So....Many.....Toys....

They should put this label on there as a warning, and not an advertisement.

What.

Was.

I.

Thinking??

Wishing You....

A very Merry Christmas!

A Rather Slippery Evening

Saturday night, we joined up with some friends to go ice skating. The last time I went ice skating was almost 5 years ago (I was about 6 months pregnant with Maryn), and before that, it was probably 6 years since I'd hit the ice. Needless to say, my ice skating skillz are lacking. I've always heard that when a moose runs, it looks rather unnatural and awkward. That's the only image I could think as I made my way around the rink with Maryn attached to my arm, as I'm sure that's what we resembled. Despite the slipping and falling (by everyone else, of course), we had a great time. I was surprised at how comfortable Maryn was with sliding around. I thought it would scare the bajeebers out of her, but she loved it. They even had caution cones for the little ones to use for balance. A little goofy, but effective.

My favorite part of the evening was as I was skating around with Maryn she exclaimed, loudly, "I love ice skating!!" Everyone around us got a kick out of her enthusiasm for her new found adventure. After a while, she even got brave enough to leave the caution cone and skate on her own. (And by skating, I mean walking with ice skates on.)

Even Ailee got to join in on the fun. She didn't have skates (could you imagine a size 3 skate??), so she just walked along with our hands. There was quite a bit of protesting when we exited the rink.

It was a pretty fun way to spend a chilly evening. We ended it with warm soup, hot chocolate, games, and good company. I don't think I could've asked for anything more.

I am Totally Cheap

Lately, Maryn has been obsessed with the movie Star Wars. Especially Darth Vader....the kid loves Darth Vader. One day I was wrapping some presents and I finished off a roll of wrapping paper. A wrapping paper tube has all sorts of great uses--a trumpet, a baton, and even......

a light saber!!

Yes, yes. I am such a cheap-o mom. Hey, she's happy that she has a light saber--I'm happy that I didn't have to spend $15 on another toy. You should be warned, though. It takes a lot of coloring with a permanent marker to color all of that. I think I lost a few brain cells.

'Tis a Gift that is Simple

So, do you want a very cute, very easy, very inexpensive gift idea? Well, here you go:
I made these for the ladies that I work with at church. They were a big hit. I have to thank my sisters for the original idea. Here's how to make them.
First, go to the store and buy a 4x6 magnetic photo holder (I got mine at Walmart for $1), a pack of clear pens that you can screw the ends off of, and coordinating post-it notes. Don't buy the cheap-o post-its, they don't stick and end up falling off your refrigerator. The ones in the picture above fell off about 1 minute after I stuck them up. Don't waste your money, buy the real ones.

Next, cut a 4" by 6" piece of cute paper to fit your photo holder.

At this point, put on your post-it notes (with glue, double sided tape, or whatever you prefer) and embellish it however you want. Make a loop of ribbon and glue it to the back. Make sure your pen fits into the loop. If it's too small, it won't slide in easily (duh), and if it's too big, your pen will fall out (duh).

Now, this is the challenging part. Unscrew the end of your pen and pull out the guts. Depending on the diameter of your pen, cut a piece of your paper to put inside. I think mine were 5/8" by 4". It takes less than you think. If it's too thick, it will be too hard to get in to your pen. I even had to roll my paper a little, then peel a layer off because my paper was cardstock thickness. Roll your paper around the ink stick thing (is there a name for that?....anyone?).

This take a little practice...so good luck. Slide it in to your pen and trim any excess.

You're done.

Pretty easy, huh?

Here are some of the others I made:

You can also make a desk top one by using a stand up 4x6" photo holder. Just cut your paper to 5.5" by 6".

Have fun!

Giving Thanks in '09

This year I made the drive up to Idaho so we could spend Thanksgiving with some of my family. It was a super long drive, but the girls were pretty good (if I ignored the "it's taking so long," comments from Maryn every 15 minutes), and it was so worth it. Kade had to work until Tuesday, so he flew in later to join our festivities.

Here's my rather ravishing mother, showing off her Thanksgiving apron, while slaving away in the kitchen over our feast. And, my little sister, Marybeth, joined us as well.
(Thanks for taking such an awesome picture of yourself with my camera, so I could post in my blog!)

One thing that I love about my parent's house (or any of my family) is that I never worry about going hungry when I come to visit. My mom is a great cook, and always has lots of delicious food around. I come from a family of snackers, and I think there is non-stop eating when we get together. Look at that yummy food.

Since I had the camera out, Maryn had to show off for us:

Actually, I blame Kade for this. He paid her $1 to do it.

