Six Sensational Stotts

The Apples of My Eye

2012-01-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

A nice winter snack: apple slices!

Reagan eats them like corn on the cob and leaves behind the skins.

After apples we had soup and tuna melts for dinner. Jonathan and Reagan wanted to be my helpers...they like any excuse to wear the aprons I made them for Christmas:)

The Christmas Card That Never Was...

2012-01-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

So the plan was to mail out Christmas cards at the beginning of December....that never happened.
Plan B: Mail out a New Year's card.....that hasn't happened.
Plan C? Valentine's card? Bag it altogether?

Whatever we decide to do just know that we still love you all and that we do wish you a Merry Christmas/Happy New Year/Happy Valentine's Day. We are all doing well and happy (and all that other family letter business, too!)

In a mad rush to be on top of things and mail out a card I designed this little number in picasa:

Andrew veto'd it. Apparently it's not Christmas enough...lol.

Snow Fun!

2012-01-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

In case you were hiding under a rock a couple weeks ago let me fill you in: we had a lot of snow around these parts. In fact, there are still a couple of small piles in our front yard! I think we ended up getting about 9" of snow. It was an interesting week to say the least. Monday was a holiday for MLK: the kids were still at the coast and Andrew and I worked. Tuesday we woke up to snow and the call for 2 hr late followed by the call for no school. Snow day! Wednesday we woke up to even more snow and the call for no school again! I'm grateful that this snow storm only kept us home bound for a couple of days, but I'm sad that the snow didn't last very long. I think that snow can make everything look so clean and peaceful. We just get stuck at home since our street doesn't get plowed but the main street you turn onto does so it leaves a pretty big snow drift across the road. Out here in the Pacific Northwest there isn't a lot on hand to adequately handle the occasional snow storms we inevitably have. Just means you cozy up at home and stick it out! Thankful for friends who live within walking distance so that we could get out and not be so stir crazy. Maybe we'll see some more snow before spring?

Geocaching in Lincoln City

2012-01-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

While I was out shopping, Andrew took the kids out geocaching. With Andrew's crazy schedule last year we hardly geocached at all. He was so excited to get the chance and they loved how many they found within walking distance of our house. Next time we go they have a plan to spend the whole day doing it. It was way too rainy for more than a couple of hours this time.

Pig 'n' Pancake

2012-01-29T14:19:00.000-08:00

When we went to Lincoln City a couple weeks ago we decided to go ahead and go out for breakfast on Saturday morning. My grandparents gave us some money for Christmas so we decided to use it and go all out! I love the fact that the bacon was the size of Jonathan's face, that Adrian had more whipped cream than waffle, that Reagan tried to eat a sausage link sideways, and of course the company of family. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the gift that let us splurge on going out to eat as a family!

Crap Closet turned Muddy Magnificence!

2012-01-25T18:32:00.000-08:00

Remember those 12 projects to get done in 2012? Well, I can officially check off the hall closet redo!!! (Actually, I do still need to do a little painting so it's not totally checked off...I just couldn't wait to reveal it!)

A couple of before pictures:

Don't judge because of all the crap up there on the shelf in all of it's unorganized glory;) You should have seen the real before...I used to have a shelf in here that held a ton of my scrapbook/crafting supplies as well as rolls of vinyl. I have moved those things to new homes. An armoir in the kitchen (I'll get around to revealing that one eventually!) and the trusty garage;)

From the minute that I saw this lovely on pinterest I knew that I needed to do something about our pathetic waste of a closet. It had cruddy sliding doors that were always coming off the tracks and my kids were constantly just throwing all of their junk in there. I was so over it. This would be perfect! Now only to convince the ~~muscle~~ hubby....not difficult at all. He loved the idea.

After an adventure at Home Depot....why do we always buy stuff that in now way easily fits in our stupid van? You'd think we'd have learned by now!....we came home and got to work. Andrew got to use his new saw and sawhorses as well as a host of other tools he has been accumulating. He's turning into quite the handyman lately;)

(Why am I even sharing this picure?) We decided to build the bench with cubbies under it. Ignore the following:

Dear builders of what I call home,

You suck. Ever heard of putting studs in a reasonable place? Hmm? Also, maybe next time you could hang your drywall straight, mmmkay? Thanks. There are many other things in this house that stand as evidence that you suck. I'm just sayin'.

Sincerely,

An annoyed home owner

Jonathan and Reagan quickly discovered that they could crawl around under the bench. Oh to be that tiny again;) My sisters and I used to crawl around and hide underneath all kinds of things when we were little. Fun times.

Mid-way point:

"I built this with my muscles mom!"

The kids were satisfied with the addition of a bench. To them it was fine. To me...an eyesore still.

Ahhh, beadboard. How I love thee. Andrew was convinced that it wasn't going to look very good, but I assured him that caulk, lovely caulk, has a way of hiding things. (Per my go to DIY blog: Thrifty Decor Chick of course since I had never done it before. Shhh, don't tell him!)

Finally earning his keep around here:

With the beadboard installed and the painting done it was time to make a cushion. I knew what I wanted and I finally found it after looking for a few weeks. I bought a piece of 3" foam from Joann's. Not cheap by the way....thank goodness for a sale! Still paid $40 for it:( But, it is so worth it! I found some gray fabric at walmart that would work perfect for $2.27 a yard (now that's more like it)! The fabulous person I call loverboy bought me a sewing machine from heaven for Christmas. This is seriously the coolest thing I have ever had the privilege to sew with. My precious....(think LOTR)

Now there are many flaws with this project. Most of them are ones only I will ever know about or at least know where to look for them. Biggest lesson learned is that wood putty doesn't sand off so easily if you let it cure all the way first. I am super annoyed at all the spots I jacked up, but again, I probably will be the only person to notice most of them:) The kids think this is the most fantastic closet ever.

And After:

I had some plans for really cool baskets, but those suckers aren't cheap! It was going to be $75 for the 3 bottom baskets alone. No thank you. I settled for some cheap yet durable trovast bins from IKEA. They are awesome. The only thing left to do is paint the ceiling and the wall above the beadboard a light shade of gray. I just won't have time to do that for a while and I couldn't wait to share the results of our labor.

Andrew says that this is now one of his favorite rooms in our house. I love the fact that it really does feel like another "room." We have been snuggling here, reading books, jumping, wrestling, playing, and having all kinds of fun. It was totally worth all of the work.

Jonathan does seem to think that this is his room now. He was adamant that he gets to sleep on this bench since it is his new bed. The cushion really is extremely comfortable so I can see why he wouldn't mind sleeping here.

Sunday night I was visiting with my sister and he crawled up here while waiting for me to stop talking and read to him. He totally passed out:

I took this before moving him to his own bed. In the morning he woke up and started crying. He ran back out to the bench and laid on it while saying between sobs "I wanted to sleep here! I don't like you mom."

And one final side-by-side:

A job well done if I do say so myself. I love my new mud-room!!!!

I can't put them down!

2012-01-21T22:28:00.000-08:00

As one of my 12 twelves of '12 I am reading more! Reading for fun;) A while back I was trying to find some new books for Adrian to read. Harry Potter and anything by Rick Riordan are his favorites, but when he is reading the series' over for the 4th time I think it's time to get him hooked on something else! I talked to the youth librarian at our local library and he gave me several suggestions of different series to try. I got the first books of several different ones for Adrian to try out. Most of them he didn't even finish the first books because he went right back to Percy Jackson. And then he started the Ranger's Apprentice series. He can't stop reading them. I was totally unfamiliar with them, but trusted the librarian. Adrian has been begging me to read them and I told him I would once we got past Christmas;) Well, I started last week. And I can't stop reading these books. Confession: I have broken my goal to go to bed before midnight twice this week because I just couldn't stop reading! Also, I may have started the 4th book this morning after breakfast and finished it a little after lunch today. The amazing thing is that I was totally doing other stuff at the same time. I folded laundry while reading. I cleaned while reading. I totally recommend these books for those of you who want an easy read with an addicting story line.

the best part: this series has 11 books in it and he's writing the 12th one. I could read this series and be done with my goal for the year! Love it.

Liar, Liar....

2012-01-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

This morning was a doozy. It started with the 3am arrival of Jonathan in my bed. I asked him if he needed to go potty and he said he already did. I felt his dry pants and went back to sleep. At 5:45am the phone rang to let us know that a couple buses were on snow routes (at least there was school today! First day all week.) I could hear Reagan in her room laughing and jabbering on about nothing so I went to get her to take her potty. She successfully went both numbers and seemed to be done. I went to get her some underwear and in the process stepped on a very wet pair of pajama pants only to notice that there was also a wet pair of Jonathan's underwear in front of the laundry room door. What?! At this point Adrian comes to ask me if he needs to get ready for school. He was not too happy that the answer was yes! I got Reagan dressed and then heard Jonathan in my room. I set Reagan on the bed with Andrew and asked Jonathan if he wet his bed last night. He responded by saying:

"No. I didn't do it. Someone was sleeping in my bed with me and peed all over me. I think it was Reagan. Yeah, Reagan was in my bed and then she peed on me. After she peed on me she used magic to get back in her crib. But, I did not pee my pants."

What?! My little cutie is such a liar!! I do have to give him some credit for the creativity; however, lying is not an option in this house. I then asked him who changed his pants and he proudly said "I did because I got pee on mine." Oh, so you did pee your pants? "No. Reagan peed on me." At this point I could hear Reagan hollering again in my room so I went to check on her. She was sitting on the edge of my bed and (wait for it...) you guessed it, she had done both numbers in her pants right there on my bed! I rushed her back into the bathroom and got things cleaned up. I ran the bath for her and then went to get her soap and some clean clothes. When I returned Jonathan told me "Mom, I just asked her and Reagan says that she did pee on my bed and on me. She says she is magic like that." Really? "Yes. She peed and pooped on your bed too mom. See?" I guess there's some logic to that, but it is still a lie!!!!

Once I had Reagan out of the bath they both wanted to eat. And yes it was only 6:20am.

After scriptures when Adrian was getting ready for the bus he came to me and said "Mom, this morning at like 4 or 5 I woke up with my stomach hurting. I....I....I...had (whispers) you know." Oh great, now I'm wondering if his bathroom is full of bodily functions mess and what else the wonderful day could hold for me. Did you make it to the toilet? Is there any mess anywhere? "Yes. No." Are you feeling okay now? "Yes, I just didn't know if maybe I should just stay home from school today." No. You should not. "Dang it."

I have now washed 2 loads of laundry, baked 5 dozen cookies (just cause I needed some!), and am working on getting some painting done. Wish me luck!

Shop 'til you drop!

2012-01-15T18:02:00.000-08:00

This is my absolute favorite weekend to shop all year long. No question about it. Better than black friday. By far. If you have no idea what I am talking about then I am about to school you;)

4 years ago I discovered that MLK weekend means that Old Navy is clearing out their merchandise for their inventory stuff at the end of the month. This means HUGE deals and savings. If you know how to plan it and play your cards right;) 2009 was the first year I shopped my pants off and I mainly went to Old Navy since they were having 50-60% off everything in the entire store. I made out like a bandit on clothes for my kids. For some reason I failed to make it in 2010. Last year I scored big time. 2011 was the year I added in Carter's and Osh Kosh. See, I go to the outlet stores in Lincoln City and those two particular stores had just switched spaces and downsized. This meant an extreme surplus of stock and incredible savings. I meant to blog about it, but never really did. This year I am doing it. Right now.
2012: Planning and preparation meant saving up some money! I have been planning this for a while so I started saving up money for it a few months ago. I knew I would easily spend $200 if I had it so I saved a little more than that and good thing too! I also planned out my "route" and printed off coupons before I left. People are always amazed at what I can get with this weekend's sales and wonder how I can do it. This is how I do it!

1. Stores open at 10am. Get there at 9:45 (best parking spot that way! Don't ask about how hard I struggled with backing in. It was embarrassing! I really do know how to do it.)

2. Start at Old Navy. Be prepared to dig a little and spend some time going through the Clearance racks. Totally worth it! Not only did I get some great stuff for myself this year, but I found some awesome deals on stuff for my kids. For example: I got 2 pairs of cords and a pair of jeans for Adrian for less than $10 total!
The skinny:
I bought: 32 items
I spent: $119.64
Original prices total: $624.90
Total Savings: 80.85%
How: 40% off everything in the store (including clearance) plus a coupon for 25% off a purchase of $100 or more. The clerk was hilarious. She was certain that I wouldn't be able to use my coupon since they already had 40% off. Wrong. Love it!

3. After dropping 4 huge bags off at the car I headed over to Osh Kosh. They were having 30% off almost everything in the store. I love Osh Kosh clothes for reals. They last like no other and are cute to boot! I have a pair of overalls from Osh Kosh that all 11 of my siblings and I wore and now both of my kids have worn them, too. One word: quality. The pickings were slimmer than last year, but still worth the time spent digging through racks.
The skinny:
I bought: 12 items
I spent: $40.38
Original prices total: $304.00
Total Savings: 86.72%
How: Additional 30% off clearance prices plus a 20% off of a $40 purchase coupon.

4. Next up: Carters. If there was a children's clothing addiction I would have it. And my ~~drug~~ brand of choice would be Carters. I love the way their clothes all coordinate! The matchy-matchness of it all makes my heart skip a beat;) The only bad thing was that this year they had almost nothing on clearance in Reagan's size! Boo. I still found some good stuff though and I am happy with it nonetheless.
The skinny:
I bought: 8 items
I spent: $46.34
Original prices total: $195.00
Total Savings: 76.24%
How: 20% off purchase of $40 (only bought clearanced items)

5. Aeropostale. Disappointment. Adrian is now able to wear Men's small for some things so I printed off my coupon for $10 off purchase of $40 and found a store with giant cardboard boxes full of crap. I was not about to start digging. I walked to store and found nothing else of interest and so I turned around and walked right back out. Not sad at all about it either!

6. Children's Place. It was okay, but nothing I liked was a good enough deal:( I did snag a pair of leggings for $2.99 that was originally $9.50 (saved 68.53%) and that was it.

7. Here's where I took a break from clothes shopping and made an unplanned trip into a kitchen store. Scored an onion dicer that will make my monthly cooking so. much. easier. Enough said.

8. Dress Barn. I know right? I'm just as disgusted at myself as you are;) Here's the thing though. I actually found a pair of jeans that fits me really well! I have been wearing the same 2 pairs of jeans for a while now and neither of them are high on my like list any more. I thought I would give those "old lady" jeans a try and actually found a pair for $14.99 that fit me perfectly. Nice. Original price: $29.99.

