Temple Square

We went down to see the lights last night. And if I have any advice for you who haven't made it down, but will this week - make it there BEFORE the lights turn on. The parking lots were empty. We walked over to temple square, went to the visitors center for a little bit... listened to the Christus message, watched Luke 2, then went back outside where the lights had since come on. We were gone by 6:30 and there were lines of cars trying to find parking spots. I think we had like 6 cars waiting for our 2 spots. Crazy... Anyway, it was a little dark for my camera to take good pictures, so these will be the only ones I share...



And here is Chris' sister and her family. Thanks Mary for coming up and walking around with us!!

MOM! I'm ready to go outside!!!

Eli went outside one day with his Dad and nathan was over at the front door for a minute. Here is what comes around the corner LOL!

One glove, 2 boots (that were Eli's last year) and no clothes. Although I will admit the baby fat on this kid would keep him warm for a couple minutes, I did not let him outside like this.

cry with me...

Here is Eli's homework book that he has been working so hard on all year. He is done with it, but as you can see it is ruined. It fell out of his backpack when he was running up to the school one day and into the street... then the snowplow picked it up and dumped it at the end of the school driveway. I went the next day asking the teacher if she had seen it, or the office, or the the other kindergarten teacher. No one had, and so I was driving off to head home. I look over before pulling on to the main road and there sitting in the snowbank is a hint of light blue (the color of the cover) Sure enough there it is... I am so sad because I won't be able to save it for him! I saved a couple pages, but I'm still sad.





oh well.

Growing Up :(

Who allowed my children to grow up? I'll tell you one thing, it wasn't me. Both my kids have had moments where I think this isn't fair... you're supposed to be little.

Well, Eli is in kindergarten and they have a homework book with writing your letters, word families, and basic stuff like days, month, pledge of allegiance, address, phone # etc. He is passing it off today. There are like 75-80 words he has passed off that he can read (he still knows most of them, and the ones he has forgotten he can at least sound out... it's a work in progress). He was on his last one (months of the year) and he got it. Now that he is finished he'll come home with little reading learner books. I think it starts off pretty basic with words he already knows well, but they get progressively harder. I'm so proud of my little man.

And this little guy... he is now sleeping in a big boy bed. Ok, that's a little misleading. I took his crib mattress out of his crib and threw it on the floor. So he is sleeping on a mattress on the floor - but he is out of the crib! I wanted to make sure he was ready (before I put him in an actual bed for Christmas) and work out the kinks if necessary over the next few weeks. I'm probably jinxing it by saying this, but he has done so well!! He has taken one nap and slept through the night twice on the mattress. Today is nap #2 and hopefully it'll go just as smooth. Seriously as long as he has his little dog and pacifier he is good to go. The pacifier will have to go eventually, but when the kid actually wants to take a nap - why mess with success?

Quiet Book Part 2

I know, this is getting a little ridiculous, but I promise this is the last you'll hear about it... maybe. ;) It's 95% done!! Finished!! I can hardly believe it. Who knew that a project you started 3 years ago could actually turn around and be done. Hallelujah. Anyway, here are my updated pages. If you'll notice the pages are now sewn together and HOLES ARE PUNCHED!!!

So here is the cover. Keeping it simple. Because lets face it, the boys don't care.

My zipper success!! The book puckered a little, but I don't care. The zipper zips and that's all I needed. You can't see it, but there are actually stitches to show that its a book. That's why the words are offset a little. Didn't want to cover the binding... I'm such a loser.
I know you've already seen this one, but I just had to laugh. I didn't notice my oops until AFTER the holes were punched of course. I guess in this little fish land they'll have 2 suns. LOL!
Dinosaur land. It's a mountain range in black and water in blue if you can't tell.

The shirt or dress or whatever it is with the buttons and of course a football to tie a shoelace... ?

The finished zoo with elastic bars.

And this was a concept I came up with last minute. Since we have so much family dotting the country, I thought the boys should be able to see everyone whenever they want. Well, I divided the country in 2 - down the Mississippi. Then...

you lift the flap and underneath will be these (what started out to be picture frames and ended up to be just banners or something) pockets with photo album refills inside which will hold pictures of our family. Those who live on the east coast will have their picture in that pocket... you get the idea. Anyway, so I need pictures people! I've stolen a lot off facebook but if you don't want me to use those - email me one NOW! :) That's fair - right?
So that is it. The cover doesn't have holes yet because the 1st page is the Noahs ark which I still need to get the interior pattern for. I may start stalking the lady who started this whole thing if need be. Once that is done though, sew a couple pages together, poke 6 more holes and I can close this chapter of my life (for a month at least). I must say that for a quiet book i'm mildly amused at how "boy" it is. I mean, most of it is unisex - but at least to me, you can tell it was made with a boy in mind. Maybe it's the colors? Lots of black and blue? Also, now that it's tied up and done I'm starting to get lots more ideas for pages I want to do, but I ran out of the heavier weight fabric for the base of the page. Bummer huh?