Ailee's look portrays it all...she was pretty wiped out by the time we sat down to eat, so she gobbled up her food like a good little turkey and was off to bed.

It was fun to have lots of time to spend with family. Two of my other sisters live in Idaho, so we had lots of late nights playing games, early mornings to go shopping, piano concerts to see, and even a baby blessing to be there for. I feel like I'm still catching up on sleep. Maryn LOVED playing with her cousins. I wish I had gotten more pictures of them all, but this is all I have:

Maryn, Johnny, and Ailee

Maryn, Paige, and Hailey all dressed up, with no place to go.
I love the boots, Maryn!

It was a fun-filled week and a half. I was sad to leave. And sad that I had to make the long drive back. It got a little spicy when "lunch" didn't settle too well with Maryn. (I put lunch in quotations because grody pizza from a gas station is not a good choice of food) What made it worse is that when you drive on I-80, there aren't a lot of rest areas around. As Maryn put it, we were "in the middle of no where." An emergency bathroom break left us no choice but to leave a little but of us behind on the side of the road. Maryn was a good sport about it.

Also, while we drove back, Vinny (that's my car) hit a big milestone. About 27 miles before I took this picture, he turned 100,000 miles!

I rewarded his years of faithful service with a nice car wash the next day, and he thanked us by getting a crack in the oil pan the day after that. I'm so excited to sink a bunch of money into getting that fixed! I guess I should count my blessings...at least I was only 3 miles from home, and not 700.
It was a great trip filled up with family and old friends. Though she suggested that "Grandma and Grandpa should move to someplace where it's warm all the time," Maryn keeps talking about our next trip back. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for letting us come!

Today

Today

is one of those days

where I understand WHY people abuse alcohol and/or beat their children.

I'm NOT saying it's right.

Just sayin' I understand.

We're Pleased to Announce....

FINALLY

at sixteen months (to the day), Ailee has decided to walk.

The Rule of Thirds

Have you ever heard of this? The rule of thirds. Things happen in sets of three. Three good things; three bad things; three scary things; three calls to 911. Wait...what?
Yeah, what will happen next, I wonder. So, remember last spring, when I had to call 911 about a fire at the park? Well, today wins in the "what the heck do I do" category.
Kade got home early from work today, so, I went out to have some solo shopping time. (I love shopping without kids...it's so peaceful, and actually enjoyable.) My first stop was to one of my new favorite stores here, Wrought 'n Apples. Love it. Cute stuff. So fun. Next, I had to pick up some crafting supplies at Joann's. So, I'm wondering through the store, just browsing, thinking up things I could possibly need so that I don't have to come back with kids. I finally decide I can live with just what's in my hands, and I start to head for the front. As I pass an aisle, I notice a woman acting kind of strange. Kind of spinning around, looking up at the lights. My first thought was oh, there's a bee flying around her head, and she's trying to watch it and make sure it doesn't land on her...but that's a weird thought, I know. It's winter...no bees. I decide to be my usual un-nosy self and keep walking. About 2 steps later, I hear her fall to the ground. I look over and she's convulsing on the ground. I quickly call to some of the workers around the corner that we needed help, and to another costumer to call 911. I tell you, nothing makes you feel more helpless than kneeling next to a person having a seizure. 14 years of CPR certification, and I still felt like an idiot, not knowing what to do. I was so glad when another costumer, a nurse, came over. She was choking a bit on her saliva, so we rolled her onto her side to help her breathe better. I was pretty relieved to turn things over to the paramedics. As I paid for my things at the register, it took all my strength not to burst into tears. What a weird feeling. Somebody else is lying on the floor passed out, and I'm the one that wants to cry. What a weenie!
So what about this rule of thirds? Is it real? We've already covered:
1. Fire
2. Medical Emergency
3.?????
What's left? Robbery? A rabid dog? Weirdo stalkers? Yikes--who knows, and I really hope I don't find out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go lock all my doors.

How Can I Resist...

...That smile and those pretty brown eyes?

Ailee lives in her own little world. She is a mockingbird, and will copy just about any noise she hears; a songbird that loves anything musical; and my personal cuddlybeast. She loves to play (especially with phones), snuggle, follow her big sister, and show us how stubborn she can be. We couldn't imagine our lives without her!

