R is for Rockets

Today we talked about the letter R at preschool. So of course we made rocket packs!

Two 2 liter bottles, some tape, cheap plastic tablecloth for the flames, and elastic for the straps. I let the kids decorate the paper that wraps around the pack. A huge hit.

Toilet Paper Rolls Strike Again

Here is my latest Pinterest craft, again made of toilet paper rolls. Loving this super cheap home decor!

Top 2011 of 2011

Since it is New Year's Eve, I figure it is a great time to reflect of things I have learned and experienced in the past year. So may I present my Top 2011 of 2011.

(Never fear- a picture is worth 1,000 words, right?)

1-1,000 Here we are on Christmas Day 2011. I am so blessed to have a wonderful family. Being a mother is the most challenging, most rewarding thing I could ever do. I am grateful for a temple marriage that gives us the start we need to end up together as long as we choose the right and keep our focus.

 (Did you notice Mack from the Cars movie in the background. Josh insisted on bringing it to church. It seems appropriate that it ended up in the family picture.)

1,001-2,000 We took a family trip to Disneyland in September. My parents went with us, otherwise I don't think I would have been willing to brave the "happiest" place on earth with a three year old and a one year old. Thanks to tips from my expert sister on how to manage small kids at Disneyland, and thanks to the help of my awesome parents, it was actually a pretty enjoyable trip with minimal unpleasantness. Of course, in this picture, we are experiencing some of the unpleasantness. We quickly discovered the kids were not too excited to take pictures with the characters, which freed up a lot of time!

And now for other insights/events from the year:

1- I can do hard things. Like lose over 30 pounds. I think I am at the plateau stage now where you have to work even harder to get results. But I am proud of myself. I got size Large Christmas PJs this year. That may not seem impressive to all you fitness nuts out there, but last year they were XXL. So I am pretty proud to be "large". Now if I could just get the dang Wii Fit to quit telling me I'm obese, I would really be making progress!

2- I lost a nephew this year. He was stillborn at around 23ish weeks at the end of August. It was devastating. The 20-week ultrasound revealed some serious complications that meant his life would have been a huge trial, so in a way it is a blessing for him that he doesn't have to experience that. But it was heart breaking. I am so grateful for the knowledge of eternal families. I am also thankful for a trial to help me remember to put my trust in His plan.

3- I am blessed to be able to see the interaction between my kids. The good, and the bad. It is so rewarding to see them snuggled up on the couch together looking at a book, or watching Josh show Abby all the neat tricks her play kitchen can do. And, I probably shouldn't say this, but I love that Abby is big enough to fight back now. Not that I endorse or condone fighting.

4- I have a hard working husband that I am grateful for every single day. He teaches at the middle school, teaches a couple night classes a week for Snow College, paints murals whenever he can, and even teaches summer school (alright- an 8 week session at Snow College), all so I can stay home with our kids. What a blessing. And on top of all that, he still loves me.

5- I can cook. I have tried this year to be a better cook. Don't get me wrong- we still have Hamburger Helper at this house, but I am proud of the progress I have made. I can make soup that isn't condensed and doesn't include the instructions "Put giant frozen chunk of soup in the crock pot and add milk" (although I can make that too). I can bake. From scratch. Not fantastically, but well enough.

6- I can craft. Like many others, I discovered Pinterest this year. It has, indeed, taken over a part of my life, but it has actually unlocked some untapped creativity as well. We used Pinterest inspiration for some of our homemade Christmas decor this year, and I am currently working on an art project for the wall. But what surprises me most is that I can do it. And it actually looks kind of like the picture.

7- I have a life- at least one night a month anyway. I am in a book club. Go ahead and judge me. My brother already has. But it is my one night to get away from kids and have fun, eat great food, associate with fantastic women, and occasionally discuss books. It is nice to do something just for me.

8- I can DIY. I guess the correct term is DIM- Do it myself. Or more accurately- DIO. Do it ourselves. We tiled our backsplash this year like true Weekend Warriors.

9- I absolutely love my church calling as Primary Chorister. Lately I have really had my testimony increased about the importance of my calling and that it isn't just about putting on a show- it is about teaching the gospel principles.

10- I am grateful for Josh. Of course, he is 3 1/2, which poses challenges, but he is learning and growing. I don't know what he is "supposed" to know at this age, but he sure seems smart to me. I am excited to have him be a sunbeam in this upcoming year. Mostly to show off how many primary songs he already knows! I can't believe my little boy is growing up right before my eyes. During the hard times, I keep telling myself "It will all be worth it when he serves an honorable LDS mission!" Since my brother just came home from his mission, that is my new "light at the end of the tunnel".

11- I am grateful for Abby. She is an angel. I am grateful for her little jabbers and the fact that she is suddenly saying so many words. It is a huge responsibility to raise a daughter of God. I hope I am up for the challenge. 

So there you have it. The top 2011 of 2011. In no particular order. Pat yourself on the back for reading and go do something nice for someone else.

