Year in Review Part 2

I told you I love these pages! Here is a Family one.

Year in Review Pages

I Love these Year in Review Pages I have done one for each of the boys since they were born. I have them printed and they sit right by my bed. It is fun to see how much they grow in a year. I think it also serves as a reminder for just how Blessed I am!

Here is Will's

and here is Jake's

We wish you a Merry Christmas

I love Christmas! I am especially looking forward to this one because both of the boys are old enough to start taking part in the traditions and festivities. I hope your Christmas Eve and Christmas day are Merry and Bright and filled with the peace and love of Jesus who came as a baby to save us from our sins. Wow what a wonderful gift! Merry Christmas!

Making Gingerbread Cookies

This year I decided that it would be fun to make Gingerbread Cookies. So the boys helped me roll out the dough, cut the shapes, and then I decorated them. They were fun to make and they looked pretty cute. The problem is. . . I don't actually like gingerbread cookies! I guess I haven't had them enough to really realize that but they are pretty bland so not really pleasant to eat. I mean if you are going to eat a cookies it should really taste good don't you think? I think we will stick with sugar cookies from now on :). So how do you feel about gingerbread cookies? Do you love them, hate them, have a fabulous recipe I just must try. I would love to know how you feel about this adorable, albeit somewhat flavorless, cookie.

World's Largest Cupcake

We love watching all of the competitions on the food network and have seen many that were held at the Mall of America. We often commented that if we lived in Minnesota we would be able to see that or wouldn't that be fun to see. Shortly after we moved we got our chance. We discovered that Duff and Jeff, from Charm City Cakes or Food Network's Ace of Cakes, would be attempting to bake the world's largest cupcake. This cupcake was huge! At 150 time the size of an average cupcake it was a foot tall, 18 inches in diameter, and over 60 lbs. We were able to see Jeff and Duff carry the cake onto the stage. We watched as the Guinness Book of World Record's judge measured the cupcake and struggled with just how to weight the colossal cake. These events were fun to see but it just wouldn't be a Charm City Cake unless it had fireworks! The crowd erupted when Duff pulled out the lighter and the fire extinguisher and lit the cupcake on fire, or at least candle. It was a delightful day that I won't soon forget!

Life changes things

I was planning on having a mostly relaxing day. . . now I am having a mostly stressful afternoon. My Grandma had back surgery two weeks ago and is not recovering very well. She has only been able to eat or drink very little and is very weak. She went back into the doctor today and they suggested that she go back to the hospital for some tests, they have are also given her an IV to help hydrate her. Hopefully soon she will be back on the road to recovery. I love her very much and want her to get well very soon. So if you pray- could you pray for her?

Just one of those days. . .

Today is one of those days that I don't want to go anywhere. Jake is fussy, I think he is growing, I am not feeling the greatest and I just don't want to leave the house! So I am staying home today and putting my Christmas stockinged feet up and having a mostly relaxed day!


~BTW I am trying to take a picture every day in December some of Holiday traditions and some of ordinary moments. Hopefully I will be able to do it you can check the pictures out here ~

Cheerios in my Car

I am one of those people that likes a really clean car but, unfortunately, not one of those people that really likes to clean it. This has never really been a problem for me. I am a pretty neat car owner I don't eat in the car or leave wrappers, receipts, or papers laying around. So even though I don't really love cleaning out the car I could clean every few months and my car would stay relatively clean. This is no longer the case! Place two toddlers in any area and it inevitably becomes a mess. I used to hear people complain about their messy car and how they always had Cheerios on the floor and I would wonder why do you let them eat in the car? Why not just feed the little ones before you leave or after you get there. Well now that I have two little Cheerios eating tykes, of my very own, and I realize that kids need snacks and when they are eating they are quiet. Quiet is nice in the car. I don't feed them every time we get in the car but now that we live a fairly long way from a lot of things not feeding them a snack in the car is no longer an option. So now I have Cheerios in my car along with pretzels, raisins, and other assorted toddler friendly snacking type food items. The vacuum is my friend and I now understand all of those parents that complained about their messy car. So now I wonder what is in your car? Do you have left-over toddler snacks laying on the floor (or kid, teenager or even, adult snacks) Are you a messy car person who doesn't really care about your car being clean or are you a neat freak and the mess drives your nuts?

Happy Thanksgiving

This year I am blessed beyond measure. I have a wonderful husband who is also my best friend and true confidant. I have two adorable little boys, and even though there are days when I am frustrated there are also days in which I can't believe how lucky I am to have been blessed with such loving and well behaved little guys. We have a house that I was sure we couldn't afford and are able to pay all of our bills and still have a little extra. God is so good to us, he has given us more than we deserve and blesses us beyond belief.
So this Thanksgiving I wish you blessings beyond imagining and that God would give you much more than you deserve. We love you! Happy Thanksgiving!