Tricker Treats

You know, holidays are so much better with kids. I quite like doing corny, silly celebrations, but Kade isn't too big of a fan. Now that I have a 4 year old, I can get away with putting goofy, hairy spiders like this: all over my front porch. I quite liked our spiders this year. Maryn and I made them together, then, with the help of her little friend, Lindsey, we put them up all over the siding of the house with paper clips. If you caught them in the afternoon light, they actually looked like really big, hairy spiders. I'm kinda bummed that I have to take them down, now.
Last Monday for FHE, we carved our pumpkins. Well, I carved...Maryn and Ailee aren't quite ready to use knives yet. Maybe next year. Instead, the girls took on the yearly tradition of painting pumpkins.

It ain't fun unless you're makin' a mess!
Ailee was very serious about her painting.

It makes me laugh how much she picks up from watching older kids. I had her with me in Primary today. She was watching all the kids raise their hands to participate, so she decided she needed to raise her hand, too. At least she has a good big sister to copy cat.

Maryn posing with our finished pumpkins.

Since we had a big snow fall this week, the girls and I went out on Friday to get winter gear. Of course we had to try it out that afternoon. In the spirit of Halloween, we built a snow vampire:

(Don't mind the random carrot stuck in his chest) It's just too bad that he melted before Halloween. Poor little guy didn't have much time on this earth to fulfill his scary destiny.

Saturday morning, I dressed up the girls in their costumes for some pictures. Naturally they were uncooperative, and the sun was shining too bright in their eyes. Ailee was a flower this year, and refused to let me get a good front picture of her. The flower petals did make a great sun hat for her. I had to stick a ladybug on her shirt to cover up a picture. It took a lot of "you're so pretty"s to get her to keep everything on.

She did make a pretty little flower! I thought the leaves were a genius idea. One of those middle of the night, laying in bed epiphanies.

Maryn asked to be a ladybug this year. She has really grown to love bugs these last six months. She often draws pictures of caterpillars and ladybugs for me. They're pretty cute. I tried my best to find a plain black sweatshirt for her costume, but struck out, hence the Tinkerbell on the front. Don't let it throw you.

It shows much better from the back.

I sewed another set of arms onto her costume, but the thread that hooked them to her sleeves, so they moved with her arm, kept breaking, so you can't see them very well in this picture here. They too, were another late night, laying in bed epiphany, and very cute.

Halloween in action. Here we are, scouring the neighborhood for candy.

Maryn loved Halloween this year. It involves her two favorite things: Candy and dressing up. I can't wait for Christmas.

What Do You Do When...

What do you do when life hands you lemons?

You make lemonade.

Now, what do you do when Mother Nature hands you 18 inches of snow?

You make SNOWCREAM!!

Which is what we did last night. We have most definitely been hit full force by an early wintry storm. Yesterday, we were at least able to get out and run errands. Today, we are snowed in....and it's still snowing. Fortunately our forecast for the weekend is good. That's what I like about Colorado. You get snow, then it melts. I give this round until Sunday before we see the green, green grass of home.

At least it's nice fluffy snow, which is perfect for snowcream. Have you ever had it? Mmmm, it's good. And fun for the kids to make.

Maryn enjoyed her yummy treat. Ailee, however, just blew raspberries at us.

Here's the recipe, if you've never had it.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together:

1 cup powdered milk

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup hot water

until the mixture is smooth. Put it in the fridge until cooled (I mixed mine up while I was making dinner, and it was cooled by the time we finished).

Mix in:
1 Tsp. vanilla

A pinch of salt

A whole lot (more than you think, or else it is too strong) of WHITE fluffy snow. If it's icy, it won't mix as well.

I always liked crushed peppermint or chocolate syrup on top. It melts fast, so eat it fast.

Enjoy your snowcream. We, in the meantime, will be digging ourselves out of the snow.

New and Most Definitely Improved

So, have you ever had a project that looms over your head for forever, just because you are just too lazy to finish it? I have millions....
Thankfully I was able to finish one!! Maryn's room. It has always been an eyesore to me. When we moved, I thought I would take the opportunity to make it cute, and not just something that looked like it was thrown together by a blind man with no money. Well, I had ideas, and few of them I finished right away, but others took a wee bit longer. First, I found her quilt on a clearance rack, and used that as my guide for colors: light blue and pink (which are Maryn's current favorite colors).
A reaaaaaaaaly long time ago, during my late night blog surfing, I happened upon a cute idea for a curtain. I finally took some initiative and made up my own pattern for a valence. While at the store, Maryn fell in love with some pink butterfly fabric (the kid's got a thing for bugs), so I rolled with that, and after several costly/frustrating mistakes and saying a lot of bad words in my head, I made this: The idea for the knobs came from this website. It was actually very easy to make the knobs. I couldn't find the exact supplies they used, so I improvised, and it turned out great.
I remade her pictures (you can see the befores here...bleh) using paper, instead of fabric. They are so much better than before.