Love it

So I went shopping on Black Friday. :) I know, crazy right? Well I got up at 4am and went to stand in line at Shopko. They had some fun appliances, a pots and pans set and a bunk bed... um, yeah I got everything. (Carrie, I bought a meat deli slicer!!!) So much fun! I bought a food processor which after the rebate will be $5, a new electric skillet, the pots and pans which were for camping while the extra griddle, and stock pot and roasting pan are for my kitchen... Let's see, I got a 30 piece tupperware set for $4, and a bunch of other stuff. Then I went to Kmart and then Target and picked up everything I need for Christmas for the kids. Except for a few extra little things for their stockings, I am done.

Now I'm starting to think about this new bunkbed. I paid right around $160 for it, but now I need to get Nathan a mattress and a sheet set/comforter, plus the side guard so he doesn't fall out. Yeah, that right there is going to cost more than the bed!! Which brings me to another question. Can you buy matching comforters? or are you supposed to get coordinating comforters? If getting the same quilt isn't ok, please tell me now. I'm actually looking forward to moving them together. I think it'll be a good learning experience for them. Learn how to work things out and get along (or fight through their issues) ;) plus it'll open up the bedroom downstairs. Can't wait.

Still working on the quiet book. Sewing day is Tuesday, so maybe in another week or two it'll be done. I actually sewed about 1/2 of the pages together. Now I need to punch holes in it for the rings. Any thoughts on how to do this? How do you punch a small hole through 2 and sometimes 4 layers of fabric? I'll have to post my east coast/west coast album page. Note to any family members reading this - please email me a photo of you and your family. If not, I will be stealing one from Facebook or my own photo stash. I want a picture of every family member in this book!! But if there is more than one person in the picture, make sure you live on the same coast. (the division is down the Mississippi) I'm actually impressed. We're fairly evenly divided with West vs. East. The East beats it out by a few in the end, but still. We quite literally have family EVERYWHERE. Anyway, that's all I had to ramble about. Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Things I am thankful for

One for every day of the month of November... or 30 in all.

I am thankful for my husband who puts up with me and my craziness
I am thankful for Eli and his love of learning
I am thankful for Nathan for his constant hugs and kisses
I am even thankful for my dog Sadie because she is so sweet
I am thankful for the gospel that makes me happy
I am thankful that we have a house to live in
I am thankful for the opportunity to stay at home with my kids
I am thankful that we are all healthy (in general and at the moment)
I am thankful for great friends who get me off my butt
I am thankful for challenges to make me stronger and help me see the other side of things
I am thankful for talents whether I admit to them or not
I am thankful that technology allows me to stay close(-er) to family and friends even when we are thousands of miles away
I am thankful for people I can count on no matter what
I am thankful to be able to pay all our bills and a husband who works hard to make that so.
I am thankful for my stake to remind me what I need to be doing.
I am thankful for moments alone when I can think and clear my head.
I am thankful that I have a job, and especially that I don't have to go in at the moment. It's a pretty awesome set up.
I am thankful for differences in others - whether its culture or point of view. I just love how we can learn from each other
I am thankful for the kindness of strangers
I am thankful for my education. I wasn't a fan when I was going through it, but I see the importance.
(the last 10 will be silly)
I am thankful for DVRs
I am thankful for friends who love to stay up until midnight with me to watch fun movies - even if I don't get to sit with all of them (we missed you Erica!)
I am thankful to Grandmas who teach me spinach triangles and shortbread...
I am thankful for Clorox wipes
I am thankful for girls night out (and a husband who stays home with the kids on said night)
I am thankful for sleep! although I never find enough of it
I am thankful for dark chocolate in all its forms
I am thankful for music that makes me want to dance (that counts as exercise - right??)
I am thankful for pacifiers that make naptime a breeze
I am thankful for wolfpacks. 'nuff said

My Quiet Book

Ok, so first off, I'd like to "thank" (notice it's in quotes) my sisters-in-law for wanting to get together to sew. I said 'no thanks' at first because, lets face it, I don't sew. Well, I had started this quiet book 3 years ago in hopes of making it for Eli. All I ever finished was making the little shapes and animals. So I went and figured out how to iron on the heat-n-bond stuff and Sara helped me figure out how to make my pockets. From then on, it has been all down hill. Some pages take an hour or two, some take ALL FREAKING DAY (that was just one). But it has been a lot of fun, and I've learned a lot too. I am no where near finished. This is just where I am today. I have until Christmas as this is now Nathans Christmas present. Once I'm done with all the pages, I'll sew them back to back and punch holes to make a three ring notebook.
Here are the first few... from an overview standpoint.
This was the first page I made. Again, the little fish were done years ago (they were traced on pellon) so all I did was sew the water, the sun, and the pocket.