Here's the breakdown (clothes only!)
I bought clothes from 5 different stores and had a blast! I spent a total of $224.34 (which includes birthday presents for 2 of my sisters and a dress for a friend--see below). I came home with $1,163.39 worth of clothing! When I was checking out at Old Navy my mom literally asked me: "Don't you feel like you are stealing?" I quickly responded "No way! I did the first year, but now I plan on this and I don't feel bad at. all. Sucks to be a sucker who paid full price."

BEST DEAL EVER: I was perusing the merchandise in the girl's section shopping for my sister turning 11. I found the cutest dress marked at $3.47. Problem: it was a size 8. Too small:( So I got to thinking and quickly texted my friend, Heidi, to find out if it would fit her daughter. Yes! I told her I thought that I could get it for $2 and she said to go for it. Well, guess what? After all discounts I paid $1.56 for that dress! The original price was $39.94. That is a discount of 96.09%!!!!!!!! You can't even buy enough fabric to make a dress for that much. I can't wait to see Emmah wear this dress.
P.S. I just looked it up at Old Navy to get a picture of it and they have it on clearance online for.....$29.99. Suckers;)
P.P.S. If I see your butt at the Outlets next year you better let me have first pick since I told you about it and all! I will fight you for that shirt in your hand if I saw it first;)

There were two in the bed...

2012-01-15T17:22:00.000-08:00

and the little one said: roll over, roll over. So they all rolled over and one fell out!

Okay, so no one actually fell out of the bed! That would have been funny though;) This weekend we went to Lincoln City to my parent's beach house and got to stay the night. Adrian was sleeping in the basement with Noah and the little ones were going to share a bedroom with Andrew and I. Looking at this picture can you tell me where we were supposed to sleep? I absolutely love that they are both sleeping in the same positions. Sprawled out across the bed like they own it. Stinkers. Needless to say, we made a cushy bed of pillows and blankets on the floor for them;)

I had so much fun driving to the coast. We had a lot of fun playing Left, Center, Right and King's Corner on Friday night while eating pizza. Saturday started off by going out to breakfast and was followed by shopping and geocaching. Stay tuned for more about those things!

The best part of this whole trip was when Andrew and I drove off at 3:00pm and left the kids behind! We both had work to get back to, but the kids had no plans and have no school on Monday. Those lucky little ones get to spend a couple of days with Grandma and Grandpa! The luckier ones are Andrew and I. Especially me. I have been home all day totally by myself. I eat what I want when I want to. I do what I want when I want to! I have been cleaning and organizing, reading blogs, planning the 14 days of valentines, and reading my first book of the year. It is amazing how much I can get done without having my kids around. I do miss them though. I especially missed them when we woke up to snow on the ground. They would have loved that! Tomorrow will come soon enough and it will be back to the same routine, but this has been a much needed break. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!!!!! Love ya lots!

Choose the Right

2012-01-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

One of my assignments this month was to decorate the bulletin boards at church for our Primary. I love this years theme: Choose the Right. It is so simple and easy to focus on. It has been years since I had anything to do with primary and I am so excited that the General Primary Presidency has changed the way they present the annual themes. There are now monthly themes, weekly themes, and all of the sharing time lesson plans all done for you! The bulletin board on the top is the one for the yearly theme and scripture. Each of the pictures has to do with the monthly theme and has that month's them under it. In hindsight I wish that I had made the pictures a little bigger, but I was so over printing and stapling so it will just have to do;) Simplicity people!

The board on the bottom is one that we use every week when we present our lessons to the children in sharing time. I put a place for the monthly theme that can be easily switched out and a spot for the monthly themes and scriptures. The trick is getting the themes switched out on time! (Now that I am looking at the bottom picture the ribbon is noticeably crooked.....makes me want to drive up there and fix it right now! But, I am not going to touch it...you can fix it for me if you like.)

I am looking forward to having my turn to teach next month and I can't wait to share what I have planned!

Daddy's Little Girl

2012-01-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

I still remember when I was pregnant with Reagan and we found out we were having a little girl. Andrew was adamant that it would be no different than having a little boy. I knew differently;) This little girl has got her daddy wrapped around her finger--and he knows it too!

Andrew got this hat for Christmas from "Santa" when he stopped by my parent's house this year. It is a pretty sweet hat and it looks good on him, but it seems like it might look better on this little one;)

Annual New Year's Eve Party!

2012-01-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

Last year we decided to host a New Year's Eve party at our house and we decided to make it an annual event by doing it again this year! It was a lot of fun getting ready for it since that meant I *had to* spend lots of time on pinterest for ideas. I found some free printables and whipped up a banner and some little circle things with Adrian's help. We ended up having some super yummy things to eat and some fabulous company to share it with. This year we decided to plan something for some of the kids as well. Jonathan and Reagan were passed out prior to party time, but Adrian was most definitely not. My friend Heidi lives around the corner from us so we had my sister babysit at her house and Adrian got to join in that fun. He was so excited to have a party to go to! He was so proud of himself for not falling asleep prior to midnight...or even one o'clock for that matter!

Jealous that I have this ~~dork~~ stud to spend eternity with? Love ya babe! You are the coolest quirky dude I know;) Next year all the guys need to wear ties and Andrew's gonna wear his jammies. Just kidding!

Kate and Heidi (hogging Rowan of course!)

(Other) Andrew--thoughtfully considering his next move for "In a Pickle." Maybe he was considering the validity of "all the mail in the world?"

After "In a Pickle" we played "Phase 10" with a twist. We played it as a drinking game;) If you didn't phase then you had to drink a dixie cup of diet root beer. I think this soda is foul, but apparently Heidi likes it. She laughed and said she doesn't know how we can be such good friends. Love ya!

The lone hold-outs for midnight! Stotts and Durants know how to par-tay!

If the Mayan's got it wrong then we will so be doing this again for 2013!

The Coolest Thank You Ever!

2012-01-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

Andrew's family has a rotation for mnnn Christmas gifts every year and this year was our turn to have his older sister, Rachel, and her family. We talked a lot about it and decided that we wanted to do the 12 days of Christmas for them. We had a lot of fun planning it out and getting somewhat creative with our gifts;) One of the best parts of Christmas is the giving! We got a fun surprise in the mail and I am sharing it only to show how awesome my SIL is! I don't know if she came up with the all on her own, but it is totally worth sharing.

Here is the note that came with this abundance of fun:

To say we were all GRINS & GIGGLES when we received our WHOPPER of a Christmas package from you would be an understatement!
We were tickled to PIECES and so very GRATE-ful every time we opened a new gift!
Thank you for making our Christmas special beyond MEASURE!!
We love you all and WHISK you a SOUP-er New Year full of hugs and KISSES!!

(we got some baby products, whoppers, cheese grater, measuring tape, whisk, potato soup--which was delicious by the way!, and hershey's kisses)

Thank you Bradley bunch! (I hope I'm not embarrassing you by sharing this!) We love you and the only thing we are sad about is that it will be 10 years before we have your family for Christmas again!

We just don't have that kind of technology yet...

2012-01-08T19:16:00.000-08:00

You know, the kind that could see inside my brain;)

If we did, and you could, I think it would be a glimpse into crazy town. I am trying so hard to focus on simplifying my life, I really am. It just seems like nothing and no one else has caught up to that yet! I am letting a lot more things go than I normally would. For instance there is utter chaos in the room behind me right now, but since it's behind my back and I can't see it then I am choosing to not think about it. Except for my acknowledging it here is thinking about it....whatever.

This first week of the new year has just flown by. Since I posted my 12 twelves I have actually worked on a few of them. I have taken a little more time for myself in studying (not everyday though--I will get better!) and Andrew and I are working on a pretty major DIY project. Let's just say that it involves a lot of wood, trim, patience, cutting, patience, and more patience! I will reveal it as soon as we finish it. Hopefully that will be this week? But, I may not get to the accessorization (that's a word cause I say so) phase before the end of the week. What I want for the accessory side is a little more spendy than I originally thought it would be so I haven't done it yet. But I know what I want and that's half the battle!

I am learning to write things down so that I don't have to hold it all in my head. It's not really working out though. Every time I write something down I think of 3 more things to add to the list! But, I have started to say no. Well, sort of. In the past if someone needed something done I would try to do it for them asap. This week I have been faced with several last minute things that needed doing for someone else. I actually was able to think before blurting out some insane response of "I can do that for you. I'll find the time tomorrow." or something like that. Instead, I have been thinking about my schedule, what my prior commitments are and seeing if I really could fit them in. I actually told people no! Mostly I told people that I really couldn't get that done for them this week and then gave them my best guess at when I really could do it in a stress free way. If that time frame still worked then I'm doing it, if not they can find somebody else. Right?

One of the last minute things that needed to be taken care of was actually something I needed to do for my calling in church. It actually has some ongoing minor issues that are tagging along, but should be cleared up today (fingers crossed). I found myself thinking a lot about what is important, what is worth getting all worked up about, and what are the best things for me to put my focus and energy into. There were some things said and done that actually hurt my feelings at the time, but I was able to quickly recognize that they were all little things. I don't really have the time or the energy to spend allowing myself to be offended or upset over them. I know this is all very vague, but it isn't worth going into detail. I have found this week though that I feel an immense appreciation for my Savior and the love that He has for all of us. As well as our Father in Heaven and the love He has for His children, especially the little primary children! I am looking forward to this time I have in primary and I can't wait to get to know each of these children. It's one of the things on my perpetual to-do list that is truly worth doing.

Simplicity/12 twelves for '12!

2012-01-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

It's that time again: time to put the obligatory lists of crap we won't really do or accomplish out there. At least that's how I've always secretly felt about it;) The last several months I have been thinking about a lot of things in my life though, and decided that maybe there is a way to have "resolutions" that actually lead to action. I've also never had a "word" for any year of my life. I had no opposition to it, just never applied it to myself before! Well, there is a first for everything! So, stick with me on this and hold me accountable;)

SIMPLICITY

"Enjoy the simple, the natural and the plain. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work." --Benjamin Hoff

For 2012, simplicity is my "word." Lately I have been feeling really overwhelmed. Mainly overwhelmed by things I feel pressure from myself to do or be. I also feel overwhelmed by all the stuff. Stuff to do, stuff we have, stuff I want, stuff to change, stuff to be, stuff to get rid off, etc. And it stinks. I want simplicity in my life and the only way to get there is by acting on it. I am a planner, a control-freak, basically a type-A. I wish that I was spontaneous and could just "go with it" everyday, but I can't. Or at least haven't been able to yet! My thinking is that if I simplify my life then there won't be those constant concerns and worries nagging at me. So, the big thing this year: this is the year I start to say no. Don't worry, it won't be to everything! But, I tend to volunteer for everything or agree to help with whatever people need and I just can't do it anymore. You are officially put on notice that "no" is being put into effect (family included!). I also want to purge stuff from my house like never before and simplify my life by organizing what's left behind. Our house is way too small for all the junk we have in it and it is stressing me out. The other thing I need to do is limit my "schedule." If I decide in the middle of the day that I feel like doing something I want to be able to just do it. Example: yesterday instead of imposing self-inflicted and unnecessary stress about random things I sat and built a Harry Potter lego castle with my boys. And let me tell you: it was a blast! I told Andrew the other night that I am tired of putting all these stipulations on my time and on things. If I think it would be fun to take the day off and do something with my kids then I should just do it. They will never really earn any of the stuff we do for them or give them, but that doesn't mean I can't do it! There doesn't have to be a reason to do anything.

All this being said, I have also compiled my "list" of crap. But, I think it is a pretty awesome list and not crappy at all! In my mind it is a hybrid between a list of resolutions/goals and a bucket list. If you don't agree you can just keep that opinion to yourself;) Drum roll please.....

IN 2012:

#1- Read 12 books. Books that are just for me. Dr. Suess, Dora, Magic Tree House, etc. DO NOT count!

#2- Complete a 12 mile run/walk. (Definitely a combo run/walk on this one. I have no desire to run it straight through!)

#3- Spend at least 12 minutes of everyday on personal study: scriptures, conference reports, etc. In addition: go to education week with some of my best friends!!!

#4- Actually go on all 12 daytz with my boy toy;)

#5- Blog/journal about life with my sensational family at least 12 posts per month.

#6- Memorize the 12 scripture verses that go along with the primary program this year. I was recently called as the 2nd counselor in the Primary organization in my ward. Basically, I help take care and teach of all the 18 month-11 year old kiddos that attend church with me! I am so excited about this calling and the themes this year are incredible.

#7- Take off on 12 day trips with my family this summer. Last summer was the summer of going and doing and I loved it. We are definitely going to repeat and add to this year!

#8- Lose 12 pounds. Really, I just need to. I don't care about the "swimsuit body" or anything like that. I need to do this for me. Hey, it's not like I don't have 12 pounds to lose!

#9- Bed before 12! Let's face it. I am exhausted. My kids keep me going all day long and my mostly unnecessary stresses keep me going all night and it has to stop. Most of the time I stay up thinking I am accomplishing all this stuff and really I get almost nothing done. I really want to be in bed by 11, but 12 is a more reasonable goal;)

#10- Participate in 12 charitable acts. Giving service is something that I have grown up doing. I haven't always enjoyed it, but I have grown from each experience. In keeping with my "word" though I have decided to perform SAKs: simple acts of kindness. The only rule is that things I already do for others don't count. You know: laundry, cooking, cleaning, caring for the sick and needy children in my own home;)

#11- At least 12 temple trips. Adrian turns 12 this year and gets to go to the temple! I have some plans in the works for our family going with him. It's going to be awesome!

#12- Complete 12 DIY projects in my home! I have a laundry list of things about my house that bug me, but I have narrowed my list down to the things that would alleviate the most stress while also stream-lining and simplifying daily life. Most of them I am soooo excited to do. All of them I am beyond excited to see finished! In no particular order here is what we plan to do: ~~turn our random coat closet into a mini-mudroom~~ (done Jan '12), finally finish all the trim (What? It's only been 3 1/2 years...), paint the kitchen and the cupboards, put a built-in triple bunk bed in the boys' room, turn the boys' closet into a mini "office," get an IKEA closet system going on in our master closet, build stands for the washer and dryer, finish last year's semi-decent "landscaping" in the yard, purge junk and organize the garage, build some built-in bookcases in the living room, build a real mantel!, and redo the closet in what will be Reagan's room.

