And Another :)

Thought I'd scrap one of Abby's bad habits while I'm thinking about it :) All designs by Jaime Young! She's retiring so go and check out her store before it closes!

I Scrapped!

credits

It had been way too long since I'd done anything and I've really been missing it. I've been drooling over my friend's designs for way too long without playing and it's time I start. I almost feel like I need to find my style again though. Wish me luck!

It's Been Way Too LONG!

Wow! I don't even know where to tell you that I've been, lol. I also can't believe that January is almost over and it feels like Christmas was months ago. It feels like right when New Years Day hit my life started to speed up. The problem is that I'm having a hard time keeping up or maybe I should say catching up. Let me start by doing a little catching up on the last month or so:

We had a great Christmas morning just at home with the girls. I forgot how fun it was to have a baby at Christmas time. Kate didn't know what to think, but she loved it. It really was the perfect amount of everything. The girls didn't feel like they were missing out at all and we didn't overly spoil them so it was great. I got my camera early so I wasn't expecting anything, but Corey surprised me with an i-touch! I really had never even thought about having one so it was a huge surprise and I really am LOVING it! The other day I was thinking about how I still needed to get Grace a metronome for piano. Then the thought came to me that there might be a metronome application for the i-touch that I could download. Five minutes later Grace was practicing the piano with her headphones on listening to the ticking of her new metronome and it was FREE! Needless to say I think it's pretty cool.

I turn 30 this year (May 29th) and so it's really got me thinking even more about how I want to be different in my 30s that my 20s. I've really started working at losing weight and have lost 10 pounds since the new year and I really want to look and feel different by the end of May. I don't know why food has to be such a temptation for me. It's always screaming out to me "EAT ME!" Well now the veggies, just the ooey gooey brownies and such :) I also found this site and decided that I'm going to run a 5k in May. I've never been a runner at all and so this will be fun. I just need the snow to stop coming so that I can keep working at it.

Something else that's been on my mind a lot, but hadn't done anything until now has been service. I know how important it is and want my kids to grow up doing service for others and enjoying it. I found this blog a few months back and that really got me thinking. At first I thought about joining, but then my friend Milana and I decided to start our own group. Last Friday was our first meeting and it was a lot of fun. Everyone had some great ideas. This month we're trying to collect coats and winter clothes for the Spanish families in our area that are in need of them. When we have our next meeting in February we're going to tie fleece blankets to also give to them. I'm excited to get to know these ladies better as we serve together and for our group to grow. New people are always welcome so if you're in the area I'd be happy to let you know where and when. If you're not you should start a group of your own!

That's what's going on with me right now :) I think that my brain is probably busier than my body, lol, but I always feel like I'm behind at the end of the day. Maybe someday I'll be totally organized and in control. I'm sure my family would appreciate it. Have a great day and I promise I won't disappear again.

xoxo until next time.

Whata Goof

Today Abby took a sick day and had her first visit to the Insta Care. We all looked so nice in our Sunday best waiting for 2 1/2 hours. She was a real trooper when getting her blood taken. The good news is that it's just a bug. The bad news will be coming in the mail soon in the form of a bill. Corey's helping the Bishop at the church tonight and I just wanted to show you what Grace was up to while I was doing the dishes. Silly girl, lol.

Life Through Pics

I know that I'm always saying this, but I just can't get over how fast time is passing me by! Let me go back a few weeks :) The day after Thanksgiving we broke out the Christmas tree and got to work! Grace informed me that all white lights is boring so we opted for the traditional (though I tried to find light blue lights too {didn't happen}). I have to give props to the girls for pretty much decorating the whole thing themselves. I handed them the ornaments and they went to work. I planned on fixing it when they went to bed, but still haven't done a thing to change it and it looks pretty darn good :)



I have been working on projects like crazy. My newfound crocheting obsession is moving along nicely and I hope to have some slippers made for the girls for Christmas Eve. Here's the cute pattern that I'm attempting. I still have a lot to do before Christmas though and can't believe that tonight officially starts the 12 days before Christmas! Sheesh!



