My latest

I am trying to do LO's that are a little more simple so that I can get more done.


I had to scrap Joseph in his big bed. He slept until 6 this morning in it. Way to go Joseph. He woke up scared because he didn't know where he was. We snuggled him for a little while and he went right back to bed...in the crib.

This one was in response to a challenge on 2peas.

This one is my favorite. I couldn't sleep the other night and I was making LO's in my mind. This is the only one I remembered in the morning. It only took about 20 mins.

Erynne sent me this picture a while back and I was just waiting for the right
inspiration to scrap it.

A big kid day!

A momentous occasion!!! Joseph actually slept in his bed last night. Jared was so excited. Ryan was putting the boys to bed last night. Jared wasn't ready yet but Joseph went right into his room. Ryan shut the door and walked out. Jared turned the lights out and helped Joseph get into bed. We didn't hear a thing from them. I went to tuck them in when I went to bed and he woke up but he was asleep in his little boy bed. Ryan picked him up and when he tried to put him down in the bed he cried and wanted his crib. But we have a start. It is so cute to watch them grow up. This morning we got excited for him and he said "Bun" his word for bed. What a cute boy.

Every once in awhile I do Sarah's hair and I love the way it turned out. You can't really tell in the picture but I loved it.

Ryan took this picture on Sunday. It is a different pregnant picture so I liked it. I don't think it really looks like me though. I think it is funny how we get an image in our mind of what we look like. I wonder what is real. How do other people see me. When I am pregnant I think I am skinny and when I am losing weight it takes awhile to see myself as skinny. I still picture myself overweight. Weird?

I had fun with this LO. The girls look hilarious. The funny thing is that thought they were so pretty.

We went to a chili cook off this weekend at the park. The kids had a blast. There was a bounce house and all sorts of goodies. I think Emma ate cookies and cake for dinner. Sarah was decorating our name with chalk on the sidewalk and Ryan and Joseph spent a lot of time riding around on the skateboard. Jared was playing with the big kids. He even learned to hit a baseball. Emma just loves our neighbor named Emma and spent most of her time playing with her. She is not yet two but Emma loves that they share the same name.

A Day in the life...

I still need to journal on this page but I am lacking inspiration.

Our weekend was kind of crazy. Sarah and Jared both had soccer games and Sarah had pictures right after her game so we had to be up early to make sure she looked nice. Her game was at 8 am. Who's idea was that? Jared one there first game and I was so excited for them. Jared did a great job being the defender and Sarah was right in there.

Ryan and I are taking a family history course through church and this week I felt so impressed that I need to go visit my Grandma before she passes on. I think she is 93? Close to that anyway. We came up with a bunch of interview questions with the kids last night and it was so cute to see what the kids want to know about there Great Grandma. Like what is your favorite candy or favorite game to play. So we will be heading up north Friday and coming back Saturday. My Dad gets to come with us and I am hoping it will be a fun trip.

Joseph has the funniest morning routing. Once we all get up and have breakfast he gets stripped down to the diaper. Then we say prayers and read scriptures. I take the kids to school. When we get back Emma and Joseph watch 10 min. of "Pat pat" or Little Einstein. Then I get Josephs clothes and as soon as he sees them he runs away yelling no. It is hilarious. He is semi laughing and semi crying. Then I finally get him and we go to put him in bed. On the way to his room he is struggling to get out of my arms but once we are in his room he snuggles up. Sometimes I have to put him down and pick him right back up before he snuggles. Then he is out like a light within minutes. Usually once the door is shut he doesn't make a sound. Then I have to wake him up so that he will still take his afternoon nap.
Kind of funny but that is always how our morning goes.

So much love!

I started this one the night Ryan got home and I had a hard time thinking of journaling. I finally just sat down and wrote something. Joseph is really growing up. HE has this thing with picking up trash. It makes him happy. He really likes Thursdays because he likes to help the kids empty out all the little trash cans in the house.
His new thing is to say "suse me" and "ses you" translation... Excuse me and bless you. It is nice to hear such polite things coming out of his mouth.
I did this in record time. The little ones were taking a nap. I was looking for a quote when Emma woke up. Her and Sarah were playing with one of Sarah's new toys. They started to fight and had a big melt down. After I got it under control I came back and found this Quote. Hilarious!

And before I close I just need to express my gratitude to the American Idol fans who finally voted off Chicken Little AKA Kevin. I clapped. My husband just looked at me and smiled.

I fixed this LO. I didn't like something about the first one.

My boys!

Hear are my new LO's.