Looking at my list of 12 twelves for '12 makes me think complex instead of simple, but I promise it won't be! All these things are usually fighting with each other in my head and just putting them down creates simplicity in my mind. I plan to keep track of my "twelves" although I may not share all of them here. I leave you with these words:

"I believe we would be happier to have a personal revolution in our individual lives and go back to simpler living and more direct thinking. It is the simple things of life that make living worthwhile, the sweet fundamental things such as love and duty, work and rest, and living close to nature." --Laura Ingalls Wilder

2011 DONE!

2012-01-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

I just finished up 13 posts over the last 3 days. Have fun reading;) I can officially say that I have journaled our life over this past year, 2011!

Here's to another amazing year of life with the Sensational Stotts!

A trip to the dentist

2011-12-31T16:52:00.001-08:00

I so intended to take a picture of Jonathan at his first dental appointment. I even had the camera in my bag! Oh well.

Tuesday after Christmas I took all 3 of the boys to the dentist. I love working at the best dental office ever and having some pretty amazing people take care of my family when I bring them in. I've been prepping Jonathan (pretty much since birth) for his first dental appointment. I have worked with enough phobic patients to know that those first few appointments are critical. For weeks Jonathan was so excited that he was going to get a turn to have his teeth counted by the doctor. The morning of was a totally different story!

The whole way driving to the office Jonathan was yelling at me some variations of: "I don't like you! I'm not going to the doctor! Drive me home right now! I won't do it!" I was a teensy bit concerned that this was going to be a rough morning! Once we got there though he was just fine. I went back to the room with him and showed him around again. He was so excited to ride on the moving chair. One of the best dental assistants ever, Lindsay, polished his teeth up with some berry paste and he was perfectly still. I wish he would open his mouth that wide at home when I brush for him! After his teeth were polished I hopped in and checked his teeth out, did a little scaling and he had his exam with the doctor and he's cavity free!

Luke was awesome. He had some serious dental phobias a few years ago, but with a lot of patience and matching him up with the right dental team he is pretty much over it completely. We got all his treatment finished up finally last spring and so I was anxious to see how things are now. Another cavity free kid!

Adrian is a different story on this trip though...he had a couple cavities:( That part is a bummer, but he had the dental assistants entertained. When Lindsay went to take some x-rays on him he started asking her if she was going to electrocute him. She said it was so funny. He can be a pretty silly little guy! He's had plenty of x-rays before so I know he was just kidding, but it was an interesting connection to make.

I love being a dental hygienist. I love being the mother of these fantastic kids even more;)

Happy brushing and flossing!

Christmas with the folks

2011-12-31T16:50:00.000-08:00

Santa was really nice to us this year and made a stop at my parent's house, too!

Jonathan is obsessed with Angry Birds and even gets to play it sometimes on Grandma's Ipad if he's being good. He got an Angry Birds game that you set up the blocks and fling the birds at. He loves it!

We got a new game "In a Pickle" and it is so much fun to play!

Reagan got some new dolls: Raggedy Ann and Andy.

I've been sewing a lot more lately and really wanted a cutting mat with a guide and cutter to make my life easier. Santa was happy to oblige! Thank you!!!

Then Andrew pulled a sneaky move and had a present hiding under my parent's tree for me: a new sewing machine! I was so surprised and I can't wait to start some more projects. My old machine works, but it is a very basic machine and I've reached a point where I want to learn more and do more than I can with it. Thank you Andrew! You spoil me;)

Great-Grandma sent a present for my brothers: a foos ball table. The kids had a lot of fun trying it out, too!

This year we were sufficiently spoiled by each other, our family, and Santa. I feel so lucky and blessed in life. I love my family dearly and it is so awesome to get to be a part of it. Merry Christmas everyone!

Santa's Quick Stop

2011-12-31T16:39:00.000-08:00

The kids set out cookies and carrots in an effort to tempt Santa into making a quick stop on Christmas eve. I think it worked!

Reagan scored a little kitchen.

Adrian got a training chantor for learning to play the bagpipes.

And Jonathan got some more Star Wars figures to play with.

Good things come to those who wait!

I'm going there someday...

2011-12-31T16:38:00.000-08:00

After the Stott party we had to take Luke home. Our path took us past the temple and we decided to stop and walk around the grounds. Jonathan insisted that Chewbacca needed to see the temple, too. He also somehow managed to "accidentally" step into the reflecting pool. He was very unhappy about the wet socks, shoes, and jeans. Silly little monkey!

I feel so blessed to live close enough to the temple that we can see it often. I have a goal for 2012 to attend the temple more often myself. I love the temple! We recently were able to get the pictures of the temple hung up in all the bedrooms of our house like the prophet asked us to do last spring. I smile every time I go in the bedrooms and see the pictures hanging on the walls. I smile even bigger when I hear the kids talking about when they will go to the temple.

A Very Stott Christmas

2011-12-31T16:25:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve we were able to fit in a party with the Stott family and we are so glad we went! It was a lot of fun to see the cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and of course the Grandparents. There was plenty of good food to eat and just enough activities to keep the kids entertained.

Adrian and his two cousins: Kayla and Jillian. The year 2000 Stott models.

Here are all the cousins that were able to make it that day. I literally have over 30 pictures on my camera of this group in an attempt to get one good one and this was the best of *most* of them. Man those guys can be pretty wiggly!

1/2 of the Stott siblings.

Doug, Dan, Julie, Crystal, and Andrew

Add in Grandpa Stott and you've got a semi-family picture!

Every year Grandpa has a stocking with assorted goodies in it for the kids. This year he sat on a big chair in the foyer with a Santa hat on. He started with the youngest. Reagan and Jonathan were really skeptical at first about sitting on Grandpa's lap. But, once Jonathan saw that you got a stocking if you sat on Grandpa's lap he was all over it. He couldn't wait to have his turn!

Marry Christmas Stotts! Thank you for making it a fun day;)

Christmas Elves

2011-12-31T16:10:00.000-08:00

This year was our turn to have Luke with us for Christmas Eve instead of Christmas day. The kids were really worried about when presents were going to be opened and we just kept telling them that everything would work out just fine. Little did they know that Santa's elves had a plan. The night of Christmas Eve Eve some elves stopped by and hooked us up!

Those elves were a little concerned about kids getting into stuff they shouldn't so they set up a trap for those stinky kids. They also attached a not that said:

"Congratulations! Your home has been randomly selected for Christmas Eve delivery!! Due to increased demand some families receive their presents one night early so that deliveries can be made on time to all the children of the world. Please enjoy your early Christmas and thank you for your generally good behavior this year. For your continued good behavior Santa may have time for a quick stop on Christmas.... Sincerely, Santa's elves"

The funny thing is that the power went out in the middle of the night and one of the boys had to go to the bathroom. He was scared by what he felt so he crawled under the streamers. I was amazed that the streamers were all still intact when we woke up in the morning. They all crawled under it and none of them took the time to read the note! It was hilarious when they finally read it...there was plenty of whooping and hollering as they thundered down the hallway to see what awaited them under the tree.

Up first: find the pickle! This year's winner was Jonathan (thanks to his brother's who decided to sit back and not look too hard so he could have it. Nicely done boys!)

There were plenty of presents for all. Maybe one day when I feel up to it I can blog about all the stuff I made: a doll carrier back-pack for Reagan, aprons for the whole gang, a lego table for the boys, a stuffed chewbacca doll for Jonathan, and an mp3 player case for Adrian.

Reagan's favorite present was her baby doll of course!

The boys' favorite present was the Lego Millennium Falcon they have been asking for for years. Hours of fun and entertainment for ~~mom and dad~~ the boys!

White Elephant Partay!/Noah's Birthday Prank

2011-12-31T16:07:00.000-08:00

This year we actually got to attend the Elder's Quorum Christmas party. There was a white elephant gift exchange that was supposed to be "fun" things. I have never forgotten the year I got a hideous toilet plunger that was decorated with feathers and sequence. I decided to copy the idea and came up with this hideous number:

It is a toilet plunger Christmas tree:) Heidi was the lucky winner of this prize! I came home with a foot bath. It *may* already have been re-gifted...

My brother Noah celebrated his 16th birthday on the the 23rd. He told me earlier that he wanted a Lamborghini car--and then quickly said he was just kidding. That got me to thinking...
On Noah's birthday we showed up and gave him a birthday card. Inside was a car key and instructions to go to the driveway to find a present "fit for a 16 year old." He was so excited and shouting about getting a car for his birthday. When he got out there he found a match box car Lamborghini with a big red bow on it! He was sorely disappointed, but laughed with the rest of us. Then we gave him another birthday card with a gift in a big old bag (the foot bath). The card said "Happy Birthday ~~Kevin~~ Noah!" (500 brownie points if you get the reference...he did. And he loved it!) His real present is money towards getting his learner's permit--just in case you were worried that we didn't get him a "real" present;)
We love you Noah--Happy Birthday!!!

Christmas Advent: Days 21-24

2011-12-31T15:35:00.000-08:00

Day 21: Go look at Christmas lights.

With everyone in their jammies we loaded up in the car and drove around to look at the lights. Autumn joined us and helped Adrian keep count. I jokingly told them to see how many houses we saw with lights. They thought I really wanted them to count! I'm glad they did though because now we have a record to beat next year. In about a half hour we saw......230 houses with some form of Christmas lights on them!!! The boys don't think we will ever be able to beat that record:)

Day 22: Be a secret Santa.

We were asked to organize a team of 4 families that could help provide Christmas to a family in our ward. This family had 4 children and they needed help with one present for each so we just each got a present for one child. Of course we had to get the present for the boy close to Adrian's age. We had a lot of fun deciding what to do, especially since we had no idea who the family was! Another member of our ward came by to pick up the presents and deliver them to the secret destination. Merry Christmas!!

Day 23: Take kids shopping.
[Due to the "top secret" nature of this shopping trip the kids didn't want photographic evidence!]
We decided to start a new tradition this year and have the kids each pick out a present for each other. Unfortunately, Andrew had to work so he couldn't join us. However, my mom was happy to help out! Originally I was going to have them draw names, but since the little ones still need help it was easier to just assign them so we could divide up in teams. The kids had a lot of fun trying to be stealth in the store so that no one could see what the others were up to. In the end they all made wise purchases and really thought about the person they were buying for. Adrian had Jonathan (Ninjago legos), Luke had Adrian (lego city legos), Jonathan had Reagan (baby doll stroller), and Reagan had Luke (spy gear recording device). Great job guys! It was fun teaching them how to do for someone else instead of look for yourself;)

Day 24: Get a family picture.

My amazingly talented brother, Chad, helped us out this year and took our family pictures. I found Reagan's dress when I was out shopping on black Friday and decided to coordinate us to her. Little princess;) Adrian got a new tie, Luke wore a bow tie that my mom had (it actually belonged to my Great-Grandfather!), and Andrew, Jonathan, and I already had what we wore. My bestie, Heidi, told us about a cool turquoise barn door close by that we could take our pictures in front of. It's pretty funny really...I didn't realize until we were driving away and Andrew pointed it out to me, but we took our family pics in the same place, in almost the same pose, with the same colors as they did! Guess we just both have amazingly good taste! We love you Durants:)

(I got these pics from my brother's facebook page. He says that the ones on the CD are a little darker, but I actually thing the lighting on these is pretty cool!)

Thank you Chad for the amazing family photos!!!!

Advent Overview:

SUCH A BLAST!!!! We are totally going to do this again next year, but with some different things of course. Some we will definitely be repeating though;)

It was so nice to have Christmas last the whole month. We also were able to do way more service for others than we have done in the past because we actually planned it out. Next year I might have our Advent focus more on service and include some RACKs in it (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness), but I better start saving the money for it now;)

And the award goes too...

2011-12-30T21:32:00.000-08:00

Adrian!!!

When I got a letter in the mail informing us about the upcoming awards assembly we were so excited for Adrian! He has had a few rocky patches this year and in years past has struggled a lot with school. I hate to admit it, but I thought for sure the award would be for something other than academics. Not because he isn't smart, but because he doesn't have a great track record for getting the work done and turned in;)

At Adrian's school he is on a team that has two teachers. Mrs. C got up and gave her awards and we still didn't know what Adrian's award would be. Several teachers later his homeroom teacher, Mr. R, got up. When he started to read off about the student for the award I thought, oh, not Adrian again. This is what he said:
This student always enters my class with a positive attitude and a smile. He is consistently on task and truly enjoys being in Math. He believes in following all the school rules, does his best on assignments and was one of three students last week that excelled on a math test. This month's white team math award goes to Adrian!

[Insert my stunned face here...]
I still am a little shell shocked that this was how he described Adrian. I have never had a teacher of Adrian's ever describe him this way. WAY TO GO ADRIAN!!!!! I am still giddy over it. Something is clicking and he is finally getting it;)

(I should say that I did know he had received 100% on his math test the week before, but he failed to mention to me until after this how big a deal it really was. His goal is to have a quarter of all a's by the end of the year. I think he'll do it, too!)

(You try taking an in-focus picture while having two toddlers climbing on you.)

Blurry picture culprit #1.

Blurry picture culprit #2.

The 12 Days of Christmas 2012!

2011-12-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

Last year my parents started a new tradition for Christmas. A few weeks before Christmas they drop off a huge tote of presents and we get the 12 Days of Christmas!
I'll wait right here for you while you pop on over to my mom's blog to read all about it....

Oh, are you back now? Welcome back!
This year was just as fun as last only the kids figured it out much quicker this time. Jonathan still thinks he should get a present every morning when he wakes up!
Thank you mom and dad!!! We love everything and we were so surprised by how nice Santa was when he visited your house this year, too!

An Extended Christmas Party!

2011-12-30T21:18:00.000-08:00

This year the extended family on my side had their Christmas festivities at my Uncle Richie's house. It was so much fun! There was way too much good food to eat and my quickly getting out of shape body will not thank me later.

Jonathan and Reagan were constantly fighting over this silly little red and white stool my uncle has. I wanted to get a picture of them both "sharing" it, but there was no budging over enough for two to sit!

"Mom, he won't let me sit on the stool!!! He is so mean!!!"

And the best part for the kids...the train going around the tree. Endless hours of fun. (And I promise that Reagan did not get hit in the face with it!)

It starts young...

2011-12-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

This would be my one year old studying the lego star wars character encyclopedia. We aren't a house full of star wars nerds. Not at all.

Christmas Advent: Days 16-20

2011-12-30T20:42:00.000-08:00

Day 16: Paint toenails in Christmas colors.

Yes. My boys had their toenails painted. And guess what? They are just fine.