It was really nice being able to hang out with my parents over Thanksgiving weekend. They even stayed over two nights which was just long enough for Kate to decide that they were okay after all. She still wanted to come back to me pretty quickly, but definite progress!



When I was a kid my parents had this porcelain nativity set that they'd put out every year. A few years ago it got handed down to me which I was really excited about. This might be the first time I've actually put it up though. I've always been nervous about the kids touching it. So I decided to put it on the top of a shelf that's in our front room. I told the girls not to touch it. This is how I found it a few days later :)



Does the bible mention The Littlest Petshops? Anyway, here's what's been going on at our house lately:


That new color in the playroom really makes me smile :D


A very happy and very snotty baby.



Yesterday Andrea and I took the girls to see Santa. Abby very shyly asked for Naptime Nikki ($10 at Walmart) without actually making eye contact with Santa, lol. Then Grace sat on his lap and told him that she wanted a puppy. Santa saw the look on my face and was nice enough to talk her into a toy puppy. He talked to her about how much work animals are and how messy his reindeer are. Loved that Santa, though Grace didn't seem to like him as much, lol. I handed Kate over to him for a quick pic and she couldn't stop staring are that long white beard. It even kept her form crying for a second or two :) Before we left the girls got their hair done and we also couldn't leave without getting pretzels (even though they're a HUGE ripoff).

This morning we finally woke up to some real (not going away any time soon) snow! I don't know if I'm really excited or not, though it does feel more like Christmas now. The girls were so excited to break out the snow clothes finally and I do have to admit that I was excited that they still fit them! Kate also had her first taste of Winter which she wasn't so sure about.




That's about all that's happening around these parts. I'm starting to see the light when it comes to being done with Christmas shopping which it nice. I can't wait until everything is done and wrapped! In other news I think that I'll be putting the gat up very soon. Kate is trying to figure out how so climb.




Have a great weekend! xoxo until next time.

It's just begun

Now Christmas season is in full swing! As usual I'm having mixed feelings, but I'm more excited this year than in years past. Usually I'm thinking about everything that I need to do, but at this moment I'm feeling excited about the gifts that I'll be giving even though I haven't started on them yet, lol.

I am IN LOVE with my camera even though I know very little about how to use it. I'm just amazed at how clear the pictures are compared to my point-and-shoot. Anyway even though my father-in-law was making me feel guilty about getting my Christmas early I have no regrets and will happily be taking pictures Christmas morning :) Here are a few of my first and favorite pics of the girls (click on the pic to get the full version. For some reason I've changed the sizes three times and they're still getting chopped. Sorry about that).



As you can see Grace is in a fun phase of your life where she won't just smile when I whip out the camera :) Last weekend I finally painted the playroom (which is the first room that you walk into when you enter the house). I thought that I was going pretty conservative with the shade of blue that I picked out. After the first coat went up I realized that I hadn't, lol. It's pretty bright and I love it. I don't know that Corey would agree, but it's perfect for a happy place space. Here's a little wall art that I put up the other day.



I've found that I have a hard time focusing on one thing for too long. I love to create things and I have a whole list in my head and on my computer of things that I want to try. The other day I started thinking about crocheting. My roommates in college taught me how to first crochet. I made a blanket for my parents and that was the first and last thing that I made. That was about nine years ago so I didn't really remember much. I went to Etsy and found a cute pattern. Then I asked a girl in my ward to help me get started. The next day while we drove to my brother's for Thanksgiving I made this:



This is my sweet niece Lizzy modeling it! I made it for Abby, but it was too tight so I'll have to try again with a bigger hook. Last night while I was staying up too late I made this hat for Kate:



Needless to say I'm super excited about crocheting now! I have my eye on a few more patterns here and here. Oh and aren't these so cute?

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It's always fun when we get to hang out at my brother's house. The kids get along great, I get some good girl talk time in, and Corey made himself right at home downstairs with the Wii. I put Simon, Isaac, and Grace in charge of making the placecards while we got dinner/lunch going. They really created some cute cards and really took the job seriously. I loved it.



