The results...

Before:After: I feel so much better!

Hair Trama

I have a haircut appointment tomorrow for a cut and highlight. I'm going blond (er) now. Brunette was fun while it lasted, but I always go back to blonde. This is my hair today:The question is, do I do a major chop or do a trim? This is close to the longest I've had my hair. I havea strange fantasy of experiencing long hair once in my life. I can pretty much put it a pony without hair falling out of the bottom. However, I fear I look better with shorter hair. This is what I might go with: Granted every photo looks better when you have lost your pregnancy weight. I went clothes shopping on Saturday and when you spend extended amount of time in front of those mirrors it makes you do a reevaluation of yourself. I swore I would chop my hair and never eat another Christmas cookie. At least until I was home and not in front of mirrors again.

I like short hair. I like long hair. I change my mind every ten minutes. I don't like having to cut my hair every six weeks with short hair. I think I probably look better with short hair. How do people pull off long hair and look like they still have a style and not just plain long hair?

Do you have these tramas? Maybe I will decide on the way to the salon. Check back to see what happened...

Today I've been married for a decade

One of our engagement photos.

And in a decade we have gotten one associates degree, one bachelor degree, one masters degree, and one CPA license. We have lived in 5 different places. had three sons and one daughter. many different hairstyles for me, many callings, one cruise to a Caribean, and a lifetime of memories. Heres to the next decade. I love you honey!

And to celebrate, I'm taking 12 scouts to a museum, decorating and making a meal for Enrichment, then going to Enrichment. It's a good thing we decided to celebrate in June!

To my dear baby

You can't be big enough to sit alone in your high chair and want to eat real food. And you can't be big enough to get up on your tip-toes and try to crawl. Because that means you are growing up too fast.

But I will let you be old enough to know what nighttime is for. The end.

Gingerbread Time

A couple of weeks ago, we had a service auction at church where you got to bid on services according to how good you have been lately. I won a complete gingerbread kit from my fabouslessly talented friend Tammie.

The boys had a blast. Sometimes males like to go for quantity of candy over cuteness, but I thought it expressed their personalities pretty good.

Thanks Tammie. My boys have never experienced real gingerbread. I'm all about the graham cracker huts.

Thanksgiving is over...

which means I can listen to Christmas music! My two favorite albums The Polar Express and Sarah McLaughlin. Those are the best.

My favorite Christmas movie: The Polar Express. I don't think there is any movie that expresses the magic of Christmas as good as that one.

I didn't think I was going to be able to see New Moon with the nursing baby and all, but we decided it would be easier to leave her in the day. So, my sister and I saw the 11:00 matinee today. I enjoyed it.

But, I was more excited for some new movies coming out. Sometimes when you strike out a couple of times on movies (T and I had to turn off the last two movies we rented from RedBox), you think the world has stopped making good ones.

But I think Letters to Juliet and Dear John look pretty good. I also need to see The Blind Side and Sherlock looked good too.

I'm grateful for...

My kids....

And the excitement they still have for holidays. Even the typically less exciting ones like Thanksgiving. Yesterday we heard noises at 6:20 a.m. Big T went and told them that it was too early and B&C needed to back to bed.

All was quiet for maybe another 15 minutes, when our door was pulled shut and then a slip of paper was shoved under our door. Then all three little sweeties burst into our room with a "Happy Thanksgiving" and we have menus for your for breakfast in bed.

This is what C's said for me, "Frostid with watr

Rasiin Bran with joos

Grap nein nuts with cet with joos

And Brandons for Big T said, What would yo like for breakfest?

Frosted Flakes

Almond Crandberry, Blueberry, Grapes Nuts

Milk

Water

Slide under door when done.

And Tyce cheerfully announced that it was "Ready O'clock!"

Big T has never been able to eat until he's been awake for an hour or two, so he graciously took a couple of bites and then dumped the rest in the porcelain God when they left.

These are the moments I hope to remember.

Come check our new blog

Our new crafty/project blog was born today. Me and four friends are going to co-author it to share all things domestic. It's in the baby stages of course, so be patient but here it is:

www.gluegunsandspatulas.blogspot.com

Does anyone care to join?