Shopping is soothing to the soul.

I have had so much fun scrapping this last week I finally decided it would be OK to buy some stuff.
This is the cutest girlie stuff. And here is the paper and elements that I just had to have for my boys. The free stuff they offer for boys really isn't that cute. And I got this kit. Oh and I have been wanting to buy this for some time. So now I have to make time to scrap since I spent the money.

So really that is my post for now. I am just so thrilled at the prospect of being able to use these. I need a nap though and hopefully I will wake up before the kids and I will get to start.

Happy Day!

I just told Joseph bed and he said very matter of factly,"Show!"

Dear to me.

The family is still gone and I am very ready for them to be home. It has been cute to see how much the girls miss each other. I on the other had don't like to go to bed alone and want my hubby back.

The kids and I have had some really great bonding and I feel like I have been more relaxed. I have a greater desire to enjoy my kids everyday stuff. The little laughs and giggles. I can't imagine life with out these little people influencing it.

I got a new calling at church today and I am so excited about it. I am over the activities for the 8 to 11 year olds. I am not sure all that I get to do yet but I love that kind of stuff.

Here is the newest LO. I am enjoying scraping the girlie stuff.

Our little get away

Ryan and the older kids are still gone. Emma Joseph and I went to visit my family and it was a nice visit. I love the feeling of leaving your family and knowing they want you to stay. It feels good. I don't know if that makes sense. I guess what I mean is that it is better then leaving and wondering if they are happy you have finally left.

My dad my a yummy dinner for me and I am going to have to make it this week for Ryan. It was seafood kabobs with scallops, shrimp, and Mahi Mahi.

We went shopping today with my mom and sister and I saw so many things I could spend a lot of money on. We went to Babies R Us. I love that store. We don't have one by us and I wish we did. I found this swing and it would match Joshuas room perfect. I also saw this one online. We gave our swing away so that will be something we need to get.
We went to a baby furniture store also and found a crib similar to this. It was more ornate but I loved it. Not something I need just wanted.

Then when I got home I worked on this. Now I am going to go sit in front of the tube and relax. I should go to bed but what fun is that.

My lonely night.

Ryan had to go down to California again. Since it is Sarah's Birthday on Saturday he gave her the option of going with him. She of course jumped at that. Jared also got to go with them. I understand that this will be so much fun for them and so I let them go. I on the other hand, cried as soon as they left and I feel so lonely without them. Emma felt sad when it was bed time. She called Sarah on the phone and that helped her feel much better. When I put Joseph down to bed he asked about Jared. I don't think he understands that they are gone for a few days. I can't believe they won't be back until Monday. I don't think I have been without them this long before.

We went to McDonalds tonight to try to cheer them up and they had such a fun time. Emma makes friends everywhere she goes and she kept running up to me to tell me about her new friends. Joseph finally feels big enough that he was willing to climb through the whole thing without help from his siblings. He did keep asking about Sarah. All he says is Sarah? with the cutest questioning tone. He loved the statue of Ronald McDonald and kept giving him hugs.

When we got home it was bedtime. We got Jammies on and called Ryan so we could say Family prayers. Joseph and Emma both hugged and kissed the phone when we were done. When we say prayers every night we all give hugs and kisses then off to bed. So I guess they figured the phone was better then nothing.

So then I scrapped my first page of Jared. It is getting much easier and I am getting faster.

Thats life

I did this last night. I was looking for pictures that I would not normally scrap and I ran across these. Sarah was so mad about something and I thought it was funny so I just started snapping away. She turned full circle and it was hillarious. I think this was about two years ago.So life is throwing us another curve ball. Sarah woke up in the middle of the night feeling like she couldn't breath. You could hear it. She was really struggling for breath. Then Ryan asked her if she believed Heavenly father could help her and she said yes. Then he gave a special prayer and with in minutes her breathing was less labored and she feel right to sleep. We had her sleep in our bed with us so that I could hear her and she sleep so soundly. I heard a few coughs when she first went to sleep but that was it. How do people manage without the knowledge of an all powerful Being looking out for us. It must be nerve recking at times.

Then Jared came in sometime in the night and told me his tummy was feeling sick. I told him to go get a bowl just in case but he didn't see the need. So at 5 this morning he came in to let us know he had thrown up all over the carpet in his room. He is my messiest sick person. Of course it woke Joseph up and he was up for the day. I sat with Joseph while my dear Husband cleaned it up. Joseph cried for his dad the whole time. When Ryan was done he let me go back to bed.

The joy of technology.