This one is still largely undone. I have to cut out the Bible (it has a bit more shape to it than that), stick on the letters, and install the zipper. This will be on the agenda for Chris' sisters on our next sewing group. ;) There will be a pocket inside the book to house the Nativity pieces.
This is a zoo and it's not quite done. I just need to sew some thin pieces of elastic to make bars for the zoo cages. But I put the animals out for you to see. The pocket is in the tree
Obviously this one isn't done either. Anyone know how to sew a button hole? I don't. Again... for sewing group. The other half of this page will be a football or shoe (haven't decided) to tie a shoelace.

Train... pretty self explanatory

This to match your colors...

Noahs Ark is not even 1/2 done yet. It'll open up like a centerfold and on the inside is the inside of the ship with the barrels, and hay, and shelves and things. I'm still trying to track down the pattern for it. That little plastic bag in the picture has the rest of the animals. I just took out a few.
This one is the racetrack. The cars fit in the little elastics.
Nephis Ship Shapes (or something like that) Match the shapes...
This one was the bane of my existence. It didn't even turn out cute either!! oh well. I tried. It's a puzzle. The pockets on the left have the pieces, and you put them out on the board to the right.
Puzzle #1 the only one I remotely like...
Puzzle #2 I think I might chuck these next two and try again with something different.
Puzzle #3

Moving on!! This one turned out cute though.
So that's it. I still have the dinosaur page to do which is going to be a lot easier than I thought. My neighbor had started this along with me and offered her dinosaur pieces. So all I have to do is the background! Yeah!!! Thanks Kandice!! Then obviously finish the undone ones, and depending on how the whole button hole thing goes, I might do a garden where you button the flowers on the stems. I'd also like to do a children all around the world from different cultures page. Now I just hope the kids play with it!!

EDITED TO ADD:
Ok, so after I posted this I figured I'd get some flack for saying I wanted to throw away 2 of the puzzles. So I added some things to make them a little better. I still don't really like them, but I don't HATE them anymore... On the fish I added bubbles and plants and I filled the wings in on the bee and added a flower.
This is thanks to my niece Angie. :) She posted this link to a blog of a lady who made THE CUTEST playhouse that sits over your table http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/10/felt-playhouse.html. Anyway, this blog had a link from her quiet book to others and they had the idea to put plants on the fish... So I'll keep them I guess. No need to yell at me. ;)

And the best part is they are tested and approved by the puzzle man himself

My review of New Moon

No spoilers...

Alright, I feel like I need to start this off by saying I disliked the movie Twilight. I went to see it twice in the theaters last year and the 2nd time wasn't as bad as the first time, but I still didn't enjoy it. I watched it again yesterday just before going in to see New Moon and it wasn't as bad. Their acting didn't improve, but I tried to see their lack of chemistry on screen as intensity from Edward not wanting to kill Bella. It worked maybe a third of the time... So suffice it to say my hopes were not high for this next one.

Pleasantly surprised. The first 5-10 min Edward and Bella seemed to LIKE each other!!!! Amazing I know. There were still some stiff moments, but it was after Edward was realizing that he had to leave her, so it must be the way he acts. Bella isn't much better and when she collapses in the woods - I just wanted to laugh. She showed no emotion so she covered her face and pretended to cry. Once that was over though - Jacob and the wolves STOLE THE SHOW. I mean, he is supposed to - because it's New Moon, but I was not pleased when Edward returned. Alice and Emmett can stay - the rest of the vampire world can disappear. Lets just Edward has A LOT of ground to make up in the next movie to make us want him to win Bella. Then again Bella is so one-sided and unemotional anyway... her and Edward deserve each other. Jacob (or Taylor Lautner...) acted the part great I thought. He was alive and showed emotion. There was just no comparison. Robert Pattinson is 0 for 2 in my book.

