Melanie's Musings

The Shape of Mercy

2011-09-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am a fan of historical fiction and when I came across this book, I knew that it was something that would interest me. However, the time around the Salem witch trials are a dark time in the history of our country and I knew how things were going to end for Mercy. It is hard to imagine what those men and women went through during that time with the Salem witch trials and it is even harder to imagine that anyone could believe the tales that were being told to implicate those accused. The story connects the lives of 3 women. The first being Mercy who was accused of witchcraft and sentenced to die and Abigail an older woman who is an ancestor of Mercy's who has in her posession Mercy's diary and Lauren a young college student that Abigail hires to transcribe Mercy's diary. The diary has a profound impact on the lives of Abigail and Lauren and we see that we can learn alot about ourselves by studying the past. The underlying theme of this book is about how quick we can be to pass judgement on others and how hurtful that can be. It is also a story about mercy and forgiveness and as an added bonus it is a love story. I really enjoyed this book.

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Terrible Two's

2011-09-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've written about Ethan and I wanted to take a minute to document a little of his personal history. Ethan turned 2 on June 1. So here are a few things to remeber about Ethan at this stage of his life.

Ethan is a tornado of destruction. He keeps me busy each and every day cleaning up the various messes that he makes all over the house.

Every day, multiple times a day, he pulls all the cushions of my couches. He jumps on them and uses them to build forts.

He refuses to sit in the shopping cart.

He hates tags in his clothes. I have to hide them or cut them out. Today he called me in to the bathroom to show me a tag on the towel. Oh brother!

Ethan is talking a lot! He can say each of his brothers names "Erck", "Cam", "Autin" and he can even say his own name "E-in"

When he sees me in my workout clothes he says "esercise mom?"

Whenever he gets a boo boo, he comes to me for a kiss to make it better.

He used to say ck-truck for truck, but now he just says truck

He likes Erik to get him out of bed. When he sees him he says "Hi Erck, what are you doing here?"

He loves to paint "a paint mom?"

He calls robots "robot eyes" Not sure where that came from, but it's pretty funny.

He loves stickers. Sticker books are the only way that I can keep him still in church.

He can do all the actions to "Head, shoulders, knees and toes"

He loves to have a bath!

He loves the movie Cars and knows all the characters.

He continually pulls the keys off of Brett's laptop.

He is an artist and loves to draw on everything. (*see below)

He loves to draw with sidewalk chalk. Sometimes his artwork shows up on more places than just the sidewalk....the car, the house, the tile inside the house etc.

Ethan is a sweet, cuddly little boy who always gives lots of hugs and kisses. He is generally happy and full of energy. Even though he wears me out most days, I am so grateful for his curiosity and fun-loving attitude. I love you Ethan!

P.S. as a follow up, I was just finishing up this post and was going to get the boys into bed when I smelled and overwhelmingly strong scent of Febreeze air freshener coming from up the stairs. I got to the top and noticed that the carpet was slightly damp right where Ethan was sitting. HMMMMM. I asked the boys what happened and Cameron told me that Ethan was spraying the Febreeze and he took it away from him. OK!, so I took Ethan and washed his hands and got him ready for bed and dried the carpet as best I could, then we all gathered around for family prayer. Austin climbed in my lap and just as he started saying the prayer I kissed him on the head and low and behold he smelled like (you guessed it) Febreeze! After the prayer, I asked Austin why he smelled like Febreeze and he said "because Ethan squirted me 2 times!" Seriously?! So it was off to the tub for a quick bath before bed. But not before I put the can of Febreeze on the highest shelf way out of the reach of some very mischevious and curious little hands! I guess that's where it should have been all along!

My trumpeteer....

2011-09-08T19:28:00.000-07:00

Erik has been practicing the trumpet and he sure is getting good at it! Take a peek... Also, notice his new glasses. Doesn't he look so handsome?! Great job Erik! I am very proud of you. Love, Mom :)

Busy, busy, busy....

2011-09-06T21:06:00.001-07:00

In a good way. We are 99% finished with our laundry room!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

New rug ($10 Ross):

New light:

New cabinets added above the washer and dryer = 2x's the storage and a place for all my crafting supplies

All we have left to do in here is put up the chair rail on the beadboard and some touch up paint on the trim! Feels so good to check another project off of our never-ending to do list!

Before and after....

2011-09-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

It feels so good to finish up some projects that we have been wanting to get to. A good friend of mine (hi Sandra) gave me this cute table awhile ago and I have had plans to re-finish it for quite some time now. This weekend was the perfect time for me to do just that. So here is the BEFORE:

and here is the AFTER:

Amazing what a little paint and elbow grease can do! Love it!

Band has begun....

2011-08-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

and Erik has chosen to play.....

The TRUMPET!!!

I love hearing my children create music in our home. It really is a happy sound (even when the notes don't come out just right). Band has quickly become Erik's favorite subject thus far in 7th grade. He comes home each day to play a new note and share what he has learned. I am so thrilled that Erik is off to a great start this year in all his classes. I am very proud of you Erik! Keep up the good work!

(I love this picture, because as I was taking it, his foot was tappin' out the rhythm he was playing and he looked so ~~cute~~ handsome!)

First day of Kindergarten....

2011-08-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

My baby is growing up. Austin had his first day of Kindergarten on August 15, 2011. Here are a few highlights of his day:
Puzzles with Mom and Dad

The sandbox:

The playground:

The end of day one with his teacher Mrs. B:

It was a great first day and Brett and I were lucky enough to be able to share that experience with him. He has a great teacher and has already met several new friends. I love that in Kindergarten everyone is their friend (even if you don't know their name, but can identify them by the color of their shirt). It looks like it is going to be a wonderful year! Austin I am so proud of you! I know that you are going to do great in Kindergarten! Keep up the good work!

Book reviews....

2011-08-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

Fire by Kristin Cashore

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The concept of the story was great. The characters were interesting and unique, but the plot just didn't come together. And the Leck character didn't seem to fit into the book. Just seemed like he was thrown in there for added drama and his departure was very anti-climatic. It also moved a little slow for me. I haven't read Graceling (the first book), but after reading this, I am not sure that I will continue on with this author.

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Sarahs Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was amazing in the beginning. I couldn't put it down. Sarah's story is so touching and heartbreaking. I love how the author weaves the stories of Sarah and Julia together. However, once Sarah's story is told and the plot shifts more to Julia, the book loses steam. I felt like the book had potential, but just didn't live up to it.

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Matched by Ally Condie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this story. Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. It is a story about Cassia who lives in a society where agency is basically taken away from the people in an attempt to attain perfection. At the age of 17 boys and girls are "matched" by the "officials" with their perfect mate. A mistake occurs with Cassia where she sees 2 matches for her. When that happens, it sets off a series of events that makes her question everything that she has been taught to believe, and sets the stage for a great love triangle. So the question is Xander or Ky?! I can't wait for book 2 (Crossed) to come out in November. The book had a similar feel to The Giver and The Hunger Games, so if you liked those books, you will love Crossed.

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Back to school....

2011-08-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it is time for the kids to go back to school. This is a bittersweet time for me. On one hand I am ready for more structure and routine to our days, but I will miss having the boys around. It is also going to be a year of transition as Erik will be starting jr high and Austin will be starting Kindergarten. I wanted to take pics of the boys at the beginning of this new school year, so after giving them each a haircut and convincing them to wear the clothes that I wanted them to wear and begging them to just humor me and pose for whatever pictures I wanted, we managed to get a few shots that I love.

Erik 7th Grade

Cameron 4th Grade

Austin Kindergarten

Ethan Toddler school with Mom

My handsome boys

I love how these pics turned out and it is always fun to see the boys individual personalities shining through. So even though the pictures aren't "perfect" in terms of the boys always smiling or even looking at the camera for that matter, I am a happy Mom to have these little reminders of my boys at this stage in their lives. And I had a great time sharing this day with them as well. Thanks boys for making your Mom so happy today!

Where to begin...

2011-08-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

When you've been MIA from the blog for so long, the question is where do you begin? And an even bigger question is anybody still reading my silly little posts? My Mom assures me that she is, so Mom, this is for you (and of course anyone else that may still be checking this little blog of mine.)

The never-ending projects on the house are still progressing.

1. The railings are complete!

2. The front yard is 1/2 re-landscaped (ignore my dead planters, I'm still trying to figure out how not to kill my potted plants)
*I spy with my little eye a cute boy creeping into my photos!

Some of my flowers are doing really well...

these roses where on the brink of death and I brought them back (maybe I don't have such a brown thumb after all.)

and the most exciting thing as of late is...

3. The new patio cover!!! Isn't this a work of art?! Brett and his dad (Jed) had this built in just a couple of days! They did a great job, and we are enjoying the shade that it provides.
*Notice the new house color....

We are loving all the progress on our house. It has been a year of hard work, but the house is coming together.

Happy things...

2011-05-19T10:30:00.001-07:00

Or things that are making me smile today

cleaning my house to the cranked up stereo blasting Keith Urban
My new pink swiffer
the sounds of my two littlest boys playing and laughing while I clean
It's Thursday...my favorite day of the week
The sun is shining!
We have railings! Thank you Brett and Jed!

They are almost done! After picture soon to follow.
Cameron yelling from the cross-walk on the way to school "Bye Mom!" not yet embarrassed to be seen with me.
Cameron bursting through the door this afternoon yellling "Mom! I saw a frog at school today. It hopped on my arm. He was so cute!"
Erik coming home looking all defeated saying "Mom, I have sooo much homework today." Then I saw the corner of his mouth turning up ever so slightly, as he desperately tried to stifle a smile and then I knew that he was messing with me. No Homework Today!
Ethan's fuzzy blonde hair that stands straight up no matter how hard we try to get it to lay down.
Ethan's attempt at conversation which sounds something like this : la der la der la der Mom. Boy I wonder what he is saying, but no matter, it's cute!
Austin all set up and ready to play a game. I laughed when I saw him sitting on the floor wearing the chef hat ready to play Green eggs and ham
And this little conversation that I had with Austin yesterday:

Austin "Mom!, I didn't give dad an Austin hug this morning."
Me: "Oh no, you'll have to give him one when he gets home tonight or maybe you'll have to give him two."
Austin: "No, you only get one per day unless it's a special day."
Me: "What is a special day?"
Austin: "you know like when you go somewhere to a house you can use (Tahoe) or Christmas or Mom's day or Father's day"

So there you have it, Austin hugs are pretty special and I am proud to say that I am the proud recipient of just ONE today!

Hope that you're smiling too!

Tahoe...