Every time I look at Shannons blog and she has some way cute layout I think, "I got to find more time for scrapbooking." I love to do it I just feel like my life has been so busy lately. The kids are still on spring break and it has been so nice to have them home and having nothing we have to do.
So last night I felt inspired and I have a few LO's I have been wanting to do so maybe I will crank a few more out this week.
I have also added new links on the side of my blog one of them being my scrapbook LO's I have done. I finally took the moment to figure that out. I am proud of myself for doing all of this computer stuff. I always just let Ryan do everything for me. Now I am figuring it out on my own.

A random sampling

Jared was eating yogurt this morning and read on it, "Burns calories?" He then said, "But its so cold." He thought the idea was very funny.

I was in the car with EmmaLee and Joseph the other day. I was listening to some nice mellow religious music and Emma told me she didn't like it. I told her that it makes me feel peaceful. Then she laughed and said, "It makes you want to go to preschool?"

I learned something about Sarah and myself this week. I had started to label her as my harder one. She is not though. For some reason she is just going through a more difficult period, just like the other kids all go through. I have been praying for guidance with how to help our relationship and how best to teach her. The inspiration I have felt was to focus on her many wonderful traits and let the others go unnoticed, unless they really need to be addressed. I also realized that she is one of my most loving children. She is always ready and willing with a hug and kiss. She is so concerned with how others are feeling and wants you to be well. I really have wonderful kids.

I helped the other day on Jareds class field trip. I realized how truly well behaved he is for his age and thought how much I need to lighten up. He was so cute. I told him he didn't have to stick with me but he wanted to. His friends even hung out with us and one kid from his class kept taking my hand.

Joseph was acting sick all day yesterday and woke up a couple hours after he went to bed just crying and saying ouch. He was curling up like his tummy hurt. He then woke up this morning and threw up. He hardly ate anything yesterday yet after he threw up this morning he ate a bunch of cheerios and I can only hope it stays down. He seems like he is feeling better though.

Yesterday I got to thinking about my high school reunion so I looked on classmates to see if anyone had posted anything. One girl had posted that she was in charge of it and would love help etc... I did not remember who she was and she even said she was our class president. Wouldn't you think you would remember the class president?? So I got out my yearbook to look her up and I still don't remember her being the pres. I guess I was thinking about the reunion and if I would even go. I will have a little baby and I don't think I would want to take a baby to a reunion. I guess it depends on what they are doing. So then I had some weird dream about people from high school that I haven't thought of since graduation day. People I didn't really even now. Kelly was in my dream and I wondered what she is up to. Any ideas Shannon?

Ryan came back from snowboarding last night realizing he is getting older and it is starting to show. He has been sore all day long. I guess he was going off a jump and landed on his back and head. He says his muscles hurt, everywhere. I always thought I wanted to learn to snowboard but not if I end up like that.

LIfe is full of little miracles. Do we always take the time to notice them??

It is snowing still and oh how lovely it is to look out my window and have the ground covered in white. The kids and I have been making snow flakes and decorating spring cupcakes. It feels funny to be doing both. I guess spring doesn't really start until the 20th.

Ryan is snowboarding with the scouts today and I am hoping they are safe. Ever since our accident in the rain when Sarah was little I get nervous when the weather is so wet. I am not sure exactly how far Brian head is but I think it is only a couple hours. If I know Ryan he will try to convince them to come home early. He is not so fond of the cold and joked with me that he could always hang out in the lodge.

I woke up two days ago with a bad head cold and I am zapped of all energy. Joseph was throwing up the other night and now has bad diarrhea. Just after I had changed the 4th or 5th poopy diaper the doorbell rings and a couple is here to look at the house. I hope the enjoy the fresh scent Joseph left for them.

I found out today that my cousins little girl had a really bad accident and has been in the hospital for a month. Little 16 month old Parker went to get socks and climbed the dresser where the TV was. Somehow she pulled the TV down on her head and was life flighted to primary children's hospital. The mom was not even allowed in the helicopter and had to wait for her mom to come and get her. Nick, My cousin, found out through 911. She is recovering well and they are calling her a miracle. She has to relearn how to do all the things she was already able to do like walk and talk. Heavenly Father is aware of us. He hears our pleas. My cousin and his wife have felt comforted through this experience yet I still can not imagine how trying it must be for them. It makes me sweep my children up in my arms and just treasure the precious time I have with them. If you are reading this please include little Parker in your prayers.

Spring Break????