This activity was one that Adrian was a little apprehensive about. Jonathan at first was not about to let it happen. He told my mom "She can't paint my toy nails! I will run away from her so fast that she cannot catch me!!" Something changed his mind later and for days he was asking when we were going to paint his "toy nails." Reagan loved to show off her pretties, Jonathan was adamant that he only have green since that is his favorite color, and Adrian only asked for me to remove it two days ago. (He was very careful to keep socks on whenever he was around anybody else though!) So much fun:)

Day 17: Dress up for dinner.

This was one that my kids were actually looking forward to. So was I. Then life happened....we got home from an extended family Christmas party later than planned and dinner was rushed. Before I knew it we were eating when I remembered it was supposed to be "fancy!" So I whipped out the candlesticks and turned off the lights. I think the fact that there were now candles to be blown out made them quickly forget that we had cheated a little on this one;) Thank you Taylor for joining us! (And for babysitting afterwards!!)

Day 18: Have a campout around the tree.

There was much excitement about sleeping under the Christmas tree at this house! We started the night off by beginning our Harry Potter marathon (one movie every night) and breaking out the can of popcorn. Reagan didn't make it past 7:45 and slept in her own bed. The boys wouldn't go to sleep. When the movie was over and it was nearing 11:00 at night I finally had to threaten them with sleeping in their own beds if they weren't asleep in 10 minutes. They were out in less than 5. Sleep tight my little monkeys.

Day 19: Go caroling.

[Insert picture here....oops! Forgot to get one.]

The original plan was to go caroling with a couple other families. Then with some last minute changes we ended up just having the Durants over to sing carols/Christmas songs at our house. Jonathan had a melt down at one point because he wanted us to sing Jingle Bells over and over again. I love that boy, but sometimes he has the strangest fascinations/obsessions! After he calmed down we watched a couple of the fabulous videos made by the LDS church about Christ's life. We finished the night off with singing Silent Night and the spirit was so sweet.

Day 20: Do a snow dance.

Taylor joined us for this one, too! We all put our pjs on backwards, got some obnoxious noise making instruments out, turned on this snow dance video from you tube, and danced our hearts away. I have it recorded, but I did promise a couple of pre-teens that no one would ever see it....at least not yet!

Almost 2012...

2011-12-29T22:48:00.000-08:00

and I am sooooo close to being caught up with my blogging. But, I am just too tired to think straight tonight. Stay tuned for several posts in the next couple of days if I get my act together!

Winter Concert

2011-12-29T22:46:00.000-08:00

This year Adrian decided that he wanted to be in the 6th grade band at his school. After some serious deliberation he decided to go with the clarinet. I *might* have strongly discouraged the brass section. I don't think my nerves could handle that practice every day!

They had the whole band set up and ready to go behind the curtain. The high school auditorium was packed. Literally. There was standing room only. I wish I had captured Adrian's face as the curtain lifted. His eyes looked like they were going to pop out and his jaw fell open!

The band performed wonderfully. Most of the songs were tunes I didn't recognize, but they of course played Jingle Bells.

Well played Adrian!

Christmas Advent: Days 11-15

2011-12-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

Day 11: Read the Christmas Story

Although we had just had the same scriptures read to us the night before at the Christmas party for our church, we still enjoyed reading about the birth of our Savior.

Day 12: Go to the store and read greeting cards.

For family night we went to a local drug store and read cards to each other. There were some pretty funny ones that we found, too! We would read a card and then try to decide who it would be the best card for. What fun!

Day 13: Purchase a gift from a giving tree.

We went to a local store and checked out the tags for the Toy and Joy drive. Adrian insisted that we pick a tag for an 11 year old boy and then get him something that Adrian would like. It literally took forever to find and pick out a gift. Note to self: my children need a lot of guidance and prompting in order to make decisions like this. Just sayin'.

Day 14: Make a gift for a teacher.

I found several options of things to do on pinterest and showed them to the kids. I let them decide what to make/do and then we were off to the store. In the end they decided to take a wire whisk and put hershey's kisses in them. This was wrapped up with a note that said "We 'whisk' you a merry 'kiss'mas!" Silly side-note: if you ever try to do this you should hold the whisk upside down. I was struggling trying to get the kisses to stay inside worrying that I had let them pick a craft that would be too hard for Jonathan to do. That's when I realized that he was having no troubles at all and the time of his life simply because he was holding the whisk upside down while I was holding mine right side up! How did he get to be so smart?!

Day 15: Go see Zoo lights at the Oregon Zoo.

This was so much fun!! I have sang at the Zoo lights in years past, but have never really walked around to look at them. We brought a couple of my siblings along for the fun. Parking was a lot easier than I thought it would be and the kids behaved beautifully. Jonathan was a little disappointed that he didn't really get to see any of the animals. It was too dark and cold for the animals to be out and about!

Reindeer Run 2011

2011-12-25T19:14:00.000-08:00

I know I've talked about it some, but I spent the last 6 months mentally and physically preparing myself for a 10K. Why you ask? Oh, because I am crazy;) I had done some walking/jogging since I had Reagan and I knew I could run a mile and I was totally fine with that. Then Andrew ran the 1/2 marathon and I sat at the finish line waiting for him. I watched as people more than twice my age (and in some cases, a few that were almost twice my size) finishing that race. In the past I have been okay with that and not even thought twice about it. However, this time I just felt this overwhelming sense of guilt as I thought about the fact that I really should be doing more to be healthy and in shape. If not for myself, then for my children. I knew that I had no desire to run a half marathon, but I decided at that moment that I could train to run a 10K. 5K seemed like not enough of a challenge I guess. Anyways, I went home that day and thought a lot about it and determined to follow through on this goal.

I went online and found the couch to 5K training program. I figured I would start there and build up. Let me tell you, it was hard. I do not like running. I began to realize though that whether or not I could do it was all in my head. If I didn't allow myself to stop when I thought I could go no further then my body would keep going. After I could run 3 miles I found a training schedule online for a 10K run. The timing was perfect. This schedule was a little more intense and involved doing something every day. I followed it "perfectly" the first two weeks, but then schedules and weather started to get in the way. I still ran everyday that I was supposed to for the amounts "required," but I didn't always do everything else;) Looking back I think if I had done all those other things then I may have done a little better, but it's all good!

My first hurdle was running without stopping for more than a mile, then it was 2 miles, and so forth. After the 5K I did on Thanksgiving I realized that I needed to be training on hills more. So, the last week and a half of training I added in some pretty intense hills. A couple of those runs are ones that I would never wish to repeat! Adrian also wanted to participate in the Reindeer run, but knew he would not be able to do the 10K with me. Instead he opted for the 5K and ran it with my little sister, Hayden, and her friend. A friend of my mom's was running the 5K and kept an eye on them for us.

Adrian was not an "official" runner--the three of them just ran with the crowd and had a blast. Hayden and her friend ran the whole way and Adrian tried, but ended up walking a little bit. He finished it in under 45 minutes which is pretty impressive for an 11 year old who didn't really train at all for it! Way to go Adrian!!!

My mom got this picture of me before I started the race. I was worried that it would be freezing cold or raining and it turned out to be right around freezing cold and didn't rain while I was running.

While we were out running my mom stayed at the hosting church building and watched our little ones. Jonathan and Reagan were in heaven with all those bananas and donuts! Thank you mom. I don't think I could have done this race without her help and support. There were many days that my mom would run with me or stay with my kids so that I could run. She is amazing!

I am proud to report that I finished the 10K!!!! And, more importantly I ran every single step. Even when it felt like torture going up those hills! I took some ibuprofen before and taped up the shins so I actually didn't have any major issues with my shin splints while running. Towards the end it was all a mind game to continue on. The temptation to walk was so great! But, as I approached the finish line I knew that I wanted my family to see me finish strong so I decided to sprint the last of it. I think I sprinted faster than I ever had before! The thing of it is--no one I knew was there to see it:( My mom knew I would be coming soon, but the camera battery had died and she was trying to find someone she could borrow a camera from and missed it. Also, apparently I crossed the line with someone in front of me that blocked the sensor so I had no official run time until they could review the video! I told them the time that I thought it was and was only a little off.
My official run time was 1:03:42! (I set a pace of 10:16 min/mile!!!!)
Andrew finished the 1/2 marathon in 1:59:19!! Way to go babe:)

Here we are after finishing the race. Andrew got a medal for finishing the 1/2 marathon (you only got medals for the 1/2, lame.) And I ended up finishing 3rd overall for my division so I got a ribbon!!!!

In the end our battle wounds were some serious blisters on our feet. I even had some on the tips of my toes! Andrew got the worst one:

Nasty.

Looking back:
I would totally do it again! When I started the race I was overcome with emotion. I was doing something that a year ago would have been impossible. I almost started to cry! Then I told myself I had run the route and this was no different so get your head in the game and just go for it. Well, I did. The hardest part of the run wasn't the hills in the middle, it was the last 1/2 mile. I was so close, but so ready to be done. The thoughts of succeeding were powerful enough that I stuck with it. I started to think about all of the hard things I had done in my life. I realized how powerful I really was. I was not the fastest runner, but I was not the slowest. I ran every step despite my burning hatred for some of those steps! Before I decided to sprint to the finish line I was tearing up simply because I was in awe of the fact that I had actually done it.
I used to tell myself that I didn't run because I didn't like it, but that if I felt like it I could. Then I felt like it and learned that I couldn't. It was really hard work to get in the physical shape I needed to be in to run. I may not have ended up with a runner's body, but I now know that I can be a runner if I work at it.
I don't know that I will be running another 10K anytime soon, but I am planning on running the firecracker 5K on the 4th of July. My goal this time around is to improve my speed. Maybe I can cut it down to 9:30 min/mile?!

Most important life lesson:
I CAN DO HARD THINGS!!!

Christmas Advent: Days 6-10

2011-12-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

And the fun continues!

Day 6: Make an ornament.

There are probably a million cuter things we could have done to make these ornaments, but I was determined to get the ornaments made using only things that we already had on hand and this is what we came up with. The stars and letters are made of chipboard and mounted onto a circle of poster board. The kids wanted some sparkle so we added a jewel. We decided to have them each put the same number of jewels as they are old so they would remember how old they were when they made them.

Day 7: Get lights up outside.

I have honestly never put lights up outside. My dad always did, but I never have. Andrew always talks about it, but we just haven't ever done it. Not sure why. This year I decided it was high time. In the end it was whatever I could do with the help of the kids. So two strings of lights later and this is what we came up with. A little ghetto I know, but whatever:)

Day 8: Bake and decorate cookies.

I wasn't really in the mood for sugar cookies, so "we" decided to make these smore's cookies instead. The kids had a hand or two involved. They are peanut butter cookies with melted chocolate and marshmallow creme spread on them. It is one of my favorite sandwich cookies to make and perfect for this time of year.

Day 9: Take a baked gift to a neighbor.

I had these fun snowman tins that I got on clearance a few years ago and hadn't used yet. It was so much fun to fill them up with some smore's cookies and a few other goodies. We didn't end up getting them all delivered on this day since Jonathan got sick and I had to go to the store for meds instead. They all got delivered within a couple of days though;)

Day 10: Go watch the Christmas boats.

We have lived here for 4 Christmas seasons now and have never been down to the river to watch the Christmas boats before. Although it was freezing cold, it was a lot of fun. We even made it just in time to watch the tree lighting ceremony. (It was kind of a pathetic tree, but it was fun to count down!) After watching the boats we headed over to the church for our ward Christmas party and some treats. Such a fun night!

Christmas Advent: Days 1-5

2011-12-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

This year I got to make an adorable Christmas advent box at a Fabulous Friday activity that was hosted by my mother's ward at church. This is a picture of one that is similar. The awesome lady who was teaching this craft had researched and printed up a ton of activity options for the advent box and I got to choose 24 of them for my family to do this year. The best part is that on the back of each card I am going to put a picture of us doing that activity and then I have officially "scrapbooked" our Christmas this year! We have had a lot of fun so far and I thought I would share some of the fun.

(And yes, I do realize that I am actually blogging about December and it is still December. Shocking!)

Day 1: Make a Paper Chain.

I found a cute idea on pinterest of making the paper links into a tree instead of just linking them into a chain. I love how it turned out! The boys had a lot of fun with the paper cutter and stapler!

Day 2: Write a letter to Santa.

(Dear Santa, I know you're busy, but I would like it very much if I could have a new baby doll for Christmas. Love, Reagan)

Of course I had to help interpret Reagan's sounds and signs for this one;)

(Dear "Santa," For Christmas I would like: nerf pistol, water gun, nerf machine gun, Lego Indiana Jones 2 Wii, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars legos, nerf bassooka, Indiana Jones Legos, scooter (e. spark), new headphones for mp3, Ninjago Fire Dragon with Fire Temple, Spy Gear toys. Please get me as many of these things as you can. From, Adrian)

I personally love the fact that Adrian put quotes around Santa. He says he knows all about "Santa," but understands that he has to believe in order to receive!

(Dear Santa, I want two toy birds and one tree for the two toy birds. Maybe a space station too. And a hat like dad, I want lego nijago and star wars--the one with the Millineum Falcon and the death Star. I want Indiana Jones lego game like Adrian and Noah. Thank you dear Santa, Jonathan)

This has to be one of the cutest Santa letters! Jonathan dictated it to me as I wrote. I think the toy birds are referring to angry birds? Grandma has an Ipad now and Jonathan gets to play when he's being good;)

Proudly displaying their letters for Santa!

Day 3: Watch a Christmas movie with popcorn.

We decided that since our dayt this month ended up being free for us that we would use the $ we had set aside to get pizza and buy a new Christmas movie. It was a lot of fun to pick out the new movie and we ended up getting a few of them;) We watched Jim Carey's version of A Christmas Carol which none of us had seen yet. Such a fun night!

Day 4: Look at pictures of Christmas past.

We also watched movies that we had of year's past Christmases that we had on the computer. It was funny to see the kids younger compared to now.

Day 5: Have a Christmas cookie party.

We had our good friends, the Durants, come over for Family Home Evening and we had a "cookie" party. They brought some cookies to share and I made home made oreos. The kids got to make m&m pretzels. It was a lot of fun and the kids were in heaven eating all those treats, drinking hot cocoa, and having some egg nog (or egg not, as Jonathan calls it).

Stay tuned for more Christmas fun!

How to Entertain a Toddler

2011-12-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

The other day I was losing a little bit of patience the other day and running out of ways to keep the kids entertained. In the cold and rainy weather it can be especially daunting to try and do things inside all the time. I saw an idea on pinterest a few days prior that I adapted and it worked like a charm. I had a bag of little clear decorating rocks that I gave to Reagan with some muffin tins. She sorted, organized, and played for almost an hour. It was awesome! It kept her busy while I worked around her and occasionally got down and played with her as well.