So I liked the transforming into wolves and the wolves fighting, I liked the funny lines, I like that Charlie was comic relief, I liked to look at Paul... The scene with Edward frolicking in the forest about did me in. I still have it replaying in my head. I don't think it was meant to be funny, but it was hysterical! Bar none the stupidest scene I have seen in a movie EVER. And I loved it! But mostly just looking at Jake (after the hair cut) and Paul made the movie. LOL! (Paul is the hot-tempered wolf and also the one on the left in the picture above... with the abs)

So I guess when you compare it to Twilight it was REALLY good. When you compare it to Lord of the Rings or some other 'great' movie it was just ok. The Twilight fans will enjoy it and the husbands who are dragged there by their wives won't poke their eyes out. Now if they could just go back and start this series over with different actors (for Edward and Bella) life would be GRAND.

Other than Halloween

Life has been going pretty good. I don't think there is too much to report. Eli is doing awesome in kindergarten and he loves going every day. He makes the sign for 'I love you' as he waves bye to me. My heart just melts whenever I see it. Nathan has finally started to talk. He is in to repeating every word that comes out of your mouth. Most of the time its incoherent, but it's fun to finally here him say "Mommy, where are you?" or in a very commanding voice "Sadie go downstairs!!" LOL!


Hee Hee... love that picture. Anyway, moving on. Chris has been taking a fly fishing class through the city... or community... whatever. He is actually in the 2nd part of the class so they're doing a lot of field trips around the western US. This weekend he'll be in West Yellowstone, next weekend is somewhere in Idaho, he is been to a few places around here in Utah and he seems to really enjoy it.

As for me, my stake has been doing a 'Spiritual Season' and challenged us to study our scriptures and pray for 30 minutes a day, repent, attend the temple more regularly, serve our neighbors, get 100% home/visiting teaching etc. Now I'm always up for a challenge and felt like I needed a push. Man did I get it! Now its like everything I pick up has this amazing message and so much to teach me. I've been reading Believing Christ by Stephen Robinson who is an old professor I had at BYU. It's just like being in his class again, and trust me if it was possible for me to audit that class every semester for the rest of my life - I would! He is amazing.

It's funny because when I read all this stuff it's like everything just fits. It's like no matter what subject I'm studying, it somehow fits perfectly with what I learned about the day before or 3 days before or what I'll read tomorrow. Like I was reading about Love, and how when we truly understand what it means that Jesus Christ loves us then our priorities align and we want to love others and obedience is something we want to do, not what we have to do. Because if we say that we love Christ and don't follow him, then really we're just being a hypocrite.

Well, that seemed to fit in to my lesson I'm preparing for my YW class about supporting your family and your parents and brothers/sisters. It also fit with the Believing Christ book when he was talking about the Atonement and how we don't have to overwhelm ourselves with everything we feel we should do. (ie bake whole wheat bread, sew all our clothes, help all the kids with homework, do your geneology, write your missionaries, go to PTA meetings, do the housework... etc) you get completely overwhelmed and he says it's because you're trying to save yourself. You're not letting Jesus do his part. All we need to do is to build that relationship with Him so that we become 'one' (get it... At-one-ment) and we've made it. We're done. I don't know, I guess writing it out it doesn't really seem to mesh... but it really meshed in my head yesterday. It was fabulous. So I've been having fun.

I've also been sewing a quiet book for Nathan. I want to post some pictures one of these days, but I've still got to finish some things. I need to get some help from my sister in laws (the sewing queens) to help with some fairly basic things. A zipper, button holes... (scary!). Now I'm to the point where I wonder how much more I want to actually do. How many pages do I really need? Most of the pages aren't typical quiet book things either. There will be a zipper and buttons, and a shoelace, but the rest of it is just cute little animals that you play with at the zoo or on Noahs Ark or under the sea. Just fun stuff. :) Alright, my cookies are done so I'm off. Grandma, not sure whether to love you or hate you for teaching me shortbread. LOL! Everyone here loves them which is great... but then I eat way too many of them... not so great.

you mean I have a blog??

Who knew?? I literally just downloaded Halloween pictures two minutes ago. What a slacker Mom I am. So without further ado - here they are in all their costumed glory. And if you can't tell, Nathan is a giraffe, Eli is Spiderman and Chris is a vampire? ghoul? monster? Whoever he is, he scared the life out Nathan.
He is so sweet isn't he??

Grrr.... We're Men!
Scary Daddy and Eli

Off they go trick or treating...
So Happy Halloween 3 weeks late. They brought a ton of candy home and no one came to our house to take away the candy we bought. So we still have a lot leftover. Luckily it's all in the boys buckets so I try to keep it there. I feel bad stealing...

