Ruminations

(11-14) 2 Months

2011-11-21T19:32:00.001-07:00

(P.S. Scroll down to see more posts from today.)

(11-13 ) Shiner

2011-11-21T16:51:00.001-07:00

And this is what the black eye looked like a few days later. Kind of cool, and kind of awful. The bloody part worried me, and I made Adam go see the optometrist. He said everything was fine and the blood was just from a couple of burst blood vessels. Ewww.

(11-10) Martial Arts

2011-11-21T16:30:00.001-07:00

On the tenth Anicka, Adam and my sister Crystal (who just recently joined Adam's martial arts class) had a belt testing ceremony and they all advanced a belt level and got to break a board.

And, in case you didn't notice, Adam got a black eye during the sparring portion of his test. It was some pretty intense sparring. I wish I had been able to video tape it, but at the time I was nursing Alexa and couldn't get the camera out in time.

(11-6) Alexa's Blessing Day

2011-11-21T16:23:00.001-07:00

(11-2) Mission call

2011-11-21T16:20:00.001-07:00

I am tired of trying to catch up on this project, so I'm just uploading the most important things.

On November 2nd my youngest brother was called to serve a mission in Lansing, Michigan. He'll be gone for two years, doing the Lord's work.
This day was full of rollercoaster emotions for everyone. Jesse will be such a spectacular missionary, and we will all miss him so much.

Nice kicks

2011-11-14T12:45:00.001-07:00

I was looking through old pictures (working on a Christmas project) and I found these. They were taken a little over a year ago, and I always meant to blog about them. Better late than never, I guess.

One day I bought some cheap canvas shoes for Anicka from Family Dollar with the intention of drawing all over them. But the second I pulled out the shoes and the markers Anicka popped over and asked "Can I color on them, too?"
She was so excited by the idea of coloring her own shoes that I just turned the whole project over to her. Her shoes turned out pretty great, don't you think?

Little brother wanted to get in on the picture taking action

Sadly, these shoes no longer fit her, but for a long time they were her favorite. I think we need to do this again soon.

(10-31) Halloween night

2011-11-10T12:48:00.002-07:00

My family really loves Halloween. My mom still dresses up every year, and I love it. Adam pretty much only dresses up because I make him. This year I was too stressed to think of anything very original, so we just dressed like punks.

I helped my sister make an awesome 'Robin Sparkles' jacket, though. (Any HIMYM fans out there?)

I made Alexa a super cute penguin costume, loosely based on THIS one from Make it and Love it. I simplified it and took a lot of shortcuts, and probably spent about an hour on it. I need to get a better picture of Alexa in her costume before I pack it up with the Halloween stuff. (yeah, our costume stuff is still in a pile in my bedroom. Don't judge.)

And this is the Halloween 'wreath' for our front door, inspired by Dana's. The glue ghosts were made by Anicka a couple years ago. We thought they made a nice addition.

(10-30) Jack-O-lanterns

2011-11-10T12:37:00.001-07:00

(10-29) Trunk -or- treating in Leeds

2011-11-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

Anicka has her crazy face on.

What do you think of the trunk-or-treat tradition? Is this just a Utah thing? I think it's kind of lame compared to the excitement of running door to door through the neighborhood. But it seems like every year there are fewer and fewer trick or treaters out on Halloween night. Everyone does a trunk-or-treat over the weekend, instead.

I made Ryker's vest using THIS tutorial from Dana. Super easy. It seriously took me about 15 minutes. I really wanted to paint his face like this image that I saw on pinterest:


source

But, alas, you can't force a 3 year old.

(10-28)

2011-11-08T18:27:00.001-07:00

(10-27) Dress up

2011-11-08T18:20:00.001-07:00

Anicka loves to help dress Alexa. (Don't worry, I supervise to make sure no little arms or legs get twisted.) Alexa is just like a baby doll, except for the fact that she wiggles a lot more than most dolls. Anicka was particularly pleased with herself for picking out this outfit.

(10-26) Broccoli Cheese soup

2011-11-08T16:08:00.004-07:00

I am sooooo not a food photographer, but I had to post about this delicious soup.
I love Broccoli Cheese soup, and this was the first time I've made it myself. I used THIS recipe from Mels Kitchen Cafe (great blog, btw). I chose her recipe because it didn't have velveeta or canned condensed soup in the ingredient list. Mel has a recipe for bread bowls on her site as well, but I just used some dough that I had sitting in my fridge from my last batch of artisan bread. SO. GOOD.

(10-25)

2011-11-01T10:19:00.001-06:00

(10-24) Stained glass window

2011-10-29T21:21:00.004-06:00

The kids helped me paint some coffee filters with liquid watercolors, and then we cut them into leaf shapes and used a few dabs from a glue stick to attach them to our big sliding door to the backyard.

It looks really pretty in the afternoon sun, almost like a stained glass window.

(10-23) Model material

2011-10-29T21:18:00.002-06:00

My cute little man all ready for church.

(10-22)

2011-10-29T21:14:00.003-06:00

This is how we spent our afternoon. (taping a rug so that we could paint it.) In a few days I'll let you know how it turned out.

(10-21) After school craft session

2011-10-29T21:08:00.001-06:00

An hour ago this room was clean.
(And yes, my craft room is a bit pathetic looking. One day I will have the money to make it beautiful.)

(10-20) Shadow Puppets

2011-10-29T21:05:00.002-06:00

We got the idea for our shadow puppet theater from giverslog.com

(10- 19) Roads

2011-10-29T20:59:00.002-06:00

Ryker turns just about everything into roads for his cars. The stripes on the rug, the lines on the linoleum tiles, and the pattern on the quilt that sits on top of my cedar chest...

They all become highways and parking lots.
So, I've been working on this:

A car mat. It's pretty big, and it has some of our favorite places on it. I actually started this over a year ago, so it has our old apartment on it, and both grandparents' houses. It has an airport, and a desert, and some mountains. Soon it will have the St. George temple. It is slowly coming together. Even though it isn't finished Ryker asks to get it out almost every day. Hopefully by the time I finish it he will still be interested!

(10-18) Keeping it real.

2011-10-27T09:42:00.000-06:00

Sometimes motherhood is just like this. All. Day. Long.

(10-17)

2011-10-27T09:34:00.001-06:00

Bath time. I try to bathe her When Ryker is sleeping, or else I find myself trying to wash Alexa with one hand and ward Ryker off with the other. He thinks he is being extremely helpful when he tries to dump water on the baby's head. Sometimes I think it will be a miracle if this child survives her big brother's affection.

(10-16)

2011-10-26T13:24:00.004-06:00

1 day old:

1 Month old:

She has already changed so much. They grow too fast.

This is my last post for the day, I'll do some more catching up tomorrow. Don't forget to check out the others if you haven't seen them!

(10-15) Cotton Mission Parade

2011-10-26T13:12:00.003-06:00

On Saturday Anicka and Adam were in a parade celebrating the pioneers in the Dixie Cotton Mission. A wagon train came to St. George from Parowan and paraded down Tabernacle. You can read more about it here if you are interested.

I'm glad that i thought to grab this picture of Anicka before the parade, because I wasn't able to get a good picture during the parade.

Ryker, Alexa and I sat on the sidelines, and Ryker had a great time watching all of the big wagons and tractors go by. His excitement tripled when some of the people in the wagons started throwing candy. He hasn't ever been to a parade before. (Also: It's really hard to take a picture of your kids when they're sitting on your lap...)

p.s. scroll down if you haven't seen Alexa's one month pic. It's really cute!

(10-14) Alexa's 1 month pictures

2011-10-26T12:27:00.002-06:00

This was fun. I plan to do a picture like this every month. I wanted to write her stats on the chalkboard, but it just looked messy (my handwriting is not that great) and she kept covering things up when she wiggled around, ha ha. I'm not completely happy with the chalkboard font, but it's the best one that I could find. The funny little stuffed animal is a rabbit that I crocheted for her.

