Chart Follow Up

Last week I posted on my random find in the Target dollar section. Thank you for all your comments and ideas. I eventually made my way back to Target and bought myself more of the hanging charts because I simply couldn't choose just one use for it. I'm still doing a bit of plotting but I have some progress to share. So far I have used one for my menu, one for Elijah and one for Sam. I'm still planning on doing a Chore Chart and possibly a FHE one (yes I bought 4 more at Target, call me NUTS)

For each of my charts I utilized my handy thermal pouch laminator. If you do not have a personal laminator of your own, put one on your wish list! They are wonderful to have. Great for FHE lessons, charts, flash cards, primary etc. I got mine at Walmart for around $25 and it will laminate up to 8.5x11 sheets. Walmart sells 20 pouches for around $8. My exact machine is made by Scotch. There are many other options out there for laminators, some of them rather expensive, but you don't have to invest a lot to get a good result.

For my MENU chart I typed up the meals that we eat on a regular basis and included the major ingredients. The idea is that I will go through and pick out the meals for the week, post them on my handy chart and highlight any items that I need to pick up at the store. I laminated each of the cards so that I can use a dry erase marker on them to make notes on needed ingredients. I hung the chart at the end of my alley kitchen in plain sight. Hopefully there wont be any more "I don't know what to make for dinner" panic moments.

For ELIJAH's chart I laminated blank 3x5 cards and used a dry erase marker (they make washable ones, great for kids!) to write different words for him to learn to read (thanks for the idea mom). He got very excited and wanted to write some of them himself. I'm thinking we will work on them everyday for a week and then erase them and write new ones. This idea is likely to evolve as we use it. There is still room on his chart for more cards and I am thinking of taking a picture of a clean room and putting him in charge of keeping it cleaned up for the week. Another idea I'm still toying with.

SAM's is similar to Elijah's but I laminated smaller cards and wrote letters on them for him to recognize and match the upper and lower case letters. I hung the boys charts in their room and I think we will work on them in the morning and before bed.

Thanks again for all your ideas and sharing in the creativity!

Radical Redbox

Josh and I often rent movies from our local Redbox. We rarely make it to the movie theaters so we wait for the movies to come out on DVD and then rent them for a dollar a night. I'm sure many of you have heard of and probably used your own local Redbox's found at McDonald's, Walmart and even some grocery stores. BUT if you aren't using their internet options, you are missing out on the full beauty of the Redbox.


It's amazing, you get the urge to watch a movie, you sit down at your computer, go to redbox.com and instantly you can search by movie or redbox location. It will tell you what movies are available and where AND then you can reserve it ONLINE. You simply create a log in, enter your credit card info and the movie is reserved. Then all you have to do is pick up the movie at your own convenience knowing that the movie you want is saved just for you. Simply swipe the same credit card at the correct redbox and out pops your movie. If you can't make it or forget to pick up your movie Redbox charges you for one night and makes the movie available for rent the next day.


Many times I'll get the urge to rent a movie early in the day, reserve it online, and Josh will pick it up on the way home. Easy!


Anyway, Josh and I got one such urge to watch a movie last night on our newly upgraded TV (we have finally graduated from 13"-land) and on a whim rented Eagle Eye not knowing anything about it other than what info Redbox had online. It turned out to be a great movie! It's a really good conspiracy movie and we really enjoyed it. The storyline keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat. There are two characters who are "enlisted" to do a mission for some unknown person who knows everything about them and is able to manipulate technology to do just about anything. If you are in the mood for a great action movie check out Eagle Eye.

New Year, New Look

It is hard to believe that I have been doing this blog thing for a YEAR now! I've learned a lot about blogging in that year. I've journaled and linked and uploaded pictures and videos and now I have quite a collection of posts in my archive. I've hesitated to change my boring, standard blog template for fear of loosing all my link lists and side bar information. It wasn't until today that I realized that if I used one of the templates that is simply an html gadget that I wouldn't loose anything. DUH! Anyway, I'm toying with a new look but I'm tempted to utilize my new found (very basic) digital scrapbooking skills to come up with something original... we'll see.

Also, with the close of year I am wanting to some how make a hard copy of my old posts. I like the idea of putting it together into an actually book. Has anyone looked into or tried any of the websites out there that allow you to do this?

Eating Rubber

Elijah is becoming more willing to try new foods or at least take one bite of foods he claims he doesn't like. The other night I made Chinese Hot and Sour Eggplant for dinner (a very good recipe despite the story to follow). Neither of the boys were thrilled, but there was rice involved so they ate. I had added red pepper to the eggplant and we told Elijah he need to try a bite of either the eggplant or the pepper and we put both on his plate. He opted for the red pepper, liked it and eventually ate more. What really surprised me was that eventually he tried the eggplant too. Well, the eggplant skin for some reason, either that paticular eggplant or me not cooking it quite long enough, was a little bit squeeky against the teeth when you chewed it. That intrigued Elijah so he proceeded to chew the eggplant despite his original disdain.