My baby is TWO

Nathan had his 2nd birthday yesterday. What a sweet boy he is. He had his doctors appt yesterday. He is 10% for height, 40% for weight and 95% for head. Yeah, that sounds about right. He has just recently started his tantrum phase, but I'll admit he hasn't been too terrible. I'm sure it will come. He still isn't much of a talker. I mean he babbles in his own speech, but doesn't say too many coherent words. Maybe a dozen or so. He does know body parts thought, and animal noises. He loves to play outside, get hugs from Eli, pet the dog (or ride her), play T-ball, soccer with his brother, climb on just about anything, make car noises when driving his cars, eat, and unfortunately watch tv. He is usually well behaved, but watch out when he doesn't get his way... It can get ugly. :) I just love my little man.

Here he is a two weeks old

One year

So anyway, yesterday Eli had a soccer game in the morning, so after that we all went out to lunch. Nathan needed a nap afterwards, but after the nap we took a trip to Chuck E Cheese to play some games. We had a cup full of leftover tokens from Eli's birthday, so it was a nice, fun and free afternoon. :) I'm not supposed to say, but Chris made this fire engine cake for Eli. I thought he did an awesome job. We don't own any cake decorating supplies, so for just a knife, I think he did pretty good. Nathan loves cars and trucks. A true BOY.



Ah yes, sticking his fingers in the cake. There was red frosting EVERYWHERE when he was finished.
Hmm... notice the different shirt...
And this is one of the toys he got. Its a Megablocks Tiny truck something or other. You can set up different tracks and even the case breaks apart and becomes part of the track. I thought it was kind of cute. The boys had fun - so thats what was important.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN!

The things we've been doing

My sister Erin is in Utah for the moment and we've had the chance to hang out. Even though we don't really 'do' anything, the kids have been having fun just playing. Here are some cute videos we've taken of the kids playing. For kids who are barely two (or not even) I think they play pretty good together! Unfortunately, they were interacting just BEFORE we recorded this first one. Of course once the cameras are rolling, they stop. oh well. You still get a little side-by-side play, and a little 'Finding Nemo' recreation. :) Mine! Mine! Mine!



My sister called my Mom last night and we could hear these squeals coming from the other room. ..Had to go see what that was all about...



And last but not least, Eli ADORES Edward.

My new obsessions

I have had so much fun reading these books! I heard about them about a year ago when Stephanie Meyer was recommending it. I read the jacket cover and didn't really think it was my kind of book. A bit of future, and politics and kids killing kids. I thought - no thanks.

Well, a year later the hype is starting to climb and I figured I would try them out. I'm starting to wish I had just let them be for another year or two until we get more books. This whole 'waiting a year for the next one to get published' is NOT for me!!! How do you people do this??? These books are FABULOUS! I would recommend them to about anyone! And I'm absolutely dying. This lady has a way of ending a book on a cliff. AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

So just to give you a little bit more of a premise, they do take place in the future so to speak. There was a big war in North America that ended with the "Capitol" being in charge and setting up 12 districts... well, 13, but thats not important. Every year, the capitol draws 2 names from each district - a boy and a girl (so 24 kids) to go into a large arena for the "Hunger Games". These are teenage kids and they basically fight to the death and the last one standing wins. It's a way for the capitol to remind everyone that they're in charge. Anyway, sounds morbid and disturbing and some parts are but it literally has everything. A little love story, a little political story, a little adventure story... whatever you want it has.
Just read them. And trust me. Then again, start reading next year after the 3rd book is published. I won't blame you. ;)

FINALLY!!! Now this looks like a movie I want to see

Layton Bridge comin' down last weekend

Because darn it, I just love a little demo :) (and its basically over within 30 seconds - I don't know why they let it run over a minute)



http://www.udot.utah.gov/laytoninterchangefiles/Bridge%20Demolition%20pics%20for%20Web%20site.pdf

My selfless little boy

So I picked up Eli from kindergarten today and on the way home he was talking to himself. I kind of shake my head and ask what he's saying. He says that he wants the sun to come back on him and not Nathan. He says the sun keeps moving. So I explain how the sun stays still and as the car moves on the road the sun will switch places. Anyway the rest of our conversation went something like this:
Eli: Well, keep driving straight because Nathan is in the shade
Mom: Why do you want the sun on you? Don't you get hot?
Eli: Yes, but if the sun is on me, it's not on him so he can stay cool
Mom: You want to be hot so Nathan can stay cool?
Eli: Yeah, I just want him to always be comfortable

My little boy is such a sweetheart. I hope he never changes.