Dot you just love this "cheese" face?!

Then, later that day when Andrew got home Reagan found another way to have some fun. Put on daddy's boots!

The Twelfth Dayt of Christmas

2011-12-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

On the twelfth dayt of Christmas you're in for one last treat, time to try a new place to eat!

We almost had to reschedule our dayt this month due to some unplanned events with Andrew's school, but in the end it all worked out. We went to the Hotel DeLuxe for a catered Christmas party. We were to dress up in the style of the 40s or 50s. It was so much fun! I loved the whole setting and Andrew got a chance to wear his awesome spectator shoes!!

A year in review:

I would have to say that this has been one of the best dating years of my life:) Andrew and I have had so much fun doing things that we wouldn't normally do. I loved that we had time and an activity set (most months anyways!) for us to do. This was one of the best Christmas ideas I have ever stumbled upon and followed through on. The best thing that we did, besides coming up with the plans, was setting aside money for our dayts. I would totally recommend this to anyone out there who wants to have some dating fun. We were able to go out on our dayts and not stress about spending money. As parents it can be hard to allow yourself to spend money on yourselves when you know that your kids need all kinds of stuff.

Here are the fun things we did this year:
1- Dinner Party
2- Dinner and a movie
3- Miniature golf at Glowing Greens
4- Dinner and a temple session
5- Bowling
6- Couples Massage (attempted, partial fail...)
7- Tillamook for the day
8- Les Mis (my favorite!)
9- Rent a movie and have a night in
10- Corn Maze
11- Karaoke (epic fail)
12- Dinner at a new place

I cannot wait to start sharing with you the fun dayts I have planned for next year. Our success rate was pretty high for 2011, let's see if we can get 100% in 2012!!!

Happy Dayting!

The Eleventh Dayt of Christmas

2011-12-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

On the eleventh dayt of Christmas it's time to hang with friends, for karaoke fun that never ends!

Result: EPIC FAIL

The only reason why I am even posting this is because I feel like I should keep things real. Also, I should post all the dayt ideas I attempted;)

Excuse for not going on our dayt: There were some changes with Andrew's internship schedule and we were going day by day. There was no way to make real plans with our friends with enough time to get babysitters. Sad. Oh well. Life is life and our intentions were good!

December was a success though...

Bathroom Remodel Complete.

2011-12-16T20:02:00.000-08:00

So, remember how a few months back I was moaning and complaining about the gigantic headache of a project that was going on in our master bathroom? Well, aside from a little caulk/touch up of trim (that actually needs to be done to the whole house, but that's another project for another day...) it is finally DONE!!!!

I thought that since enough time has passed I can objectively tell the story of our bathroom and not get all worked up about the beginning of it;)

Our story begins early one morning when we had a day of nothing to do...aka labor day. Andrew asked me if I wanted to go to home depot and pick up the bathtub/shower that we had scoped out a few months earlier that day. I told him that I didn't want to go pick it up so that it could sit in our garage for 6 months. (I'm just keepin' it real here folks!) I think I hurt his ego a bit and he got the idea that if he demo'd out the shower then we would have to get the new one and it would have to be installed so it wouldn't sit in the garage.

The process all started so fast that I didn't get a before of the master bathroom, so you will just have to accept a picture of the other bathroom. It is exactly the same just facing the opposite direction:

The nightmare started early and it all should have been a sign of things to come...Since we couldn't locate a water shut-off for the bathroom Andrew just decided to take it slow with the saws-all. Umm, yeah. Bad idea #1. I was sitting on the floor of our bedroom playing with the little ones when I heard the saw stop and the sound of water under high pressure spraying. The "uh-oh" that accompanied it was not a good sign. I was freaking out just a little bit when I opened the bathroom door to find my husband trying to control the geyser spewing from our bathroom wall. I ran to the garage to see if there was something to turn off the water in there. Andrew followed and annoyingly said to me "honey, calm down. The kids are freaking out because you are freaking out. You need to just breathe and calm down." He said this in an extremely calm way. I did not respond in an equally calm manner. I may have used a few expletives unbecoming of a lady......I should mention that Andrew and I are perfect for each other since I am wound really tight and he is ultra laid back. Normally we balance each other out. This situation was out of control though. I ended up calling a friend and going down to turn off the water to the whole house at the street. Since this whole project was unplanned we were totally unprepared to go for any length of time without water. I loaded the little ones in the car and took them to my parent's for the day.

I'm pretty sure that Adrian was thinking "my parent's have lost their minds. I have no idea what the heck is going on around here."

While Andrew and Adrian worked on demo I was on water clean-up. The brand new carpet in our bedroom was soaked outside the bathroom. I used the shop vac to get up a lot of it after soaking up a ton with pretty much every available towel. The water mess eventually got cleaned up and the shower parts were all removed. Now we were faced with two big problems: 1) we no longer had a shower in our bathroom and instead had a giant mess. 2) There was no longer any water coming into our house. At all. Ever try to flush a toilet without running water? Lame.
Our first order of business was a trip to home depot. This was an event all its own since the main shower panel didn't actually fit inside our van. I still don't really understand how we managed to get home with that thing strapped to our roof.
The second thing was figuring out how to get the water turned back on. Andrew and a couple of his buddies tried to fix it correctly, but didn't have the right supplies and the local hardware store was already closed. So, they rigged up a hose. The thing of it is, this does not really work so well to have your hot water feed into your cold water. We had luke warm water in the house as a result. But, at least we had running water!

I found these cute little monkeys and decided to keep them;)

When the guys were able to get to work on the plumbing situation we realized that the new parts weren't compatible with the old so another trip to the hardware store was in order. Did I mention that we made waaaaay to many trips to the hardware store throughout this whole ordeal? Cause we did.

The plumbing is done!

The tub is in!

The shower walls are going in!

"Mommy! Stop ignoring me!"
(Notice where the edge of the new bathtub is? Your eyes are not deceiving you. The floor does not meet up with the edge of the tub. New set of problems...)

Then one day while I was at work Andrew and his awesome friend, Jared, hung the drywall. I have to be honest. For a while there I didn't think we were ever going to have a bathroom that looked like a real bathroom again.

Then the mudding began and they added texture (which got everywhere).

As soon as I could I got to painting and hanging the shower curtain. I decided to do something I had never done before: I painted the ceiling the same color as the walls. And...I love it!

We took out the old towel bar and hung this new shelf (I still have to decide what type of organization I want to use for it...) And I scored an awesome magnification mirror from Ikea for less than $5. I've always wanted one and now I have one!

While they were going around repairing walls and adding texture I had them fix something that has been a thorn in my side for years. In our bathroom the hand towel ring by the sink was positioned just so that you couldn't have a hand towel hanging and have a scentsy plugin plugged into the outlet at the same time. So we just moved over the towel ring and fixed up the hole in the wall. Finally! I have decided that builders don't always pay that much attention to the details that make a house a home.

In tearing out the old tub we destroyed some of the linoleum. Linoleum that I hated anyways. There were grand plans to rip out the floor and install a heated tile floor, but wait. We're poor so that wasn't gonna happen;) I decided that peel and stick tile was the way to go and it turned out perfect.

We have these really awkward spaces under the bathroom counters that I have tried several different things with. I really wanted to rip out the counter and install a cabinet in this area. Then replace the gigantic mirror and get new lights too. But, all those things cost money and we were so done spending money on this project! I found these awesome drawer systems at Ikea and they have worked perfectly (for $20 apiece!) I still haven't quite decided how I want to organize all the stuff in there, but my brain was done thinking bathroom stuff so the fact that everything is put away is progress.

While our bathroom was being destroyed we were all sharing one bathroom. It was a chaotic mess for a long time and my crazy clean/organized self was literally going crazy. These pictures are mild compared to the real chaos that was going on in there.

I got another one of those drawer systems for this bathroom. I also decided to go with toilet paper holders that are free standing for both bathrooms. The one in the wall had been ripped out and "repaired" and the other one was getting loose. Since they were fixing walls anyways why not switch things out. Love the result.

The last thing that we did was get a new towel rack for the kids' bathroom. I made their monogrammed towels for Christmas last year with the idea that there would be a place to hang them and now there really finally is! This is a rack from Ikea (can you guess where I like to shop?) and although it isn't what I originally pictured, the price was right for the project and it works out. Andrew says that we have 6 hooks so that means we should have 6 kids. Easy for the guy who doesn't have to be pregnant or give birth to say!

I know this was a really long post, but it was a really long project. I am so happy with how it all turned out. One of my favorite parts is the fact that the counters have pretty much stayed clear of all the stuff that never seemed to have a place. Now I want to do the floor in their bathroom and due to a slight addiction to pinterest there are about a half dozen other projects in the workings of my mind. If only the budget was as big as my dreams;)

Before and After Project

2011-12-15T00:02:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good before and after project. I see these things done all the time that I think, hmmm I wonder how they did that? or I could do that! Then I spend a lot of time looking around my house for things that could use a little help (in some cases a lot of help!). One such eye-sore that I have been noticing a lot was my sewing box. I got this box when I was around 12 from my parents for Christmas. It was pretty awesome in it's time, but the floral print from the early 90's was getting on my nerves. I spent a lot of time thinking about how awesome it would be if I just recovered it. One day I stopped thinking and just did it. There were several moments during the process where I wanted to pull all of my hair out and scream. For instance: when I realized that the frame of this bad boy is held together by cruddy slivers of wood and thin cardboard:( At one point I thought I had destroyed the box and would never get it back together again. But, have no fear! I have a glue gun and a staple gun and I know how to use them!
I turned to my fabric box and used some leftover fabric from some other projects that I had done. When I was finished recovering and stapling i decided it needed a little something so I added some ribbon around the bottom and I made a little fabric yo-yo for the top. I also added a little experimental element of fun: I glued a magnet strip to the inside of the lid to keep all my random needles separate from the pins. So far my opinion about that magnet is about 50/50.

(After on the left, befores on the right)

My husband so cleverly stated "that looks really nice. But, you 'updated' it with a paisley print from the 70s." Oh hubby, paisley has been back for a while now. I think I should be just fine;) Also, I don't really care if it is "in" so much as if it is my style--and now it is. Love it!

Thankful Garland

2011-12-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

For the first Family Home Evening of November we made a "Thankful Garland." We talked about all the things that we are thankful for and then wrote them down on silk leaves from the dollar store. I then strung them together and we hung it up for the month. I thought I took a picture of it, but I guess I never did before I started to decorate for Christmas. Sorry.

Here's a list of what we are thankful for:

health

Jesus

creations

the great outdoors

friends

temple

knowledge

pants

my children

freedom

eternal families

my husband

prophet

scriptures

lego thing

piano

books

chairs

legos

clothes

brothers

table

food

daddy

our house

Reagan

my ipod

antidisestablishmentarianism

electricity

constitution

pell grants

sharpies

animals

mitochondria

mommy

numismatism

art

narwhals

popcorn

water

food

thanksgiving

book of Mormon

prophet

mp3 player

shelter

friends

books

temple

black licorice

church

comfort

sesquipedalians

family

Heavenly Father

Jesus Christ

nature

strength

Holy Ghost

clothes

toys

pumpkin pie

love

As you can tell there were some repeats, there was one little boy who was thankful for anything that he could see at the time, and one man who thought it would be funny to throw in a few extremely random items...one guess who that was! I love my family so much and I am so grateful for all of the blessings that I have received in my life. I have never been so happy!

Thanksgiving Dinner!

2011-12-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

This year my maternal grandparents made the trip up from California to celebrate Thanksgiving with us (and a few other events, too!) We gathered for Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house and had a fabulous meal. After running 5k in the morning I felt like I earned it;)

My mom and I decided to make an all night event of Black Friday shopping so the kids had a sleepover at Grandma's house and we headed out. The night included Walmart, Khol's, Old Navy, Fred Meyer, and Ace Hardware. The biggest nightmare was Walmart, but we got what we wanted and were in and out in 20 min.!!!! I know, I can't believe it myself! We did take a brief nap for about an hour in there and then took a couple hours after we were done. I was wiped out! It took me a week to get back on track with my sleep/energy...guess I'm not as young as I used to be! Bring on Christmas--we're ready for it!

Turkey Day 5K

2011-12-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

That's right. On Thanksgiving morning Andrew and I started off the day with a 5K run. It wasn't an official race, but we got together with a group of our friends and set off. My awesome friend Heidi ran her first 5K that day with us! I convinced her to do it with me and I am so glad she did. We had so much fun! We are planning to run the firecracker 5K at Sauvie Island in July, too. Bring it on!

The only thing about this route that we did was that we were told it would have two "slight" inclines. There was nothing slight about them! And there were more than two of them;) I had hoped to set a PR for this 5K, but I couldn't quite do it. I was a little concerned when I finished because of hard it was for me. I was training for a 10K race that was only a couple weeks away so I knew I had to get my act together when it came to hills. For the next couple of weeks I ran a lot more hills. I hate hills. I hate running. But, I now know that I can do it.

Big Girl!

2011-12-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Yup, little miss has on underwear instead of a diaper in these pictures! Before you get all congratulatory: she isn't potty-trained. At least not yet;) For a couple of months she has been acting very interested in the potty and would even go if I put her on right after she woke up. So several weeks back I took the plunge...hal-heartedly. The first day was how I thought it would be. The second she thought it was so much fun and would run into the bathroom and yell for me to get in there and by the end of the day she had only had one slight accident in her underwear. Awesome. But, then Thanksgiving happened and she got a cold and I've been lazy and...that's a lot of ands! I made the decision for my sanity that I am going to wait to fully potty train her until after I get through with the holidays. For now, she is cute as a button and loving life.

P.S. Don't you just love her "cheese" face?! Be prepared for many more pics featuring this smile:)

My Baby!

2011-12-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

I will forever be amazed at how little boys just know: how to make car sounds, how to turn everything into a gun, etc. And how little girls just know: how to love on babies. Reagan has reached the stage where she is obsessive about caring for her babies. She has a few little ones and just might be getting another one for Christmas...maybe;) It is so cute to watch her lovingly lay out blankets and try to swaddle her babies. Every once in a while she is caught carrying them upside-down or throwing them on the ground, but seeing as they aren't real this isn't a big deal at all. I love my little miss!

Lego Mania

2011-12-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of those days where you just don't feel like doing anything? I often have them, but rarely am able to act on them! But, one day last month: I did. I told the kids we were playing legos. I took Luke to the store to spend his birthday money and with a little financial help from yours truly he was able to get (yet another) Star Wars lego set. While he worked on building that one the rest of us divided up the legos by color and got out the booklets so that we could make all the sets that we have. I was determined and a little frustrated at times when missing legos were nowhere to be found, but in the end we were able to do it!