P.s. I am going to keep updating the blog as the day goes on (playing catch-up), so keep checking back, and scroll down if you haven't seen this morning's post!

(10-13)

2011-10-26T09:49:00.001-06:00

I can't believe I've gotten two weeks behind on this project. I haven't given up, I've still been taking pictures every day; but I haven't had time to edit and post them. They should all be up this weekend.

Here's the first one. This is another one of my carriers for Alexa. I made it following these instructions. It was super easy. The ring sling is nice because it's quick and easy to put on (there's nothing to tie) but is not as versatile as a wrap.

2011-10-12T22:59:00.002-06:00

Big sis and Little sis snuggle on the sofa, and Ryker lets them use his blankie to stay warm. (And that is a big deal, my friends. A very big deal.)

Reading together

2011-10-11T22:49:00.001-06:00

Anicka and Ryker have discovered a love of reading together.

I think it's so wonderful. I always loved reading to my younger brothers and sisters, and I hope that Anicka keeps her love of reading.

The books they are reading are the David books by David Shannon. We have 'No, David!' and 'David Goes to School', and Ryker really loves them both.

Big Truck

2011-10-09T23:04:00.002-06:00

Ryker LOVES trucks. My mom works for a trucking company and sometimes we go visit her office and get to see the big diesels fueling up. Lately Ryker has been asking for a 'big truck with a trailer' and we planned on getting him one for Christmas. But yesterday Adam was going through a box of his own childhood toys and found this little diesel truck. Ryker hasn't put it down since. He was SO excited to have his own 'big truck'.

I love this picture because this is how Ryker spends the majority of his day; stretched out on the floor, playing with his trucks and trains. I want to remember these sweet, quiet times.

Crochet ( a snapshot)

2011-10-08T18:02:00.001-06:00

Only the second day and I'm feeling weird about this project. 'My life is not that interesting' I say. ' Nobody cares about what I do every day' I say. And then I remember that this project is really just for me, and that someday my kids might care about what I did every day, so I suck it up and post a photograph.

I've decided to crochet Alexa's blessing dress. So far I've started over three times because of issues with the fit, but now it is finally starting to come together. I've never crocheted something this delicate, with such small thread and such a tiny hook, but I'm getting the hang of it now, and hopefully I'll have it done in time.

Snapshot of my day

2011-10-07T19:04:00.000-06:00

You've all seen the 365 picture projects. I decided to try one of my own. Each day I'll try (try) to post a snapshot of my day. This is basically just for me, something to remind me to slow down and enjoy the little moments. So, here is the first installment.

This is how I like to carry Alexa when I need to get things done and she wants to be held. I discovered babywearing when Ryker was born, and I loved it. Babies love it, too. Your movements rock them to sleep, they can lay right against your chest and listen to your heartbeat, and your rhythmic breathing calms them. I highly recommend it.

Three Weeks

2011-10-06T13:10:00.000-06:00

Movie night

2011-10-01T19:40:00.000-06:00

Movie night in the tent while dad takes in the priesthood session.

Pirates or Ninjas?

2011-09-30T15:28:00.000-06:00

My two youngest sisters have their birthdays about a month apart, and because the older of the two (Kaycee) is such a good sport she doesn't mind when my mom throws them a joint birthday party every year. The parties are always awesome. For one thing, they always have a theme. And for another my siblings and I always dress up and help out, which makes the parties doubly awesome.

Two years ago the theme was dress-up tea party.

And last year it was Harry Potter themed. Yeah. That one was my favorite.

This year the theme was Pirates vs. Ninjas.

Ryker wanted to dress like a pirate.

And since Anicka is a Karate Kid, she opted to be a ninja.
She even showed off her sweet nun-chuck skills at the party.

We ended up having more ninjas than pirates at our party, even though pirates are obviously way cooler.

Where do you stand on the pirate vs. ninja debate?

Alexa Jane

2011-09-28T07:45:00.005-06:00

Two weeks ago we added a sweet little girl to our family.

I can't believe she's two weeks old already. She is such an angel, so easy going and content. She sleeps like a champ (4-6 hours straight at night) and Anicka and Ryker just adore her.
I was terrified that having three kids would put me over the edge, but she has brought us so much joy these past few days that I already can't even imagine life without her. Happy two week anniversary of your birth, little Alexa.

P.S. Newborn photography is hard! I took about a billion pictures, and not very many of them turned out great. These three are my favorite. I want to try another photoshoot with her soon. There are more poses and props that I would really like to try.

Seven years, baby! Our story.

2011-08-05T10:34:00.000-06:00

I don't know if anyone will want to read this, I know it's a loooong post. But today is my seventh wedding anniversary and I felt the need to write out our story.

My first encounter with Adam was slightly awkward.

I walked into church late one Sunday morning. Sacrament meeting had just ended. I hadn’t made it three feet into the building when Shane, a man I barely knew, yelled out “Hey! Mellissa! There you are!” He gestured for me to follow him, but didn’t wait for me to comply, just grabbed my arm and started leading me into the chapel. Like I said, I barely knew this guy. I knew that he was married to Dusty (one of my former youth leaders), I knew that he was the ward clerk, and I had no idea why he was taking me anywhere. I was afraid that I must be in trouble for something that I didn’t realize I had done.
He pulled me through the crowd of ward members and up to the front of the chapel, where Dusty was standing with a TALL blonde guy that I hadn’t ever seen before.

“Dusty! I found her!” called Shane.
Dusty rushed over and grabbed me from Shane, pushing me toward the tall stranger until I was standing uncomfortably close to him.

“Mellissa, this is Adam,” she said. And then she walked away. She later told me she was so relieved that Adam and I had finally met that she didn’t think past introducing us.

Adam and I stumbled our way through awkward introductions. I found out that he was Shane’s brother, that he had been home from his mission for about five months, that he lived in St. George and was only visiting our ward that day. And then I shook his hand, said ‘nice to meet you’, and went to Sunday School.

Later, I ran into Adam in the hallway in between classes. We shared another short, uncomfortable conversation, both of us a little self-conscious after our strange introduction. But I’ll never forget the feeling that I had as I looked up into his face during those few moments. It wasn’t love at first sight - nothing so grandiose. It was a feeling that I can’t really explain. A nudging of the spirit, maybe, like something half-remembered. A feeling that said ‘This person is important. Pay attention.’

But I was not the sort of girl to ask for a phone number, I was much too shy. I didn’t expect to see him again after I left the church that day.

Surprise! He called me later that afternoon. Dusty had given him my number, had told him that I would be disappointed if he didn't call me. (very clever, Dusty!) We chatted easily over the phone, a first for me. I invited him to a devotional on the temple grounds. We became friends.

The situation was not ideal. My parents did not necessarily approve of my spending time with a young man who was so much older than I was. I was still a month away from my eighteenth birthday. Adam was nearly twenty-two, a recently returned missionary. Growing up in an LDS community you come to expect certain things from young men of a certain age. And everyone knew that a recently returned missionary had only one thing on his mind. Marriage.

I knew that Adam was interested in me. But I wasn‘t interested in marriage.

One day, shortly after my eighteenth birthday, I met him at the mall for Orange Julius and window shopping. I expressed interest in a $70 wristwatch and he offered to buy it for me as a birthday gift.
“That seems a little expensive for a gift from a friend.” I said. He agreed that perhaps it was, but that he still wanted to buy it for me. As a friend.
It made me uncomfortable. “I think we need to talk,” I said.
I told him that I wasn’t interested in a relationship. I told him I was too young for him. I told him not to pursue me. I told him that he was a great guy, that we could be friends.
“That’s all I want,” he said, “I just want to be your friend.”
And he was. He was the most genuine friend that I had ever had. He never asked anything of me. He was there whenever I needed him. He never made me feel as if he was waiting for anything, or expecting anything. He was just THERE. He was always there for me, and he never asked for anything in return.
It scared me, a little. I didn’t know how to react to someone like him, so over the course of the next two months I tried to push him away. Repeatedly. But he never changed, and he never pushed back.