2011-05-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

Having the boys on a year round schedule has been a blessing. We have always looked forward to our times "off" and it has been nice to be able to vacation all throughout the year during off peak times to avoid the crowds. Now with Erik starting middle school next year and the announcement that the elementary school is going to a traditional schedule, we celebrated the boys last off track time with a trip to Tahoe, one of our favorite spots! We rent a house there and as always we had a great, relaxing time. I will miss our times "off-track" But I feel grateful that my boys will all be on the same schedule next year.

Here's what we did:

Played in the snow and boy was there A LOT of it!

Hot tub
Brett and the boys got in...it was just a little too cold for my taste, so I watched them from inside the warm house, sitting by the fire.

Commons Beach playground by the Lake

Picnic
If it looks like we're in the car, it's because we are. We packed a picnic and headed off to the beach, but it was soooo cold and windy that after we sat down at the picnic table to eat, Brett and I looked at each other and burst out laughing, because it was FREEZING! So we headed back to the car to finish our "picnic" somewhere warm

Shopping

Object lesson

2011-05-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

I just had to document this little experience so that I wouldn't forget and so that someday when Austin says "Mom, tell me a story about when I was little" (as he so often does) I can share this cute story with him.

Brett had the opportunity on Sunday to present a sharing time to the primary children. His sharing time was based on the 6th article of faith:

We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

He used this object lesson that he used to use on his mission to help the children understand that our church is organized the same way that Christ organized his church when he was on the earth.

Later that night Austin grabbed a handful of cups and said "Mom, I want to tell you a story." He then proceeded to stack the cups just the way Brett did explaining to me how the church is set up. First he layed out 12 cups (and this was my favorite part.) I asked him why there were 12 cups. He said they were for the 12 "opossums" (apostles). How cute is that?! Then he stacked more cups "building" the church. Then he told me that the church fell down (as he knocked it over). I asked him why the church fell down and he said "because they killed Jesus and the opossums (apostles) died". He then proceeded the build small little structures telling me that different churches were organized and that "Sister Smith" (He meant Joseph Smith, but his primary teacher is Sister Smith. I got a little chuckle out of that) didn't know which church to join, so he prayed and God told him that he shouldn't join any of them. Then He proceeded to lay out the cups again to build the church just like he had in the beginning telling me that Heavenly Father helped Joseph Smith restore the church to the earth just as it had been when Christ was on the earth. This was such a sweet moment for me as a mother because you often wonder if your children are listening or paying attention to what is being taught and to see that this lesson made such an impression on him makes me realize that they are listening and picking up on so much more than we even realize. I shared this story with Brett and we both got a little chuckle out of it. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and for the influence that it has on my children.

I did it!!!

2011-04-30T15:18:00.001-07:00

Not once but twice! I ran a full 5k (3.1 miles) on my treadmill in 32 minutes! I ran my first full 5k on April 22 and I was so proud of myself. Now I know that 3 miles isn't like a marathon or anything, but it kind of felt that way to me. So I decided today to try it again and I ran the full 3.1 miles in 32 minutes! I ran/walked my first 5k in Nov. 2010 with my family in Utah in 0 degree weather (this CA girl is not used to the cold or the altitude anymore). So of course the fun part of the race was running it with my siblings and their spouses, however at the time I had been training for several weeks and I had gotten to the point where I could run 2.5 miles before needing to take a little walk break. And then prior to the race I hurt my knee...bad, so I had to stop running the couple of weeks leading up to the race. Found out that I may have had runners knee and that I wasn't running with the proper shoes. Anyway, my knee was killing me before the race even began, but off we went and at about the 2 mile mark, my knee got worse, but I just kept going, pushing through the pain walking and running at a very slow jog and finally there was the finish line with my family cheering me on! I finished the race and I was so proud of myself for doing it, but at the same time I was a little frustrated that I couldn't run it as well as I had wanted to. Fast forward, now I have the appropriate shoes and I have been running once a week along with exercising 4 times a week for 45 minutes and I am amazed at how much stronger I am. The fact that I ran that 5k the other day just shows me how far I've come and it feels good! Now I need to sign up for another 5k and this time around, I think that it will be a little better experience for me. Now who wants to join me?!!!

Turkey Trot 2010

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight Austin, Ethan and I were sitting at the dinner table chatting. Our conversation went something like this.

Mom: Ethan did you learn about Jesus today in nursery?
Ethan: (shaking head yes) mmm...hmmm
Austin: I learned about Jesus today too.
Mom: You did? What did you learn?
Austin: When Jesus died there was an earthquake.
Mom: That's right. Why do we celebrate Easter?
Austin: So we can be happy.
Mom: Yep, and we celebrate Easter because Jesus was resurrected, do you know what that means?
Austin: Yep, it means that he came back to life.
Mom: That's right, his body and spirit were reunited and someday after we die we will be resurrected too.
Austin: Is Jesus alive?
Mom: Yes, Jesus is alive. He lives in heaven with Heavenly Father and someday he will come to the earth again
Austin: Will I see him?
Mom: Yes, that is why we have to try hard to do right things and do what our Heavenly Father wants us to do.
Austin: When I see him, I will give him an Austin hug! (that's what we call Big, Bear Hugs from Austin)
Mom: He will love that Austin!

How tender, sweet, innocent and loving children are. No wonder our savior says "suffer the little children to come unto me" Their faith is pure and their love is unconditional. When I experience these sweet moments with my children like this, it helps me to better understand this scripture:

And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.
3 Nephi 11:38

Happy Easter

Just like Sam....

2011-04-12T14:32:00.001-07:00

My boys LOVE the movie Tron. Now when I say boys, I mean all the boys 4 little ones and the big man of the house too. They all went to see the movie in 3-D on Christmas eve with Jed and Kathy while I stayed home and sewed, cooked Christmas dinner and chased Ethan around. So needless to say the boys were anxiously awaiting it's release on DVD. Brett got an early birthday present this past weekend...yep you guessed it The 2 Tron movies on DVD. We watched Tron Legacy for family movie night on Friday, and I have to admit that I kind of liked it too! So, the boys were in serious need of haircuts and today while watching Tron again, Cameron said "Mom, I want my hair cut like Sam's." Boys asking for haircuts?!!! I jumped all over that and all 4 boys got the Sam Flynn style. I think Brett needs the Sam Flynn cut too...what do you think? And perhaps I should get the Cora cut!

Where's Ethan?...Busy trying to ignore the woman behind the camera.

and here he is mad at the woman behind the camera for taking his picture, Don't you just love the rug burn that he gave himself by dragging his head across the floor in nursery on Sunday?! *sigh* Gotta love him!

Funny stuff...

2011-04-10T14:37:00.001-07:00

Cam and Austin were having a conversation the other day that I happened to overhear. It went something like this.

Austin: "Cameron the ghost is clear"
Cameron: "Austin it's the coast is clear, not the ghost is clear."
Austin: "nuh uh Cameron it's the ghost is clear, because ghosts are clear!"

I love it!

My little monkeys...

2011-04-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

When we decided to move to this house a year ago, one thing that we really wanted for the boys was a place where they could have the freedom to run and play and just be boys! Little did we know back then just how perfect this house and this location would be for us. The boys have made new friends that live on our same street and they have spent a lot of their free time outside and even more lately as the boys have discovered this amazing oak tree across the street. The past few days they have spent many hours there climbing and playing and just hanging out. It is their own little private world. I went down to take pictures of them playing today, and I couldn't help but feel thankful that a loving Heavenly Father knew what we needed and he knew that this was the perfect place for us to be. Life has changed for the better for all of us! Here are some pics of my little monkeys:
Erik and his friend

Welcome spring....

2011-03-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make a wreath for my front door for a while now, so today I found a little time to craft! Here is my dollar store wreath! I already had the grapevine wreath, so I just needed some spring flowers to jazz it up. So, off I went to the dollar store where I found all the flowers, the glitter eggs and the cute polka dot ribbon to finish my project. Simple, easy and inexpensive....my kind of project! $9.00 for a fun spring wreath, not bad!

Cruisin'

2011-03-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Austin came to me and said "Mom, I want to go outside and ride my rattlesnake." (The rattlesnake is the new bike that we bought him a couple of months ago.) I reminded Austin that his bike didn't have training wheels and because I couldn't watch Ethan and help him attempt to ride, that he would have to wait for Brett to get home. So he patiently waited and then when Brett arrived home they went out and literally 5 minutes later Austin was cruisin'! I am so proud of him, and doesn't he look super cute with his little bike helmet on?!

Austin showing off his new skill:

Caught on tape:

Tired...

2011-03-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

I NEED a vacation. Please tell me that I am not the only Mom who gets so tired of all the mundane tasks that fill each and every day. Sometimes you just need a break, a little change of pace, a little change of scenery. My kids go off track in 1 week and I can hardly wait! I am so looking forward to mornings that aren't rushed and afternoons that aren't rushed and hopefully to some time spent crafting and definitely time hanging out with the boys and especially no homework! Along with all that, I am dreading keeping the kids busy so that they don't waste all of their free time in front of the computer and the wii, the bickering and fighting that will inevitably occur on a daily basis, and the constant state of disaster that my house will be in with 4 boys tearing through it. I may just have to toss these 4 boys of mine in the car and take a road trip....that's what I would really like to do. We'll see how it goes. But in the meantime, let the countdown begin! Oh, and I better stock up on some chocolate...I think I'm going to need it.

Spring is in the air

2011-03-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

and I'm taking advantage of the fact that the little rays of sunshine that have been streaming through my windows amidst the rainy days have motivated me to get a few things done. So with that, I'm back or at least I'm getting there. I actually crafted this week and finished a project that has been in the works for a while now and I must say that I was way excited to finish this project and here's why:
Before:

I love these big windows in my kitchen, but this wall was just way to plain for my taste, so.....

After:

I sewed the curtains and Brett made those awesome shelves for me! We make a good team. He did an amazing job! I love how they turned out here is a close up shot of the detail:

and here they are closed:

And some crafty goodness

Fabulous quote:

Don't you just love this! I found this free download here,. They come in several different colors and sizes. You should head on over there and download one for yourself!

Re-visitng an old hobby:

For my bedroom

For my bathroom

Signs of spring:

With the leftover flowers from my arrangements, I was able to make this cute little spring arrangement for my hutch! $30 for three arrangements...not bad!

*More spring decor to come....

Differences....

2011-03-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

There is no doubt that boys are very different from girls. This week for preschool we had a lesson on dinosaurs. Today I had the kids draw their own dinosaur and then we did a little writing prompt about their pet dinosaur. When I sat down with Stevie (I wish that I had taken a picture of her with her dinosaur)to do her writing, she said that her dinosaur was a baby and that her name was Kima. She likes to eat plants and grass and baby dinosaur food. When I asked what Stevie liked to do with her Dinosaur, she said "hold her". So cute, sweet and nurturing, just like a girl. I loved it. Then I sat down with Austin. Here is his story about his pet dinosaur:

My Pet Dinosaur
His name is Austin.
He likes to eat meat.
He likes to kill meat eaters and eat the meat.
I like to play with him.