New Coat and playing out in the cold

Will got a new coat for his birthday, thank you to his grandparents in CO. So we decided to try it out today even though it was really cold, 32 degrees, colder if you factor in the since chill. He loves it and it kept him really warm. The upside of playing outside even when it is freezing is that they both went right to sleep and took a long nap!
Jake doesn't like to be bundled up. He doesn't like the hat. He doesn't like the gloves. So he spent half the time crying but we had a pretty good time anyway.

Thank You!

I received these beautiful flowers today. They are from one of the most lovely people I know. Thank you so much! What a nice surprise!

More changes

We have been sleeping on the floor on our mattress since we moved in here, in September. We had given away our bed frame before we moved and Jonah has not had time to make a new one.

Until now! He brought home the frame for our new bed last night. It is so wonderful to be sleeping up off of the floor. Especially with winter coming I was afraid we were going to get pretty cold! I was even able to get out my pretty, new comforter and put in on the bed! It seems I am getting Birthday gifts early this year!BTW I do realize that top picture is slightly out of focus but decided to post it anyway since I don't think that Jonah would be too interested in putting the bed on the floor again just so I could take a picture ;)

Time for Change

Decoratingly speaking that is (yes I am aware that decoratingly may not be a word). When we moved into this house I was not terrible fond of the orange color in the the upstairs bathroom. First of all it was terribly dark and second the cabinets, walls, and door were all the basically the same color making for a rather dark, drab cavelike bathroom. Now many of you know that I myself have covered the walls with dark, bright, and let's say interesting color choices, however I find myself in more of a tan stage currently. So last night my wonderful husband did this!
He does virtually all the painting because he is a fantastic painter. He knocked this room out in an hour, it would have taken me 3 and I would have been covered in paint I kid you not! He covered the walls with a base coat of white and will be adding the lovely, light tan color tonight.

Thank God for handy husbands!

Operation Christmas Child

Have you heard of this project? They collect shoeboxes filled with small items and give them to poor children all over the world at Christmas time. In doing so they share the love and message of Jesus with hundreds of thousands of children all over the world. I saw a video (you can also see it on their website here) and was amazed by the task these volunteers take on. They literally take these boxes to the most remote parts of the world, by boat, Jeep and even camel. I have been meaning to do this for years but have always gotten sidetracked for one reason or another. This year we are going to fill two boxes one for a girl and one for a boy. For less than it costs to go out to dinner you could change the life of a little boy or girl. If you have never done this before think about jumping in this year there are tons of drop off locations you can visit the website to find one near you. If you fill a box this year I would love to hear about it!

Wall Art

I have been working on some art for our walls. I already have some done for the boys and now I am turning to our Dinning room. This will be printed 11x14 and is the first of three. The others will be Hope and Faith. I have been looking at it so long I think I like it but I am not sure so I thought I would ask for a second opinion. What do you think? I am going for a bit of a funky grungy look not something really traditional.

This was the scene in my house Thursday night

Will loves "washing" dishes and now Jake is at the "I want to do everything Will does stage" So I let Will get up to the sink and I hear this precious little voice say" dishes mommy?" Well he was so cute and asked so nicely how could I refuse. So they washed the dishes, spilled water on the floor and on their shirts, and had a good 20 minutes of fun. At least these pictures are proof that they were willing to wash dishes at one point in their lives!

I need a Bulldozer

Will was looking through a book on Photography, I picked up today at the Library. He saw a picture of a bulldozer plowing a field. He says to me," Mommy I need that bulldozer! We can get it at a bulldozer store!"

Just because Jonah can do it, doesn't mean . . .

I think I pulled a pectoral muscle or maybe it is a shoulder muscle anyway one of muscles near my shoulder. How did you manage that you are wondering? Well here is how it happened. Will came to me and said, "Mommy my camera is under the couch." "Oh is it I said? Here I will pick up the couch so you can get it." In my head I was sure I could manage it, why, because I saw Jonah do the exact same thing the other day and it looked EASY. So I lift up the corner of the couch and then cried out, with strong emotion, for him to hurry and get his camera before I dropped the couch. After I set the couch down I grabbed my arm which caused Will to ask what was wrong I said that I thought I had pulled a muscle. I went on about my day and didn't really think much of it until after we had put the boys to bed I realized that my arm had been aching and wondered why. The the memories from earlier scene cam flooding back to me. I related the events to Jonah, including the part that I picked up the couch because I had seen him do it and it had looked so easy. His response. . . Yeah well I have seen the world's strongest man pick up a boulder and he made it look easy. That doesn't make me think I can do it!
Real helpful thanks !