Eventually, I found myself staying up until two a.m. to call him when he got off work. (He worked the graveyard shift, and kept strange hours.) I found myself calling him whenever I had a few minutes to spare, meeting him for quick lunches, attending his Singles Ward sacrament meeting after attending my own family ward. I invited him to family functions.

There is one day that stands out in my mind. I think it was the turning point, the day that I finally started to realize that I was in love with Adam. I was depressed, and needed someone to talk to. Adam was the first person that came to mind. I called him, and we spent that entire day together.
We talked. We went for a drive, explored roads that we had never driven down before. We went to an art gallery. I blathered about technique and mediums and style and Adam told me that he loved listening to me talk about something so passionately. We sat in the lobby for what felt like hours, and talked and talked and talked. He took me to a park that I had never been to before, and we played tag on the playground equipment. He made a show of pretending to feed the swans and geese in a nearby pond . I thought he was funny and charming. We parked on Airport road and waited for the planes to fly over us. We watched the sunset together.

In the middle of the day my mom called me. She told me that she had given my number to the nephew of one of her coworkers. He was a recently returned missionary. She was setting me up on a blind date. He would be calling me sometime soon.

Twenty minutes later my phone rang. I ignored the call and turned my cell phone off. I had realized that I didn’t want to spend my time with anyone but Adam. I wondered what that meant.

Two days later we held hands for the first time. A few days after that - a kiss. I’ll never forget the feeling of fireworks, the electricity of that moment. It sounds so cliché, but I swear: Fireworks. And the first words out of his mouth afterwards? “I find you extremely attractive”. Priceless.

We had another conversation that week, again at the mall.
“Something has changed,” I told him. “I can’t be casual about this anymore. I don’t want to date other people. I don’t want to be ’just friends’. If we’re doing this then I need to know that you’re serious about it.” I was so terrified to speak those words. I knew that they needed to be said, that I needed to know where things were headed, but I expected him to cut and run, expected him to explain that he wasn‘t really looking for a relationship. I expected our friendship to end there. Instead, he hugged me. A big, bone-crushing hug that lifted me off of my feet.

“Me, too.” he said, “You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that.”

Our first kiss had happened on a Sunday afternoon. The very next Sunday afternoon, after church, we sprawled on a blanket together in the shade of a tree on the temple grounds. We held hands. He cleared his throat three times in quick succession, obviously nervous. Finally, the words came.

“Mellissa, I have to say that I’ve fallen madly in love with you.”

“I know,” I said. “ I love you, too.” What a silly way to respond, right? ‘I know’. But, by this time I already knew that I was going to marry him. It was indisputable fact. I wondered if he knew it yet.

It didn’t take long to find out. A week later he made it clear that he felt the same. “I want to be with you forever,” he said, “for eternity. Would you be okay with that?”
It wasn’t an official marriage proposal. We were sitting in my cluttered car, listening to the radio. He wasn’t down on one knee, he didn’t have a ring, we didn’t phone up our friends and family and tell them we were engaged. Those things didn’t come until much later. After all, we had only known each other for three short months. But, to me, this is the moment that really counts. Because from that point on we knew that we were working toward something together.
Eleven months after that day we were sealed together in the Salt Lake Temple. On this day Seven years ago, I married my very best friend. Happy Anniversary, Babe.

Maybe it seems foolish to you, that a teenage girl should marry a man four years older than herself and start a family right away. I often get comments along that vein from acquaintances and even family members. But I know that I couldn't have made any better decision, couldn't possibly have married a better man. My life is amazing, and it just keeps getting better.

*Disclaimer*
I am certainly not trying to say that marrying young is a good idea for everyone. I just know that it was a good choice for me.

2011-06-28T11:12:00.000-06:00

This has been another of our favorite summertime activities so far. I got a roll of easel paper from Michael's and a couple bags of sponges in various shapes from Dollar Tree. We tape up a long sheet of paper, set out the tempera paint (fingerpaints) and the kids go crazy stamping the paper, stamping the wall, stamping each other. Tempera paint is great for kids because it washes off easily. For some reason kids love to paint their bodies. I don't like them to paint on themselves when we are indoors, because paint ends up all over EVERYTHING, so this is a good way to let them have it.

Ryker really likes squeezing out the sponges in a bowl of water. This is what he usually ends up doing the majority of the time.

And when everyone has had enough of painting we can wash off on the Slip and Slide. We got this at Walmart for 5 bucks! It has held up pretty well over the last few weeks, which is totally surprising to me.

Happy things

2011-06-27T14:34:00.000-06:00

It was a good weekend. Simple. Low key. Wonderful.
Here are a few of the things that made me happy:

Fresh baby carrots from our garden. They were tiny and tender and delicious in our salad.

Freshly baked bread. It has been far too long since I baked anything. But I am in full nesting mode lately and I even ground some fresh wheat flour to use in the bread. How domestic of me, no?

A whole colander full of mangoes. I got these with our Bountiful Basket on Saturday; a case for $4.00. I am a mango fiend. It is ridiculously hard to find good mangoes in Southern Utah (go figure) but so far these have not disappointed. Of course they can't compare to a mango fresh off of a tree in Miami (I die), but they will do nicely until I can afford airfare to Florida.

To finish things off, here is our makeshift water table. The kids recently went swimming at a relative's house and spent most of their time playing with a little water table. Ryker just loved it, and I thought it would be fun to get one. I looked online at different options and none of them excited me. They are mostly plastic, tacky, and expensive. This got me thinking about how it would be so fun to make our own water table. So now I've got this crazy idea in my head, and I'm drawing up plans and dreaming up features and... well. It's going to take a while before I'm actually able to ~~make my husband~~ build it. We've got too many other projects in the works right now. (Like bunk beds for the kids' room, woohoo!) So, instead I came up with this:

That is just a cheap plastic bin from Wal-mart. It was in the garage being used to store yarn. Mostly cheapy Red Heart yarn that I bought when I was first learning to crochet. So, I decided to dump most of the yarn into our 'donate' box, since it has been sitting in the garage for six months without being missed. Prop that bin up on a couple of five gallon buckets and you've got a perfectly useable water table.

I wouldn't recommend this for smaller children who might pull it over on to themselves. But for my kids it worked just fine. And water play is great! When you live in a place that reaches triple digit temperatures from June through August, water is an important part of outdoor play. But Ryker is also learning a lot from his water play, like 'this holds more water than that does', and 'this one floats but that one sinks'. And he really likes to practice pouring water from one container into another.

The kids got about two hours of play from this on Saturday before they transitioned over to making mudpies in the dirt patch. They played with it again this morning for at least an hour. I'm excited to be able to build a nicer water table with some cool features attached to it, but for now this will do the trick, and help them to enjoy the summer days outdoors.

Natural Beauty

2011-04-20T08:21:00.000-06:00

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

God is an artist. This time-lapse video by photographer Terje Sorgjerd captures some amazing shots of the world that we live in.

Helping Daddy

2011-04-08T10:37:00.006-06:00

"Mommy, I fixing da twuck."

Sprucing up the back wall

2011-04-07T12:20:00.004-06:00

Now the view from my back door is much nicer.

Bubbles!

2011-04-06T15:03:00.006-06:00

Anicka and I made our own bubble solution, and had some fun blowing bubbles while Ryker napped. We got the big bubble wand from Dollar Tree.

I just love that last picture. :)

Bubble solution recipe:
1/2 Cup Dawn dishwashing soap
2 Cups water
1 Tbsp sugar or corn syrup

This is how we play battleship.

2011-04-05T10:00:00.002-06:00

It's Springing! In our backyard!

2011-04-04T09:19:00.002-06:00

It's a good thing that we have some great helpers who like to water all of these plants.

(Okay, Ryker mostly just likes to make mud and then stomp in it.)