And last, but certainly not least, I took her furniture out the garage and repainted it. That was my final hurdle. It's not hard to repaint furniture, I think it's mostly the taking it apart, hauling it down to the garage, and opening that can of paint that really makes me resent it. Oh, and the sanding. But, I usually skip anyway, because I am lazy.

Done!

Well, I thought I was. Later that evening, the bed rail broke (it's made of wood) so I had to rig it up and screw it back together. At least the side with the huge crack is facing the window. Nobody will eeeeeeeever know.
A few final touches with a cute set of hooks (sorry, I didn't have a picture), and some new, painted letters....

....and a happy little girl to fill the room!

A Morning Surprise

Look what we woke up to this morning:

(And, no, Ailee is not walking yet. I think the snow is holding her up.)

Maryn and I had a great time throwing snow balls at each other.....

....Ailee was not so fond of the snow, and cried most of the time.

I don't think this snowmobile is going anywhere, today!

Fortunately for me, I purchased my Stephens Hot Chocolate last week. Mmmmmmm. It made my morning.

Keepin' Our Pants Up

So, there's a condition that seems to run in our family, called glutialhypoplasia. Now, don't worry, don't worry...this isn't a serious condition, it just causes a few problems for those affected. Mostly pain when sitting for too long, and the purpose for today's post: difficulty in keeping our pants up. To counteract this side effect of glutialhypoplasia, we find it necessary to have an assortment of belts. For small children, such as Maryn, this can be kind of a problem. They're hard to find this small, and more importantly, they are hard to undo when you have to go to the bathroom really really really bad because you've been holding it for the last hour or two.

I was at a little boutique a while back when I saw some really cute belts. Actually, I think they were supposed to be dog collars, but it gave me an idea to make my own belts for Maryn. The supplies were pretty easy to find, and it only took about 15 minutes to make. I thought I'd give you instructions on how to make them, should your child also be burdened with glutialhupoplasia.
Here's the first belt:

Cute, huh? Here are the instructions:

1" polyester webbing

Coordinating 7/8" grosgrain ribbon

1" D ring set

about 3" of velcro

thread

I'm going to apologize now for my crappy sewing and lousy pictures.

First, measure your child's waist, with pants on, around the belt loops. Then, add 5 inches to that measurement. At your fabric store, you should be able to find 1" polyester webbing. I found mine at Hobby Lobby, and I just saw it today at Walmart. Don't get confused by the cotton webbing--it's a little bit more difficult to work with when finishing the ends. Just stick with polyester, m'kay?
Alright, so you have your polyester webbing cut to the waist length plus 5 inches. What you want to do first is to finish off the ends. This is why I prefer polyester, because it melts easily when you run it over a small flame, whereas cotton just catches on fire. (I know this because I tried it)

So using a lighter, run the end of your webbing over a flame a few times. This should keep it from fraying. Do this to both ends.

Next, take the fuzzy part of the velcro and attach it to one end with your sewing machine. (I was too lazy to switch my thread out for white...I won't judge you if you do this, too.) We will call this end, the "short end," just for clarification.Now, cut a piece of ribbon about 7" long. Finish off the ends with a flame. (this is also why I recommend grosgrain...it melts nicely) Flip your webbing over, and on the short end (see...clarificating, isn't it?) stitch your 7" piece of ribbon. At this point, you should have a piece of webbing with velcro on one side and a short piece of ribbon on the opposite side of that. Next, cut a piece of ribbon about 5 inches shorter than your belt and finish off the ends. On the same side as your fuzzy velcro, meet the long end of the belt up with the end of the ribbon, and stitch the ribbon on. It won't go all the way to the short end, but that's ok, because that end will be folded over anyway, like such: After the ribbon is sewn on, you need to put the D rings on the long end. Stitch away.
To figure out where to attach the stiff piece of velcro, it's best to try the belt on your child. Make sure you leave a little room to grow. You don't want an ugly piece of white velcro sticking out. Sew it on, and you are done!
I also made one out of cotton webbing. I had found some cute iron on butterflies, and you can't iron on polyester webbing....the whole melting action, remember? I just had to finish off the ends with some ribbon. It doesn't look as nice, and it sure wasn't easy, but Maryn likes it, and that's all that matters.

Here's that happy girl who doesn't cry because she can't get her belt off when she's gotta pee really bad.

After my adventures in children's belts, I found some 2" webbing and some cute 1 and 1/2 inch grosgrain ribbon for myself . I wish I could find it in more colors than just black.

The end.