After finally spitting out the eggplant Elijah exclaimed, "The eggplant squeeked on my teeth like when you put a bouncy ball in your mouth!"

mmmm, YUM

Game Review: Lost Cities

We received this game for Christmas from my parents. It is a two player card game that has has one a few awards, has many positive reviews and has been on the top seller list of Fun Again Games for months.

Josh and I have played it probably 5 or 6 times now and I will be honest the game has really frustrated me.

The rules are simple enough, game play is pretty straight forward, but the stragety was (and still is a bit) hard for me to figure out. I was extreemly frustrated that I kept loosing and didn't know why or how to change it. There is a lot of luck in the game as to what cards you end up with and if you don't get the cards in an ideal order you are likely not to do well that round.

I will say that once I got through my initial frustration I like the game. Josh even says he likes it better than Canasta, another 2 or 4 player card game. My need to figure out the best way to play has proved to be addicting and I can say I am getting better.

Overall, I recomend this game but be warned that there is a lot of luck involved in the game play and for those of us that like to have a little more control in a strategy game it may prove frustrating for awhile. (Though I don't think Josh ever got as frustrated with it as I did)

My Buddy

I am grateful for my little buddy, Sam.

Sam is out growing his nap and that means that Tuesdays and Thursdays while Elijah is in school Sam and I get to spend some one on one time together. The last few times we have been running errands together. Sam is the cutest little helper and a great shopper. He loves to just sit in the front of the cart and jabber to me and many of the people we past. He says "fast" and "slow" for how he wants me to drive; he comments on the colors of items and says whether he likes it or not; he says "Hi" to random people and always says "Bye" to the cashier. Overall it makes for a fun shopping trip and I am grateful to have the cute little guy with me and I am grateful for his friendly example.

My little Christmas Elf

Elijah's preschool put on a Christmas program at our stake center. Elijah was super excited about it for weeks and he sure didn't disappoint come performance day. Call me a little biased, but he was the cutest little elf, BY FAR!

Their first song was "'Til Winter Comes". The school director does daily music time with the kids and has created her own selection of songs that the kids love to sing and dance to while she plays the guitar.

The second song they did was "Jingle Bells". I guessed they would be doing this song because Elijah has been singing it a lot at home, even the "dashing through the snow..." part. When it came time to perform though, it seems that all of the kids, Elijah included, forgot to sing. But they got the bell part down.

Elijah has been absolutely loving preschool! We had parent/teacher conferences in November and both his teacher and his teacher's assistant love him and consider him a great verbal model for the class. He is great at sparking class discussions with his thoughtful questions.

Creativity in Question

I found this at Target last week in the dollar section. It was just screaming with possibilities, the question is what exactly should I do with it?


It is a green canvas wall hanging that is 16" by 26" with 8 clear pockets in which there are white strips of cardstock each 2" wide. It came labeled as a schedule board.


Some of the ideas that I have been throwing around include:

• a menu board
• activity planner
• projects list
• chore chart

I'm throwing the question out to YOU... any ideas on how you would use this? (and then you can run to your nearest Target and nab one for yourself, you might just see me there!)


PLEASE SHARE!





Side note: for those of you bitten by the annual get organized aka dig yourself out of the Christmas-created clutter, Target also had some darling cardboard magazine file boxes in their dollar section.

The Sounds of Gratitude

I am grateful for Saturdays...

This morning I woke up to the subtle (and some not so subtle) sounds of my three boys cooking breakfast in the kitchen. There was Josh giving directions on what and when to add stuff to the bowl, Elijah jabbering constantly with inquisitive questions and random insights, and Sam excitedly using his FINALLY growing list of words including "Faffle" "'poon" "s'ir" "hot" "on" etc. I lazily laid in bed enjoying the peace of the moment to actually think (imagine that!) and be grateful.

That is why I'm grateful for Saturdays.
(That, and Josh is cleaning the bathroom as I type this!)

Take a deep breath---and just dive in

Long time no see!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I'm sure some of you are wondering where in the world I have been. Well, we made our annual 2+week trip to Utah for the holidays and thus I was mostly AFK (gaming term for "away from keyboard" for those lucking enough not to know the lingo). We got home Sunday night but I'll be honest and say I've been avoiding blogging. With the things that have built up, like all the holiday news and events, I have been waiting for the perfect moment to regurgitate it all for your reading pleasure. Unfortunatly days have passed and the ideal moment has not come along. So I sit here writing while my husband and two year old mess up the kitchen making dinner just to let you know that I'm alive and well and I am still planning on keeping my blog up and going.