You don't know how unbelievably excited I am to have my own backyard, with all of these gorgeous things growing in it!

I don't remember what these flowers(above) are called, but I think we planted them from bulbs.
Can anyone help me out here?

African Daisies

Chalk art on the cement

Radishes!

Spinach!

This is some sort of vine that's growing behind one of our trees. We didn't plant it there. I don't know what it's called, but it sure has some pretty purple flowers on it.

The grass that we planted from seed is even growing! Finally! Now we need a lawnmower...

From mophead to buzzcut

2011-03-29T09:33:00.000-06:00

It changes my baby boy into a little man. I wish that I could leave the top a little longer when I cut his hair, but giving the kid a haircut is akin to shaving a feral cat. The boy is not a fan. So, it's easier to just buzz it all one length (as short as I can stand to have it) so that we don't have to repeat the process too soon.
Also, I bet you can't tell, but Ryker has decided that shirts are a nuisance and he would rather not wear them at all, thank-you-very-much.

Craigseasy

2011-03-25T13:13:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you, but I love Craigslist. We've gotten some great deals thanks to that site. (Like a huge food storage organizer for forty bucks, or the matching dresser and headboard for our bedroom that we are currently refinishing)
I probably look through the site about once a week, so I was really excited when I found out about this awesome little tool called Craigseasy. It takes your classified-viewing experience from this:

To this:

So you're scrolling through a page of pictures instead of a page of text links. I love that I don't have to click every link in order to see if I'm actually interested in an item.
Anyway, I just thought I'd pass along this neat little tool to any other craigslist shoppers out there. (They say that it works with any classified website, but I haven't tried it with any others.) You can get the craigseasy button here.

St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-18T11:10:00.001-06:00

My sisters came over for a visit yesterday. We love it when they come over!
The usual activities got boring pretty quickly, so we decided to do something out of the ordinary:
Building with marshmallows and toothpicks.

Look at that concentration!

I saw this idea on The Artful Parent. I expected a lot of abstract sculpture type things (which is what I would have done) But the girls all stuck to pretty specific structures, like houses and bridges. I took a few pictures of their finished projects, but none of the pictures really turned out well. Ryker mostly just connected his marshmallows in a really long line.
After lunch we drank some green koolaid and decorated cookies to celebrate St. Patrick's day. I love cookie decorating. Three cookies each kept the girls busy for a good hour.

Ryker just dolloped a bit of frosting in the center of his and then devoured it in about 30 seconds flat.

Etsy Love : Feels like Spring

2011-03-09T08:00:00.004-07:00

Dandelion


White Blossom Necklace

Rosette Statement Necklace

Toile Rose Ring


Rustic Wood Flowers


Amazonite Pebbles

Felt Pillow Cover

Heads up! Canvas People - Free 8x10 Canvas

2011-03-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Canvas People are giving away a free 8X10 photo canvas. To everyone. That's a $50 canvas for free! You can also take that $50 and apply it toward a larger canvas. You do still have to pay the shipping and handling charges (which I'm guessing get more expensive the bigger your canvas gets) But this is such a good deal, so I want to make sure that everyone hears about it! I missed this deal the first time around, and always regretted that I didn't nab one when I had the chance.Go check it out before the deal ends.

This is the photo that I'm getting put onto canvas:

It's from our trip to Logan last Spring. I can't wait to get it up on my wall! I went with the 8x10 size, which brought the entire price to $14.95. Awesome!
I heard about this deal on the Little Birdie Secrets blog. Head on over and give those girls some love, and see some other cute canvases in their most recent post.

A conversation with my baby

2011-01-25T07:17:00.003-07:00

Good morning, buddy

Hi, mommy. I awake.

Ready for breakfast?

Yes. I Lightning McQueen.

You're Lightning McQueen?

*nods solemnly* Yes. I racecar. Ka-chow!

Sledding in Fillmore

2011-01-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

Ryker didn't have boots. So he wore his cousin's pink moon boots.

Anicka decided against using a sled, and just went down penguin style, instead.

Grandma went down.

And so did Grandpa.

Ryker slid down on his bottom

Anicka was the tunnel.

I am telling myself I only look chubby because of all the layers.

Cold baby. (Mama, I freeeezin.*exaggerated teeth chattering*)

Snowman.

Snow Angel.

And then home.

2011-01-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a rough day. Not that anything spectacularly bad happened. Let's just chalk it up to crazy hormones (girls are allowed to do that, you know). But the point is that I ended up crying on the sofa when I thought the kids were busy playing in the other room.
Well. They found me out. The sweet little kiddos. Before I knew what hit me I was being smothered in hugs and kisses. Ryker brought me his special blanket and pillow. "Here, Mama. My blanket is so nice." Anicka brought me some stuffed animals to hug and drew me a beautiful rainbow. "Does this cheer you up, Mommy?"

My angels. I love them so much.

A scene that warms a mother's heart

2011-01-15T09:00:00.002-07:00

Sometime, when you are a mother, you will be doing something motherly (like laundry or toilet scrubbing or closet organizing), and you will realize that it is MUCH too quiet, and you haven't heard anybody scream "THAT'S MY TOY!" for a while, and you will think 'Oh, no. They have joined forces to wreak some sort of havoc on our home!'
You will go looking for your children, sure that they are unwinding your carefully organized bolts of fabric all over the craft room. Or maybe they're dumping out all of your color coordinated jars of beads and buttons and looking for the prettiest ones. Or perhaps the oldest has locked herself in her bedroom and hidden under the bed, dramatically waiting for you to apologize for something that you don't even realize you did, while your youngest is drawing a beautiful mural on the front door with his sister's markers. *

But, instead, you will find this:

The kindergartener trying to read a book to her younger brother, who is inexplicably dressed like an eskimo. Yes, it is an incredibly heartwarming experience.

*Yes, all of these things have happened.

Choo Choo

2011-01-14T08:16:00.002-07:00

Ryker playing with the train that his (12 year old!) Aunt Kaycee made him for Christmas. He loves it! Didn't Kaycee do an awesome job?

The snowman

2011-01-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

Or what remains of it.

Better late than never

2011-01-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

Snow day!
(January 3rd, 2011)

In southern Utah, snow that actually sticks to the ground is a big deal. My kids were super excited to play in it. Anicka loves the snow, and can play in it for hours. For Ryker this was a brand new experience. His favorite thing was throwing snowballs.

Sneak attack!

Anicka made the 'biggest snowball ever!'

and was dismayed when, instead of being vanquished by the giant snowball, daddy proceeded to catch it and and throw chunks of it back at her.

also, I love how Anicka's hat spends most of it's time perched precariously on the top of her head, rather than down around her ears. I guess she has outgrown it.

We had just enough snow in the front yard to make one Anicka-sized snowman. It actually still hasn't completely melted. I want to knock it over, but Anicka wants to see how long it will last. I'll put a picture of it up here later.
Ryker did better than I thought he would in the snow. He's usually not too happy about being in the cold. But he played for about 30 minutes before he slipped and fell into the wet gutter.

Like any good momma I snapped a picture instead of helping him up right away. Actually, he was fine for a few minutes after that, until he realized he was soaking wet and freezing.

Anyway, we got our one snow day of the winter, and we had a good time, and then we went inside and drank hot cocoa and the snow melted and everything was back to normal. The end.

Celery and Paint

2010-12-20T15:56:00.002-07:00

Have you ever really looked at a celery heart?

Doesn't it look rather like a rose?

We used our celery hearts as stamps, to make wrapping paper.

I love it.

I think our wrapping paper is lovely.
(click on the photo to see it a bit better)

* Celery stamping idea stolen from Creature Comforts. I am not genius enough to think of this on my own!