Today is the first day of the kids spring break vacation. We were going to go swimming in our community indoor pool but I don't think I want to walk to the car all wet in the snow.

It was so fun. This morning EmmaLee ran into my room at 6:30 yelling, "It's snowing!!!" She then woke up the whole house. Everyone got bundled as fast as they could and headed outside. They played for awhile then came in for hot chocolate and oatmeal to warm up. We live in Utah and you would think that it snows a lot but where we live it never snows so this was a big treat. The best part is that it doesn't stay long and spring is just around the corner. The kids were gathering snow on the tramp.

We only had two gloves and they were trying to make a snow pile. It was funny to watch them. Emma had socks on her hands but she soon learned that didn't work once you got them wet.

"It's just water mom" Emma wanted to reassure me that is was ok to eat.

On a different note I went shopping this week and bought the cutest dress.
pregnant clothes are not usually fun to shop for. I actually went to the store to try and buy pants but I have decided that maternity pants need to be reinvented.

Back to normalcy. Is there such a thing?

My life finally feels like it is back to normal. Nothing to much going on so I can devote this week to catching up on housework especially laundry. The kids couldn't find any clean clothes this morning. They had clean clothes but they couldn't find it. We finally moved our furniture back to where it belongs. We had moved it for the party and I felt tense all day because of it. I thought I wanted to rearrange the furniture so I was waiting for inspiration. It didn't come and the furniture is back to normal and I love it. We bought an ottoman, it is like the one in the link but square and only $100, at Costco a few weeks ago and it really makes the room look complete. It was so cheap and exactly what I have been wanting. I felt buyers remorse after buying because I realized we really need a new dryer. With the one we have you have to dry every load twice. I will not complain because it beats not having one.


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Jared finished reading book # 10 in A Series Of Unfortunate Events. He has been wanting to know what VFD stands for and I told him it was in #10. We had read up to about 3/4ths of the way through #9 over the past year. But I have been crazy busy and we have had less reading time. He picked it up and just finished where we left off. He just kept going and every spare minute he was reading. His teacher told me he was reading it in his extra time at school as well. He finished it on Saturday and I think it only took a couple of weeks. Now he wants to start on #11. I can't believe it. A few months ago we struggled to get him to do much reading. I guess finding the right book is a pretty big deal.

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Jared and Sarah started soccer this last week and had their first game on Saturday. It was so different to watch them play. Sarah's team looked like little bees out there. They stayed close by each other and didn't really have much of a clue. Sarah was right in there which surprised me. She was a go getter and even offered to play goalie. The other team scored three points while she was in there but she tried really hard.
Jared's team was more competitive and serious. They were out to win. Jared is not so in the middle of things. He likes to tell everyone what they are supposed to be doing and has a tendency to be so into watching the game he forgets to play. He likes being on defense by the goalie because then he gets to kick the ball real hard. I thought it was so fun to watch them play.

Happy party day

All in all I think it turned out so fun. I had a good time and was not stressed out for one minute. I had planned so much that we had to cut out some of the games. Sarah got so many gifts and I she was really spoiled. I think her favorite was the makeup. Both girls sat for a long time painting there nails several different colors, putting on eyeshadow, lip gloss, and body glitter. Then first thing in the morning they started again. Then today the same thing. Who knew?

Ryan asked if I was that big into makeup when I was little and I don't remember being very girlie at that age. I remember climbing trees and playing in the sand. I still don't really like putting on make up. I guess it is not that I mind it just takes more work then I have time for. I will say the girls inspired me and I wore makeup for the first time in awhile. I tried something very different and I was pleased and it took very little time. I omitted the eyeliner and wore purples and pinks. I got the idea from What Not to Wear. I do love that show.

I get off track so easily. Back to the party. At about 6, when we were playing the final game, one little girl showed up. She was the first to RSVP and I was surprised when she wasn't there sooner. I guess her mom read the invite wrong and thought it started at 6. The mom felt so bad, I think worse then her daughter, so Brianna got to stay for an hour and play while I cleaned up. She was very cute and told me all about her up coming trip to Disneyland. She loved the pink sandwiches and the pink cookies. I was surprised at how good the colored bread was. It was super soft and fluffy. I will be ordering colored bread again. It was a huge hit.

Here they are playing bingo. It was kind of hard since so many pictures looked similar. I was so grateful to the Ricki and Jodi, the mom's who stayed and helped. I think I would have been a basket case had they not stayed. I thought I could have done it all by myself and almost didn't ask for help. What was I thinking??