I will say that we did have a wonderful trip seeing family and friends. I love the holdiay season because it's all about FAMILY, and it is one of the few occasions when all of Josh's family is in town at the same time. Elijah and Sam had such a great time with their grandparents, aunts and uncles. It was so hard to pull them away from them. We were lucky enough to have storms come through that initiated us to leave a little earlier than planned and stay a little longer than planned. I'm sure the extra time with family was appreciated by all.

I am so grateful for the blessing of family- my little family, the family I grew up in, and the family I married into. Their unconditional love supports me and sustains me even from a distance. I am grateful for the Christmas season and the opprotunity it gives me to focus my thoughts and efforts more on my Savior and the special gift of His birth and life. I am grateful for childhood and the wonder and joy of seeing life through the eyes of my children. I love sharing that joy with our extended family. I am grateful for the New Year and the symbolism of renewal and the resolve to change. (Expressing gratitude is a renewed goal of mine)

Well, I'm still trying to dig myself out of the residue of Christmas decorations and chaos. After I do I have a few projects and cute pictures to share!

Edible Snowflakes

I've done a fair amount of blog surfing lately so I don't remember where I got this idea BUT I did it today and I had to share it.

You will need:
Tortillas
Cinnamon and Sugar
Oil

For my tortillas I buy the fresh, uncooked ones at Costco. If you have never had these you are missing out. Fresh tortillas are wonderful, soft, and melt in your mouth. Perfect for tacos, egg rolls, floutas, chimichangas, etc... If you don't have fresh tortillas you can use the store bought ones. You will need to heat them a bit in the microwave or get them a little wet so that they don't break when you fold them.

Fold your tortilla in half, and in half again. Cut it like you would a paper snowflake with your kitchen scissors. I made triangle cuts on all three sides.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet. While the oil is getting hot mix your cinnamon and sugar together. Make sure you have everything ready before you put the tortillas in the skillet, they cook lightening fast!

Once the oil is hot, put in a tortilla, flip it, and remove it to a paper towel covered plate. Sprinkle immediately with cinnamon/sugar.

Eat them warm and yummy! They even sparkle like snowflakes. Mine didn't last around long enough for me to take a picture of them.

Star Wars Tribute... Needs your VOTE

Check out this video performance of a Star Wars Tribute by an acapella group called Moosebutter. A friend of ours is one of the group members who helped write and sing this song. It's quite a creative song.

After you see the movie and have the song stuck in your head go vote for it for the CBS People's choice award.

1.Go to http://www.pcavote.com/

2. Enter the security code

3. Look at the nominations for 'user generated videos' and pick one (the video's appear in the next set so click "next set")

Enjoy and thanks for voting!

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I need to Clarify: The person in the video is actually lip-singing the song. The actual voices you hear are from the group Moosebutter, one of which used to be in our Ward.

Did you VOTE? you can vote again! EVERYDAY

Deck the Halls

I've also been busy transforming my home with my Christmas decorations. I LOVE Christmas lights all over my living room. Thanks to the boys I have them on all day and I love it! I also have nativity scenes all over of various sizes. I'm a big fan of the Little People nativity. My kids love playing with it. They have new additions to the set availible this year that I have been drooling over (hmm... after Christmas sales, maybe). I've also been busy making stuff for family and friends with more to be made, I hope I get it all done. Maybe I'll actually finish my Christmas stockings this year. Here are some pictures I took today using the candlelight mode on my camera and descriptions of some of my decorations. I love the way the camera mode captures the "mood" of the Christmas lights.

I have a collection of Christmas books that I get out every year and add to most every year. I wrap them up and the boys get to open a book (this year one each) every day and we read them before bedtime. I have them tucked under my large buffet with icicle lights amungst them. I also have my big ceramic nativity lanterns on either side with some lights tucked in them.

I have many of my nativities on a tall black shelf. The lower shelves have nativities for the children to play with including the Little People one. The Christmas plates are from a yearly series, one from the year I was born and one from the year Daniel was born.

We finally decorated our tree last night. It has been up for about a week without anthing on it but lights. The picture is what the result was with the kids doing a majority of the ornaments. I have yet to move any of them around, and I'm not sure I even will.

Christ is the reason for the season and my Christus statue is displayed near the front door. It is because He lives that we have reason to celebrate His birth.

I'm very fond of my Willow Tree nativity and it sits front and center on top of my buffet.

MIA... playing catch up

It has been a long while since I have really posted to this blog. A lot of my time has been sucked up with the Christ Centered Christmas blog. If you haven't checked it out recently, I will say you are missing out. My mom and I are adding new stuff regularly and thanks to sugardoodle and my new button the word is getting out there. I'm very excited about it! There are also new recipes up on Everyday Recipes including a really yummy recipe for Strawberry Cream Puffs.