Lovely Golden Lock Gone!

As you know we have been buzzing Jake's hair for a while and it seems to suit him. It goes well with his rugged, and a tad bit exuberant, personality. So whenever Jonah cuts the boy's hair he will ask Will if he wants his cut really short like Jake's he always says no. Well last night the clippers went a little crazy there was a little too much taken off here and a bit too uneven here and before long Jonah decided that he might just try buzzing his hair. . . OFF! I was a bit shocked I like my little guy's golden locks and liked the hair style we currently had. Sure I thought about trying some other styles, maybe part it too the side or maybe a bit more off the top. But I wasn't quite ready for what I got. I would say that this is not really the best look he has ever had but in my not so unbiased opinion he is still pretty cute.

I don't like his attitude!

Sometimes Jonah likes to take the boys downstairs so they can watch him play video games. We are careful about the games we let them see. Nothing with violence or gore. They do enjoy watching cute games. They especially like the racing games, we are very into cars here in my house just now. So I had seen the advertisements for the Lego games, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc. I thought to myself, this is a game the boys will love to watch. The characters are cute and they go on a little adventure. So Jonah downloaded the demo and was playing it with them. Will watches for a while and then says, "Daddy I don't like his attitude!". Jonah asks him why and he says because he hit that guy. Oh the innocence of little children. I love how pure their hearts are how uncorrupted by all the stuff we are corrupted by. If only our hearts were that clean and pure what would we be like?

Must Take Class

So I know many of you have heard/read me go on about the classes I have taken from Jessica Sprague. She has just announced a new class. It is all about sharing your story. Writing down the memories you have to share. You can scrapbook them or not, you don't even have to be a digital scrapbooker you just have to have stories to share (don't we all). Oh did I mention, the class is free!!! Really no reason not to take it. You can find out more here

Whirlwind of a week . . .

Whew what a busy week we had. My mom was in town for a visit last week and I tried to take her to as many places as we could while she was here. So we were out and about almost everyday. She flew in Thursday so the boys and I rushed home, from the Bible study I go to on thursdays, and she only beat us by a few minutes (Jonah had picked her up from the airport). That day we just visited. Friday, was an 80 degree day so, we took the boys to the park. Of course they had tons of fun running around and wore themselves out.

Then on Saturday we went to the Apple Orchard. The day started out a little hairy as we got down to Stillwater only to realize that the bridge was closed. This means that we have venture all the way down to Hudson and cross the bridge there. Don't get me wrong it is a pleasant drive but it adds about 45 extra minutes to the trip and we were within 15 minutes of our final destination. So we turned around and got onto the road to Hudson. Jonah was in the back of the car with the boys and their two car seats so they were all a little jammed in there but having him next to them seemed to keep the boys happier for much longer than they would normally have been. We arrived at the apple orchard and headed straight for the bakery to sample some of the scrumptious goods they have for sale. Then after finding out how the apple picking experience was to go and exactly which of the apples were currently available for picking, we headed out to pick a bag full of apples. Will, naturally, went straight for the low hanging apples and the ones on the ground. We had to persuade him that the most delicious apples could only be reached by sitting on Daddy's shoulders and picking the really high ones. You are able to try each of the different variates of apples and can purchase may different kinds even if they aren't available for picking. So needless to say we came home with a lot of apples. I think that Will probably ate 3 apples during the course of the day and Jake almost ate a whole one by himself, which is a lot for him. The favorite of the day was the Zestar. Never heard of it? Well that is because it is a new variety of apple developed by the University of Minnesota and is only currently available locally. I know you are jealous but feel free to visit us during apple season and you too could have this delectable apple!