The rain is raining all around

2010-12-18T10:08:00.004-07:00

This morning I had to stand in line*. I stood out in the rain for 30 minutes, and I didn't even mind it. I always forget how much I love the rain, until I am standing in it and smelling the beautiful rain smell and feeling the drops on my face. It was actually more of a mist than a rain, anyhow. The drops were so light that they almost felt like snowflakes. So, I stood there, and listened to the conversations around me (If I am ever standing near you in a line, be certain that I am listening intently to your private conversation), and watched the fog roll in over the hills. We don't see much fog here. It was lovely.

But. The reason that I am writing about the rain is because, as I stood there in line and listened to conversations, I also watched the water flow down in to one corner of the parking lot and puddle there. I wanted to jump in it. I probably would have, if it had been just a bit warmer. It reminded me of a day, months ago, when I played out in the rain with my children. We were right in the middle of moving to our new place at the time, and I forgot that I wanted to blog about it. So, here it is now.

Anicka is a child after my own heart. She LOVES the rain. When it is wet out she will often stand with her nose pressed against the window and beg to play outside. And, if it is not too cold out, sometimes we do.
This was back in October, one of our last nights in the Apartment. Adam wasn't home. The kids were restless, tired of the boxes and clutter from packing. They were feeling the stress of the move. So, we went out in the rain.

Look at this lovely, big puddle:

I jumped in it, too. It was a magnificent puddle for jumping.

But THIS. This is my favorite thing about taking Anicka out in the rain:

Look at the kid's face. I love it.

*P.S. I was standing in line waiting for my Bountiful Basket. Which is totally great.

Soul Eater

2010-11-19T11:36:00.001-07:00

I would like to put up a proper blog post. I really would. Unfortunately, NaNoWriMo owns my soul.
So, for now, enjoy this random picture:

k thx!

Thankful

2010-11-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

for these two little monsters.

Words to live by

2010-11-09T09:11:00.002-07:00

Hello, blog. I'll be back soon.

source.

Random Love

2010-07-26T13:58:00.001-06:00

Some things that I am loving right now:

1. Remember friendship bracelets? Apparently they are back in style, only now as necklaces and belts.
I love textile jewelry, so I'm digging these. Especially because of all of the bright colors.
Just in case your summer camp memories are as hazy as mine are, here is a wonderful tutorial from Honestly...wtf

2. An orange hippo pillow! This is Felicia the Hipp o, and she is adorable. Do you think she's DIYable?

3. I love notebooks. I love journals. I love sketchbooks. There is just something about a brand new, blank book that makes me feel like the world is full of possibilities.
That's probably why I love this hand-stitched book tutorial from Jen and Jake so much. If your birthday is coming up soon, you can probably expect one of these as a gift from me.

4. A shadow puppet theater. A homemade one, none-the-less. And a tutorial. Anicka would LOVE this.

5. Blank nesting dolls! How fun would be to paint a custom set of nesting dolls?

I can sense some projects brewing...

THIS

2010-07-21T21:44:00.000-06:00

Yes. THIS is where I want to be. Right now.

Oh, Miami.

Sometimes (every now and then) I miss you.

Photo found here.

I DO have my own photos of South Beach. But they are on a DVD, in a box, in my closet.

Keep Calm and Carry On

2010-07-14T00:20:00.000-06:00

I love these posters.

I need to get one and put it up in my living room. Because I have been having TOO MUCH anxiety lately. Much too much. For no apparent reason, either. Ridiculous, I know.
Anyway.

I also love the spoof posters.

Another one that I like that I can't seem to find an image for is 'Just in Case - Carry Mace'.
This is funny stuff, people.

You see, here is what bothers me...

2010-07-01T10:56:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: I am not trying to piss anyone off by posting this. I am not trying to make fun of anyone. I am not trying to be rude or insulting. I am stating my opinion. If you have a different opinion, feel free to voice it in the comments, as long as you play nice.

So. I have a problem with that one particular vampire franchise that just released a new movie. (I am trying my damnedest to avoid the name, because I do not particularly want to be spammed by anonymous haters after this post.)

My problem is that it makes people crazy. People who are normally quite reasonable, even.

I've heard men complain about how these movies make the women in their lives go absolutely bonkers. "These movies are like porn for women," said one of them.
I have had many a girl friend tell me that they don't watch the movies because of the storyline, but because of the hard bodies. I have heard happily married women gush over the shirtless male actors. This bothers me!

And here is why:
If my husband was to sit in a theater and wolf-whistle and cat-call whenever a beautiful, half-dressed woman appeared on the screen, I would be insulted. NOT only because it would make me feel unsure about my own value in his eyes (and yes, I admit that I am insecure enough to feel this way) but because I think that this sort of behavior devalues and objectifies women, and is insulting to our gender as a whole. I am not flattered when a random stranger whistles at me. I am offended. My body is not an object for you to approve or disapprove of.
Am I alone in this? I don't know.
But, the point is that the same thing applies to our treatment of men. Why should we demand respect from our men, if we don't respect them in return?

Something to think about:
It is one thing to say "Hey, I think that person is attractive." It is quite another to swoon and shriek and yell "Edward is sooooo sexy! Woooooo baby!"

Now. I know that this doesn't apply to everyone. Some of you get absolutely no thrill from Edward and Jacob, and just enjoy the vampire and werewolf bits of the movie. And some of you might have no problem with your husband/wife admiring other women/men. I know many couples are fine with the 'look, don't touch' philosophy. To each their own. But... I felt like I had to get my opinion out there.

a day with The Girls

2010-06-17T11:08:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday my two littlest sisters came over for a visit. Anicka loves it when they come over.
We stayed busy all day.

Making puffy paint

And then painting with it.

(The dots on the bottom left were painted by Anicka. "They're not dots, Mom! They're germs.")

Making cake balls

And decorating cupcakes

I love the cupcake picture, because it sort of showcases each of the girls' personalities. Serious Sienna, Goofy Anicka, and Shy Kaycee.

And any moms who have little kids at home for the summer should check out Skip to My Lou's Craft Camp.
There are a bunch of ideas on there to help keep the kids from getting too bored at home.
I would also recommend The Artful Parent, Angry Chicken, and Filth Wizardry for inspiration.

Hey, Mr. Postman!

2010-06-15T16:13:00.000-06:00

Big thanks to Cathe Holden of Just Something I Made, who put these envelope writing sheet templates on her blog. For free. I love her blog! She's always sharing great graphics that she finds (or makes!).
Anyway. She gave me the motivation that I needed to write a letter to my brother, who is in Texas over the summer. We miss him! As far as I know he doesn't read my blog very often, so I think it's safe to post this here before he gets its. And if not...well, enjoy this sneak peak, Eric!

This was a lot of fun. Maybe I'll start writing more letters! It's always a treat to get something besides a bill in the mail, after all.

Fortress of Solitude

2010-06-10T18:33:00.001-06:00

If you were to to see this:

You might assume that it was nothing but a regular cardboard box.
But, in fact, it is Anicka's Fortress of Solitude.

The perfect place to curl up with a good book and a flashlight, while her little brother takes a nap.
:)

P.S. No, I didn't put her in there to keep her quiet, haha! She set it up all by herself, and then asked me for a flashlight.

Get over it

2010-06-08T10:54:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a big fat failure of a day.
For some reason, when life gets messy, instead of diving in and getting my hands dirty I tend to dig in my heels and resist the change.
When I feel overwhelmed, I self-destruct. And that's not the sort of person that I want to be.
So. I'm done with that.

Today will be a success.

I will finish projects,

I will play with my children,

I will focus on the things that really matter.

I will accomplish something.

If the unexpected happens, I will meet the challenge head on.

And I will be happy, because I CHOOSE to be happy.

Because I have so many things to be happy about.

Because I love my life.

Pamplemousse? Pomplamoose!

2010-05-24T22:53:00.002-06:00

The other day on Facebook my sister mentioned this band named Pomplamoose. And, seriously, when you hear a band name like that you have to check them out, right? So, I did. And they're kind of awesome. The band consists of two people. They layer the vocals and play all of the instruments and make these quirky videos and post them on YouTube. That sort of thing earns major kudos from me. Plus Nataly Dawn, the lead vocalist, is so adorable. So I thought I would share, since I know that some of the people who read my blog are fellow Indie fans. Here are a couple of my favorites from their YouTube Channel.