Thanksgiving was wonderful other than we were unable to go to Utah and see our families. My dear friend Christina was able to come out, kid free, and we had a grand girls weekend. Thanks Josh for watching the boys! We basically ate and shopped the entire weekend and had a lot of fun. Thanksgiving dinner was made by my amazing husband. Everything turned out so delicious and we timed it pretty well. We had some friends over from our ward and they brought the most wonderful recipe for sweet potatoes with a coconut topping (I'm still working on getting the recipe, I'm not usually a fan of sweet potatoes but these were SO good). We just lounged around the afternoon, looking at Black Friday ads and plotting the next morning. Sam was so tired he fell asleep in the middle of the living room floor amidst all the bussle with his bum in the air. I was worried he would have a hard time going down. We had transfered him to a toddler bed the weekend before and he takes advantage of the new found freedom of being able to leave his room when he is supposed to be sleeping. The poor kid was so tuckered out like the rest of us after such a large Turkey dinner, that my problem was solved.

A couple nights ago the boys decided to sleep together in Elijah's bed. Melt my heart CUTE! Most of the time they just play together and make a mess in their room when they are supposed to be sleeping (Sam did it until 9:30 last night) but there are those rare nights when they are just cute and go to sleep so well.

One of the random things I picked up at Walmart on Black Friday was a Eureka lightweight vacuum cleaner. It was $9 bagless, lightweight, telescoping handle, lime green vacuum so I grabbed it. I love it! Mind you it is not a Dyson (which I also drool over) but it is so light and agile that I can whip it out and get most of the mess off my floor in nothing flat. Another big plus is that my boys love it. Unfortunatly I have yet to have them push it around while it is on, but they are practicing by running it along the floor. The telescopic handle makes it the perfect size for them. Sam is really good at moving the chairs around to get under the table. I'm trying to catch a video of them doing it. I'll post it when I do.

Elijah has been making more labels. The other day he asked me how to spell butterfly. I then found that he had done some other labels by himself and that Sam had gotten in on the action and done one too. I think it's great practice to get Elijah to learn how to control and contain his letters while writing.

We had a really cold day last week. Temps in the teens with powder snow on the ground (and all over my car). We trudged out in it because Elijah need to go to school. When I got home to put Sam down for his nap and took his hat off I had to grab the camera and get a shot of his crazy hair. He was less than pleased with me, but what else are mom's for.

Giveaway WINNER

Sorry I'm a little late doing the drawing and it has been awhile since I have posted anything at all. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of eating and shopping. The last few days have been the after vacation low. Yesterday was a crazy day full of Christmas decorations, a disastorous house and Enrichment stress. Today started off with a call to poisen control because Sam smeared diaper rash cream all over his face, ears, and hair getting it into his eyes and possibly eating some of it -oh joy-, but things have settled down enough for me to announce the drawing for the crocheted monkey.

Drum roll....

Elijah assisted me in drawing the number and the winner is Maren!

Send me an email, Maren, with your address and you will soon have a little monkey for one of your darling girls.

I appreciate those of you who commented and I know there were many more who didn't. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and friends.

The Christmas season is now in full swing! Sugardoodle has put the Christ Centered Christmas blog on her Random 10 list and we have been getting a lot of hits. It's pretty exciting. One of the links on her random 10 is to a photoshop template for a photo book using the Family Proclamation. It's free to download and pretty amazing. I got into a little bit of digital scrapbooking to do the banner for Christ Centered Christmas and was excited to see these templates that all you have to do is add your photos and then print it through one of the many photobook sites online. It would make a great gift, though I'm not sure there is time to get it done before Christmas.

Visitor Appreciation GIVEAWAY!

Sometime in the near future (most likely today) I will top over the 5000 visit mark since I started this blog in January. I know that many of those visits are my own mother but by far not all of them. I would like to share my appreciation to all of you who pop into my life every once in a while. I like knowing that you are checking in on me.

Here is your chance to make yourself known!

I have decided to do my first ever giveaway in honor of my 5000 visits. If you are reading this you have a chance to win! I have lovingly made this adorable crochet monkey that will go to one lucky commenter. To enter leave a comment letting me know you were here. Make sure that I can track you down either by blog address or email. I will take comments until Monday night, December 1st. Tuesday I will draw a name and notify you of the winner.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Have a happy day and a great Thanksgiving Holiday!

Black Friday Sales

For those of you gearing up for the sales this Friday there are some websites out there that are posting Friday ads already. Black Friday 2008 has Ad Scans for many stores. They also have a lot of information about pre-Black Friday sales and items that are already priced at Black Friday prices. Check it out, make your lists, and check them twice! There are some great deals to be had.

