My 30th

I'm 30 today. I don't really feel old - I don't think 30 is that old but it does mark a significant age. I guess my last significant number birthday was when I turned 18. My goal this year is to simplify and to enjoy & appreciate my family even more. -- oh, and to spend more time with my husband sans kids. Tonight, my sister Kelly is babysitting and we're going out.

My first birthday card this year was from Chicken of the Sea. It came in the mail a couple of weeks ago and gave me a good laugh. It even has a 25 cent coupon on the back. How thoughtful. ;)

2 Simple Projects

This fall I started to decorate my bedroom a bit. I wanted a sewing/craft desk to have in my room. I totally scored this desk at a garage sale for $15! Of course, it didn't quite look like this. I should've taken a before pic...but it was an unattractive light brownish wood color. Light sanding, some semi-gloss antique white paint, and some black hammered metal spray paint for the handles did the trick. You might laugh - but I was so obsessed with finding a desk for a good price that I added it to one of my prayers...and what do you know? I love finding gool deals and I love repurposing things.

My sewing corner. Another great deal is the hanging pocket thing on the wall. I found it 80% off at Hobby Lobby. I guess it was made to be a garden tool organizer but I saw it another way.

Here's a fairly easy project. I dreamed of painting a beautiful picture for above my bed but it just never happened -- maybe one day. So, I bought a large canvas (with my 40% off Hobby Lobby coupon) and covered it with decorator fabric I bought on sale. Just stretch and staple it the back and there you have it. You can't tell from the picture, but in order to make it go better with my blue bedspread I went in and colored the already light blue dots and darker blue with colored pencil.

I still have fabrics for pillows on my bed to tie everything together...but this was a start. My room has a kind of a blue, chocolate brown color scheme with black and off-white accents. A work in progress but much better than the original (of course I should be including a before pic but oh well.)

Adelle is 2 months old!

As I mentioned in my previous post, my niece Adelle is 2 months old. She and my sis, Heidi, came over yesterday and we got a few shots of the little angel. Photograping babies this little is a bit challenging. I'm not quite sure what to do with them since they can't sit up, don't smile a whole lot, etc. That said, I think we got a few keepers.

Ava Ballerina

It was good to get my camera out this afternoon to take a few pics. My sister Heidi's baby girl is at the two month mark so we started with some pictures of her (not pictured yet). Ava wanted to get in on the action - so here's what ensued:

Ava wasn't sure what to think when one of our doggies got in her shot.

You've gotta love little girls!

and little girl giggles!

I-Spy Bags

For Christmas presents this year for my nieces and nephews, I made these I-spy bags. I've seen similar things around and then got a pattern and some trinkets to start out with from my friend Camie. (Thank you for yet another craft idea!) The original pattern was in the shape of a square - but I couldn't for the life of me make everything, including the cut out in the front, square. So I gave up that idea and made these shapes instead. I got inspiration from this website.

I think they'll be great quiet things to do at church or keep kids busy in the car, etc.

Is Quitting an Option?

I fear Elise has entered her terrible twos...and boy is she strong-willed. She's terrorizing the dogs, not going to bed at night, not laying still for diaper and clothes changes, screaming at any attempt to get her to do much of anything. I hope I make it through. Good thing I'm in love with her dimples...so that even though she smiling and giggling at her attempts to pull on the dogs, I can admire her cuteness.
ARRGHH!!

Not to be Left Out

I can't do a post about my nephew, William (see below), without doing one about his siblings, can I? This is Kate. Kate is a fun little girl with a touch of an independent streak.

We spent some time playing outside this afternoon, which was great. Nobody has swung in our swings for quite a while...they were feeling lonely I imagine.

I like this picture of Kate. I haven't decided whether she looks sad or serious-minded. I think I'm going for the latter. Remember, no free smiles. :)

There ya go! A gorgeous Kate smile!

Baby Nathan wants a turn. He's not so much a baby anymore now that he's crawling.