Ok, so I've just been to the biggest craft fair of the year around here. I don't know if I feel worthy to maintain a craft blog. Maybe I should bow down to the real crafty gurus our there and surrender. Soooo, I was wondering if any of my crafty/domestic friends would want to co-author it with me.

We could post anything that is domestic (not personal stuff), like a great recipe you found, a project you completed, a Birthday cake you decorated, a great deal you found, a chore chart system that worked for you, etc. etc. etc. You wouldn't have to feel any pressure to post a lot or anything. Just whenever you feel like it.

Anyone?

Maybe I should shut up and go in my craft room. :)

So I'm thinking about starting a project/tip blog

But I feel weird about it. I don't want it to seem like I think I'm so awesome at crafts and come compliment me. That is so not it. If you know how hard I struggle to make things looks cute and how many projects end up in the trash, you woudn't think that at all.

I know I don't have the natural craft "knack". Some are born with it. And the rest of us copy them. I just want a place that is seperate place to keep kind of a project journal, mostly for my own benefit. And if I ever did want to share it on another craft blog or something, they wouldn't have to come see all of my personal stuff, which I want to save for only people I know.

Plus, people who check my blog to see updates on the fam wouldn't have to read about my latest project if they didn't want to.

There are only three billion of these already, so I'm not trying to gain a huge amount of followers or anything. Mostly I would be showing these that I copied from somewhere else and linking to them.

Anyway, I'm trying to think of a name. Only every possible craft name is already used. Once my family was taking about adult "binkies", and how we all have something to give us comfort and sanity and drown out the world like a baby does with their binkie. With some people it's chocolate (me included), diet coke, exercise, etc. etc. Lately for me it is creating.

So I was trying to think of something along those lines.

mommasbinkie
momspaci
cheeriosinthebra (because if you have ever found a cherrio in your bra, you are a true mom and need a little downtime)

Something along those lines, but I don't think this should be the blogaddress or title because I need something simpler and something people would get.

Any ideas? There just might be a prize if I choose your title.

I'm on One Pretty Thing!

Yeah! I made it. Check it out here!

Just because...

Almost six-months old, I'm still loving having a girl because...
It's so cute to watch B read to her to try to calm her down I get to get out my crafty energy and make things like baby legs out of knee highs. (Not my original idea but I can't find the link to give credit to, sorry)

And hairbows. I think this one turned out pretty sweet if I do say so myself.

Although, seeing this scene can be a bit scary.
Need I say more?

PS. I've discovered Google Reader where you can go read all non-private updates in one place. It's pretty awesome and a good time saver, however you can't comment from reader so I think it will be decreasing my comments even more.

Personalized spice rack

Today I'm doing this post to enter Blue Cricket Designs show and tell they do every Wednesday. You can show off something that you've made and then go check out others awesome ideas. You should play too.

Anyway, when we painted we did a good clean and kind of accessed what wasn't being used etc. And we came across the spice rack we got ten years ago for our wedding. (Sorry I didn't take any before pictures, I didn't know I would be posting this).

I realized that we really didn't use many of the spices very often and it was taking up counter space. I thought I would maybe use it for my scrapbooking embellishments, but then I realized we do have many spices in the pantry that we do use, so why not make it more useful.

So, here are the steps. 1)Empty spice jars, peel off the labels and clean thoroughly.
2) Clean the rack itself and then sand it down.
3) Paint the rack in your color of choice.
4) Fill the jars with spices you like. Our grocery store here sells spices in bulk pretty inexpensively. Mine weren't even all spices. I put cream of tartar in one and flax seed we sprinkle over meals to add a nutrition to, in another.
5) Print out the names of the spices you are using onto cute scrapbook paper using cute font (like CK Becky from Creating Keepsakes, my favorite font ever!)
6) Trace around the lid on your printed words and cut out. I inked the edges of mine. Mod Podge onto the lid, let dry, then mod podge the top a couple of times. Then spray with a finish spray, reassemble and you are done.
Now, I think this spice rack will be used again.

What I read this morning...

I must have been sleeping or distracted during President Uchtdorfs talk in General Conference but read it this morning and this really stuck out,

"God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He
doesn't care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or
homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves
us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we
may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely."