Sam the Helping Man

Sam has become quite a helper around the house lately. Last week he discovered that he could get the broom out all by himself. He then preceded to sweep (aka push around) all the floors in the house, carpet included. He was even thorough enough to move all the chairs and push around under the table (which happens to be carpet). He was really good at hitting the walls with the long handle of the broom while pushing around all the crumbs in the house.

Last week he also helped me with the laundry. I handed him a pair of my shoes (my nicest pair, I might add) to take from the living room into my bedroom. He promptly disappeared and I assumed he had completed the job as asked. Later that night, after I had run a load of laundry, I discovered my shoes soaking wet in the washing machine having gone through a complete cycle. Not the recommended way to get your shoes clean, by any means, but my helper made sure that his mommy would have clean (and wet) leather shoes.

Funny stories aside, Sam really is a good helper. He is always willing to set the table, loves to help stir anything I'm making (and unfortunately insists on doing it even over the stove), helps me find his shoes and my keys, and much more. He's turning into such a big boy and I'm very grateful for my little buddy and helper.

Coupon Organizing

Recently my sister in law was initiated into the world of coupon clipping. I was writing a long comment on her blog then decided I might as well post it here complete with pictures.

I have been clipping and using coupons for about a year and a half, off and on. There is a kind sister in my ward that is crazy about coupons and has shared her know how. She helps watch the grocery ads locally and lets us know if there are any great deals and what coupons might be available. Until recently I was using the same method of coupon organizing as "the Pro" which consisted of a three ring binder with baseball card sheet protectors and dividers. The sheet protectors allow you to easily flip through your coupons and see what you have. The down side for me was that it was so large to carry with me to the grocery store and because of this I didn't carry it with me regularly (a carnal sin for the avid coupon clipper).

A few weeks ago I read in some random place (blog or magazine, can't remember which) about someone using one of those cheap 4x6 photo album books to carry her coupons in. I jumped on the idea and conveniently had one such book lying around. I divided it into sections using labels folded in half as dividers and then slipped my coupons into the sleeves. Granted it can not hold as many coupons as the three ring binder method, but for me it is more readily usable and limits me from clipping coupons for things I really don't use. The book fits easily into my purse/bag where it stays unless I'm adding new coupons or using it in the store, thus it is always accessible. I can also easily hold it in my hand while going through the store. Because of the smaller size I have labeled some pages specifically for certain brands that I get coupons for often ie. general mills cereal, Pillsbury, Loreal makeup, etc. If I see that brand is on sale I can easily pull out all the coupons in that specific sleeve and pick out the ones that apply.

Overall this new system is currently working well for me. Ultimately it comes down to you finding something that works for you and your particular style and needs.

As far as coupons go... I subscribe to one paper and get coupons on Sunday with a single duplicate packet on Thursday. I check http://www.boodle.com/ regularly for coupons that you can print off online. It allows you to print two of each coupon per computer (ie. I can print two of the General Mills cereal coupons off of my desk top and two off of my laptop even though they are using the same router). Also many stores will take expired coupons up to a month past date (depending on the store and the cashier) and you can combine store coupons with manufacture coupons, especially wonderful at Walgreens.

Please share any tips or ideas you have gained from your experiences.

Happy coupon clipping!

Elijah is 4!

It occured to me that I haven't posted pictures of Elijah from his birthday yet. It is amazing to me that he is actually four years old. The time has flow by so fast. He is a smart, sensitive, observent little boy and I am so grateful to be his mother.

He was so excited for his birthday and kept asking if it was the day yet for days before. He had to wait patiently though all the festivites of Sam birthday and the joint party before it was finally his day to turn Four. By then I was pretty partied out, and very caked out so we went to the store and Elijah got to pick out his own little cake and they wrote his name on it in Green (his most often favorite color that changes periodically depending on his mood). He was very proud of that little cake and excited to put in his special #4 candles. Sam was also very excited about the cake because by then he knew how all this partying worked. We sang happy birthday with the candles lit and Sam jumped the gun and blew out the candles before Elijah could get to them. We ended up doing a do over and that time (as shown in the video, sorry about the sound I seem to have a habit of covering the mic) Sam sang and pointed to himself claiming the song for himself.

Elijah and Sam are great buddies. They have become better friends in the last month or so and spend a lot of time playing together (about as much time as they spend fighting with each other). They do the sweetest hugs with each other that often end in a giggling mass on the floor. It is wonderful to see them love each other so much.

Blues Clues Birthday Party Plan

There are a lot of websites with ideas for Blues Clues parties and I thought I would share what I narrowed it all down to.

First off, Nick Jr. has an amazing site with all kinds of Blues Clues printables and activities. If you have a child into Blues Clues you have to check it out! They have many things like calendars, charts, books, cards, etc.