That last part cracks me up, because who wouldn't want to play with a ferocious meat eating dinosaur.

Isn't it funny the differences between boys and girls. I just found this so interesting today, because I seldom get the chance to see the girl side of things with all these boys in our home. Not that I'm complaining, life with boys is good!

Melanie week....

2011-02-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

comes to an end. Brett asked me if I have the birthday blues (you know kind of like the Christmas blues that come on the day after Christmas). My answer....YES! Now I have to wait a whole year before I get to celebrate me again! (Ok, so I am exaggerating and I sound a little self centered, but I must admit that I LOVE my birthday!) So, how did I celebrate Melanie week? The first half of my week was actually busy, busy! I had three indian costumes to sew and put together for Cameron's upcoming play (pics will soon be coming), then I found out that one of the Indians dropped out, so I really only needed to make 2 (that would have been useful information to have been given on Monday!) Thursday Brett called to wish me happy birthday eve (isn't he the cutest?!) Then the big day arrived and Brett took the day off to hang out with me, doing whatever my little hear desired, which of course was SHOPPING! which would have been fun, but after 10 minutes in Old Navy, and 10 minutes in Kohl's with Ethan my nerves were frazzled! So, to the car we went and then we were trying to decide if we should eat lunch at In-N-Out, or just take it home (remember we had Ethan with us) We decided to attempt lunch there. We ordered, sat down to eat and 5 minutes into lunch, Ethan was done with his Bruger King nuggets and decided to chuck them over the side of the booth at unsuspecting In-N-Out patrons because he was mad that I wouldn't let him down. So we wolfed down our food and went home to pack for our weekend trip to Napa. Yeah! After the boys got home from school, we were off! Napa was great! Brett and I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant there...ALONE! It was great and then we went back to Kohl's to finish the shopping that we had attempted earlier...I got some cute clothes! Then back to Jed and Kathy's where the boys (with some help from Kathy and Jed) had a little surprise party waiting for me! Yummy cake, party hats and crazy glasses...what more could you ask for! More presents (thank you Jed and Kathy)! Day 2 fun breakfast at our favorite pink bakery, fun at the park, the library $5 book sale (as many books as you can stuff into a paper grocery bag for $5), more shopping with Cam and then a second night out, just Brett and I, to see Unkown (2 dates in one weekend?! Crazy! And to top it all off a 30 minute run through beautiful Napa with my father-in-law and his running friends! Aaaah! It was a great birthday weekend! Now I am exhausted and ready for 4 little boys to go to bed so that I can wrap up this weekend vegging out in front of the TV with Brett....Sounds great doesn't it! Happy 36th to me! (I'm getting old)

I will post again in a few days to show you what Brett bought me. We are waiting for it to arrive and I must say that I am pretty excited to get it!

Mom and Dad, I will post a pic of my new purse soon! Thanks to everyone for making me feel special! It was a great birthday!

I needed to hear this today...

2011-02-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

and maybe you did too.

It's good to be reminded of the important job a mother has and the divine help that we are entitled to as we love and serve our families.

Someone's been busy....

2011-02-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

hmmm...who could've made such a big mess!

Thank goodness for washable markers which didn't completely wash off, so thank goodness for magic erasers!

A brand new bag of Pirate's Booty...awesome!

And what mess would be complete without crushed up goldfish (and a few that were wet and soggy too)!

Could it have been this little person?!

photo courtesy of Austin
Trying to smile....even though I want to scream or cry (not sure which) This picture was also posted to dispel the myth that the cleaning fairy shows up at our house and cleans up after everyone. Sorry to disappoint, but the cleaning fairy is really just MOM!

So, I hear that someday I'm going to miss these little messes....I am not quite sure about that, but I do know that our kids seem to grow up in the blink of an eye, so even though I get really tired of all the added chores that this little man adds to my list, I will cherish him and love him, because before I know it he will be all grown up and I am sure that I will miss the little cuddles and kisses that he gives me on a daily basis. I am already feeling that time passes way to quickly as my first baby is about to venture off to middle school this year. We had an orientation for him last night and I felt like crying the whole time. I just can't believe that I have a child on the brink of becoming a teenager. Didn't I just send him off to Kindergarten with tears in my eyes?!

Happy Valentines (belated)...

2011-02-17T09:03:00.001-08:00

The tradition:

The dinner:

The Family night activity:

Since Family Home Evening fell on Valentines Day, we had a lesson on love. I hid hearts all over the family room and the boys had to go on a heart hunt. Then for each heart that they found, they had to list a way that they could show love for others or list a way that the Savior shows love or showed love to those he served throughout his life.

Then, Brett and I played 20 questions with the boys and they had to guess where their Valentines were hidden. They guessed it with only 4 questions left and each boy received a Lego set from Mom and Dad.

The flowers for the girl:
The first bunch you can see in the pictures above, however, they died the next day so they were returned for a new bunch!

Notice Austin's Lego set on display next to my flowers...CuTe!

The GIANT Hershey's kiss for the man:

Brett has often said that he always wanted one of these when he was a kid and never got one, so I couldn't resist!

The Valentine's thief:

I heard a little voice saying mmmmm... and I came around the corner to find Ethan on the floor raiding his brother's Valentine bag of goodies. Doesn't he look happy?!

The Valentines decor that I managed to complete prior to one of my favorite holidays:

Did I mention just how much I LOVE the month of FEBRUARY! Who doesn't love a pink month? Not to mention I kind of feel like it's my month...let the countdown begin to Melanie day (or Melanie week as Brett likes to call it)! I love my birthday!

Finally.....

2011-01-13T20:26:00.001-08:00

So we moved into our house almost a year ago. Well, it has been 9 months and we have been really busy re-modeling ever since.
We're finally ready to show a few befores and afters...
BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

More to come

World's ugliest cake.....

2011-01-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to take a moment to document something very important.....

\WORLD'S UGLIEST CAKE
What the heck happened to this cake. It just crumbled to pieces as I was frosting it, but believe it or not, it was pretty moist and delicious and just so that we were not wasteful, we ate every last bite.

little birdie....

2011-01-13T19:24:00.000-08:00

Finally got a little crafting done. My friend (hi Tami) asked me to cut some wood for her and when she brought this little bird pattern over, I knew that I wanted to make one too. So, I cut one for each of us. Here is my little birdie. I added the long legs and I drew and cut some feet for her so she could stand on my bookcase. I made a template for the flourish on her little body using my silhouette. I just lightly traced it onto the wood and hand painted it.

So fun! And I even have a few more projects waiting in the "wings". (Get it?!)

Gotta love Austin....

2010-12-31T11:46:00.000-08:00

Grandpa Jed is in town working with Brett on our railings (pics soon to follow). Last night the guys took a break to go to dinner with us at our favorite Italian restaurant. Towards the end of dinner Austin got a little restless and bored and decided to entertain himself and everyone around us by running circles around the table. At one point he stopped and came up to Grandpa and said...

"Grandpa, does it to stink to not have kids?!" To which Grandpa replied (quite convincingly I might add) "Yes it does"

Daily battles

2010-12-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

Brett made this video for me and it really sums up my daily battles with Autin. Austin and I watched it together and we were both laughing, then Austin said "that doesn't sound like us!"

Cameron's Baptism

2010-12-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

I guess that I am just a little behind on blogging. Cameron turned 8 this year and was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Oct. 9, 2010. Here are some pics of his special day.

Cameron and Brett.
I didn't get a picture of them in their whites, but this was taken just before the baptism. We are so grateful that Dad holds the priesthood and was able to baptize Cameron.

Our family and friends who came to share this special day with us.

It is a pretty wonderful experience for a mother to witness her child accept the invitation to be baptized. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and I am grateful that my children have the opportunity to take this important step in returning to our Heavenly Father and then to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a really special day. Cameron, Dad and I are very proud of you! We hope that you will always remember the special, warm feelings that you felt today and strive each day to keep the covenants that you made. We love you lots!

JOY!!!

2010-12-08T14:01:00.001-08:00

We were truly blessed when a wonderful family in our ward gave us their piano that they no longer wanted. It has been such a joy having this instrument in our home. I have wanted a piano for years and years, and now that we have one, we are using it and enjoying it. I have started giving the boys piano lessons. Here is Austin practicing his first song.
JOY!!!

Mouse update....

2010-11-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

So, remember fat fuzzy (as I have begun referring to my little mouse nemesis)? Well, he has yet to find himself in one of my traps. I have found some traps with missing peanut butter, and I just know that that is the work of fat fuzzy. You may think that this story starts and ends with him, but no, there is so much more to this story. Apparently Fat Fuzzy has invited all of his little rodent friends to come and squat with him. The other night I had just finished vacuuming my living room. It looked so nice and clean so I sat down on the couch to enjoy a quiet little moment of bliss in my clean room. As I was sitting there on the love seat, I look over at the couch and I see this little grey mouse run up from either behind the couch or (gasp) in the couch and he perches his little behind on the arm of the couch and we make eye contact. (I'm sure he was taunting me). Now seriously, you have never seen a 30 something woman jump up and run as fast as I did and the mouse takes off back into the couch! I yell for Brett (who is relaxing in front of the T.V.) to come and get this mouse out of my house. Cameron, his friend and Austin come running in to save me. They came armed with flashlights and bins to capture this little critter. I at this point am sitting on the stairs watching them try to scare the mouse out of the couch so they can take him prisoner. At that point, we see a little brown mouse run up from the loveseat (I was just sitting there, it gives me the creeps just thinking about it). So now we know there are 2 mice running around my living room. Brett hears all the commotion and decides that he'd better come and help get this mouse situation under control. So, after about an hour of trying to get the mice, the little friend goes home and Brett decides the boys need to go to bed. I remain on guard duty to make sure the mice do not leave the living room. I am afraid at this point that if they do, we will not be able to find them. While I am sitting there I see the little brown mouse run across the floor and up the steps and then he darts into my dining room. I yell for Brett to come quick and then like superman Brett shows up with a bin and runs into the dining room where the little mouse is hiding in a box, playing dead. Brett tells me to shake the box and when the mouse comes out he will trap it in the bin. And that's exactly how it went down. We caught that little mouse and then we looked at him and thought Awww, he's kind of cute (We used a clear bin, so we could see him in there). Cam came downstairs to check him out and he said "He's cute, can we keep him?" NO WAY!!! But we felt way too bad killing him, so Brett took him down the road and released him into the wild (I'm sure that as I type this, that little rascal is hitch hiking his way back to our place). Then we set out traps everywhere and that night we caught 2 more and since then our count is up to 5!!! Can I just say GROSS!!!! I need to deep clean my house! So tomorrow I am going to sing this little song.....

