Throw the move in there on the 21st and Memorial Day and it's just one hectic month!
For my birthday I went dumpster diving for moving boxes with Kim in the morning and went home and made myself a double layer chocolate cake. Paul came home with flowers and...a double layer chocolate cake. We had a lot of chocolate cake! It was probably the most laid back (aka boring) birthday I've ever had, but I didn't mind.

On Mother's Day Paul woke up and took care of James and cleaned before I even woke up. I love that man. Of course there were flowers and these cute placemats from Williams and Sonoma :)

I made chocolate dipped strawberries for my mother. I wrapped a shoebox lid in nice wrapping paper, put the strawberries on parchment paper and then covered the whole thing in plastic wrap. I think it turned out well.

For our anniversary we went to Tucanos. We took James with us. We don't often get alone dates anymore. Finding a sitter is difficult, and we don't mind dragging him along.

Anniversary Flowers

Then there was moving day/days. Paul and I loaded up both cars with the fragile stuff and headed to the new place. It took much longer than I would have liked to pick up the keys and get the cars unloaded. We had a slight scare when we walked in that perhaps it was going to be too small for all of our furniture, but it all fits. Then we went to a few places looking for a U-Haul. By then we had to stop off for lunch, so we didn't start loading the U-Haul until probably 1 or 2. Luckily we have some great friends who came along to help us. It was still a very long and tedious process. Can I just say that moving with a little boy is NOT fun. Naps were missed, feedings were constant, screaming ensued from all the commotion and when we finally had the beds set up little James wouldn't sleep. He ended up in our bed, so none of us were well rested. The next morning we went over to pick up the last few things and clean. It turns out that there were a lot of last few things!

My dad brought his truck over and we were able to move everything but the fish. Being quite sick of going back and forth and still not being unpacked, we waited until Sunday to go get the fish. The landlord had said that he would pick up the key from us at our new place, but Sunday night he called and asked that I put them on the counter!! Soooo, Monday I had to go all the way back to Springville to leave the keys. It was so good to be out of there after all of that.

Helping me clean the fridge.

He "Helped" a little too much so we sat him in his stroller while we finished cleaning.

James has gone right back to his normal sleeping schedule and isn't afraid of the new place at all. In fact, I think he likes it better since it has proven difficult to baby-proof. I've finally unpacked everything and we even have our pictures on the wall. I admit that I'm quite homesick for the other place though. Not because there is anything wrong with this one at all, it's just that we lived there for a year and half. That is the longest I have been in one spot for nearly 5 years and we really made that place home. Now to make this place feel the same way!

For Paul's birthday I made chicken pot pie (his favorite) and a carrot cake. It was fairly low-key since James was already asleep.

My sister Rosilynn graduated from high school. She's the 6th child of 7, but the first to actually graduate. We were "homeschooled" as kids so she's the first to actually attend all four years and graduate. I'm so proud of her! It was way past James' bedtime by the time she finally walked, so he was unusually grumpy.

He kept going back for more and then would get super dizzy and laugh hysterically. He's a funny kid.

Then there was Memorial Day weekend!

Paul doesn't have school on Fridays so he got off early and we went to the park. We've recently discovered an awesome park in Orem and I have been spending a lot of time there. After church on Sunday we packed up a lunch and went to the park again. Homework kept Paul pretty busy for most of the weekend, but it was nice to have him home.

He loves bananas.

In the midst of all this I forgot to get the car registration done! So now I have to hope that I don't get pulled over for expired tags on my way to Jiffy Lube. Did I mention that May is crazy for us?
And then there were all the other random adventures of the month:

Christian's Massive BBQ

It snowed the first weekend in the new place.

I went to IKEA with my sister and we found this fun toy rat. Kind of freaky if you ask me.

Playing at the new place.

Paul decided that we needed an ice cream break. He bought 2 Kong Cones. I have been eating Kong cone for days.

I'm not one to typically feed my kid a bunch of junk, but everyone has their first oreo at some point!

Being Silly.

...and it doesn't take much imagination to know what's going on in this one.

Walking

2010-05-19T11:25:00.000-06:00

James took his first real steps over a week ago. He had taken a step here and there months before, but mostly by accident and it scared him. Over the past few day he's gained a lot of confidence and is really starting to take off on his own. That being said, he's still a super fast crawler, so if he wants to get somewhere fast he reverts back to it.
It took me a few days to get this video out of him. He's not big on performing tricks. He's quite a stubborn little boy! Anyway, enjoy!

Three Years

2010-05-19T08:45:00.001-06:00

Three years ago today Paul and I walked into the Salt Lake temple to get married for all time and eternity. Sixty-nine years ago today my grandparents walked into that same temple for the same exact reason. At our sealing I could feel their presence there, especially Grandma. I love sharing that with them.

It feels like we've been married for so much longer. A lot has gone on in our lives in just a few short years. We've had 6 different jobs, and lived in 7 (moving again on Friday!) different places. Majors have been changed, a baby has entered our lives. We've been so busy and have gone through a lot of trials, but with those trials have come so many blessings.
I am so grateful to have a worthy priesthood holder for a husband. He works so hard to provide for our family, both spiritually and temporally. I love that he's able to laugh during the hard times as well as the good times. He's such a stud! I am truly blessed.