Invitation:
-Printed from Nick Jr.

Decorations and Such:
-Chalk Paw Prints on the sidewalk leading to our apartment
-Blue balloons and streamers
-Blues Clues Ears (pattern below)
-Blue dog nose painting
-Mailbox (I used our little tikes mailbox to deliver a message with their Handy Dandy Notebooks to the kids from Blue)
-Blues Clues Coloring pages
-Dog bowls (from the dollar store)
-Handy Dandy Notebooks (sold at some party stores, I got mine off eBay)

Games:
-Pin the Paw on Blue (four page poster you print online; I printed extra pawprints for Blues Clues game)
-Blue Says (like Simon Says)
-Doggie Doggie where's your ball? (original game uses bone but we didn't have one)
-Blues Clues -like on the movies looking for three clues

Activity:
-Blue Gak (recipe below)

Food:
-Hot Dogs wrapped in bread dough to look like bones; I found some mini hot dogs (a little bigger than the little smokies)
-cereal for dog food; used Captain Crunch
-fruit
-Blues Clues cake (curse of my existence, I HATE frosting!)
-Ice cream with blue sprinkles (which I forgot the sprinkles)
-Blue Gatorade

Party Favors:
-Small Playdough picked up at after Halloween sales
-Glow sticks; also from Halloween sales
-Stickers
-Paw Print Oreo Pop (see below)

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I had seen in the store and online super cute blue dog ears for the children to wear. The one's in the store were expensive and the patterns I found online used either paper or foam. If I was going to spend time making them I wanted these ears to last at least as long as the party. My mother and I thought about using felt to make some ears. While I was mulling over the fabric at the store I noticed the fleece and that got my gears turning. It turns out that I had picked up a scrap of blue fleece at a garage sale this past summer. With that scrap of fabric this is what I came up with (and wish I had).

Blues Clues Ears

Need:
Piece of fleece with selvage edge wide enough to go around a child's head (22 inches or so)
Sew on Velcro
Good fabric scissors
Thread


With fleece there is a stretchy side and a not so stretchy side.

*Cut 2 inch x 22 inch* wide strips with the long side being the non-stretchy side (the one thing I wished for was that my scrap of fabric had been 3 inches or so longer. I had 19 inches which was a bit tight for the 4 year olds' heads, I ended up making extensions. Measure a child's head to see how long you really need.)

* Cut out an ear pattern out of paper. There's no right or wrong here but use most of an 8.5 x 11 sheet to do it.

*Cut two ears out of you fleece using your ear pattern. If there is a right and wrong side to your fleece be sure to flip the pattern for one ear.


*Cut two inch pieces of both sides of the Velcro. The two inches allows some adjustment to each individual head.

*Sew one piece of the 2 inch Velcro on one end of the fleece strip. The 2 inch length should be along the longer length of the fleece strip and in the middle of the strip near the edge (see above picture)

*Sew the second piece of Velcro onto the other end on the opposite side of the fabric. When the two pieces of Velcro are brought together you should have a circle headband.

*Measure wear to put the ears with the Velcro together, fold the band in half with the Velcro in the middle on top. The fold on either side is where you can put your ears. Pin them into place making sure they are both on the same face of the fabric and pointing the same direction.

*Sew around three sides of the ears on the band. I guess you could sew around all four sides attaching it to the band but I guess I was lazy.

*Tada! you are done. Make sure you have you camera ready because you are in for some super cute pictures!

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Blue Gak Recipe

There are a lot of recipes out there for Gak on the internet. This is the one we used and we all had great fun with it, especially the adults.

Borax can be found in next to the laundry detergent (Safeway carries it). I have a HUGE box so if you need some and live in the area, please give me a call!

2/3 Cup Elmers Glue
1/2 Cup Warm Water
Food Coloring of your choice
Combine in small bowl

1/3 cup HOT water
1/2 Tbs Borax
Combine in DIFFERENT bowl

Then combine the two containers and stire the mixture very well.
Store in an air tight container.

We used straws to try and blow bubbles with the Gak. Very amusing!

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Paw Print Oreo Pops

My mother pointed me to this blog where she shows you how to make Oreo Pops. They are super cute and great for any occasion. In a moment of inspiration I thought maybe I could make these pops into paw prints for the kids. I used white chocolate to dip the oreos and imediately after dipping them stuck 4 Dots candies on the top for toes and sprinkled the cookies with rainbow sprinkles. There was a mixed initial reaction as to what they were supposed to look like but I thought they turned out cute.

Blues Clues Birthday

Elijah and Sam (Sam especially) are really into Blues Clues. It's one thing they both agree on so for their joint friends birthday party this year we went with a Blues Clues theme. The party was a success!