...and swinging. This was his first time swinging. Say "WHEEE!" Oh and he's also modeling the new blanket Grandma knitted him...it has moons and clouds on it too.

My Nephew, William

My nephew William and his mom and siblings came over this afternoon to play outside in the unseasonably warm weather. He's such a little joker - but he can take a little playful teasing too, which is fun. So of course I had to get my camera out.

I got him to let me take some pictures of him, trying out some different settings. The first ones were free I guess, but then he started trying to make deals with me. "I only let you take my picture if you let me play the Wii." I teasingly said, "whatever!" as he started to run away. Of course then I started chasing him, taking even more pictures!!!

HA HA HA! Gotcha!!! Keep runnin'!

Here's a picture that kind of shows the handiwork of my mother, William's grandmother. Yes, she knitted the OU sweater that he is wearing so proudly (sorry about your team last night though).

And there's William for ya.

Ice Cream

So cute! Our girls get so excited when they get drive-thru ice cream cones...especially Elise. This was her second or third time of getting a big ice cream cone all to herself. When we give it to her she squeals with delight for at least a whole minute, off and on...in between licks that is.

I made them sit on the floor and finish their cones after we came inside from the car. Ava does a good job, but Elise is still learning. When Elise couldn't get to the ice cream still inside the cone, she starting eating the cone sideways...drip, drip, drip. Yumm!

PLEH!

On a long car ride when I was younger (maybe 8 or 9) , I thought it would be funny to use masking tape (actually, I think it was black eletrical tape -- my dad always seemed to have that around) to write "PLEH" or "HELP" on the car window. My parents weren't very happy when they noticed it halfway along the ride. Maybe they got strange looks - I don't know.

Anyway, I do need some help and know that some of you might be able to assist. I just got a new calling/duty/role at church. I was the secretary of the Relief Society (Women's Organization) but now am the 2nd counselor (big change, huh?) over Enrichment or monthly women's activities. We're brainstorming ideas for the year and I need some major ideas. What have you seen or heard of as fun? Any ideas would be much appreciated. Skeleton ideas are fine as we can build upon those.

So, "PLEH" PLEASE!!!

Our Christmas

Christmas morning was great. This was the first year that Ava could wake up on her own and go to see if Santa had come (last year she was still sleeping in a crib). As you can imagine, Ava was incredibly excited to see all of the presents from Santa and came and told us that "SANTA CAME!!!" Like every other kid on Christmas morning, she was ready to rip right into the presents but her mommy wanted to take a picture first. I love the expression on her face. Chris got some major husband points for wrapping all of the presents this year! I got way too busy making stuff.
Ava's favorite and biggest present this year was a digital camera. She used to go around and take pictures all of the time with my phone. Now, she has a camera of her very own.

Elise got a lot of things in the theme of Little People, which she really likes right now. Elise had fun with all of the presents too. She tried to open a few that weren't hers and wanted to open the toys right away to play with them - but who could blame her. We have a book on Santa that we've been reading that has the songs "Up on the Housetop" and "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" in them. Elise would say "kissmiss" and "ho, ho, ho, who.....go....ho, ho, ho..." when we said Santa or saw anything that reminded us of Christmas.

We had a nice morning opening gifts in our pjs and having a yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls and a ham, potato, egg & cheese breakfast casserole.

The girls with some of their loot.

Elise went and plopped herself down in Ava's lap so they could play their game together. It's always sweet to see your kiddos snuggling or sharing or just being nice to one another. I then spent time making cheesecake, potatoes, and homemade caramel popcorn for Christmas evening. I bit off way more than I could chew (surprise, surprise!) but somehow managed.

Christmas afternoon/early evening was spent at my parents' house. We draw names for gifts for the adults and get the kids little things. We also play dirty santa aka crazy santa or white elephant.

Overall it was a busy but nice day. We tried to instill that the real meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Savior, of course, too. It's kind of hard to push the point when the kids are bombarded by presents though! I guess that's what all the other 364 days of the year are there for too. (Jesus, not presents, that is. ;)