If You Think You Need Some Lovin:
(This one has an... interesting little commercial...thing... at the end)

And a cover of Mister Sandman

Finally! Vacation Pictures - Part Duex : Logan

2010-05-24T14:41:00.003-06:00

Um... *warning* LOTS OF PICTURES.
We did a million fun things on our vacation, but for now I'm just putting up the pictures that we took in Logan. It was so beautiful there, and there were so many photo opportunities. Here are the ones that turned out the best.

First:
The Logan temple.
The kids couldn't even think about taking pictures until they had rolled down that wonderful hill a couple of times.

Then a few pictures of the lovely architecture, courtesy of Adam:
(click on the picture to see it better)

And finally we're ready for some posing:

First in front of the wall

and then in front of the fountain

The only time we could get Anicka to put down her stuffed dog was when we decided that Puppy needed her own portrait shot:

She is in most of our family pictures, after all.

Next we took pictures in front of the Tulips. Oh, Tulips! My favorite flower. Isn't this beautiful?

I edited this photo two different ways. I'm not sure which one I like better. What do you think? (click on the picture to see it bigger. Ignore the fact that the one on the left is slightly crooked.)

Sadly, hardly any of our tulip pictures turned out. Because my children decided to turn into toads. They refused to sit, they refused to smile, they refused to even look at the camera or stand in front of the tulips. *sigh* Children.

And then we stopped trying to get pictures. We sat and talked for a few minutes. And, suddenly... this happened:

Ah, adorable.

After the temple we went to a super fun park with a castle theme. I might put pictures of that up another time. But when I saw the bench sitting under that blossom-laden tree, I knew I had to get some pictures of the kids sitting there.

Then an excellent picnic next to a beautiful waterfall:

Ryker did NOT want to take more pictures. He wanted to throw rocks.

This picture was taken by Anicka:

Maybe she'll grow up to be a photographer. :) Or a model.

She's so cute.

Lastly, feeding the ducks:

And a big thank you to my adorable little sister, who is so photogenic that it sort of makes me sick, but in a good way.

We had SO MUCH FUN in Logan. :)

THE END. (Phew. That's a lot of pictures)

Butter Dreams

2010-05-20T12:55:00.001-06:00

Anicka: Um, Mama? What's a 'butter dream?'

Me: What? I don't know.Where did you hear that?

Anicka: You know: Row Row Row your boat, gently like a stream, merry merry merry merry, like a butter dream. But I don't know what a butter dream is.

What I Love about Today

2010-05-19T16:27:00.002-06:00

-Making bread with Anicka
-Playing cars with Ryker
-2 hours of COMPLETE SILENCE
-Organizing my art supplies
-Making blanket forts

I swear, sometime this week I'll put up the rest of those pictures that I promised...

The reason that there isn't a family portrait on our wall:

2010-05-10T21:36:00.003-06:00

Our children are not fans of cooperation.

(We did get a few good pictures, but none of the entire family. Because that's impossible.)

More pictures from our little vacation will be up tomorrow. :)

And that's the truth.

2010-04-29T15:45:00.002-06:00

- "Mama, sometimes I wish I could do Art all day."

- "I know. Me too, Monkey."

Also: Art supplies are expensive.

Raindrop Melody Maker

2010-04-20T11:11:00.002-06:00

You should try this.
Raindrop Melody Maker
It's relaxing and lovely. Anicka and I played with it for at least an hour this morning, trying out different methods, different patterns, with and without the metronome. We both loved it. Even Ryker sat quietly on my lap for a few minutes and listened. And a few minutes of stillness from Ryker is something to take note of.
Found via How About Orange

Families are Forever

2010-04-19T17:26:00.003-06:00

A year ago my great grandparents both passed away. How lucky am I, to have had great grandparents well into my twenties? How lucky are my children, to have met their great great grandparents? Pretty lucky. Especially when I consider my husband, who never really knew any of his grandparents. Every time I think about them, these are the thoughts that come to me. They were both wonderful people: Grandma with her books of poetry and her crazy stories, Grandpa with his gruff demeanor and his soft, kind eyes. He was a veteran, a former marine. If you said 'Hey, Grandpa, I love you' you were likely to get a 'Yep' in response... But look at this photograph and tell me that you don't see love there:

And this is the only photograph of Grandma that I have in my possession:

I like to think of her in happier times, before she had grown this weak and frail, when she was still spunky and bright... but this is still a lovely photograph. Ryker, not even a whole day old, and his Great Great Grandmother, just a month away from 85.

Anyway. As I said, they both passed away last spring, only a few weeks apart. And just this weekend their headstone was finally put in place. The family gathered together to see it. We had a picnic at the park, and then drove over to the cemetery.
It was lovely. A dark, beautiful granite. "I chose this one because it's the strongest granite that they had," says my grandfather. You can tell that he's proud of it, glad that there's something beautiful to mark the spot where his parents rest. Though, if I know G.Grandma, she's not really resting. Maybe she's dancing. Or crocheting up a storm. I wonder if you can crochet on the other side?

Kite Festival

2010-04-18T13:30:00.004-06:00

We never even got the kite out of the box. The bounce houses were just too much fun.

And, of course, the train.

The Best Part

2010-04-17T13:30:00.000-06:00

is the cookie dough.
Seriously. My favorite part of making cookies is licking the beaters afterward. Anicka agrees.

Also: Did you know that (if you are vegan, or afraid of salmonella, or out of eggs, or trying to add some nutrition to your chocolate chip cookies) you can substitute the eggs in your baked goods with milled flax seed?
1 tablespoon of ground flax + 3 tablespoons of water = 1 egg
And there's your random factoid of the day. Flax. It's good for you. Try it.

Fresh Flowers...

2010-04-14T17:30:00.004-06:00

... make bad days better.

Why My Weekend was Amazing:

2010-04-12T21:02:00.004-06:00

1. Saturday Afternoon: Las Vegas temple session

The Vegas temple is beautiful. It's a little oasis of peace and tranquility in the middle of a busy, tumultuous city.

2. Saturday Evening: MUSE!

Muse is one of my very favorite bands, and to see them perform live was beyond anything I could have imagined. You can see more pictures and a few videos on my Facebook page, if you're interested. Silversun Pickups also performed that evening, and I like their music, but they were nothing compared to Muse.

3. Sunday Morning: President Eyring presiding over our sacrament meeting in Leeds

The man didn't say a word, but his presence alone is powerful. We probably sat about 12 feet away from him.

4. Sunday Evening: Eric and Jesse both had their Eagle Court of Honor

I am so proud of my two little brothers. They are both strong, intelligent young men and such an inspiration to me. (Sorry, Jesse, but I don't have a picture of you with short hair!)

Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T21:27:00.006-06:00

Things that are making me happy today:

-Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house (458 eggs to find!):
Ryker really isn't so chubby that he's busting out of his clothes, it only looks that way because of the wicked wind that was blowing out in Leeds.

-Mangoes!:

-Easter Crafts with Anicka:

-A Beautiful Easter bouquet from Adam:

-A Pretty Bowl Full of Fresh Fruit:

- Church in my Pajamas!
(imagine that there's a picture of something General Conference related right here. I'm too lazy to look for one.)
Our Easter weekend was wonderful, not counting the awful coughs that my children came down with unexpectedly. I hope that you all had wonderful weekends, as well.

Monkey Faces

2010-03-31T12:23:00.003-06:00

Yesterday a bored little monkey begged me to let her take pictures with my digital camera. She has used a disposable camera before, but never my digital. She begged. I gave in. She IS nearly five, after all. Here's a sampling of what I found on the camera 20 minutes later:

drawstring bags are my best friends

2010-03-30T16:38:00.007-06:00

Anyone who has a little boy knows that they start accumulating toy cars at an early age. And before you know it, they have quite the collection.