If all these animals insist on giving me grief, then they better earn their keep!

Seriously?!!!

2010-11-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

Now a fat, furry little creature is squatting in our house. Last night I walked into the computer room and turned on the light and the little critter darted under the computer desk, and I ran straight to the car @ 9:30pm to buy mouse traps.... What was I thinking moving across the street from a nature preserve?!!! This morning I think that I heard him rustling around the laundry room, so I don't care if there are no clean clothes to wear, I am not doing laundry until the fuzzy one is gone! Oh, and I am writing this blog post with my legs and feet tucked up under me on the computer chair, because with my luck the fuzzy one would scramble across my feet and bite me or something....he's probably rabid! Just sayin'!

Scared...

2010-10-30T19:54:00.001-07:00

the living daylights right out of me......

So, last night was the annual Trunk or Treat out in the church parking lot. We had a great time chatting with friends, eating too much candy, seeing all the kids in their awesome Halloween costumes and then it was time to go home. We got home just as it started sprinkling little rain drops (Thank you rain for holding off for the Trunk or Treat). We ushered the kids upstairs to get ready for bed, then we spent a few minutes playing with the boys until Mom (that's me) got a shiner, yep a little black eye thanks to my sweet little Ethan. My eye met his head while we were bouncing on my bed and then that pretty much ended playtime for me so off to bed they went. After I hugged and kissed and tucked them in, I retired to my room and flopped down on my bed to rest, but oh no, that was not to be, because my kitchen was a disaster and I just couldn't face waking up to that nightmare bright and early in the morning (that thought is scary in and of itself). So, while Brett is finishing up with the tucking kids in bed ritual, I drag myself up off my cozy bed and head down to tackle the mess. First things first, I bag up the over-flowing garbage and tie it up all nice and neat and then I head out into the dark, drizzly night to throw it into the garbage can. I take about 5 steps and out of the dark shadows of my back yard, I see some large animal walking towards me.....I think what is that a cat?! (Yeah, like a cat on all 4 legs comes up to my hips, a tiger maybe) Then it dawns on me that is a BIG, BLACK DOG and I don't own a BIG, BLACK DOG! At that point I screamed a loud, blood curdling scream (like in the movies) and then I turn around with garbage bag in hand and do exactly what you're not supposed to do when you encounter a large animal that can run way faster than you, I run like a crazy lunatic back to the house screaming Brett's name and carrying the garbage bag with me (You'd have thought that I could've dropped the bag, or even thrown it at the BIG, BLACK DOG to distract him), but you'll be happy to know that me and my garbage bag made it back into the house in just the nick of time (must be all my training for my upcoming 5k..but most likely it was pure adrenaline). I slammed that door in the dogs face and screamed for Brett to come and save me. At this point my heart is racing, my body is shaking and my mind is trying to process what the heck just happened and I slowly start to realize that the BIG, BLACK DOG belongs to my neighbors. This BIG, BLACK DOG is always escaping his yard by digging holes under the fence, then chewing his way out and that is how he must have gotten into MY yard. Now the crazy mutt is scratching at our new back door and trying to get into our house, so Brett goes out to return him to his home and I leave the garbage bag by the back door where it will remain until morning and head upstairs to calm down my crying child who is now too scared to go to sleep because he heard my crazy yelling fit from downstairs . (Yep, I scared him...AGAIN!) After all was said and done, I was too traumatized to clean the kitchen, so I plopped down on the couch and watched T.V. until bed time. And you know what, the kitchen waited for me! Just one more thing...what is it with me and animals?!!!

Came across this quote today...

2010-10-17T21:02:00.001-07:00

"Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "oh crap, she's up".

At first it made me laugh, then I thought wow, there is a very good message in that. It made me question, Am I this kind of woman? A woman who is steadfast and immovable always abounding in good works? For surely this is the kind of woman who can withstand the mighty storms of the adversary. I like to think that I try, but there is always room for improvement.

Then I remembered this quote by Sister Hinckley and I am reminded that this is the kind of woman I want to be because most certainly this is the kind of woman that will make the devil say "oh crap, she's up".

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someones garden.

I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Super Saturday....

2010-10-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

or in our case Terrific Tuesday. I am in charge of the craft day for our Relief Society, and this is what we are making.

Seasons Board

Frugal Gifts

You get to make a double-sided memo frame, ribbon bookmark, 2 cookie gift bags, a hot pad first aid kit and a Hershey bar snowman (not pictured).

Menu Frame

Muffin Tin advent

Should be fun!

8 years ago today...

2010-10-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

Cameron 8 months old
this little man joined our family. 8lbs 8 oz of cuteness, with fuzzy blonde hair and the cutest little nose I've ever seen. Today Cameron is growing into such a handsome young man who is about to be baptized! What an exciting birthday this is for him. So in honor of this momentous birthday, here are 8 things that I love about Cameron.
1. Cameron has a smile that lights up his whole face and a whole room.
2. Cameron is very thoughtful of others. He loves to write little notes to everyone and he always shares with his brothers.
3. Cameron loves to dress up in costumes, and I love seeing all of his get-ups.
4. Cameron is very smart. He gets really good grades in school (straight A's last quarter) and he always does his best.
5. Cameron always gives me a goodnight kiss and hug....always!
6. Cameron loves his family and he makes sure that we all know it.
7. Cameron tries hard to choose the right and he often reminds our family to have family prayer when we forget.
8. Last but most certainly not least, Cameron is funny and he makes me smile and laugh on a daily basis....I love you Cameroo!

Cameron flashback (about 9 months old)

My baby is home.....

2010-10-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

Erik went off to camp this past week for school. He left on Monday and returned today (Friday). His family missed him terribly, and we are so glad that he is home and now our family feels complete again.

He had a great time!!!

Lunch with buddies

Tug of War, they almost won

Building a shelter (How handsome is that kid?!)

Welcome Home Erik...we missed you!

It's the hard knock life

2010-09-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

*Warning* Mom's vent....

Oh how I love Saturday chores......My boys were asked to do 2 simple chores today

1. Clean their bedrooms
2. Clean their playroom

Both chores should have taken them an hour at the most. Well they have now been at it for 3 hours and still going. All I have heard all morning is "I can't do it!", "It's too messy!" "It's too hard!", "Austin isn't helping", "This is going to take forever!", "Cameron threw Lumpy into the fan", "Cameron isn't helping", "Ethan's making messes"...you get the point. So from the mother who is feeling a little like Miss Hannigan to the boys who've got it so rough, I dedicate this to you....Oh and by the way, I did clean their bathrooms for them which would have been chore #3 (Mean Mom)

"What are you just standing around here for? You're supposed to clean the bathroom and the kitchen before lunch, my little pig droppings, and if you skip the corners, there will be no lunch. And we're not having hot mush today...We're having cold mush!" --Miss Hannigan

A true story....

2010-09-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a dated, sad, old light that was in need of a makeover

Then a new family found her for sale through the classifieds, forked over $5 dollars for her and brought her home. With a vision, a tutorial, a can of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint, and one hard working husband, she was transformed....

And now she is a happy Pottery Barn knock-off hanging happily where once lived some lovely track lights over our stairway. And she lived happily ever after.

Before

After

The End!

Disaster zone....

2010-09-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

My house is a disaster at the moment and I am really happy about that, because it means the we are finally getting these:

Hooray for railings!

a little helper

and I can finally say goodbye to my lovely sub floor as the wood is finally going in:

Thank you Jed and Brett. I know that everything that you have been doing is A LOT of work!

More pictures soon to come!

Straight No Chaser - I'm Yours/Somewhere Over The Rainbow

2010-09-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry about all the videos lately, but I was just cleaning away and listening to Pandora, when this song came on and I had to look it up on youtube to see who these guys were. They are amazing! I love them! Enjoy!

Real water bed

2010-08-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

My sister posted this on her blog and It made me laugh so hard that I was practically crying. My boys came running in to see what in the world was going on with their Mother. I LOVE candid camera stuff, but hope to never find myself in one. My favorite part of this is the slow motion replay shot from above and who wouldn't love the two hilarious chubby ladies at the end of the video....you'll have to watch it to see what I am talking about.
Enjoy! Thanks Ali! :)

New toys....

2010-08-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

for me!!! So, remember the cool toy that I won? Well it showed up on my doorstep earlier this week and it was like Christmas morning for me! I've been playing with it over the last few days, just learning about all the cool stuff that I can do with it and let me tell you, it is FUN!!! So then a week or so ago, Brett bought me another super fun toy (a scroll saw) that I have been playing with and I combined the two and came up with this cute project that we will be making for our Terrfic Tuesday (Super Saturday on a Tuesday night)in Relief Society that is coming up next month: (can you believe that I cut the wood myself?!)

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

I used my new Silhouette to cut the vinyl. I love how it turned out. Now I can change out the magnets for each season. I am also planning to cut some more pieces that are holiday related! So much fun!

I also found this cute frame from IKEA and I made this:

I love that it is double sided one side for memo's and the other side is a dry erase board to write reminders, messages or love notes......all for just 99 cents! This too will be a Super Saturday craft! I am on a crafting kick, so there will be lots more fun crafts to come!

Back to blogging....

2010-08-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't been very good with blogging lately and I am not sure who is even reading about my musings anymore, but here is a quick update on what has been going on with me and my family Going back to July....Austin had his 4th birthday! We had a fun little birthday party while we were in UT with all of his cousins. We (all 14 minus little Nixon + 6 Mom's) went to see the movie "How to Train your Dragon" and then back to Grandma's for cake and presents and fun! Thanks everyone for coming! We had a blast! (*I have no pics of the event...Mom do you?) Then as if that wasn't enough, Austin got to celebrate a couple of days later back home with his family. Then in Aug., Ethan hit this little milestone:

Now he is walking pretty good. He looks like a little baby Frankenstein though! I will have to post another video of him walking soon. As for life in general, we are still just plugging away on the house and making improvements here and there. I will post pics of our progress soon.

Speechless....

2010-08-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

(insert high pitched, girl scream mixed with giggling here)

And you'll have to go here to figure out why. (Hint, I won something....Big!)

Ladies, I am feeling a craft night coming on....who's game? :)

Chick-fil-A

2010-08-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

One more....just for fun! And I must admit I do love Chick-fil-A

Attention all husbands....

2010-08-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

This is too funny! Enjoy!

4th of July craftin'

2010-07-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning, and it felt like a crafting day. I was pretty excited so with a head full of ideas, I was ready to sit down and do some crafting and while I did manage to complete a couple of projects, it wasn't quite as quick or relaxing as it could have been thanks to this little munchkin....