The day started off with pancakes (like most Saturdays) but we added a little twist to these pancakes. We poured them in the shape of Paw Prints in honour of the party day.

For the party we had two families over that each have two kids my boys' ages. The kids were so cute in their dog ears and painted noses and we all had a lot of fun. By far the biggest stress was the cake (I have frosting issues!) but other than that everything went pretty smoothly.

Sam was glued to his Handy Dandy Notebook. He spent the entire party with that notebook in his hand wandering around the house looking for clues and he was pretty good at spotting them too. He was pretty serious about the whole thing and super cute. Elijah actually did well at drawing the clues in his notebook. You can actually tell what they are. He's becoming quite an artist.

Thank you mom for all your help. Thank you friends for sharing in the festivites with us, you made it so much fun.

The details and party plan are in a post to follow soon!

Free Shipping

I am a big fan of online shopping. I find it less stressful and easier to find the best deal without even leaving my own home -which is a big deal with two small children. I have most (not all, I'm holding out to see what Black Friday deals might be irresistable) of my shopping done and all of it was done online. Anyway, shipping can make or break a deal when it comes to shopping online. Hopefully with gas prices coming down -locally ours finally made it under $2- shipping costs will come down too. Meanwhile I came across a website called FreeShipping.org. The website points you to those online stores who are having shipping promotions and provides you with the coupon code if you need it. Pretty cool!

Just throwing it out there!

Check out Christ Centered Christmas for ideas on how to focus your gift giving and keep the true spirit of Christmas.

Good luck with the Christmas shopping.

Just like Grammie

While my mother was here Sam noticed her book and glasses on the couch and proceeded to mimic his Grammie reading. He was also willing for me to take a lot of photos of him being as cute as can be.

p.s. that's my afghan on the couch. It is basically done. I still have a few threads to hide and I need to wash and block it. But the crochetting is all done!!

Sam's 2 Years Old!

Sam absolutely loves making pancakes and waffles for breakfast with his daddy. We spiced up the pancakes for his birthday by adding blueberries. Sam is getting super independent. He wants to put the syrup on, smear it around, and cut the pancakes all by himself. He does a fairly good job but comes out very sticky!

Sam also helped me make cupcakes for his birthday. He is totally hands on in the kitchen. Both Elijah and Sam enjoyed putting the sprinkles on the cupcakes. They especially loved eating them after Sam's dinner of choice, Little Ceasers Pizza, which he got to go get alone with daddy. He's got the blowing the candles thing down (in fact when it came time for Elijah's cake Sam jumped the gun and we had to do it over again so Elijah could blow them out).

Sam's also got the unwrapping present thing down. He was very good a ripping all the paper off and his reactions were super SUPER cute. Below is a video of him opening his new baby. He is the sweetest boy with it. He hugs it and kisses it, tucks it in, wraps it in his blanket, etc... It melts my heart.

It is so hard to believe that my baby is all grown up. Elijah was his age when Sam was born! Time flies so FAST! I am so grateful to have sweet little Sam in our family. He is such a blessing and brightens every day.

Birthday Week

This week has be a week full of birthday celebrations. I have had enough birthday cake to last me til next year! We had Sam's birthday, then a joint Blues Clues party, and then Elijah's birthday; each with their own cake and presents. The boys have had great fun with all the festivities. To make the week even better, my mother was able to come out and share in the fun. The boys were super excited to have her here and we were sad to see her go this evening.

I have gobs of pictures to go through. I think I have over two hundred photos! So needless to say I have some weeding down to do, and slide shows to make, before I post about everything here.

But to appease those who have been waiting patiently to see pictures here is a darling video of Sam and Elijah playing with the Playskool Honeybee Hop. The idea is that the bee goes around and they are supposed to jump over it. It even plays Flight of the Bumblebee at two different speeds. Well, watch the video to see what the boys end up doing.

It's like a mini dog track for toddlers. Sam is especially funny to see running around with his little elbows pumping. They do this over and over and over. I got 10-12 video clips of them doing it today (I know it's pathetic) and they played with it a lot yesterday too. It's great; it wears them out. I can see this being a lifesaver this winter, if it survives that long.

Check in later for more stuff on the boys. Thank you to everyone who made my boys' birthdays happy.

Birthday Festivites... Coming

We have been having a week of birthday festivites. I know there are a least a few out ther biting at the bit waiting for birthday pictures.

THEY ARE COMING! and well worth the wait!

New Blog: Christ Centered Christmas

I, partnered with my mother, have added another blog to my author list. This one is focused on Christ Centered Christmas traditions. My mother and I have been brainstorming, plotting, writing, and editing and now I think we are to the point where we can open this project up to the general public. Keep in mind it is a work in progress but I hope that you might find the information helpful in some way or another. If you have anything to add or come across something on the internet worth sharing, please let me know!