These cars are mostly small, and easily misplaced. I don't know about everyone else, but I find little matchbox cars ALL OVER THE HOUSE. (Also: random snack stashes...)

And if you pick up these cars and put them in the toybox at the end of the day, you will inevitably have a toybox that ends up tipped upside down every morning in order for your car-obsessed toddler to fish EVERY LAST CAR out of it. So, I made them a new home. Thankfully, Ryker's collection is still small enough to be contained in a cute little bag. It works out nicely. Ryker knows that THIS is where his cars live. He (sometimes) shoves them back in there for safekeeping. He no longer dumps out the entire toybox first thing every morning. And a little drawstring bag is easier to store than one of those plastic totes or matchbox car organizer boxes.

I used this tutorial to make mine (because I am still learning to sew, and could not figure out how to make one without a step by step tutorial). And then, since Anicka has her own troublesome collection of Littlest Petshop toys, and My Little Pony toys and itty bitty animals...
I made her a bag, too. Hers has kitties on the inside fabric, and puppies on the outside. And she loves it, which is always a plus. Yay for staying organized!

Cats are Prohibited in this Area

2010-03-23T20:06:00.006-06:00

You've all seen these signs, yes? The Neighborhood Watch notices?

Well. There is one posted near the entrance to our apartment complex. Anicka, the dear, thinks it means No Cats Allowed. I let her think this. It has stopped her from asking me why we can't have a pet. (Apparently "because those are the rules" is not a sufficient answer. There must be a posted notice in order to convince her. )

Post Script:
If you squint and tilt your head a little it kind of looks like a cat, right? A cat with a very pointy goiter.

More stuff about my living room

2010-03-19T00:48:00.006-06:00

We've been married for nearly six years, and we just barely bought our first piece of brand-new furniture. No joke. I'm sure I've mentioned before that all of our furniture was either thrifted or gifted. It always seemed a little pointless to me to fix up an apartment that seemed like such a temporary home. (Not to mention that I hate spending money on things that aren't essential. Which might change if we ever have extra money lying around. Someday.) Well. Six years later...We got a new entertainment center:

And I painted our old, ugly corner-shelf to match it:

Don't they look nice together?I mean, besides the fact that I need to rearrange our wall decorations, now. But I think it's quite an improvement.
This is what it used to look like: (Bonus: a little baby Anicka!)What you can't see in that picture is that there was an equally mismatched media tower on the other side of the television. Ugly. I hated that there was nowhere to keep the dvd player or the dvr on the dinky little table that held our tv. So most of it went on the corner shelf, (which you can't really see in that picture, but trust me, it was cluttered and awful). But now it's all contained in one lovely place, and my corner shelf has been freed up for nicer things.
We also got a new cover for our couch, and I made some pillows to dress it up:
I can't bring myself to buy a new couch just yet. Our old one works fine, it's just a little bit ugly. See?Cute baby, ugly couch.
But a couch cover makes a huge difference.

I'm thinking about painting this little mosaic table to match the corner shelf, but I'm not sure if that would be overkill. What do you think?:

Too much matchiness? I'm not sure. There's that beautiful vase again, though. The one that I'm 'borrowing' *wink wink* from Eric. This month it's dressed up with flowers to celebrate Spring. (Which officially starts tomorrow! Woot!)
And, can you see the print leaning up against it? That some of Randi's photography. She's pretty awesome at it.
Anyway. I suppose that's enough rambling for now. *sigh* Hopefully one of these days I'll have a lot of fun decorating a house.

Photo Tag

2010-03-18T20:21:00.007-06:00

So. I was catching up on my blog reading a couple of days ago (sorry guys, I've been busy) and realized that my buddy Randi tagged me. Like... a month ago. My bad. But here we go, a month later:
For this tag you have to take pictures of the following things, as-is. No cleaning up allowed. Yikes. Luckily I did this on a pretty good day. (I actually took all of these pictures on Tuesday, but just barely found the time to put them up.) Sorry for the bad lighting in the photos but, well... there's bad lighting in our place.

Your Favorite Room:
Probably the living room, since we spend most of our time in here. It's the t.v. room, the computer room, the dining room, and the biggest room in the apartment.

Plus, we've been slowly fixing it up, since it's the first thing you see when you walk in the door. But I'll talk more about that tomorrow, or else this post will be too long to handle. And just so you don't think it's always this clean, here's what it looked like when I got home from YW last night:

Next up is the Bathroom:

(Lucky it was clean today!)
And then the Laundry Room which was... um... less clean. So instead, here's a picture of the laundry room in my dream house:

Did you enjoy that nice distraction? Good, because you're not getting a picture of my laundry room. I'll give you a hint, though. It doesn't look anything like THAT. ^

Favorite Pair of Shoes:

Those would be my Mohops, which my husband bought me for our anniversary last year. Because he's awesome.

Self - Potrait:

(ugh, no make-up)
It's hard to get a picture of yourself in mid-air...

Refrigerator:

I hope this means the outside of my fridge, because that's all you're getting. Hah!

Closet:

Kitchen Sink:

What Your Kids are Doing Now:

Eating some dogs in a blanket. :)
And I'm going to tag Ashlie, Tiffany and Brooke. :)

Artistic Inspiration

2010-03-15T23:24:00.001-06:00

I want to be like Alisa Burke when I grow up. For real.

Barely a blog post at all...

2010-03-09T17:22:00.006-07:00

...but I feel as if I need to update this page with something. So.

What Anicka is Currently Obsessed With:

Littlest Pet Shop
Rhyming ("Mom, these all rhyme! Listen: dog, frog, log, bog, sog, rog... are those real words? What rhymes with puppy? Shmuppy? Is that a real word?")
Writing and Mailing Letters
Turning Five (which happens next month)
Wearing Makeup

What Ryker is Currently Obsessed With:

Cars
Choo Choos
Copying Everything his Big Sister does
Learning New Words (and repeating them over and over and over)
Tea Parties (No, really.)

Catharsis

2010-02-25T18:26:00.004-07:00

There is soft wood on the back of a dresser,
nearly hidden from sight,
where I gouged out a scar, a blemish,
and left a raw open wound in its place.
I carved my name beneath it,
claiming this bit of your history
for myself.

And it felt like freedom.

Soundtrack to my day

2010-02-19T11:06:00.003-07:00

-Mama! Mama!
What?
CAR!
Yep, car.
Mama! MAMA!
What?
Ball!
Yes, that's a ball.
Mama! Mama!
What?!
BOOK!
Yes, Ryker. Book.
MAMA! MAMA!
WHAT?
...CAR!

*sigh*
I love this little booger, but I'm starting to go a little crazy.

Sunnier Days

2010-01-22T17:18:00.006-07:00

I am a big fan of rain. I'm loving the weather that we've been getting here the past few days. The kids haven't, so much. I've bundled them up and taken them out to play in the wet, but it doesn't take long before they get cold and whiny, and we head inside for a bath and warm pajamas. last Saturday, though, was a great day for a spur-of-the-moment picnic and a walk to the park.

Ryker spent most of his time running back and forth across the bridge (but every time I tried to take a picture he would stop, and hold very still).

And Anicka spent most of her time on the swing. I spent a little time on the swing, as well. :) (Hello, comfy jeans and worn-out tennis.)

Adam got some really fantastic pictures of the kids in the tunnel:
Seriously. So cute.

Blue

2010-01-13T12:55:00.003-07:00

I am always amazed to learn that there are people who still don't know what Etsy is.
Etsy, in a word, is AMAZING. If you like handmade goods, if you like one-of-a-kind pieces of art, furniture or clothing, if you identify with vintage style... then Etsy is for you.
It's is one of my very favorite places to shop. Now, if only I had unlimited funds, a house to decorate, and a closet to fill.