But in spite of the many interruptions, I did manage to finish two simple projects and with that my home is a little more festively decorated in honor of Independence Day!

This is my first project, and probably my favorite. I just took 2 plaques that I bought at Wal-mart (I originally bought them for another project that I never got around to)and painted them light tan and then I distressed them. Next, I cut and distressed scrapbook paper to create the stars and stripes which I adhered to the board with mod podge. Notice that the little blue paper is embossed...I love my cuttlebug. Finally I added the little wood star and then I drilled the holes in each plaque so that I could wire them together. There you have it! A fun little flag. So cute, simple and inexpensive (a great way to use up my stash of crafting supplies).

This second project was even simpler than the first, and again I had all the supplies on hand. Just used a little $1 frame from Michaels, painted and distressed, added the little wood star in the corner and then framed a small flag inside...Done! How easy is that...Now go and make your own. I found the idea for this cute project here.

And finally, even though this is not a 4th of July decoration, I still wanted to share my idea for hiding my funny little wet bar. One day this wet bar will be a distant memory, but because there are many projects on the list ahead of removing it, I decided to "cutesify" it....here is my attempt.

I think that it worked. Now I have something cute to look at for now. Next step with the wet bar is figuring out what to hang above it...I'll let you know what that is when I decide what to do there.

So all in all, I think that it was a pretty successful craftin' day if I do say so myself!

June in a nutshell

2010-06-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

I guess that I was in much need of a blogging break....Life got a little busy (it still is), but I wanted to update the blog, so be prepared for some lengthy posts and lots of pictures.

June has been a busy month for us. First off, my baby turned 1 year old on June 1. Time really does fly...it seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home and now he's doing things like this:

Cruisin' around

and Makin' messes (notice there is nothing on the bottom shelves...I wonder why?!)

But doesn't he look happy!

So Ethan at 1 year old:

Barks like a dog (ooh ooh)
Holds the phone to his little ear and says Hello
Climbs on everything
Got his first haircut (a trim really, just in the back as there is still not much on top)
Loves to sit on the couch by his brothers. Suddenly being down on the floor isn't good enough, but after sitting for about 10 seconds he decides that it is much more fun to crawl around the couch, over his brothers and the most fun of all is crawling from the couch onto the side table and knocking off all of Mom's carefully placed decor. Good times!

A few pics of Ethan's first birthday:
The Cake

Package from Grandma and Grandpa

New Sandals...cutest feet ever!

June also brought more house projects...this month we got a new fence carefully constructed by Brett and our neighbor with a little help from this future carpenter

Before:

After:

Then there was Father's Day...Brett had to leave us for a week for work, so I wanted to accomplish a couple of home improvement projects while he was gone in honor of Father's Day'
Bathroom before:

Bathroom after:

The Mantle...yep, I hung it myself

And rounding out the month....we celebrated this boys 11th birthday with food, friends and fun. Can't believe how grown up my boy is!

Happy 11th Birthday Erik!

Pidgeon Moment 5-19 - Modern Family

2010-05-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

This hit a little too close to home....I may have looked a little like this when the bird flew through my house and I am sure that it my Dad hadn't been there to remove the little guy from my home, my house may not have fared much better. I LOVE this show by the way and I was laughing hysterically at this part. I am sure that it was written just for me...ENJOY!

Time for another confession...

2010-05-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

I know, you're probably thinking what is wrong with her now....right?! Well here it is, I confess I am scared of birds! Yep, I am! I didn't really realize this until today though and here is how I found out.

So we moved. (what does this have to do with birds you ask?) Well, we moved across from a nature preserve and there are LOTS of birds. At first I thought, ahhh how wonderful, listen to the little birdies chirping, and I would look out my window and see them in the trees and flying around the flowers and again I thought, how wonderful.

Well... today, they're not so wonderful.

So, my Mom and Dad have been here visiting/working/un-packing/cleaning/crafting and so on this past week and today was the day that they had decided that they had had enough of us (just kidding mom and dad) and they were ready to head back home. So, Dad was going in and out of the house loading up the car for their road trip back home when suddenly Dad says "Hey, there's a bird in here!" Ha Ha, very funny dad...good joke and then I look up and low and behold there is this little bird flying like a mad animal around my living room/ dining room area! My first thought was Oh no, he's going to poop in my house! Then my second thought was "Oh no, birds carry diseases and now we're all going to get bird flu! (I know it's sad, I wasn't concerned at that moment the poor little bird might be scared or that he might get hurt...hmmm) Anyway, so then I believe my Dad said something like "Well, we'll see you Melanie, good luck with the bird" To which I replied, "Don't even think about leaving until you get this bird out of here" Then my dad gets a broom and gently tries to guide the bird out the front door. This of course is scaring the poor little thing to death and now he is darting from living room window to dining room window frantically looking for a way to escape the crazed mad man with a broom. (All the while Mom is laughing hysterically and I am nervously giggling while really worrying about all the bird poop that I am going to have clean up). Well now the bird decides that it's going to try a new escape route and off he heads UPSTAIRS! At this point I may have been hyperventilating at the thought of the bird pooping on my bed and I retired outside for a bit of fresh air. Austin kept going up stairs and then back down to me with updates on the bird. Thank you Austin. Finally Mom comes down and informs me that the bird might be a little hurt (I know what you're thinking....those mean, bird hating people....)Well Dad scoops the scared/possibly hurt little bird into a blanket and brings him outside to what we think may be his final resting place and my heart hurts for the poor little bird...if only he hadn't made the bad decision to fly in my house, he would be off flying over the creek eating worms or something. I can't bring myself to look at the little fella, so I say "Mom, what's the bird doing?" to which she replies "just laying there" I say "We can't just leave him there, maybe Dad should take him across the street to a nice shady spot so that he can die in peace" So we convince Dad to do just that. Dad puts on his gloves and prepares to scoop up the poor, hurt, dying little bird and at that moment, the bird must have seen the crazed, broom wielding madman coming for him so he gets up and flies away into the trees (unscathed) to tell his other little birdie friends about the worst day of his life when his whole life flashed before his eyes and I was left to go inside and clean bird poop off of my wall and couches....I am thinking it may be time to get a new couch for the living room, what do you think? Brett.......

So there you have it! I am now officially afraid of birds!

(A More Real) Love Story

2010-04-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

This made me laugh today! More blogging to come soon....life is crazy at the moment.

Spring is in the air...

2010-03-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

I managed to finish up a couple of really simple, spring crafts this weekend. I think that I spent all of about 45 minutes tops for both! Love those quick and easy crafts!
First up: My dollar store Easter tree.

All I did was paint the pot black (it started out as an orangey brown color) and then I glued some moss on top of the (ugly) foam that was in the pot. Then I picked up some fun little ornaments at JoAnns (40% off!) and then I tied a cute little bow to the pot and the top of my tree. I forgot to take a before pic, but I think that the after turned out pretty cute.

Second: My little nest in a can.
I saw this super cute nest in a flour sifter, and I knew that I wanted to make something similar. Since I didn't have a cute vintage flour sifter, I grabbed a tin bucket while I was at the Dollar Tree and spray painted it green to cover up the cute little chicks that adorned it. Cute, but not the look that I was going for. Then I just threw in some moss and then while I was at JoAnns picking up the Easter ornaments, I found this cute nest and the speckled eggs to place in my bucket, used some ribbon from my stash and that was that....another cute little SPRING project complete!

So now I have spring fever. I am ready to create more spring projects, pull out all my spring decor and I am ready for a little spring cleaning!

Getting big....

2010-03-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

At 9 months, Ethan is changing so much and he is learning so many new tricks. I mentioned in an earlier post that Ethan has started waving, and I wanted to capture it on video. I love seeing his chubby little hand waving at me.
It used to be that Ethan's only mode of transportation was rolling around and around until he found something that interested him. Now he has discovered that he can go forward and this has opened up a whole new world for him. He does however, use his head to slide himself forward, so we figure that he is going to have a serious little bald spot (that is when he does finally get some hair). Enjoy Ethan's new tricks!

A little craft to share....

2010-03-05T08:59:00.001-08:00

I made this little craft several weeks ago and I am just now getting around to sharing it here on my blog. This is the Theme for the Young Men and Young Women this year. My friend sent me this link and I knew that I wanted to make something similar to display in my home. I love to have scriptures and spiritual inspiration throughout my home. So even though I am no longer serving in Young Women's and I don't have any boys in Young Men's (yet) I love this scripture and I wanted to make this to remind us to "Be strong and of good courage".

I just cut a 2 x 4 down to the following dimensions:

2 small blocks 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"

middle block 3 1/2" x 7"

Here is the pattern for the paper flower.

and the instructions.

Very fun and easy project!

Life is just too busy sometimes....

2010-03-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

Here's the honest to goodness truth...4 kids makes life crazy! Now I am not complaining, because I love each of my boys and I feel so blessed to be their Mom, but someone once told me that if you can have 3 kids, then you can have 10 and it's not much different...uh, yeah right!

4 kids =
more busy me, more crazy house, more noise, more laundry, more dishes, more cleaning, more worrying (after all, this is me, remember?), more food preparation, more trips to the Dr.' s office, more exhaustion, less time crafting, less time blogging, less time shopping (Aah, remember the good old days when shopping was fun?!).

But, 4 kids also equals more love, more joy, more fun, more smiles, more hugs, more kisses, and more funny stories to tell.

So, now that I have a minute, I thought that I better get caught up on this little blog of mine.

First off, Ethan was 8 months. At 8 months, he started eating cheerios and biter biscuits. He is also quite mobile. However, instead of crawling, he still just rolls everywhere. It's amazing to me how fast he can go and now that he is on the move, I am a basket case making sure that he isn't getting into things that he shouldn't. Also between 7 and 8 months, Ethan has started giving me giant, wet, slobbery kisses. It makes me laugh and melts my heart. I love that kid!

Now Ethan is 9 months. In fact, Ethan had his 9 month check up today. At 9 months, Ethan has hit another first...his first ear infection. :( The poor boy has been sick for the past month with RSV. He was having some wheezing issues, that we are still trying to get under control. We started referring to him as baby Darth Vader. While he has shown some improvement, the wheezing is still present, and now he is on meds to calm down the inflammation in his lungs and he's on antibiotics for the ear infection and we're feeding the boy like crazy to bulk him up. (He didn't gain much if any weight, so the Dr was a little concerned. He thinks that it is a result of him being sick for so long). So we are really hoping for some improvement quickly for this little guy. Also another first for Ethan today, he waved at the Dr.. Too cute! He is such a fun little boy.

And last, but not least, meet my new buddy! She is going to help whip me into shape and help me train to run a 5k. Don't laugh.....I know I am the ultimate non-runner, but I think I can do it. If I can make the time to hang with her.