Sunday was a bit quieter. We went to church and then into Stillwater while the boys napped (Jonah stayed with them). Stillwater is the town that is directly across the river into Minnesota. There is a quaint older section with a lot of shops and great old buildings. So my mom and I had fun just looking around at all of the shops.
Monday we visited the zoo. We have a membership to the zoo and have been there many times since we moved here, but I have never actually driven there by myself. So this was an experience. I had to drive on freeways following Map quest directions, for those of you who have ever followed these directions probably know what I am talking about. For those of you who haven't let's just say they do not always take the most direct route and can be very confusing. But we made it allright and it was a good day, the boys love the zoo. We tried to see as much as we could but is a very big zoo and we can't see it all in the time we have allocated before we need to leave to get in home in time for naps. We ended up leaving later than I planned and got stuck in some road construction so we were late for naps. They still were able to get a little rest but not as much as they really needed.
So Tuesday was a bit of a rest/ cranky day. We went to story time at the Library. Wow I am not sure what I was expecting but let me just set the scene for you. There is a smallish room, maybe 14x14 or so and then there was around 15 toddlers and their mom/grandma. So the room was pretty full. Many of these very active toddlers found sitting and listening to a story difficult so it was not a relaxing story time to say the least. The story teller was good and has a great story voice, so I think we will give it another go but maybe not every week. The boys were very fussy and tired that day so I ended up fussy and tired by the end of the day as well, or was it that I was tired and fussy and so the boys ended up tired and fussy as well. It is hard to tell some days. Never the less we were tired and fussy so we went to the Library and that is about it.
On Wednesday we went for a drive along the St Croix River. We stopped at several places along the way to look at the changing leaves and beautiful fall colors. We also found a nice place where boats can be loaded into the river (can you tell I am not from a State with a lot of water? I still don't know very many boat/water terms). There was a path following the river and the boys were able to throw rocks into the river- so much fun!

During the course of this trip, as we were driving along we came accross a Bald Eagle in the middle of the road, right in front of us, trying to get some lunch. It was almost hit by a car itself and flew off of the road. I pulled off and pulled out my camera, lementing the fact that I had taken the longer telephoto lense out when we went to the zoo. I was able to get a few good pictures. Evidently Bald Eagles are pretty common here so I will be on the lookout in the futures in the hopes of getting better/ more close-up shot.

That was a long post. Well like I said the week was packed full of adventures!

Fall Colors

Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the way the wind carries with it a hint of cold so that the nights are now a time to find a cozy blanket to fend off the chill. I love the sound of leaves rustling in the breeze. And I love to watch the stunning autumn hues appear where once only a sea of green could be seen. I was fortunate enough to take all of these shots in our yard while Will played happily and Jake hung on to my leg just wanting to be with me.

Adventuring

The boys and I went on an adventure to the park this morning. We are much closer to parks here in our new house, so we ventured out on this beautiful 70 degree, almost fall, day. I realized that I have never taken the boys to the park by myself. When we lived in Colorado Jake they were both so small I didn't really go to many places besides grocery shopping. Then when we moved I didn't have a car- I just can't get used to driving Jonah's truck- so I stayed home most of the time. Now it is a whole different game! We can go places and have adventures all by ourselves, it is nice. They had a lot of fun, even though they both looked really tired on the short drive home and melted down a little while waiting for lunch. Let's hope they both take a nice long nap!

100 Random things you may or may not know about me

I should be unpacking or organizing or cleaning or doing a whole host of other things. Instead I am did this page for a challenge at Jen Wilson designs. Here new line is so fun I had to play for a while. Ok now back to something productive in the house!

Still in the Process

It has been 1 week since we closed on our house and we are. . . still in the process. We have mostly finished cleaning and have started moving boxes. Wow we have a lot of stuff. I thought we got rid of a lot. We still have too much stuff. . . I think we will be having a garage sale to get rid of more of the stuff we have and really don't need. The boys are getting tired of entertaining themselves. Jake started to morning out with uttering the phrase "upie, mommy" many times with more insentience and volume the more the morning went on. Every time I sat down he would back up and sit down. At this age he is defiantly a mama's guy and doesn't like to be out of my line of sight for more that a few minutes so this challenging for both of us. But there is hope as we are getting close to being at least moved in and sleeping there (this is not to say unpacked which will take some time!) Ok back to packing/cleaning/ organizing!

Home Sweet

Wanted to let you all know that the closing went fine. We signed and had the key yesterday afternoon. Jonah started working on the pipe issue and is doing well so far (nothing has odd has cropped up) I will really start cleaning today- washing down wall mostly today- lots of dust accumulates when a house has sat empty for that long. So I am off to take a really quick shower, throw in a load of Laundry, Pack some things my car, and get the boys up! Do you think I can do all of that in an hour???

Tomorrow. . .