These piles sorted by color make my heart skip a beat. If I had a ~~million~~ hundred dollars I would get an ikea system and keep them separated by color always;) Well, I would, but my kids probably wouldn't....

Some of the finished creations. Just wait until Christmas....the boys are going to be busy with legos for a loooong time (hopefully).

This is the book that Jonathan got for his birthday from Grandma Candy. He studies it diligently and it has become quite dog-eared. I love when he sits for hours reading this book and tells me all about the characters. Then he has make-believe story lines going on between the different character's on their pages. I don't know that I am describing that correctly, but it sure is cute! When you have a 3 year old that can tell the difference between a clone trooper and a storm trooper then you know you have too many star wars geeks at your house;)

When you're not looking...

2011-12-03T11:30:00.000-08:00

One kid will decide that the "stick" in a fun dip is not the way to go....

and the other one will get into the markers and crayons and color on the floor.

(Thank goodness for soap, time, and the magic eraser!)

Trunk or Treat 2011

2011-12-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

Halloween being on a Monday this year meant that our Family Home Evening activity was trick or treating! We totally took advantage of the tri-ward trunk or treat at our church. People would hand out candy from their trunks and the kids could safely go around and get treats from them. My favorite was the car that had a little table with an unmanned bowl of candy on it. Guess we're going on the honor system around here!

Adrian went off with Aunt Hayden and made the rounds while Uncle Noah and Aunt Taylor decided they wanted to help with Han and Leia. I promised Taylor payment of candy from Reagan's basket and laughed at Noah and his pathetic trick-or-treating since he is too old in my opinion to be doing it. He carried around our blaster for his "costume."

Andrew got the chance to wear his Storm Trooper costume and totally took advantage of it! Reagan was terrified of him and wanted nothing to do with that scary guy in white. Good girl;)

If only I had taken the time to think of a costume for myself then our whole family would have been Star Wars at the trunk or treat. At the last minute I remembered that I had a poodle skirt and decided to go with that. Next year I might do costumes for everyone including myself!
After the trunk or treat I waited at my parent's house with Reagan while everyone else went out around the neighborhood. Our street/lack of "neighborhood" sucks so this is the way to go. One of their neighbors hands out full sized candy bars!!!
Happy Halloween everyone (the candy is finally gone around here...)

Happy 3rd Birthday Jonathan!!!

2011-12-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

I know it's hard to believe, but my little baby has turned 3 years old! Every time we would ask him what he wanted for his birthday he would jump around and say "I want a guitar and sponge bob legos and star wars legos!" It was a lot of fun to get ready for Jonathan's birthday this year. It is the first time that he has really been aware of what a birthday is. However, he has no sense of time so it was really hard to get him to understand how much longer until his birthday. Jonathan has known that his birthday is "Ah-tober firtieth" for a long time, but when you don't know the months and calendaring that is a pretty abstract thing. Our family has a birthday in June, two in July, mine in August, one in September and then finally Jonathan in October. Every time it was someone else's birthday he would get really upset and ask when it was going to be his birthday. A few weeks before his birthday I made a paper chain with him to count down the days until his birthday. Every night he got to rip off a chain and then count the remaining links. It was so much fun! The night before his birthday felt a little bit like Christmas;)
The morning of Jonathan's birthday he got to open his presents in bed. We got him some sponge bob legos, a reverence book (Monday I was a Monkey) with a stuffed monkey, The Padawan Menace movie, and a lego carrying case. (Opening presents was observed with video so no pictures...sorry!) Then we had an October birthday celebration at my parent's house (I have 5 siblings with October birthdays) and Jonathan made out like a bandit!

Mega Blocks City from Aunt Chelsea.

His guitar from Aunt Ashleigh that is an electric dog!

Uncle Seth got him a pumpkin kickball.

Aunt Chloe got him a lego sorter that is shaped like a lego head.

Grandma and Grandpa got him some Sponge Bob legos and a Star Wars Lego Character Encyclopedia. The Encyclopedia came with a Han Solo Lego guy and his Padawan Menace movie came with a young Han Solo. Jonathan believes that he is Han Solo (hence the Halloween costume he insisted on wearing....) The book is totally dog-eared now and has a couple of rips that I've taped up simply because he loves to sit and "read" it or lay in bed and come up with his own story lines for all the characters.

I attempted to make a lego cake. I sort of started to cut it before I remembered to get a picture of it. The circles on top are ding dongs. My cakes usually taste really good, but they don't always look the way I want them too;)

Happy Birthday Jonathan!!!!
And here is his Pinterest inspired birthday interview:
1. What is your favorite color? green and orange
2. What is your favorite toy? a mouse trap guy and lego toys
3. What is your favorite fruit? banana
4. What is your favorite tv show? Go Diego, Go
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? birthday cake
6. What is your favorite outfit? guitar shirts
7. What is your favorite game? lego star wars (wii)
8. What is your favorite snack? fruit snacks
9. What is your favorite animal? my friend the cheetah
10. What is your favorite song? Old MacDonald Had a Farm
11. What is your favorite book? Curious George
12. Who is your best friend? Daddy
13. What is your favorite cereal? cocoa puffs
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play follow the leader
15. What is your favorite drink? milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? my silky and my monkey
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? pancakes
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? coco puffs
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? maybe 8. I'm going to be big like daddy and have pokies on my face.

Hilarious! For the record we rarely have coco puffs in this house, he has never had birthday cake for lunch, and I don't think I have ever seen him playing with a "mouse trap guy" although I know what he talking about. This kid cracks me up!!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-29T22:29:00.000-08:00

An almost all Star Wars family. For Halloween the original plan was that Adrian would be Obi Wan Kenobi, Luke would be Luke Skywalker (he has a Yoda backpack that he was planning to use), Jonathan would be Han Solo, and Reagan would be Princess Leia.
Unfortunately somebody kept changing his mind and at the last minute announced that the perfect costume would be that scary white faced thing from "Scream." I informed this little someone that that costume was not an option. In the end he settled on his skeleton hoodie that zips over his face and then wore a couple of different black "robes" over it. He said he was a "creepy skeleton." Okay Luke, whatever works!
As Obi Wan, Adrian wore some stuff that Andrew had and I made the sash to go around his waist by simply tying a piece of fabric around his waist. Lazy seamstress! I also had to hem up the cloak. Adrian wanted so badly to wear this long clip-on braid in his hair so that he would look just like the young Obi Wan. I felt so bad for him. He has been blessed with his father's hair. That clip was never going to stay. In the end he kept taking off his glasses to be more authentic as well (this of course led to one pair of glasses being run over and smashed/destroyed, a very unhappy momma, and two weeks of trying to be successful in school as a legally blind 6th grader....long story!)
Jonathan desperately wanted to be Han and actually really believes that he is Han. I made the vest, belt, and attempted a holster. The "blaster" goes to a robot toy he already had. The pants are his blue church pants with red felt tacked down the side. Nice. (Please no criticizing the "authenticity" of the Han costume. I realize the stripes on the pants are wrong. If you know why then you are one of the world's biggest Star Wars nerds and you should just shut it. He's 3.)
Reagan's costume is my favorite. My mom helped me to alter a dress pattern and then pretty much sewed the whole thing, too! I had a vision in my mind based of off the original costume that I saw pinned and knew I had to make for her. I was only willing to buy the pattern for the hat so this isn't the "official" dress pattern. Get over it. I shouldn't have even bought the hat pattern because if I had really thought about it I would have been able to figure it out on my own. Anyways, if you want to know how to make one for yourself then just ask me how and I will impart some knowledge;)
Andrew was of course a storm trooper--pictures in the next Halloween post.

By the way, I am almost caught up with blogging through October. December is officially here in just 3 short days. I doubt I will get the rest of this done before then!

Where's the baby?

2011-11-28T22:28:00.001-08:00

One day I was running around the house trying to find Reagan. There was no way she could have gotten outside, but she was no where to be found. It was quite a stressful time. Jonathan just kept saying she didn't want to play with him anymore. In my moment of panic and fear I stopped and listened. What I heard was a weird knocking sound coming from the main bathroom. I hadn't looked in there because I thought the door had been closed and I knew she couldn't open it. Well, apparently it wasn't closed because this is what I opened the door to find. Somehow she had climbed into the tub (fully clothed) so that she could play with the bath toys and "wash" herself with the cloth that was in the tub. She was so stinking cute and I was so relieved to find her safe that I ran for the camera to take a picture. I don't know how she managed to get in there without bonking her head, but somehow she did it safely. And she was so cute I couldn't get/stay mad at her over it!

Dear Reagan,
You are keeping mommy on her toes. Stop it. Thanks.
Love, Mom

The 10th Dayt of Christmas

2011-11-28T22:28:00.000-08:00

On the tenth dayt of Christmas your wife will show the ways to get out of the crazy corn maze!

For our October dayt we got a sitter, slipped on our grubbies and some boots, and headed to Sauvie Island to try out this year's corn maze. We decided that we wanted to go ahead and do both of the mazes: the regular timber's themed one and the haunted one. The first one was divided into two halves. We flew through the first half without any problems. The second half however, well, that was another story;) We got seriously turned around (mostly because we failed to notice that a path we thought we had tried we hadn't...)
We had so much fun trying to figure out how to get out of that silly maze. After we finished the first maze we got some hot cider and hot cocoa. It was perfect for warming up our hands;)
The haunted maze was actually pretty cheesy and although there was some seriously morbid junk in there and a few things that made me jump it really wasn't that bad. We had so much fun trying to find our way out of the first maze that the whole night was perfect.

We have had so much fun with our dayts this year that I am happy to announce a 2012 version will be coming along soon! I love making time for the one I love. Andrew is the best friend I will ever have and we have a blast doing stuff together. It all works out perfectly...

Hobo Purses

2011-11-27T10:27:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of purses that I made as gifts last month. I am in love with this purse pattern lately and have now made 5 of them. The toughest parts are mitering the corners and gathering (mainly because I hate dealing with gathering, but it looks so cute when it's done that I put up with it!)

This particular pattern is called the Diana Hobo. I love when I find free patterns online!

I did it!

2011-11-26T10:25:00.000-08:00

Reagan likes to try to play dress up with random things. Lately she likes to rifle through the basket of scarves, hats, and gloves. Typically she doesn't want any help with it though!

Sleep Tight...

2011-11-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

Reagan has been going to bed around 7:15/7:30 lately so most nights she is out before Jonathan makes it in to bed. One night when I took him in to bed I found her like this. He was a little jealous that I was taking a picture of her and not him so he said "momma, take a picture of me sleeping too!"

Obviously faking it....

I have been reading at night to Jonathan for a long time now so we have this whole routine down.
Brush both kiddos teeth
Fluoride
Prayers with Reagan and tuck her in
Jonathan to the bathroom
Prayers with Jonathan
Read a chapter of our book (sometimes more...)
If he makes it through that awake then we do two kisses and a hug.
(He used to always say "like llama llama and pickle me" after. This came from a book called Llama, Llama, Red Pajama and from the Despicable Me movie. Too cute!)

Pumpkin Carving 101

2011-11-26T10:22:00.000-08:00

(And yes, I know that it is now after Thanksgiving...)

We had a blast carving our pumpkins this year. Adrian, Jonathan, Reagan and I did ours for Family Night 2 weeks before Halloween. Andrew and Luke did theirs the Saturday before. Guess whose rotted out first?

I was lame and never got around to taking a picture of them all together....oops! Mine was a funky scarecrow face, Adrian's had all kinds of crazy going on, Jonathan's was Sponge Bob, Reagan's was a flower, Luke's was a skeleton face, and Andrew's was a cannibal....sick.

Jonathan was afraid to touch the inside of his pumpkin so Andrew did all the work on that one, I really wish I had taken a picture!

Daily Life

2011-11-20T22:21:00.000-08:00

The last couple of weeks of October were pretty crazy around here. I was working hard trying to get things done around this place and get ready for Halloween. My kids drive me crazy, but they also keep me sane;)

Since I have been training to run a 10K most of my days start of with trying to fit in a run or other activity. I used to push the kids in the jogger, but once you are running more than 2 miles in this land of seemingly all uphill it is really hard. The two of them have a combined weight of more than 50 lbs. I know it would help me to get stronger, but I really prefer to have the use of my back and shoulders after I run thank you very much.

Here is Jonathan right after I finished up his Han Solo costume:

I did most of this with stuff that I already had. Nice. Jonathan wanted to wear it for pretty much eternity, but I ~~bribed him~~ logically reasoned with him and he complied;)

Reagan keeps me on my toes, but she is such a cutie pie that I don't mind at all.

She started exclusively walking at the end of October. She has to be one of the most stubborn little ones that I have ever met. I am scared for me.....maybe it will get easier? (Stop laughing at me!)

Reagan got this cute sock monkey as a gift when she was born, but Jonathan plays with it all the time. The hands and feet have magnets in them and he likes to see what he can get the monkey to "do."

Caught red-handed playing with Jonathan's toys:

But she sure is cute doing it!

Suds and Spuds

2011-11-18T22:42:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite things every year is the annual Suds and Spuds dinner that Adrian's scout troop hosts. They accept donations for the dinner and then there is an auction after we eat. At least a month before Adrian started telling me all of the things that "we" were going to make and do for the auction. I heard "me" when he said "we" and I was determined that it was not going to be me that did everything;) My new addiction of pinterest held the answers for Adrian's desire to have some pretty cool stuff.
First up were the witches hats cookies:

These cookies were done by using shortbread cookies upside down and he took a hershey's kiss dipped in a bit of chocolate frosting to make it look like a witch hat. Super easy and they were a hit!

Next up was a kit-kat and candy corn cake. I made the chocolate cake (from a box of course) while Adrian was at school and then at his request I frosted it. Then he had the fun of putting kit-kats all around it and filling it in with Indian corn. I tied a ribbon around the kit-kats to hold it all together and I think it turned out awesome if I do say so myself. It was a big hit and the teenage boys were in a bidding war over it;) Adrian was elated over how well his desserts did. I was just glad they went for more than the cost of making them!

I also donated a stocking hanger that I had left over from a bazaar I had done a while back. I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was pretty ticked...here's the story: There was a reasonable bidding war going on that was winding down and then out of no where you hear someone call out "$30!" and the auctioneer say "sold!" Too bad the person who made the bid was none other than my dear sweet husband. I was really irritated at the time that he did it, but in the end he worked it out with one of the other bidders so we didn't go home with it. He says he was just trying to get them to bid higher, guess he didn't quite do what he intended to on that one!