We played pass the "Parcel" as Sarah kept calling it. I got the idea off of the Party website and Sarah read all the ideas. The lady who submitted the idea was English and Sarah thought that was great. I found a simplified version of the Cinderella story and every time I read the word Cinderella they had to pass the parcel or goodie bag. They giggled so much and I think that was the biggest hit.

The girls also got really excited about the present opening and this was the first party where someone didn't end up crying. When the guests are younger they don't understand why they can't have or play with the new gifts. 6 is a great age to have a friend party.

My little princess.

This was so funny to me. After the had their lipstick put on we had them try to kiss the frog. The girls did not like the idea. At first most of the girls just watched and were still so quiet. By the end all of the girls but 2 gave it a whirl. And they got into it, helping my twirl the blind folded one, and waiting with anticipation to see where the would end up. They even giggled a little. Emma and Sarah actually both won.

Ready for the royal feast to began. I can't believe how much food these girls ate. They kept eating and eating. I made a ton of food not really expecting them to eat it all. There were only a few items left. We had sandwiches, grapes, cracker, cookies, and pretzels. Amazingly most of them had room for cake and ice cream.

They are playing pass the poison apple. This was my one party disaster. Not bad really though. Ryan was going to set up his lap top because that is were the music we downloaded was. He left in such a hurry he forgot. So I grabbed it and set it up but I didn't realize his battery was shot. I had a hard time finding the music and by the time I did the computer shut itself down. So I had a back plan of using the Disney princess sing-a-long DVD but it got left in the car that Ryan had. So I grab the only music CD I can find quickly and the girls played to Church hymns. They didn't seem to care and it was actually kind of funny to play this fast moving game to such slow songs.

Not exactly like the picture but Sarah thought it was great. The cake didn't rise and was so moist it was falling apart as I frosted it. I thought to myself, "Don't ever volunteer to do this for someone else." It was not stressful for me that it didn't really turn out because I knew Sarah would think it was great. Then at the party Ricki, one of the moms who stayed to help and a great friend, asked if I would make her daughters B-day cake. How do you say no to someone who is always so giving. She is the first to come to your aid. So, I guess I will be making a cheerleading cake next month.

Sarah set up the tables with leftover flowers and beads from last years party, name tags the girls made, and punch outs the kids made at the scrap book store.

We took pictures of all the girls in front of this back drop. The I cropped them and we are going to put them in the frames the girls made at the party as a little thank you.

Look at this cute dress. Her mom, Jodi, stayed to help and she told me she borrowed this from a friend who bought it at the online Disney store. She paid over $100 for it. Wow. I think I would be afraid of my girls ruining it.

When they first came in they made necklaces, bracelets, and or rings. Every girl had something different in mind. They were so quiet at this point it was kind of strange to me. After they were done they went and got on makeup and glitter in their hair as well as a crown.

Joseph was so thrilled with the pictures the girl put up.

Shooo?

Today Emma was sad and asked me to hold her. I picked her up and laughed because my tummy has gotten so big that she can sit on it. I pointed that out to her and she looked down, laughed, and said, "Sorry Joshua" She's so cute.

The girls have been having a great time helping me prepare for the party. In the past I have done all of the prep work because I wanted it done a certain way or I wanted something that was to hard for them to do. I think I have finally figured it out. The goodie bags or the poster may not look as good as if I had done it but the memory of making the stuff with them is worth so much!!! Today I took the kids to the scrapbook store and Jared and Sarah Punched out a bunch of little shapes to decorate the table with and they had so much fun. Emma and Joseph were happy watching because I had bought them these huge suckers. Joseph was bored with the sucker and started sticking it to his pants. He liked the way the sucker pulled up from his jeans once it had stuck. Hey, whatever makes you happy.

Joseph loves to play outside with the kids. When they go outside without him he comes to me and says, "Shooo" (Shoes) And then he walks around the house "Shooo? Shooo?" While his hands are up in the air. Love that kid.

I met with Sarah's teacher today and it felt just about pointless. The teacher just confirmed to me that she doesn't want to push Sarah because she just wants school to be fun for her. Whatever. She did say that Sarah does have a problem with not raising her hand all of the time. Ok, it felt like she was fishing for something wrong. I did ask her what she thought Sarah could work on. She told me Sarah could work on writing a story for her as something to do. Sarah then wrote this little story about her week and how she might spend it. What kindergartener can do that? Yes, I know I am proud. It felt good to see that my children are doing well in school and I wish I could take credit for that. I can't though. Heavenly Father has blessed them with great memories and a desire for learning. I don't think I was like that when I was little.