The boys think she's pretty cool too!

So Erik jumps on there and just like that, the kid runs a mile! What?! He is going to run the 5k with me, should be fun!

Well, that is all I have time for for now. I need to go mop the floor, because last night Austin spilled his apple juice on the floor, and now we have a sticky patch the size of Lake Tahoe in the middle of the kitchen (OK, so it's closer to the size of a small pond, but, it's sticky none the less.) *SIGH!*

VOTE!!!

2010-02-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

My good friend Lisa snapped some pics of my cute little guy today while she was watching him for me. She entered her photo in a competition, so go here and vote for her amazing photo!

One More.....

2010-02-13T16:04:00.001-08:00

I just finished this book today! It is a quick read, and I highly recommend it!

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Beautiful story, beautiful writing, beautiful imagery, lots of food for thought. Chinese folk tales are laced throughout the book. It is a story about a girl who goes in search of answers that will bring her family fortune, but what she learns along the way proves to be worth more than any worldy fortune could amount to. I think that I will read this one again out loud to my children....lots of great discussions could result from this sweet story.

View all my reviews >>

I've been reading...

2010-02-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

and now it's time for some more book reviews...

Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I LOVE this book! I enjoyed this book as much, if not more, than the first book, Al Capone Does My Shirts".

View all my reviews >>

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very fun fairy tale with a great message!

View all my reviews >>

They Loved to Laugh by Kathryn Worth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very sweet story. A little slow in the beginning for me, but as the book went along, and the story unfolded, I really appreciated the love story.

View all my reviews >>

NERD for a day....

2010-02-03T15:06:00.001-08:00

Cameron went to school this morning looking like my cute, normal boy and he came home looking like this.....

It was NERD day at school. We forgot to dress him up, so he made due with the clothes that he had. I still think that he looks pretty cute. Oh and by the way, when I was taking pictures of Cameron, he said "You aren't going to put those on the blog are you?" I might have said no, but as the Mom, I reserve the right to change my mind and post any and all embarrassing photos on the blog for all to enjoy! Sorry Cam!

Monsters for my little monster....

2010-02-03T14:40:00.000-08:00

Years ago I made those cute little no sew, fleece blankets for Erik and Cameron. They love their blankets and they use them all the time. Austin was asking me the other day where his blanket was.....well, I guess that I never got around to making him one. So off I went to Joann's to pick out some fleece. I found the cutest monster/alien fleece there and that was it. Seriously, is that not the cutest fabric for boys?! (I am pretty sure that I broke a record for the fastest time in and out of Joanns that day) Later that afternoon, I sat down to tie his blanket. I was thrilled when Erik and Cameron wanted to help me (You know it makes my heart happy to see my boys crafting).

Thia morning as I was driving home with Austin and Ethan after dropping the boys off at school, Austin says from the back seat,

"Thanks for making me my new blanket Mom."

And then later I found him lounging on the couch watching cartoons all snuggled up in his blanket.

LOVE it!!!

If you want to make one for your little cutie too, just buy 1 1/2 yards of patterned fleece and 1 1/2 yards of a coordinating solid fleece. Layer the two pieces of fleece together and Cut a 5" X 5" square out of each corner and then cut ties that are about 1" wide by 5" long all around the blanket. Now just tie away! It is the easiest blanket you'll ever make and it will make your kids feel so loved...so quick get to Joann's before they run out of that monster fleece :)

Confession....

2010-01-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

It's true, I am a worrier. I worry about EVERYTHING! I worry about my kids, my health, my family's health, our safety....you name it I worry about it. It's exhausting, but it's me. Well, my worrying finally got the better of me this weekend, and I'm pretty sure that my worrying ways have finally earned me the

MOM OF THE YEAR

award.

How you ask? Well...Saturday afternoon Brett and I had to go and run a couple of errands. These errands would literally have taken us 30 minutes to complete. The boys did not want to come with us and truth be told it would have been nice to quickly run them with just little Ethan in tow. But, I was worried about leaving Austin home with the boys. Erik and Cameron are both extremely responsible and capable of holding down the fort and I have on occasion left them home alone for short periods of time. I have yet to allow Austin to stay home with them mainly because he LOVES to answer the door and being the worrier that I am, I am terrified that while I am gone some crazy person will show up at my door and Austin will answer the door and let said person in. This thought evokes FEAR in me like nothing else and I just can't do it.

That said, Brett decides that the boys (minus the baby) can all stay home for a couple of minutes while we go and run our errands. Immediately panic sets in and I tell Brett that there is no way that I am leaving Austin home. Brett does not agree. I decide that I will perform a test. I tell Erik and Cam that we are leaving, but that in a minute I will come back and ring the doorbell to see if Austin comes running to answer it. We perform the test and Austin passes. I try one more time (just to make sure) and Austin passes. Then I decide to go and give this a try (even though I am still worrying like crazy). Then I remember that my cell phone is in the house and there is no way I am leaving my little babies home without a way to get a hold of me, so.......(this is where the story gets good)
I realize that I don't have a key to the house on my keychain, so I ring the doorbell and no one answers. I ring it again and again and again....no answer (good boys). Then I decide to go and pound on the door in the garage (surely they'll figure out that that is me right?!) So here I am banging and banging and still no answer. So then I decide to go back and forth between front door and garage door banging and ringing the doorbell and still no answer. Finally I use Brett's cell phone (why in the world didn't I think of this sooner) and I call the kids. Cameron answers in a quiet, timid voice and I tell him to open the garage door. He does and there stand all 3 of my kids crying....I scared the living daylights out of them. They were convinced that there was some crazy person at the door (which apparently there was) and they were SCARED!!! They even said a prayer for their safety (how cute is that?) I hugged them and apologized, grabbed my cell phone and then I along with my 3 scared little kiddos (who were not about to stay home alone now) shuffle out to car to go run errands with one smirking husband behind the wheel.

So there you have it, MOM OF THE YEAR award goes to....ME!

Conversations with Austin...

2010-01-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at church, Austin started Sunbeams. He is not too sure about it though and when I took him in to his new classroom he looked at me like I was crazy! He was not about to stay in there, and he instantly clung to my leg. So, defeated, I took Austin out for a minute to try to convince him that Sunbeams was going to be A LOT of fun. He then said to me:

"I don't like my new churchery (nursery), I want to go back to my old churchery!"

Then I took him back to nursery for one hour while I am the assistant nursery leader and then I sat with him during sharing time. Score 1 point for Austin. Here's hoping next week goes a little smoother. The game plan is for Brett to take Austin to class next week. Dad's not quite the pushover that Mom is.

Then today as I was cleaning the kitchen, and Austin was hanging around chatting with me he said :

"Mom, remember when we didn't have a baby, and we went to the hospital to get one and you wore those funny pajamas?!"

Oh if only it were that simple!

A new year....

2010-01-06T10:40:00.001-08:00

With a new year, comes time for reflection. Reflection about the past year, reflection about my life, reflection about my family and with that I can always find things that need to be improved. Thus we set New Years Resolutions! As I have been reflecting on my life and things that I want to improve, there are always the usual:
Better health/ fitness
Clear clutter
Become More organized
and so on.
But as I was thinking about what I really want to accomplish this year, I wanted to think of a word that would encompass all my goals. As I was thinking on this, this particular talk by President Monson came to mind and rather than choose one single word, I thought these 3 quotes from his talk could sum up my goals for 2010:

"Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."

"may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed."

This talk spoke to me in so many ways. I was thinking about how important it is to not get distracted by things of little importance. I was also thinking about how grateful I am to be able to stay home and raise my children. I was thinking that it is so important to enjoy motherhood (and I thoroughly do), but sometimes I get bogged down with the mundane tasks that are part of my days. Somedays I feel busier than I should. Somedays I feel pulled in a million different directions and yes, the laundry piles up faster than I can tackle it. And the kids don't always get along and sometimes they drive me crazy, but in the midst of all that I have these 4 amazing BOYS to raise and a fabulous husband to walk through life with and I realize how blessed I am! So while I am not going to list each individual goal that I want to set here, they will all have to do with the word or rather the phrase

Find JOY in the journey!
Happy 2010!

I have a little catching up to do....

2010-01-05T20:15:00.001-08:00

What in the world?!! Has it really been over a month since I updated this silly little blog?

We ended 2009 with a bang! It seems like there was always something going on. We spent Thanksgiving in UT with friends and family and as always, we had a great time there and a hard time coming back home.

Prior to going to UT, some friends and I bought a booth at a local craft fair to sell some of our crafts, So I was busy sewing some items to attempt to sell. Here are a few of my creations:

Simone (my Sister-in-law) and her kids came home from UT with us to play and extend our vacation for another week. After a little unexpected delay in our trip and a 2 day mini vacation in Reno due to SNOW, we finally arrived home and we had a great time with them.

Ethan turned 6 months. At 6 months he is cooing and saying da da (which Brett is loving!) and he is rolling all over the place. On Dec. 11, 2009 he discovered that he could roll from his back to his tummy. He was quite proud of his new found ability and know he rolls and rolls and rolls. He starts out on a nice blanket on the floor and within minutes he is off the blanket and playing with anything that he can get his chubby little hands on. I have quickly been reminded how clean I need to keep the floors with a little one who is semi-mobile now.

CHRISTMAS!
The boys had a great Christmas and I believe that Santa brought them nearly everything they asked for! Here they are coming down stairs on Christmas morning. Notice their jammie pants?! I finally finished sewing them (5 pairs) just in time for Christmas eve. The boys love them and wear them all the time and that makes me happy!

Baby's first Christmas:

The boys were out of school for 6 weeks! Yep, it was a long break, but so much fun! The boys were not too happy about returning to school come January and to be honest, I wasn't sure that I was ready either. There is something fun about having the kids home and seeing them throughout the day. It is also nice to not be on such a structured schedule, but then again a little structure is good and now that they are back in school I am realizing again just how much easier it is to shop/ run errands with only 2 kids in tow.

We spent New years eve and day in Napa with Jed and Kathy (thanks for having us) and it was a great way to celebrate the arrival of the new year and also end our last few days before work and school commenced. So that is me getting caught up in a nutshell and now I am ready to blog again. (assuming of course that anyone is still reading this)

And this is just for fun....this is how I found Erik last night as I went to tuck him in! So cute that it made me laugh! 3-D glasses and his new 3-D issue of Lego magazine.

Happy 2010!

Thank you Hullabaloo....

2009-11-12T11:22:00.000-08:00

For 5 minutes of peace today. The boys were out of school today in honor of Veterans Day and that always makes life interesting. Austin and Cameron don't always get along (see here) and today was no different....the bickering, hittting, tattling and the mom going crazy! But this afternoon Cam had the idea to play Hullabaloo and instead of the usual angry fighting words, I actually heard a lot of laughter! Music to my ears. So thank you Hullabaloo and thank you Veterans for protecting our rights and freedoms that we so graciously enjoy!