We were able to come home with our favorite dessert that a family in our ward brings every year. It is delicious and this year was no exception!

The campfire is made up of melted butterscotch and cinnamon red hot candies. It is awesome and so much fun to eat!

Read to Me!

2011-11-14T22:41:00.000-08:00

From my previous posts you should already be aware of my love of books and reading. We are a family of readers and I LOVE it! I have shown you Jonathan reading, but here is how I caught Reagan a couple weeks ago. Ignore the fact that the rest of the room in in total shambles. (Like I learned from Pinterest: Ignore the mess, we live here!)

Reagan emptied out a bucket and plopped herself in it right in front of the bookcase. If only she read the books more than just pull it off the shelf and chuck it! I have several ideas for a reading corner in their room. I just can't decide which one to do (and I am also needing to save up the money to do anything anyways.) Any input/ideas?
My ideas so far:
leave it alone (not really...)
a larger bookcase that goes floor to "ceiling"
ikea spice racks on the wall to hold several books or rain gutters on the wall to hold the books. This option also includes space for a beanbag chair or something similar. I am learning to like my house more, but it really is way too small for our growing family. Organizing things is getting to be a challenge!

Countdown to Fright Night

2011-11-13T22:40:00.000-08:00

I found the funnest countdown calendar on a blog I was reading at the beginning of October. I just spent too much time trying to find it again and couldn't. Sorry that I can't link up to it, but just know I was not the brains behind this little operation of fun!
One day while Adrian was at school I pulled out the supplies and Jonathan helped me make a couple of awesome countdowns. I printed of the pages and then mounted them to black cardstock. I wanted to make them last so we laminated them before we hot glued on some hershey's kisses. We dressed it up with some ribbon that we threaded through some eyelets at the top. Jonathan was so excited that he got to pick out the eyelets. He chose orange for himself since that is his favorite color and then he decided that green was best for Adrian. Jonathan also got to put the kisses on after I put a spot of glue on each spot. The countdown was for 13 days and we happened to make it just in time to start it the next morning. Since the pages were pretty much the same I personalized them with a "J" and an "A" on the mummies. Now Jonathan knows that "J" means his name. It's really cute when he sees a "J" somewhere and then thinking that it says his name. This is only a problem when he starts to claim things as his simply because of the presence of the letter "J."

Any excuse for a little bit of chocolate!

Can't get enough?

2011-11-13T22:39:00.000-08:00

Neither can I.

I just love this little sweet heart. She is generally such a happy child that it would be hard to not enjoy being around her. Reagan you are awesome!

Oh Deer...

2011-11-13T22:38:00.000-08:00

I love living in a place that is enough "out there" that we get deer and other wildlife around all the time. It still cracks me up that my kids get so excited whenever they see a deer (like they've never seen one before....) One day they saw one in the yard across the street. I literally have about a dozen pictures of this deer--more than I have of any of the kids from the same day (which is none).
The boys did have some fun sitting on the curb observing. They seemed to think that if they sat quiet long enough the deer would get used to them and then they could slowly approach it and maybe touch it. Yeah, it didn't quite work out as they had hoped and the deer took off. Lesson learned!

Sauvie Island Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

This year I thought that it would be a lot of fun to go to the Pumpkin Patch at Sauvie Island with the kids. It never worked out to take everyone, but there was a Tuesday that it worked out for Andrew and I to take the little ones. It turned out to be a beautiful day. We started out by going into the animal barn to see the various animal friends. Jonathan and Reagan seemed to really enjoy themselves. Jonathan discovered that it is a lot of fun to walk through deep muddy puddles in your rain boots;) He ended up with mud up to his waist! After some time wandering around the pumpkin field we finally made our selections. Our garden this year yielded two pretty decent pumpkins that Adrian and Luke already had their eyes on for themselves. Stay tuned for pictures from the carving!

(I should have taken a picture of the muddy aftermath...)

Bones and Oxygen

2011-11-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

My children often act as though my bedroom is just an extension of their own...like they have free reign over the whole house. As a result they tend to just make themselves at home in there. Jonathan is probably the worst offender of the 4.

"Mom, take a picture of me right now! Aren't I so cute, Mom?"

And lately Jonathan has also taken to doing a little bit of light reading in my room as well. Typically he goes for Andrew's text books. Here Jonathan is reading an anatomy book. He was talking out loud and obviously giving a lecture of the human body. Then he was singing a little song to himself all about our bones and oxygen. When I found him he stopped and told me that he just loved reading the book about bones and oxygen.

Future doctor, eh?

Valid excuse?

2011-11-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

Can my excuse for being so behind on blogging be the bathroom project from Hades? Or the fact that I have a list ten miles long of projects and things to get done? Or maybe that I am training to run a 10K? I guess these things are all excuses, but probably not good enough...

The truth is best. To quote my friend I have a really bad case of "self-inflicted business." Am I the only one?

More Beach Pictures

2011-11-04T21:21:00.000-07:00

My mom dusted off her camera and emailed me some pictures she got of the kids from our beach trip in August.... I already talked about that trip here and here. These pictures are too cute for me to not share.

Anyone else see mischief in these eyes?

I will probably have to frame this one!

Crossing Over

2011-11-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

At the end of September Adrian's troop had a court of honor. He received a merit badge for fire safety and earned his scout rank. They also had the bridge set up for the crossing over because....drum roll please......Adrian also worked it and earned his Arrow of Light as a Webelos. He should have received it at the pack meeting in June, but there were some issues surrounding that pack meeting that just don't seem like that big of a deal anymore. I love that in scouting when the scouts earn a significant award that there is a pin for the mom (since we all know without mom it probably wouldn't get done...). Good job Adrian! Now he is hard at work with scouting since he has a goal to earn his Eagle by the time he is 16 years old.

Rats.

2011-11-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

A while back we were given this awesome rat costume, but at the time it was way too big for Jonathan still. In September he found it and wanted to wear it. He ended up spending a couple of days in it. I loved it! The imagination at this age is so much fun. Also, this is probably the only rat that I will ever be okay with.

In between bouts with the rat costume. I love this t-shirt he has on. I call him my little stinker all the time. He gets really mad and tells me "No mom. My shirt says that I am not a stinker." It is so funny how serious he gets over it!

He is "winning" against Adrian here. Adrian is such a fun and amazing older brother for Jonathan. They generally get along really well and Adrian knows how to keep him entertained;)

The 9th Dayt of Christmas

2011-11-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

On the ninth dayt of Christmas you'll hear you nice wife shout, "Let's rent a movie, I don't feel like going out!"

In September the plan was to have a night in...it just ended up being modified a bit from the original plan. Andrew's schedule was crazy and with the bathroom remodel/disaster going on most of our "free" time was taken up. So, we squeezed out "Dayt" in one friday night when we realized at the last minute that it was the only night we really could!

We are lucky enough to have 2 places to watch movies in our home so we occupied the kiddos with a movie in the living room and then we headed into our room to watch "Battle Los Angeles" with some delicious calorie filled snacks. We both really enjoyed the movie and snuggling while we watched it;) We only had about a half dozen interruptions from a couple of little stinkers so I would call it a success!

Crazy hair

2011-11-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

Yes please! I love coming up with fun things to do with Reagan's hair and I cannot wait until she has more of it!!

Reading Corner

2011-11-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

Jonathan has always loved reading. I can remember reading little baby books to him when he was still swaddled in my arms. Even then he would listen intently and follow along. I love the moments that I take away from being "busy" to read to him. If my children can read then they can do anything. I love the possibilities that reading can open up for us. Even though it is frustrating to clean up books all the time I am also loving that Jonathan and Reagan are reading them! Jonathan likes to get comfy and read book after book. I have big plans for this little corner of his room to encourage this....we'll just have to see if I ever get around to it!
For now the best parts of reading with my children are: going to toddler time at the local library (or as Jonny calls it: "library school"), picking out new books to read, and reading a chapter from a longer book at bedtime. Currently we are working our way through the magic tree house books that Adrian has. If you are familiar with them then you can appreciate the humor in the fact that Jonathan now refers to Jack and Annie as though they are members of our own family;)

Now if only I had time to read books for myself...

6th Grade

2011-10-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

I know. I can't believe it either. Adrian is officially in the 6th grade now. He was super excited to start off the school year at the 6th grade school and to see all his friends from school again. This year has already been a bit of a roller coaster when it comes to class work and assignments, but overall Adrian has been doing really well. He is also working on his scouting stuff, learning to play the clarinet for the beginner band and continuing with learning to play the piano. Adrian's favorite thing to do is read. Anything by Rick Riordan is a must-read for this kid. He reminds me a lot of myself when it comes to the reading. Now, if only I could get him to spend half as much time doing his homework as he does reading than he would be in perfect shape! Here's to a successful year of school and the hopes that all the little quirks will soon work themselves out;)

Maybe...

2011-10-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

the scriptures really are the source of answers for everything.

I know I am behind on blogging, but who isn't? But, I wanted to record this while I am thinking about it. In June I was struggling with trying to come up with a way to help Adrian. There were a lot of issues I was thinking about and praying a lot for a way to help him learn to help himself. At the same time I re-committed myself to the effort of daily personal scripture study. About a week into my own personal study a possible solution came to my mind. It wasn't something that I read, but just the fact that I was reading. I realized that I was turning to the scriptures for answers...so, why wasn't I teaching Adrian the same thing? I knew that I had to make personal scripture study a part of his own life. I sat Adrian down and explained to him what my thoughts were and bore my testimony to him about the scriptures and then challenged him to read along with me. At first it was a little bit of a challenge to get him to read everyday, but pretty soon he was asking if it would be okay if he read longer than the 15 minutes of "required" time. Umm, of course! He has been reading The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ since the middle of June.

For those of you who have not read this book of scripture it is a companion to the Bible and is a record of a family that left Jerusalem about 600 B.C. and made their way to what we now know as the American continent. It is divided into books just like the Bible: 1st and 2nd Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Omni, Words of Mormon, Mosiah, Alma, Helaman, 3rd and 4th Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and Moroni. For the most part you can read these scriptures like a story, but there is woven throughout a common theme. The people are humble followers of Jesus Christ and receive many blessings. Then as they get richer they become more prideful and there are consequences that follow (usually involving war, but sometimes famine and other plagues). The whole time the people are constantly being taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and the way to live a Christ-like life in order to find joy. One prophet, Nephi, teaches "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy." (2 Ne. 2:25) My hope has been that as Adrian reads he will find the answers that will provide him with a means of gaining true happiness in life. I think it's working.

I have noticed a change in Adrian over the last several months. He is happier and seems more confident in his knowledge of the gospel. There are still some rough moments, but they seem fewer and farther in between. Also, I think some of it really is starting to sink in. His prayers are the most obvious difference to me. He prays expressing true and heartfelt gratitude for the gospel, temples, prophets, scriptures, families, missionaries, etc. all on his own. I sense in him a real desire to know for himself what is true and right. And he is starting to ask some really cool questions. The best one so far has to be:

"Mom, why is it that people forget the Lord, their God, when their first parents were made by Him and they saw Him?"

He asked me this question randomly in the middle of the day a few weeks ago and it led to a really good conversation about agency and faith. (And I am so serious that he asked me the question exactly like that, it was kind of funny!)

I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that he has inspired prophets from the beginning to record scripture for such a time as this. I really do believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly and the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. I am so grateful that not only can I find peace and answers in those books, but that my children can as well.

Argh!

2011-10-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

My top reasons for acknowledging that there are some seriously weird folk out there:
1) There is a pirate festival held annually
2) Otherwise (presumably) responsible and mature adults will take this as an opportunity to dress up in really bizarre ways i.e. mermaids, pirates, wenches, and even as a midget riding a giant chicken.
3) If something is labeled as a festival then it's pretty much okay to be "drunken disorderly" at 9:30 in the morning surrounded by families and children....thanks peeps.
4) I don't believe that they should make corsets in an XXXXL size or that they even do. There's a reason for it. If wearing a corset means your chest becomes a double-chin then I think you ought not be wearing it.
5) Apparently a random Eukranian band qualifies as "pirate" music that your husband will make you dance around in the dirt to.
6) Men really are little boys in big bodies...this is why they like to set up a ring that they can dance around in with their swords and pretend to have real "live" duels.
7) Creepy puppet master with a random odd puppet show for children....there aren't words to describe him....think pirate carny.

I could go on, but I don't want you all to think that I didn't have some serious fun at this years pirate festival. Because I did...not. The kids had a blast and Andrew LOVED himself some bagpipe music, but I really did not find it that enjoyable;) Jonathan won a drawing from our local library for the summer reading program and his prize a pass to the pirate festival that was coming to grace the shores of the Columbia river in our little town. We decided to go for it and spent a good chunk of our day that Saturday people watching and waiting in lines.

One question: where can I get ahold of one of these for a DIY time-out station that I am developing? Just kidding! I would never...or am I and would I?

seriously creepy dude that was a little bit grouchy up there on his stilts.

Love it!

2011-10-05T23:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of the little stinkers I have been sharing a bathroom with for the last month....I really want my bathroom back! But these guys are too cute to be mad about it:)

I should be grateful that we even have 2 bathrooms to use in the first place. I mean, I did live in a house growing up where we had only one bathroom (no shower, just a bathtub) for 9 people....I don't know how we did it. I just remember that was one important room to have access too;)

Hoping to put the "after" in "aftermath"

2011-10-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

One of the many reasons for my lack of blogging updates is the impromptu home improvement projects going on around here. Okay, more like one project in particular. The master bathroom has developed a definite position of being the least favorite room in our house as of late. In the end it will be fabulous....at least that is what I have to tell myself about it right now.
In another post I will rehash all the nitty gritty details, but for now I will leave you with a few pictures that capture the day of broken water pipes, flooding house, and going too long without running water.

Andrew working on getting the final bits of the bathtub out.

This face captures the day perfectly! I bet he is thinking...."my parents have lost their minds. this is the weirdest day of my life. i can't believe how much manual labor they are making me do!"

This is a shot of the shower in the other bathroom. The showers were pretty much exactly the same so I guess this counts as our "before" the aftermath of a DIY home improvement project gone seriously wrong.

Perfect Combo: Sunset, Beach, Fire

2011-10-05T23:16:00.000-07:00

After Regatta Park we made plans to have dinner on the beach. We built a fire and roasted hot dogs and smores. Adrian and Autumn spent most of the time playing in the D river. At one point I looked up and saw something beautiful. I made Chad run out and take some pictures. I am so glad that I did. I have a project in mind now for these gorgeous pictures of children playing on the beach as the sun sets behind them.