Santa and Snow

We watched the Ephraim City light parade from the cozy warmth of our car since it was snowing. After the parade, we went to City Hall to see Santa. Josh was so excited so I figured waiting in line for an hour would be worth it to see how excited he was. He had been practicing calling Santa on an old cell phone. "Hi Santa! This is Joshy. I want a new Lightning, a Mack, and a Diesel (one of the trains from Thomas and Friends). OK. Bye-bye!"
So what is an hour wait to be able to see him sit on Santa's lap? Apparently, a wasted hour.

He got up to Santa and decided he was "too shy of Santa" to sit on his lap. I think he might have muttered to Santa that he did not want earrings (which is what Santa suggested) but that was about it. Good thing he has already texted pictures of all the toys he wants to Santa. That is how he thinks the system works.

We woke up this Saturday to about 4 or 5 inches of Snow. Josh got bundled up to "help" Daddy shovel, and Abby insisted on going out too. I forget how much effort it takes to get 2 kids ready to play in the snow! She looked so cute and she was fascinated with the snow.

The snow wasn't really that deep- she was kneeling down in that last picture.

This next picture is more for my personal records than anything. Photographic evidence that Josh and Abby can peacefully co-exist. (But only if raspberries are being blown on their tummies!)

DIY Christmas Decor

Yes, we have our Christmas decorations up already. Not the tree yet- although that will probably be up before the day is over. This year though we decided to expand our decoration collection by adding some DIY projects.
First up- a little something to spice up the wall behind our Nativity scene. We took a 1'x 8' board, painted it, and then added the words using a little trick I learned on Pinterest. Step 1- Print words you want. Step 2- Place paper on the board. Step 3- Trace the letters with a ballpoint pen. Press kind of hard so you are making an indentation on the board. Step 4- Paint the letters. The indentation outline helps keep the paint in place. Who needs a Cricut?!? Total cost- about $3.

Next- something my sister started doing. Wrap the pictures on your wall to look like presents. Since we had paper from last year, the only cost was the ribbon, so another $3. So festive, right? But wait- there's more.

 I have a plain grape vine wreath that I bought at the store. I change out the flowers to match the season. Here is how it looks for Christmas. Total cost: $3. (I'm not making this up. These things all really are $3.)

And now, the "big ticket" craft, also inspired by Pinterest. It was like $15 for the garland, a couple bucks for the bows, and extra lights we already had. Wrap them around a tomato cage and Ta-Da! Super cute little Christmas trees for the porch for under $20. Total.

Happy Holidays! (Maybe I can use my newfound crafting genius- AKA Pinterest- to make some Thanksgiving decorations. Then I won't have to put up my Christmas decorations so early just to get into the holiday spirit!)

Snow College Homecoming 2011

Snow College Homecoming was late this year- the first Saturday of November. Which meant the parade was pretty cold. But that didn't stop us!

They moved the tailgate party indoors to the student center. The party included one of those big blow-up obstacle course things. Josh did great at climbing the wall, and going down the slide of course.

They had a place to take pictures with Buster and the cheerleaders. Josh would have nothing to do with it, but Abby liked the cheerleader and was willing. She was very curious about Buster the Badger though. He is pretty scary looking.

Ayden, my nephew, came to the parade and festivities as well.

He is a year younger than Josh, and they are great buddies. They have the same obsessions (Toy Story and Cars). So he came to our house to play while Grandma and Grandpa braved the cold to attend the game (which Snow lost- it was a bummer).

Halloween 2011

This year for Halloween, Josh was Peter Pan.

The costume was a hand-me-down from the cousins, and it was a couple sizes too big, but that wouldn't stop him from wearing it. He loved it! I made a mental note to let him watch Peter Pan a lot as we get closer to next Halloween so he will want to be Peter again. That probably won't work out, but I can try, right?
Abby was Tinkerbell, thanks to another hand-me-down from another cousin.

Some of the cousins got together at a Halloween Carnival at the Snow College Richfield campus. I remember Halloween being a lot more fun when I didn't have sugar-high, sleep-deprived 3 and 1 year olds to keep under control. But it was still a memorable experience.

I am still finding scraps of paper from this lovely Dig-through-the-confetti-for-treasures game.

On Halloween Day, Josh informed me that I needed to be "Wendy." Since I have a shortage of old fashioned, full length nightgowns, this posed a problem. And the lovely house dresses available at our local Wal-Mart were not really appealing. Plus, they weren't blue, which was really the only requirement according to Josh. I told him that I didn't have a Wendy dress. He walked me into my closet and pointed out my blue dress shirt and said "Just wear this Wendy shirt Mom!" Then he picked out Abby's blue headband and flower and the result was a perfectly lovely ensemble.

The best part of all was we had very little candy left over after the Trunk or Treat, so we didn't feel overly guilty about the fact that it was all gone within 36 hours.