NieNie

2010-05-10T13:29:00.000-06:00

I don't know how many of you have heard or read about NieNie, but her blog is so inspiring. She recently did this video for the church. If you don't read her blog, you should. She reminds me that I have so much to be grateful for.

New Shoes

2010-04-30T12:58:00.000-06:00

James never got to wear the first pair of shoes we bought for him. When he was born his feet were already too big to fit into newborn shoes. I was so bummed when I realized that he couldn't wear the little shoes that we had picked out for him! Not like newborns need shoes, but they were just so cute. Last week James grew out of his size threes. He is still just learning to walk, so I can't put rubber soles on him. I went to the mall and found soft sole shoes for sizes NB-3, no 4s. So I went to Babies R Us and they said they stop making Koala Baby's (Babies R Us brand of soft shoes) at size 3. They had some soft converse that went up to 5, but the tops of his feet are so tall and chunky that they wouldn't fit!! I tried Target and Payless with no luck. I went home and was getting frustrated. I got online and found baby shoes that *might* fit for around $34.
$34!! For a pair of baby shoes he's going to grow out of in no time flat. I didn't buy them.
So today I'm at Wal-Mart, yes, Wal-Mart, and I just decide to look. It's like the heavens parted and ...ta da!

I got these bad boys for $5.
I'm not the biggest fan of Wal-Mart, but today, I freaking love Wal-Mart.

Again.

2010-04-23T08:23:00.000-06:00

We're moving again. It'll be the 7th move. I'd be lying if I said that I was really excited about packing everything we own (that is fortunate enough to not end up in the ever-growing DI pile) and piling it into a moving truck. I hate that part. It's the worst.
However, after thinking about it and praying about it, we both feel that this is what we need to do. When we first moved to where we live now we both had jobs. Then the baby came with his endless expenses and a new car was inevitable. We've been doing ok, but just staying afloat. We want to be able to buy a house when we're done with school in 2 years, so we're downsizing to a 2 bedroom in Orem. It's a really nice complex still. Has a pool and a gym, and a little park where James can play, AND we'll be saving a considerable amount of money. I wish it were over with already. Luckily I have a month to go through and throw things out and pack so that this move will be a bit more organized than the last.

James is on his 4th cold of the year. He has spent most of the year sick. I just got over a horrible sinus infection last week that I had for almost a month! I hope I don't get it! He recently turned 10 months old. I can not believe how fast the time is flying by! He's standing on his own, although he fights it. He's so fast crawling that he gets frustrated when we try to push him towards walking. I know he'll get it soon enough. He's saying "Dada", "Mamamamamama" :), and the other day he started saying "Yeah." He's such a joy. I'm so grateful to be his mom.
I'm starting to practice with cakes for his birthday. He's allergic to milk so I've been experimenting with dairy free cakes. I have had a few interesting outcomes so far. I found a water and vinegar cake that tasted really good and had good texture, but just looked awful. Hopefully I'll find a super recipe before June. I've tried giving him soy formula and toddler drink, but he hates it. I'm kind of at a loss of what I can do so that I can wean him. Any thoughts or ideas would be welcome!!

Paul is doing well at work. He's really enjoying his job and is preparing for finals next week. He will be taking classes during the first block of summer, so he won't have much of a break until June. But we're looking forward to going to California for a few days and a long-awaited visit from Paul's uncle (and James' honorary Grandpa) for a whole month!

I've been trying to keep up with some projects. I started getting back into family history and look forward to James' naps every day so I can search for more of our ancestors. With the move happening I probably won't get much done until after we're settled in.
Here is the bib and burp cloth set I made for my new niece, Charlotte!

Some recent cooking creations:

If you've never made Strawberry Chiffon pie you need to go make it!! It's so good.

Paul's favorite meal: Chicken Pot Pie.

And I didn't make these, but they make me happy! I can't wait until another month or so when the strawberries start to get sweet!

While I was cooking dinner last night James decided to get into the pots...litterally! He's such a funny boy.

Cutest Thing Ever

2010-04-22T08:05:00.000-06:00

I started James on an early potting training program. I figure if it doesn't work that I really haven't done any harm, and if it does work-- hallelujah!

Basically for the next 3ish months I take James to his little potty first thing in the morning, and then throughout the day (basically he just gets my or Paul's schedule). He sits there and the key is to make it a positive and normal experience for him so that after awhile going to his potty isn't a big deal. Supposedly after a few months he'll understand what the potty is for and make training easier. He already comes to me when he goes in his diaper, so I know he doesn't like sitting in it. My fingers are crossed.
Anyways, we got him a singing potty that sings when he goes. At first it pretty much terrified him, but this morning when he sat on his potty the little motivational song started and he started doing his little booty dance on his potty, rocking back and forth and "singing" along. It was adorable. I love this kid!

Some Pictures

2010-04-02T09:36:00.000-06:00

James has been falling asleep everywhere. His favorite spot is his high chair though. He spends a lot of time in it. When I cook dinner I just face him towards me so he can see what I'm doing but can't get into anything.

Splashing! He loves bathtime. Sometimes he just hangs out next to the bathtub until I give him a bath.

He's also quite the musician! I cannot wait until I can get my own piano!

My latest project. My cousin, Wendy, gave me a set similar to this when I had James. I made these burp clothes and bib for my friend, Carey. I hope she loves them as much as I do! I'm also working on some girly ones for my sister-in-law who is expecting this month!