Grandma and little miss

My two favorites of the series...Adrian, Autumn, and Jonathan

And Grandpa leading the way down the beach

Even though it was summer it was definitely NOT hot out. Autumn insisted that she was fine in her swimsuit though and refused to wear a jacket or even a shirt. I think she's crazy....but I still love her!

Any wall you can climb, I can climb higher. I can climb any wall higher than you!

Regatta Park 2011

2011-10-05T23:12:00.000-07:00

At the end of August we decided to tag along with my parents to the beach for a few days. We love going to Lincoln City and this trip was no exception! The weather was gorgeous and the company was exceptional;)
One of the things that my kids were most looking forward to was a trip to Regatta Park. I can still remember when this park was first built and running around and playing here with my brothers and sisters as children. This is one stinkin' cool park! If you've never been I suggest you check it out. The play structure is a giant castle with a labyrinth of tunnels and staircases. It provides hours of entertainment...for free! We convinced Jonathan that it was Harry Potter's castle and he still asks to go back. Here are a few pictures of the fun times:

GO DUCKS!!!

(I didn't realize until after that she was dressed in yellow in a green swing...that's my girl!)

Grandpa and Reagan. She wasn't too sure about this little platform that moves. She missed her swing!

There is a big wooden boat thing that you can ride/play on as well. Jonathan decided that it was a flying car...he was Ron and Adrian was Harry Potter. It was hilarious how they were playing out the scene when Harry falls out of the flying car and Ron tries to pull him back in. My goodness I have some cute kids;)

Dear Reagan,

2011-10-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Someday we will totally tease you and be able to laugh about the day that you ate cat poop in the front yard...but, that day is not today.

Today is the day that mama bear is plotting how to destroy all the cats in the neighborhood since I don't know exactly which one keeps leaving "gifts" in our yard.

Last week was bad enough when Jonathan found one of the "gifts" with his bare foot, but today was the final straw. If I don't own a cat I should not have to be checking for their business in my yard. Period.

I just hope that the peridex I cleaned your mouth out with is good enough to kill anything scary that made it's way into your oral cavity. Good thing your mom is a dental hygienist and has access to the good stuff! I love you (even though it may be a while before I can give you a kiss goodnight....)

(I realize that I am not caught up on my August posts, let alone posted anything for September yet, but I just couldn't resist tonight.)

Go Diego, Go!

2011-09-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

On a random day in August Jonathan decided that he was going to go to school with his Diego backpack...oh wait, he was also requesting that we all call him Diego and would refuse to respond to his given name. Too bad he can't open the front door when it has the plastic jobby on it! I'm not really sure what he was thinking when he decided pjs and rain boots on an 80* day were the way to go;)

The Big ONE-OH!

2011-09-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

That's right, Luke is now in double digits!

Luke is such a wonderful boy. I am so lucky to have spent the last 5 years as his mom and stoked to be there for the rest of eternity too;)

Luke, you have such a sweet spirit and you are always there to help. I have always been impressed with how much information you retain and it still blows my mind that you taught yourself how to read;) You got a guitar for your birthday from your bio-mom and you are working towards teaching yourself how to play it. I am sure that you won't have a problem with that! Your Uncle Noah is planning all kinds of fun jam sessions for the two of you--although he plays really well, he isn't that great of a teacher, is he;) With being in 4th grade this year your biggest challenge is getting the courage to stand up and speak in front of people. I know that you can do anything that you put your mind to! If you can ride all the roller coasters at Disneyland over and over again I know you have some courage down deep inside. You love to have adventures and your sense of humor is right in line with mine. I love your little sarcastic streak!
You are loved so much by your family. Jonathan wakes up everyday asking me if I will go get you so he can play with you. Thank you for being you and for being one of the best sons that a mom could ever ask for. I love you!

Escaped Artists

2011-09-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

One day I went out to put the garbage cans at the curb and ended up being followed...
Jonathan opened the sliding screen in the back and then the side gate to find me. He awesomely left the door open and Reagan managed to climb out and find the stash of chalk that had been left out. I promise this all happened in less than 5 minutes. How do they do it???

Prescott Beach

2011-09-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

When my mom was gone for YW camp and my Dad was home with the kids we decided to get the kids together and hang out. Since it was fantastic weather we opted for a drive up the highway to Prescott beach. It was beautiful! And the best part was that there was practically nobody there....that is except for the white trash a little down the way that had a giant gross old air mattress they were trying to use in the river. Not ghetto at all;)

How does your garden grow?

2011-09-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin

lettuce, spinach, mesculan, and peppers (which failed)

Spaghetti squash (we ended up with 3)

another pumpkin

Cherry tomatoes

Now when Andrew asks me if I have posted any garden pictures I can answer in the affirmative. We had more success with our garden this year than last (since last year we ended up with zilch), but it has been interesting. My favorite is the fact that I specifically planted cucumbers because I love them best of all fresh from the garden and instead I ended up with a pumpkin plant. I still can't figure this one out. They were most definitely cucumber seeds....

Chalk Art

2011-09-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

This was my birthday art from the boys. I think they spent more time coloring their hands than the picture;)

28 already, what?!

2011-09-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

This year I decided that all I really wanted for my birthday was a bike. I seriously haven't ridden a bike since I was teenager so I was a little nervous about the adventure. But, turns out they are right when they say "it's as easy as riding a bike." Of course like a genius I thought it would be great fun to go for a nice long ride with Adrian and take him to his swim lessons this way. Yeah, several lessons learned: I am not 12 anymore so I shouldn't expect to be able to ride my bike like I did back then, bike seats are way more uncomfortable than I remember, there are A LOT of hills between my house and the pool, and Adrian learned that riding your bike home in a wet swimsuit since you decided not to listen to your mom is not a good idea (and did I mention the hills?).
I am loving the new age of 28! I have some pretty serious goals for myself in the next year. The big one is to run a 10K in December. I am in the thick of training for it now and I can honestly say that I still hate running. I don't have a problem making myself go out anymore, but I still hate everything when I am doing it! Shin splints are my arch enemy right now, but I am pushing through it.

(And now you know why I never post pictures of myself....what am I doing in these pics?????)

Andrew bought the bike and hid it in my friend's garage. On my birthday he pretended to go for a run and really just ran around the corner to get the bike. I didn't think anything of it. The funny thing is that he got fully decked out for a run and didn't even break a sweat! Thank you babe, I love you:)

My Birthday Cake

2011-09-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

This year I decided to do something a little different for my birthday cake. We found a recipe (that of course I forgot to save...) on the side of a graham cracker box for a cake that turned out scrumptious! I had Adrian and Jonathan helping out while Reagan watched from her high chair begging for scraps.

I love Jonathan's "this is what we made" expression....oh yeah, and the cooking attire is pretty awesome, too;)

"My Hero"

2011-09-25T22:30:00.000-07:00

The following is a short article that Adrian wrote about his Grandpa Stott for a school assignment.

My Grandpa inspires me because he was a ranger in the Vietnam War. He also earned the Bronze star twice. He knows the type of helicopter is coming from the sound.

Family Picnic

2011-09-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back my BIL, Nick, came up to Oregon for a visit with his little family. We were able to meet of with the whole fam damily at Happy Valley park. The kids had a blast and it was a lot of fun to get to see everyone again. Reagan and Karissa got to know each other again. After all, the last time they were together they were both about a month old! (They are a week apart.)

Reagan with her pathetic pig-tails.

I'm sure Jonathan was apologizing for something...that is usually the only time he will give her kisses.

Why are shoes such a hassle to keep on this one's feet?!

Everyone who was able to make it that day. In some ways Andrew's family is what my family could be in another 10+ years. If you include all the family members brought in by marriage/blending families (which I do for obvious reasons!) There would be over 50 of us if everyone showed up (That's just his siblings and all their kids!)

Aunt Julie almost lost this camera to little miss. Maybe the girls should play with each other rather than stare off at nothing.

Adrian loves getting together with his cousins! I am so happy for him that he has cousins the same age and that he has the opportunity to get to spend time with them and maintain their relationships.

My favorite picture of the bunch.

A Thing for Shoes...

2011-09-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

is what this little girl has.

Notice that she has two shoes on her left foot?

Reagan is obsessed with shoes. Not so much a specific style, but just shoes in general. She likes to have shoes on her feet and insists that we all have shoes on as well. If we don't she will go and get them and bring them to us. I love this stage where the connections are being made between objects and their purposes. Such a smart little princess!

Riding Bikes

2011-09-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

One of the kids' favorite things to do is play outside. With the older boys transitioning out of the trusty "superman" bike, Jonathan has been begging to give it a try. He is so cute! There is no way that this bike is his size, but he is adamant that it is his bike. Reagan has taken full advantage of the situation and laid claim on the toy story bike as her own. Now if only either of them could actually pedal a bike we would be getting somewhere!

Amazing Photo

2011-09-12T21:59:00.001-07:00

I may just have to have this one made into a canvas? I love it!

More Reunion Part B

2011-09-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

Some more stolen pictures from Ashleigh's fb page:

This was at the column. Ashleigh said that Jonathan was telling her all about his camping adventures and was walking his "two fingers" along the path. Have I mentioned that Jonny loves to play with his "two fingers" and even asks permission to do so? I love it. The only thing I can't figure out is what he is going to do if I tell him no. I can't exactly take his fingers away from him;)

Nice look for you Reagan!

More Reunion Part A

2011-09-12T21:56:00.000-07:00

Some more pictures of the weekend that I totally stole from my sister's facebook page;)

My dad brought a long rope and we played a couple of games of tug o' war. It was hilarious to say the least.

This is at the top of the Astoria Column...my two year old son had no fear going up. I on the other hand was perfectly content to wait for my family to return. Thank you very much!

Kite flying was not really that successful;)

Weitzel Family Reunion Part 4

2011-09-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

On the last day at Fort Stevens we headed over to Battery Russell. I stayed with Reagan while she slept, but the boys had a fun time exploring.

I think that they may want to live here now....

My boys (big one included) could have spent the whole day exploring....my family, not so much! To each their own;)

Weitzel Family Reunion Part 3

2011-09-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday night's dinner was the traditional camping meal of tin foil dinners. Andrew and I were in charge of dessert and decided to dutch oven it. We had never used our dutch oven before so Andrew went through the whole process of prepping it. We made an apple cobbler. So tasty and such an easy recipe. We doubled it and I think that was why the cake part was a little runny in the middle, but it still tasted amazing.

Recipe: couple cans of pie filling in the bottom and then pour a yellow cake mix that has been mixed with a can of lemon-lime soda. Yummers:)

The kids spent hours playing on this fallen down tree.

The fearsome/fearless five!

Love that these guys are such good buddies;)

Check out the size of those marshmallows. I bought a package of the humongous campfire marshmallows. As I was taking Jonathan to the bathroom before we roasted mallows we had this conversation:

Me: Jonathan, if you go potty then we can roast marshmallows.

J: NOOOO, I don't want mine to be burneded. I just want two big ones.

Me: The really big ones?

J: Yes.

Me: How big are they?

J: They are as big as my head....and I have a big head!

I was laughing so hard that I was glad we were close to a bathroom;)

And that is how you roast a marshmallow. My family was totally impressed with my roasting skillz and that was one delicious mallow. I shared my secrets with Luke (see below).

"Whatever, I don't care if mine are black."

"I did it, too!"

Weitzel Family Reunion Part 2

2011-09-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

Continuing on with our reunion adventures....

On Saturday after visiting the sea wall, we had lunch, and then we set out on a hike to the beach. Taylor was missing her 5 mile hike for young women's camp certification so we did a hike of our own;)

We innocently walked under this wasps nest...my skin still crawls thinking about it!

Hiking is so much fun in a huge group

Our little family at the shipwreck. Makes for a sweet backdrop!

Blue steel, le tigre, or magnum? I just can't tell. (Name that movie...)

"I guess the sand isn't that bad, mom."

There were many a pair of flip flop found forgotten while children played.

Making sand angels (and pouting of course!)

"I change my mind. I hate the sand!"

"Mom, look at me. Aren't I doing my yoga good?"

SOOOOO CUTE!

Playing in the water is so much fun!

Weitzel Family Reunion Part 1

2011-09-10T21:05:00.000-07:00

The first weekend of August marked our annual Weitzel Family Reunion! We had a blast this year and got to spend the weekend at Fort Stevens camping. Our kids love going camping and looked forward to this trip for about 6 months. Pretty much from the time that they found out where we were going;) The boys got to go up earlier in the day with Grandma and Grandpa while I waited for Andrew to get done at the OR and finished up packing. They had a lot of fun and got to ride on a ferry! The boys were pretty impressed with the ferry ride and loved every minute of their time with the grandparents. Once Andrew was home we picked up my brothers from their 50 mile high adventure hike and headed out to the Oregon coast.

For some reason the boys needed to practice their knot tying skills and hang a line with several places to hang things from. I never could figure out what they needed it for;) Since the branch they picked was pretty tall they had to improvise.

I just can't tell if there's any family resemblance between my children and I...

Looking out over the sea wall

Secretly plotting to sneak out of their tent at night? Hmmm? (just kidding, they did nothing of the sort....at least that we know of....)

While the boys climbed on the rocks we watched from above.

Adrian, Autumn, and Luke conquering the world!

Meet Rody!

2011-09-07T22:29:00.000-07:00

Aunt Ashleigh got an awesome little donkey/pony/horse thing for Reagan to ride on that is named "Rody." It did take about 2 weeks for Reagan to stop being scared of it;) For some reason she was terrified of the face. Silly little girl.

At the beginning of August Adrian and Reagan got to go to the pediatrician's office for their check-ups. Reagan's 12 month stats are: 22 lbs. 12 oz, 31 in. long, and 48 cm. Yup, her head is still disproportionate to the rest of her body;) We love our little big-headed girl (it's all forehead anyways!) She got 3 shots and was a total champ about it. I am still having a hard time believing that my baby is a year old. Part of it is probably because she still isn't walking! I have never seen a baby flip out about walking the way that she does. Sometimes I worry that she will be a teenager crawling just because of her sheer stubbornness!

Adrian was a little nervous about his shots, but he did fantastic. His big disappointment was that, at 11 years old, he is 4'11" and he was sure that he would be over 5' tall. I am just fine with him being shorter than me, even if it won't last long! He is convinced that he must be 5' tall by now. He weighed 90.8 lbs. at this 11 year old check-up. He is such a good older brother and I am so lucky to be his mom! I love my little boogers;)

Of course this guy thinks that everything is his...