Winner....take a bow!

5 months old

2009-11-05T15:53:00.000-08:00

At 5 months old, Ethan is very attentive. He is laughing and squealing and he just lights up when you give him a little attention. He can sit with some assistance and it won't be long now until he can do it on his own. This little guy is growing so quickly! If only there was a way to slow him down....I am really loving having a baby around again! He is a JOY!
Time for rice cereal!He did pretty good with the rice. Made a couple of faces and at times seemed unsure about this new taste and texture, but he ate it up with little coming back out! Maybe he will be a good eater....I can hope right?!

Halloween...

2009-11-05T15:12:00.001-08:00

The Dinner:
Which Brett stood in a very, very long line to pick up for us!☺

The Pumpkins:
Can you guess which pumpkin belongs to which boy?

The Costumes:

Sad but true, this is the best picture I have of Austin in his costume. He had a cool Darth Vader (Darf Bader) mask and he carried a light saber. The little stinker took his costume off the minute he got home from trick or treating and that was that. No pic of him fully dressed for Halloween.:(

The treats:
(and the mess)

The poor 4th boy who didn't get a costume but he's pretty cute anyway!

Now bring on Thanksgiving!

Adventures at Target...

2009-11-03T15:09:00.000-08:00

We went to Target to pick up a couple of things. We were cruising around the store checking things out when Austin says to me "Mommy, my arm is stuck" I look down and sure enough, his little arm is stuck in the cart between the seat where he was sitting and the basket where Ethan was sitting in his carseat. I try to pull it out and it is really stuck, (we are talking stuck as in his arm wouldn't budge at all). No luck. I try again. At this point, poor little Austin is crying and telling me that it hurts, so I need to figure something else out quickly! Panic is setting in, and I am just sure that I am going to have to call the fire department to come and cut my child out of the cart. Then an idea comes to mind....Vaseline. I race up to the front of the store (because of course we were way in the back) and I find a little jar of Vaseline, tear the lid off, get a big ol' glob and rub his arm down and low and behold, his arm slides right out.....Whew! Crisis averted. Back to shopping. Now Ethan is fussing. OK, I pick him up and discover that he is a huge mess. We're talking blow out!!! That's it! Off we race back to the front of the store (because again, we were in the back), pay for the couple things I needed and out to the car to clean up the poor little guy. And that was the end of our happy day at Target. I vaguely remember a time when shopping was fun.....those were the days! When I asked Austin why he stuck his hand in the cart, he informed me that Ethan wanted to hold his hand. How sweet is that?! However, I don't think that he will be doing that again any time soon. Let's hope not anyway! Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did pay for the Vaseline. The whole fiasco cost me an extra dollar. ☺ Here is Austins account of the day. Enjoy!

Sorry, the sound is kind of fuzzy!
I just told Brett this story and he laughed as he informed me that he set the kids up to drive me crazy so that I wouldn't spend so much money at Target....haha! Little does he know that once he gets home I am leaving all the kids with him and I am going shopping.....ALONE!!!

You Bonkey....

2009-11-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

Austin was angry. He was yelling "Stop that you Bonkey" at Cameron and Erik. Dad said to Cameron "What is a bonkey?" Cameron said "It is a toddler bad word."

I like it. Next time Brett or the boys misbehave, I might just have to say "Stop that you Bonkey!"

A good laugh...

2009-10-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

Makes for a happy day!

Catching up

2009-10-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

Fall is finally in the air, and in honor of that, we took the kids pumpkin and apple pickin' We had a great day!

Pickin' pumpkins:

Yee Haw...our little cowboy:

Austin was so excited to ride the pony and you could just tell that he thought he was pretty awesome up there and he's right, he is one cool cowboy!

When did Erik get so tall?! He is growing up way too fast.

AAAH the JOYS of Fall...it makes me happy! And so do these little cuties!

Doesn't Ethan look like a little pumpkin in that hat?!

More reviews

2009-10-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Very good book. After reading and enjoying the Wednesday Wars by this same author, I knew that I had to check this book out and it did not disappoint. I love Schmidt's writing style and his characters. His books pull you in and you can't stop reading until you finish the book and even then it leaves you wanting more. Loved how this book evoked many emotions...anger, sorrow, fear and a little humor too.

View all my reviews >>

AAAAH-tumn!

2009-10-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

This was the title to an article in our paper today and it sums up my love for this time of year. Even though our temps are still hanging around the upper 70's and low 80's (still too warm for my taste), I have been in the mood for some yummy, fall, comfort food. Last nights dinner was so good.....

The creamy chicken soup recipe came from this book (which is awesome by the way), so I can't share it, but the bread bowls were so good and the perfect way to enjoy this soup. That recipe came from here. I had some leftover bread bowls, so I froze them to eat next week with another yummy fall comfort food...my favorite chili! YUMMY!

Seven years....

2009-10-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

old today!

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! It doesn't seem like 7 years ago on Conference weekend that you were born. You were such a sweet baby with the cutest, roundest face and little tiny nose. I knew the minute that I held you in my arms what a sweet boy you were. I loved you then, and I love you now just as much! So, in honor of 7 happy years, here are seven things I love about Cameron:

1. Your sweet smile. When you smile, your whole face lights up. I especially love your smile now that you lost your front tooth.

2. I love that you are always writing sweet notes for me and your Dad and brothers. It makes my day to get a little letter or picture from Cameron.

3. I love that you are so good at sharing with your brothers. You often think of them first and do things for them to make them happy.

4. I love that you are so smart and you are getting straight A's in school! Way to go!

5. I love that you like to dress up in costumes. Some of your get-ups make me laugh!

6. I love that you eat popcorn with me!

7. I love that you are generally in a happy, good mood and you love to laugh and have fun!

Happy Birthday Cam, I love you lots and I am so lucky to be your Mom!

4 Months already?!

2009-10-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

My sweet baby boy is now 4 months old. It is scary how quickly time flies by. I love having a baby in the house again and I am not wanting him to grow up too quickly.

Ethan at 4 months:
Ethan is the most patient baby ever. He is content to sit and observe. He sleeps through the night and he even puts himself to sleep. He loves watching his big brothers, and one of my favorite things to see is when I lay Ethan down on a blanket, without fail, his big brother Austin is right there laying by him holding his little hand....so sweet!

Ethan smiles a lot! He is a happy little guy and his sweet smile is infectious! He also giggles from time to time, usually at his daddy.

Ethan is getting very close to rolling over...won't be long now.

Ethan is such a sweet little boy and this Mommy loves him more than he will ever know. It has been a joyful 4 months with this little guy! ♥

JOY!

Check this out...

2009-10-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

My friend who is crafty and has a blog is also having a giveaway. She is spotlighting women with etsy shops. Go check it out, and if you feel so inclined, leave a comment mentioning my shop (Color Me Sassy) that is now up and running again. Oh and good luck!

Pumpkins

2009-10-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

I love fall! The vibrant colors of the leaves, the cool, crisp air, apples, fall clothes, the smell of cinnamon and Pumpkins! So I had this idea to create these little pumpkins using some spare wood and craft supplies that I just had lying around. I think they turned out pretty cute.

Want to make some of your own? You can now purchase a kit here.

Happy Fall Crafting!

What's for dinner?

2009-09-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Finding time to craft these days has proven to be difficult. I find myself coming up with lots of ideas for things to create, but no time to complete them. Well, I am happy to say that I managed to finish a project that I have been needing for sometime now. Here it is:

It is my new write on/ wipe off weekly menu. Every day at our house I answer the question "what's for dinner" multiple times (usually to moans and groans when I give my response). So in order to divert the question, give my kids a chance for dinner input and also to keep myself more organized, I created my weekly menu board.

First:
I created the little baking embellishments for my menu. I used to do a lot of paper piecing several years ago, and I forgot how fun that was! I also created and printed out the weekly schedule.

Second:
I found some fun scrapbook paper in my stash that matched my kitchen and pulled it all together.

Third: I found this cute "leather" frame at a discount grocery store near my home and I "jazzed" it up a bit. I hot glued scrabble tiles (that I found at a garage sale) to spell out DINNER and I am happy to announce that I only burned myself 3 times while trying to get them all lined up neatly. :) Next I decorated a clothespin with scrapbook paper and a ribbon and attached that to the frame as well. I will explain the purpose of the clothespin in just a minute. Last, I wanted my dry erase marker to remain with the frame so that I wouldn't have to hunt it down everytime I needed it, so I took a small piece of elastic from my sewing stash and stapled it to the frame. Then I took some more ribbon and tied it around the elastic to make it look cute! *hint* Be sure to place the marker in the elastic before tying on your ribbon to make sure that you don't tie it too tight.

Once the frame was completed, I put it all together. Now I can just write out a weekly dinner plan on the glass of the frame and just like that it wipes off when we're done so I can start over the next week.

The clothespin is a handy little contraption, because its job is to hold my cute grocery lists that I created to match. Now as I am planning dinners, I can just jot done on my list what I need at the store each week to prepare the planned meals. So simple, convenient and organized. The clothespin is also handy at holding on to your recipes that you are using that week.

One more tip. On the back of the frame I adhered an envelope and in the envelope is a card with a list of some of our favorite dinners to help me plan for the week. I often find that I can't remember what my family likes to eat, so now I have a quick little reference guide to help me plan. *see 30 meals here*

That's it! Now go make one for yourself and one for a friend. Makes a great Christmas gift! And my gift to you...
my grocery list and menu plan
FREE for you to print and use!

Enjoy!

Fall has arrived...

2009-09-23T11:15:00.001-07:00

at our house. At least inside, outside it is still 100 degrees and can I just say that I am not happy about it. Every fall I ask myself why I live here. Fall is my favorite season of the year with summer being my least favorite go figure. But it is what it is and even if I can't enjoy fall outdoors (yet), I can bring a little bit of it inside to help me get into a festive fall mood. Now if only I could justify turning on my oven in this heat, I would make up some yummy loaves of pumpkin bread! So in honor of the first day of fall yesterday, here is what we did...

My shelf.

I just hung this up yesterday and I love it. The black frame, apple topiary and the grapevine wreath were all thrift store finds! The black frame was a lovely lime green when I bought it and I just painted over it, put new ribbon on it and used a vinyl letter C (our family monogram) to jazz it up. And how cool is that grapevine wreath?! I love that it is square and oval. Cute! The pinecone was a little souvenir from Tahoe!

My mantle:

Remember my pumpkins from last year? Here they are...I still love them.