Here are some of the things that I'm coveting today:

1. Tree Pendant 2. Reupholstered vintage footstool 3. Bud Vase
4. Whale Painting 5. Hand dyed yarn 6. Navy Dress
7. Glass Vase 8. Knit neckwarmer 9. Pendant Beads

A beautiful day for a stroll

2010-01-12T23:58:00.004-07:00

the after party

2010-01-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

The day after Christmas, we went back out the my parents' house and I helped the girls decorate some itty bitty gingerbread houses. We've never done this together before, and I think they enjoyed it.

I know Ryker did. He managed to swipe a couple of cookies off of big sister's plate. Doesn't he look so pleased with himself?Here are the finished products:

And here is Eric's contribution:

I got the gingerbread and royal icing recipes from marthastewart.com, and they were delicious.

We spent a lot of time last week playing with the new games and puzzles that the kids got for Christmas... (The ladybug game, Jumping Monkeys, a memory matching game with pictures of our family on the tiles, a giant floor puzzle of the USA)...
We were having too much fun to take any pictures of all that. But, I think the main source of entertainment has been the Thomas and Friends railroad.

it's too bad that vacations can't last forever.

2010-01-05T11:01:00.011-07:00

I have been having too much fun the last few weeks to worry about blogging. Adam was able to take a week and a half off of work (with pay!) and we enjoyed every minute of it. Well... the one possible exception might be the day that we spent doing a deep clean of the apartment. Adam might not have enjoyed that quite as much as I did.
Christmas this year was fantastic.
Anicka was old enough that she remembered last Christmas and was excited for this one, and Ryker was old enough that he knew what to do with the presents that he was handed. The kids had a great time decorating the tree

Anicka was determined to wrap all of her gifts herself, this year. The only thing I was allowed to do was hand her precut strips of tape, since she still has a bit of trouble working the tape dispenser on her own.

As per tradition, we spent the night at my parent's house in Leeds. And by 'we', I mean 'everyone in the family', which is starting to become quite a feat. It's hard to sleep twelve people in a tiny, three bedroom house. But, as the saying goes, love grows best in little houses; and it's wonderful (and worth it) to have everyone together on Christmas morning.

I forgot to take pictures of most of the gifts that I made, but here are the pajamas that I made for Anicka: And the CD holder that I made for Evie's new car:

I used this tutorial from Puking Pastilles to make the CD holder.

And, lastly, here is Ryker devouring the first of about half a dozen of my mom's awesome cinnamon rolls that he ate over the course of the weekend.
Since there are already half a million pictures in this post, I will end it here and share more tomorrow.

the color of your eyes

2009-12-14T17:02:00.001-07:00

This is what's making us smile today:

Anicka loves this video, and so do I.
:)

Why my husband is the greatest - reason # 47

2009-12-06T11:12:00.002-07:00

How many dads can teach their kids to walk on the ceiling?

Adventures in Motherhood - Episode #3

2009-12-03T23:25:00.007-07:00

One day last month we went outside to play in the grassy area next to our apartment, and it was such a beautiful day that I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of the trees... because the leaves were finally starting to turn. That's quite an exciting thing for me. Autumn is my favorite season, and we don't get much of an Autumn here in St. George.

It was such a peaceful, beautiful afternoon. The kids even played together nicely for some time before their game of 'kick the ball' turned in to a game of 'keep the ball away from Ryker'.

At which point I interrupted the game with the suggestion that we go exploring. Ryker decided to lead the expedition.
They were quite exhausted after their mad dash across the lawn, and found a nice stump to rest on. 'Ahh, a photo op!', thought Mom. But Anicka was intent on having her 'favorite stick' with her in the photograph. I was able to get one picture without the stick, where they were both sort of smiling and had both eyes open...

before Ryker decided that enough was enough.

(Mooooom! Ryker's eating diiiiirt!)
And then the children went their seperate ways. Anicka decided to spend the remainder of our time outside in a deep, meaningful conversation with her stuffed dog.

And Ryker decided to try his hand at mountaineering. (Hey. A stump is tough business when you're still trying to figure out the whole walking-with-shoes-on trick.)

Once he had conquered the stump, He moved on to bigger and better things. Namely, the picnic table. His look of satisfaction was pretty darn cute.
As was his indignation when I so rudely removed him from the table. Ah, the heartache.

Halloween in December

2009-12-02T23:29:00.006-07:00

How sad is it that I'm only now getting around to posting Halloween pictures? Ah, well. life is busy, what else can I say? Anyway. (These pictures are just for you, my dearest Crystal. :D )

Halloween is my favorite. I can go all out on decorations and costumes, I get to try new things and let my creative side run wild... It's awesome. This year I made almost everything for our costumes. Anicka and Ryker were a Princess (Belle) and a dragon, respectively. And Adam and I went as Cleopatra and Marc Antony. My first idea was to go as Dr. Horrible and Penny, but I didn't think many people would know who we were. Anyway. Adam and I made the 'armour' out of cardboard, and I crocheted my wig and made all of the jewelry.

I made Ryker's costume out of a couple of blankets and a scarf from the dollar store. The cape/wings was my favorite part of his costume, but we couldn't get a good photo because this was about the happiest he was all night:

Here is Anicka's princess pose:
Her dress came from this:

Which I found at the D.I.
It was about three sizes too big, and pretty plain, so I spruced it up for her.
And here is a picture of the Three Musketeers, who had fun trick-or-treating together. Sienna is a ballerina and Kaycee is an old woman (complete with sagging bosom, though you can't see it in the picture):They are the cutest little girls on the planet, seriously.
Annnnnd, lastly, a few photos of our Halloween Decorations. There were the hanging bats in the window (can you guess which ones Anicka made?):

the pumpkins that we painted, plus Anicka's scarecrows (which she calls 'co-crays' for some strange reason) and her beloved stick collection:
our paper-bag pumpkins, which sadly looked more like orange pineapples:
and our cute ghost jars, which looked pretty sweet when they were lit up with glowsticks:

Well, folks. that is the end of my very verry verrrry belated Halloween post. Goodnight.

Organization on a dime

2009-10-15T11:48:00.005-06:00

Have you ever heard of Cansolidators? They look pretty handy, right? When I first saw them I thought that they would be the perfect tool for organizing our food storage. The problem is that the smallest ones cost about 30 bucks.
Each. Yeah.
I'm cheap. No, I mean really, really cheap. I've never spent more than 12 dollars for a pair of jeans. All of the furniture in our apartment was either gifted or thrifted. There's no way I'm going to spend 30 dollars for a little platic thing that organizes canned goods, no matter how handy it is. So, instead, I 'organized' our closet like this:

looks nice, right? Heh.
And then, one day I came across this amazing istructable about making furniture out of cardboard, and the wheels started to turn in my head. A quick Google search later, and I was looking at a tutorial about making your own cardboard can rotation system. Awesome! Adam made three of them for us. We didn't follow the diagram on the tutorial, instead using the measurements that worked best for us, but we did like their idea of using a tube of caulk (which we had on hand) instead of elmer's glue. The caulk dries much faster and leaves the finished product a bit sturdier. We also doubled up the cardboard to make sure that it didn't buckle under the weight of our canned goods. So now one small corner of my closet looks nice and tidy. Now I just need Adam to make about a dozen more...

While Adam was making food storage solutions, I made myself a shoerack. And because I just can't resist a chance to turn ANYTHING into an art project, I mod podged scrapbook paper onto it, and then painted it.

So an old diaper box went from this:

To this:

And the pile of shoes behind my door went from this:
to this:
Ah. Much better. As I was making it I had the idea of modifying it a little to make a doll house. You could mod podge pictures of furniture and art from magazines onto it, and make pretty rugs out of scrapbook paper... Anicka and I might be doing something like this together, soon.

And, lastly, here is my progress on my knitting:

It's coming along, slowly but surely. I've made a few mistakes, but overall I'm pleased with it. Hopefully I'll have myself a nice little scarflet in a couple of days.