As my mother has been pumping out these posts it has gotten me really excited for the Christmas season. Josh is very adamant that it can't start til after Thanksgiving though. That gives me three weeks (the fourth week we will be in Utah) to implement these amazing traditions. I'm going to need all the time until then to plan them.

Here's to a well planned Christ Centered Christmas!

I Voted

(and copied Ashley's blog post idea)

Despite all the precedence of long voting lines and stress on actual Election Day, I put off voting until today. But happily there were no bumps (for me, Josh had a bit of a registration in the right district issue) and no long lines. It was a pretty stress free event. The stress was all the time up to that putting up with the attack ads bombarding Colorado viewers, phone call after phone call (i got5 today alone) and actually deciding who I was going to vote for. I am happy to say that it is DONE and in the end I am grateful for the opprotunity to (go through the whole messy election process and) be able to vote and proudly wear my "I voted" sticker.

Tutorial Wish List

I have added a link list (at the bottom of the left column) where I have linked a bunch of the cool tutorials I have come across in my hours of aimless blog surfing. Many of the blogs I linked also have other great craft ideas. Be sure to take a peek if you are in the mood to try something new. I'm sure this will be an ongoing list so be sure to check it every so often.

Have a happy crafty Fall day!

Thankful Turkey Count Down

Tonight with it being Fast Sunday and Daylight Savings, we had dinner early and had time after dinner to do something as a family. I had read yesterday about a turkey feather countdown for Thanksgiving and decided it would be fun for the boys to make and do throughout the month. (I found the idea that you are slowly plucking the turkey in preparation for Thanksgiving to be amusing.) As I was getting my craft supplies out some popsicle sticks caught my eye and the gears turned from there. This is what we ended up making.

We ended up coloring enough popsicle sticks for everyday until Thanksgiving with markers to add color. It was something that Sam and Elijah could both do. I threw together a turkey head and feet and attatched them to a small teracota pot with hot glue. He's a bit of a funny lookign turkey, but you get the idea. The idea is that each day we will take out a "feather" and then write something we are thankful for on it and place it in a jar near by. There are also additional blank sticks in the jar for additional thankful notes.

Tonight Elijah picked the first feather and said "I am thankful for my SELF." So Elijah's name went down on a stick. Then Sam wanted in on the action and we put his name on a stick too. (That crazy kid can't say his name but he recognizes many letters and can SPELL his name, it seems a little backwards if you ask me.) Anyway, I'm excited for the opprotunity to share what we are grateful for as a family throughout the month. We truly have a lot to be grateful for.

I put a stick in tonight too. Mine said I was grateful for testimonies. Every first Sunday of the month members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the opprotunity to share what they know about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today's meeting was particularly moving. Strong witnesses were born, I felt the Spirit, and my own testimony was strengthened. There were a few children that bore their testimonies. It's kind of a Mormon joke that the kids always get up and say "I know this church is true, I love my mom and dad, I love my brother's and sisters... etc." But today it hit me differently. Last week I read an article by Elder Oaks of the Twelve Apostles titled "Testimony." He talks about how it is that we can KNOW.

"What do we mean when we testify and say that we know the gospel is true? Contrast that kind of knowledge with “I know it is cold outside” or “I know I love my wife.” These are three different kinds of knowledge, each learned in a different way. Knowledge of outside temperature can be verified by scientific proof. Knowledge that we love our spouse is personal and subjective. While not capable of scientific proof, it is still important. The idea that all important knowledge is based on scientific evidence is simply untrue."

Anyway, the talk goes into some good detail, but I was struck today by the simple connection of the love for our family and the love of our Heavenly Father. That we can come to know of our Heavenly Father's love and feel it- like and through the love of our earthly family.

There are many things that I do not know, but I DO know that there is a God and that he is my Heavenly Father, I am his daughter. He loves me, he knows me and he has provided a way for me to return to live with Him again. I know that Jesus Christ lives, that He is my Savior. The Atonement is real. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has His priesthood authority on the earth today. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I love my family and know that we can be together forever. And for this knowledge I am daily grateful.

my little Dino-mites

We had a great Halloween. We went to our ward's trunk-or-treat which turned out being a little slimmer than we anticipated (Halloween night probably being a factor in that) but there was enough of a turn out to keep the boys occupied and for me to bring home the extra chocolate. Sam was really into the trick-or-treat get candy part of the event even though the silly kid doesn't talk and can't say "trick or treat". Good thing Elijah is his side kick and does all the talking and they both got the goods.


















Our friends have the cutest little 11 month old and they came up with a super creative costume for her. She was a fire hydrant complete with leg lifted dog. It was the cutest thing to see her waddling around. Man, she makes me baby hungry! especially for a girl.