My Table:

My dining table:
I made these pumpkins last year using this tutorial. So cute, easy and fun. I may have to make a few more this year as you can never have too many pumpkins ♥

My hutch:

My living/ dining room:

Notice the fan in the background?! I'm telling you it is hot!

Last years wheat pumpkin

Last but not least, my helper:

And with all of that, we are almost done! I still have a few fall projects in the works to finish off my fall decor. You'll have to stay tuned to see what they are!

Happy Fall!!!

Another book finished

2009-09-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

With 2 sick kids and a baby to care for, I've had more time than usual to sit and read. But of course, nothing else is getting done, and that's OK, because cuddling my kids is where I need to be right now. Last week we went on a little family vacation to Lake Tahoe and we had a fabulous time. My mom and dad met us there and spent the week with us. My mom and I hit just about every thrift store in the Tahoe area and I picked up a bunch of books for the kids to read (one of my favorite things to look for at thrift stores). So because this book was $.25 and because it won the Newbery award and because the title was Maniac Magee, I figured this had to be a great book...and I was right. Here is my Goodreads review.

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A great story about love and acceptance. Maniac Magee has lived a hard life, but he's a boy who believes in himself and finds love and acceptance in the most unexpected of places. I love the end of this book! You'll have to read it for yourself to find out why.

View all my reviews >>

So close....

2009-09-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Ethan will be 4 months in about 10 more days and he is working hard to master rolling onto his tummy. I can't believe how quickly time goes by...wasn't it just yesterday that I brought him home from the hospital?! At 3 (almost 4) months, Ethan is full of smiles. He just lights up when he gets a little attention (which believe me he gets lots of). He is also starting to laugh, which of course is the best sound in the whole world! We love this little chubby guy!

The Wednesday Wars...

2009-09-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Finished another fabulous book! I found this book through Erik's book order at school and thought that it looked good....I am so glad that I bought this book as I will definitely read this again at some point. Now I need to hand it over to Erik and let him read it as well. Here is my review for Goodreads.

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fabulous story! If you liked Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, then you will love The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt too. This is a great coming of age story about a boy who learns a lot of life lessons by reading Shakespeare with a teacher who changes his life. You'll fall in love with Holling Hoodhood. This book is funny and tender at the same time. I highly recommend it!

View all my reviews >>

Mommy the teacher...

2009-09-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

Austin started preschool this week and it was at our house. (We are rotating with 3 other friends) We have such a cute group of kids (2 boys and 2 girls). It is going to be a fun year!

Austin wasn't quite sure what to think about me being his teacher, one of his friends called me teacher and Austin replied "That's not teacher, that's mommy!"

Funny kid!

Here is my boy on his first day of school

and here is what we did this week:

Our theme was all about me, so we spent our preschool time this week working on these little scrapbooks for the kids to take home. They all turned out so cute. What a fun souvenir to have to remember my little boy at age 3. He's growing up way too fast!

Want to make your own scrapbook for your little one? You can find the printable pages here. Be sure to check out the rest of the site for some great printable games and activities for your preschooler. Also, in my planning for preschool this week, I also came across this awesome site and this book that I am going to put together for my older children (a good Sunday activity...don't you think?!) So many fun projects to work on.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Christmas cuteness...

2009-09-11T22:51:00.001-07:00

I am so making this and here are the free patterns.....Adorable!!!
I better get started if I want this done by December. Anyone want to quilt along with me?

Finding Hope

2009-09-11T22:46:00.001-07:00

Today I am so grateful for the freedoms that I enjoy. I am thankful to live in a country where I can worship, live, speak, and raise my family the way that I desire. I am thankful that there are men and women serving our country to protect those freedoms and working hard to make sure that 9/11 doesn't happen again. I remember that in the midst of the sadness and fear that came that day, it seemed like the human race came together. Everyone seemed a little kinder, a little more patient, a little more loving....may we never forget!

BYU...

2009-09-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

vs. Oklahoma! What an awesome game. Brett and the boys (all 4) were huddled around the TV watching the game while I was getting in a little sewing/ watching the game myself. There was a lot of cheering going on in our house! What a great way to kick off the College football season!

Final score:
BYU 14
Oklahoma 13
Go Cougars! ♥

So many projects...

2009-09-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

So little time.

Here is my list of things I want to create:

Sew a cute scripture bag for Ali (This is first on my list, and it's going to be fun! I love sewing purses)

Family wood blocks

Finish nativity

Several re-finish projects.

Finish my darn diaper bag (argh!)

New pics for my little frames

and just when I thought that I had way more than I could handle, I got this in my e-mail from Martha Stewart...How cute and simple is that?! I am thinking I need to make one of these for my kitchen. I may need to make a trip to the thrift store to find just the right plate!

and last but not least, I would love to start on some fall projects and start decorating my home for my most favorite time of year! Too bad it is 100 degrees outside, kinda makes getting into the fall mood a little difficult.

Doesn't that list look like fun?! I can't wait to get started and I think that I am going to attempt to set aside some time today to do just that. I hope to be able to post pics of some finished projects soon! Wish me luck!

Mean Mommy 101...

2009-09-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

For those of you who want to be a Mean Mommy like me, here is a quick tutorial to help you out.

First: Every day (yes, every day) that the kids are off-track, write up a list of chores that you would like each child to be responsible for and leave it at their place at the table. Then require that they tackle those chores immediately after breakfast. *Note: the longer the list, the better the grumbling. Little do the boys know, but this little list of chores is still going to appear when they return to school. (insert evil laugh)

2nd: Check their work to make sure that it was done properly, if not have them do it again.

3rd: Add a few more chores as the day goes on just so they don't get too bored or if they start fighting too much. (I tell my kids that if they can't play together, then they will work together.)

4th: After the chores are completed, for a little reward, take them here:

*Warning: This step is questionable, because I am not sure if this little outing is worse for the kids or the Mom.

Then if they are really good at Joanns, you may be able to let your guard down a little and take them here:

But just to look! Remind them that you are not buying anything!

If you do these things, you can be a Mean Mommy just like me. This system works and believe me, your house will be tidy and your boys will learn to clean up after themselves. They'll also learn to be patient while shopping for fabric and crafts (especially if you bribe them with treats). Their wives will thank me someday!

Good job boys! The house looks fabulous!

Home again...

2009-08-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Just got home from my girls weekend in Utah. We shopped and crafted and celebrated my sister Ali and her new little baby due later this month and ate out and of course ate way too much junk food. Needless to say that I had a great time. Thanks everyone for making time to hang out with me. But now I am very happy to he home with all my boys. I missed them. While I was enjoying some quality "me" time I finished this fabulous book. Check it out!

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I just finished this book over the weekend and I absolutely loved it! I couldn't put it down. I fell in love with the characters and now I can't wait for the second book (Forge) to come out! Great historical fiction for kids! I highly recommend this book and I can't wait to read other books written by Laurie Halse Anderson.

View all my reviews >>

A little visitor...

2009-08-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

showed up in our flower garden today. The boys were out on the new picnic table having a little snack when this little guy showed up. Cameron came running inside and told Brett that he was being attacked by a big, yellow butterfly. Brett said "They won't hurt you." to which Cameron replied "but they have big spikes on their back."

So here he is our little garden friend spikes and all.

Cameron quickly decided that he like the butterfly, after all he is the bug boy (too bad he was too big to fit in Cam's bug house). Of course we had to do a little research to find out what kind of butterfly this is and we discovered that he is a Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly.

Pretty fun to see him fluttering around our flowers.

*Based on the look of this butterfly and info we found on the internet, we decided that this is a boy butterfly...of course it is, would you expect anything different at our house?

A name and a blessing...

2009-08-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

For little Ethan Charles.
August 9, 2009

We had a great day in honor of our little man. Thanks to Jed and Kathy and Lynda for sharing this day with us.

Our family....
Take 1:

Take 2:

Lovin' the eye roll Erik.

And finally, 6 takes later...

Good enough!

A little weekend project...

2009-07-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

The boys love picnics, and for the past 6 years that we have lived here, we have talked about getting a table so that we could enjoy eating outside. But, we never got around to it and outdoor furniture can get pretty pricey. So, I had a great idea (if I do say so myself). I found some instructions online, and luckily I am married to a pretty handy guy with a pretty handy father and they were able to construct the cutest picnic table ever! They built it with a little help from the boys (in 100+ degree heat no less) and the following weekend the whole family trekked out to the patio armed with paint brushes and we painted that little table. I love it! I love that it is homemade and that everyone worked on it together. We have already had 2 picnics on it (which would have been great if it weren't for those darn flies, but that's another story) and the boys had dessert out there the other night! I love that I can send them oustide with their sticky, messy treats! Thanks Brett and Jed and boys....it really turned out great! Now who's ready for a picnic?!

Primed...

and painted!
Maybe someday we'll actually put the paint tarp away!

JOY....

2009-07-28T14:22:00.001-07:00

Baby's first smiles! Look at those dimples!

My little Ethan is 8 weeks old already! He is such a sweet little guy and without a doubt, he has brought so much joy into our home!

Challenge

2009-07-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

I love to watch the cake challenges on the Food Network! Secretly I wish that I could create awesome cakes just like they do...but I can't, so I just enjoy watching others who can. Anyway, today they were creating Sesame Street cakes and I made the boys watch it with me. They grumbled a little at first and reminded me that they are too old for Sesame Street (when did that happen?), but they watched it anyway and truth be told they liked it. We all made a guess to see who would win and Cameron picked the winning, Big Bird cake. After the show, the boys thought that it would be fun to have a Lego challenge. It was quickly decided that I would be the judge. So, I gave them three categories to build from and off they went to create their masterpieces. The categories were: Hot Rods, Space ships or Robots. Here are the entries:

Erik's hot rod

Cam's robot

and

Austin's Spaceship loaded with mini figures (so Austin)

Each boy won first prize in their category (because that's the way it works when mom is the judge) They were all awesome!

So, what did they win you ask?

COOKIES!!!

The birthday boy

2009-07-21T08:55:00.001-07:00

It was a weekend celebration in honor of Austin. On Sunday (July 19), this little man turned three years old!

The cake...

Austin loves Lego mini figures, so it is only fitting that his cake should be decorated with a brand new set just for him. Erik and Cameron were in charge of assembling the mini figure set and decorating the cake...good job guys!

Blowing out the candles...

One by one!

The presents...
A package from Grandma and Grandpa M

A specially wrapped present from Grandpa Jed and Kathy

A water table from Mom and Dad

3 things I love about Austin...

*Your sweet smile. You are the happiest boy. You always have a smile on your sweet face.

*Our little conversations. Austin you say some of the cutest, funniest things.

*You are so helpful to me. You help me out with Ethan, you help me clean and I love that every time I get the vaccum out, you pull out your popper to push along side me.

I love you Austin and I am so glad that you are in our family!