Corey had his first Black Friday sale today at Ogden's. He advertised like crazy in the newspaper and on the radio. The deal was, spend $999 on flooring and get a Wii for $99. There were actually a handful of people lined up when they opened and all the Wiis were long gone by the end of the day. Definitely a success which is great.

Instead of doing any shopping I stayed home and broke out the Christmas stuff! I was surprised at how few things we have. I even went downstairs again to make sure I didn't forget any boxes, lol. That's okay though. I broke out the crafty junk and made a little garland.



It's been a long time since we've had a little crawler at Christmas time. Today I realized that we won't be able to decorate the bottom of the Christmas tree. Kate is super quick and so interested in anything new. Love it. Here's her starting to help me earlier. Have you have a wonderful and restful weekend!

I Can't Believe...

That November is almost over!!! Wasn't Halloween just last week? Time is really flying which I can't decide if that's a good thing or not. That means that Christmas really is just around the corner. Let's take a step back before I start with Christmas though. I have yet to post about Halloween and I had some pretty cute little girls to hang out with that day.



A few friends and I headed downtown for a little trick-or-treating on Main Street which was fun. That night we had a Brady family party which was a lot of fun. Just throw us all in a room with games and food and we're good to go. I really had no idea what to dress up as so I went with pajamas and curlers (very comfortable I might add). Corey was being pretty grouchy about dressing up and then a few hours before we left he did a complete flip and knew exactly who he wanted to be. He even shaved his head for the occasion :)

A few Saturdays ago I finally decided break out the rake. You couldn't even see our grass it was so bad. I didn't realize how big of a job that it would be, lol. I got most of it raked into piles around the house when Kate finally decided that she was not happy outside anymore. So the piles sat for a few days (I had good intentions to finish it up) and one day half of my yard was totally cleared off. A few days later the whole yard was totally leaf free. All I can say is I have some awesome neighbors. Two of my neighbors are retired and it seems always peeking out the window for someone to help. Love it.



It's been two weekends ago now since Chuck and Nicole got married. It really was a fun day and very HOT PINK! The girls looked so cute in their dresses and everyone else looked great in pink, black, and silver. It was pretty chilly, but a beautiful sunny day. Here are a few pics from the day.



They're back from their honeymoon now and opened presents Monday night. It was fun seeing what people gave them. I think I'm going to have to buy one of their many crockpots from them. I think that everyone get's at least one funny gift. Something that someone doesn't want and is re-gifting to you. Corey and I got a glass snowball for a wedding gift. We still have it and have no idea what to do. Chuck and Nicole got some funny swan candle holders. One was even broken.

So since Christmas is coming at an alarming rate I was going to tell you a new tradition that we're going to start this year. This is from the Enrichment night that I mentioned. The idea is to do three gifts. The gift of Meaning (wrapped in red), the gift of Wonder (wrapped in gold), and the gift of Usefulness (wrapped in green). They go along with the gifts from the three wisemen. So the girls will get their Santa gift and then these three gifts from Corey and I. I'm really excited. I've always wanted to figure something out so that I don't go overboard on buying things and I want the girls associate Christmas with Christ more than they do. Here's the idea:



I'm working on some Christ ornaments and also red, green, and gold ornaments to put on the tree that will go along with a few family home evenings that we'll do the few Mondays before Christmas. I'm so excited for Corey's gift of meaning! I'd tell you now, but just incase Corey happens to read my blog for some strange reason I better keep it hush hush for now.

Speaking of Christmas I've been asking for a new camera for probably the last three years. We were in no position to get me a new one, but I always hoped. Well this is the year for me!!!! I order my early Christmas gift the other day and it's on it's way here right now!!



And I'm almost as excited about this:



You just can't have a cool camera without a cute strap :)

Elsie's class started last week and I've having a great time. There's just so much fun inspiration and I'm trying things that I never have before. Fun stuff. I'll be posting things that I make in my Flickr account so if you want to check it out go for it!

Okay, I guess that's all for now. I have Weight Watchers today. Wish me luck.