I really should find a way to display this somewhere. I needed to hear it today.

My baby used to be a good sleeper...

The girl C started sleeping through the night at about six weeks. Seriously. I've never had that. And she continued with an exception every week or so. Until about three weeks ago. I would put her down and she would wake up in twenty minutes. So I would throw her in the swing and more or less she would sleep all night there. Everyone slept, everyone was happy.

Now she wakes up after twenty minutes, screams in her swing, I get her back to sleep, she wakes up after twenty minutes, and the cycle continues. She doesn't want to eat, she is exhausted beyond reason and will not go to sleep. The last two nights I've been letting her scream until she goes back to sleep. Is she too young for that? What do you think?

At least she has forgiven us and is all smiles and cooing in the morning.

Other random notes...Sorry if I haven't been a good commenter on your blogs. I do enjoy catching up on your lives but usually only have one hand to type, so I skip the comments. Just know that I love you!

T has been scared of going to bed and monsters. Last night B suggested they made a poster that said "No Monsters Allowed!" for their room. This was especially sweet after our FHE on having a happy, supportive home.

T is also slowly getting the potty training down. I still can't leave him in the hands of others without a pull-up, but I think we will make it before Kindgergarten. Miracles never cease.

Well, better shower before noon!

The befores and afters

Halloween

Tink

Tow-MaterIndian

NinjaWhat are those blue rectangles in the background? My two finalist paint colors. We are done painting. Pics to come...

My Fall Happies

Things that have made me smile lately....

Playing in leaves

My attempt at a Fall Display, complete with my sparkly pumpkins! Love them!Watching my five-year-old totally get into the doughnut contest at scouts.Getting a tip for the best place to pick your own pumkpins. Much better ambiance than yelling at your kids to get out of the road in front of Albertsons.Having my husband carve this awesome Transformers pumpkin last night.Seeing my little Chief Kindergartener off to school. Craft tip: Paint samples at Home Depot for $3. It comes in a 8 oz. jar and you can get any color you want. Craft paint for a 2 oz is usually $1-$2 for 2 oz, so this is a pretty good deal. Perfect for any little project you have. Just had to share. Sometimes it doesn't take much for me to smile.



Need I say more? I can't believe she is five-months-old today!

Go with your first instinct

About 4 1/2 years ago, I wanted to paint my upstairs. I taped a whole bunch of paint samples verrrry similar to these colors on my wall. Maybe it was the cloudy/gray skies that I was constantly seeing at the time, but I thought it would be too depressing to have blue/gray walls.

So, I found a picture from Ralph Lauren that had this kind of suede color and navy blue and went with that. Awesome in the picture, not my favorite on my wall. So, it is back to square one where I started years ago. Decisions decisions.

And I should probably black out all of the paint names, because really Seaside Villa sounds so much cooler than Thar She Blows. I can't let the names influence my decision.

Crazy hat day

So much help..

A couple of weekends we were heading out of town, and if anyone knows me very well you know how much I hate packing! I dread it, put it off, and it makes me in a bad mood.

Anyway, this day we had a flag football game and I was going to a watch party at my mother-in-laws house before we were heading out of town.

The girl C would not nap and wanted to be held all day, which wasn't helping the packing situation at all.

Finally, I sat on the couch and declared that we couldn't go. A little dramatic, I know, but I was having a moment.

Anyway, I have two very different personalitied sons. B started bawling and screaming that I was so mean. C announced, "I can help you mom. I will pack the snacks."

So, he then proceded to get the cooler and fill it up. Included was several different kinds of drinks and about 20 boxes of dry Jell-o. You never know when you will get a craving on the road, you know! Then he dragged the cooler up the stairs by himself.

What a great kid.

ToysBGone

A few years ago, we were planning the layout of basment and I found some curtains I wanted to cover the toy shelves. They were the inspiration for the three colors we ended up painting the basement. I was really hoping they would be up before last tax season, but I was promised they would be up before the next. Promise delivered tonight! I thought it turned out good. Bye Bye toys! (At least the ones behind the curtains, now what to do the with the ones taking over the rest of the house??)

Before:After:

Thanks to my dear hubbie who sacrified his hands screwing in the thing-a-ma-jigs.