So tomorrow we close on our house! We are very excited, there is a bit of work to be done before we can move in but we will begin tomorrow. It has been hard to sit here and wait know there is work that needs to be done but not being able to get it completed. So tomorrow the wait is over. We will begin by cleaning as the house has sat empty since, at least, January and Jonah will fix the plumbing- did I mention that someone came in and took the cooper piping for the water and gas? More of a big frustration than a big problem- plumbing always seems to be frustrating you never know what you may run into. We were at the local home depot like store and the guy in the plumbing dept said that this is the third story that he has heard of piping being removed. He said he thought is was silly seeing as how if you were to remove all of the pipes from a very large house you might make $200 off of the pipes. So it is really not worth the hassle. We don't even have that much that was removed so they made even less. So hopefully all will go smoothly and we will have the essential elements for a house, i.e. water and gas, shortly :)

Corn Fields and Colorado Peaches

We have been thoroughly enjoying the sweet corn here. There are several places where you can go and get it very near the house, many that you just get how ever much you want and leave the money. So we have it very fresh and whenever we want. Yesterday a Neighbor told us that we could get free sweet corn down the street. So we got the boys and went down to check it out, well I didn't realize it before hand but we got to go into the corn fields and pick the corn ourselves. How fun! So we trampled through the corn fields (trying to take care and not trample the corn) and pick corn ourselves. Will thought it was great fun, Jake just wanted to stay as close to me as possible he is little compared to corn stocks!

The other produce buzz around here is Colorado Peaches! Tons of people are saying how great they are, churches are selling them as fundraisers, and grocery stores are only selling them by the case. This really cracks me up, the fact that we lived there for so long (my whole life in fact)and I never really heard people talk about how great the peaches were and here everyone is talking about them. (OK so I did hear my grandparents talk about them, but they are crazy about produce so that doesn't really count :)- just had to clarify that!)

New Car/Truck/Suv

So we have found a new (to us) car. No we did not buy three vehicles, but I call it a car, Jonah calls it a truck, but it is really an SUV. It is under the miles we wanted. . . the Size we wanted. . . but most important of all under the price we were willing to pay. It is our desire to be responsible stewards of what God has given us so we were really looking for something that was reliable, but that we could buy outright and not make payments and if possible have a bit left over to pay down more on the truck so we can be free of payments there as well. God is good and we found all of those things!

OK this is really cool too I have been looking for one of these "Support Our Troops" magnetic ribbons for a while and couldn't find one (you all probably know just where to find one and could have told me if I had have just asked right?). This car comes with one! Leave it to a girl to be more excited about a car accessory than how many "V's" it has ,or the towing capacity, etc ;)

Clumsy Girl Walking

The road in front of the house is being repaved. They have been working on it for a while now. It was taken down to gravel and had been that way for a few weeks, so walking down by the lake has been difficult with the stroller- it is hard to push 55lbs of boys +the stroller through unpacked gravel. Yesterday they came by and paved the road! This meant entertainment for the boys in the morning while they worked and we could take a walk to the lake after dinner! We get to the lake and I step off of the (about 2 inches) new pavement and twist my ankle. It hurt a lot! We sat there for a while, and waited for the pain to subside a little and then I limped home. It was almost the boy's bedtime so we were getting them ready for their bath. Our room was a little warm so I decided to put the fan in the window I pushed the window up so I could get the fan in it and get my finger stuck between the double windows (how I managed this I am not really sure). So now my ankle is aching and my finger hurts whenever I use it. Boy I got the clumsy gene in ample amounts, let's just hope this is a gene that skips a generation!

Just Ordered This . . .

Well as most of you know by now we have a contract on a house and are set to close on the 4th of September -oh we are doing dances of joy! I am so excited to be in a place of our own and really start to feel like we belong here! So as a moving present to us (and because our current comforter has a rip in it) I ordered a new comforter. I am very excited as this is the first comforter set we have purchased. I know we have been married for 9 years so this is a bit sad, but we are both kind of thrifty and like to spend money on other things. . . so this is the first really nice one we have gotten. It was on sale and we got an extra 30% off and free shipping (getting back to Khol's with the coupon before the sale ended was a bit tricky) so in a few days we will have it, but we are waiting to use it until we get the new house. We are actually going over to measure for blinds, a desk (Jonah is building), etc, right now so I will sign off for now.

Last Layout . . .

Here is my last LO from Digi In Deep what a fun class! I learned so many great techniques, short cuts and design tips! I am looking forward to the next in the series that is supposed to start in October! You may be wondering where the layout from last week's class is (or maybe you aren't), last week our task was to create an entire album! I didn't quite get it done, but I am close. I am working on a year in review for last year, 12-2 page spreads. I will put it up when I finish.

Spose Card

Will and Jake received postcards in the mail yesterday, but things were crazy, so I saved them for this morning. Will loves getting mail, but mostly gets the junk mail. He was so excited to get mail of his own. He asked me to take a picture of him with his, "Spose card" that he had taken to breakfast with him.

Opening day and e-mails

So it is still early enough that no little guys are running around asking for something, fighting or climbing on my chair with blankets in tow to sit with me. I love this time in the morning. I read e-mails, read blogs, look at the weather and mentally prepare for the day. So this morning I pull up my e-mail and there were 5 messages. That is pretty exciting for me, I love getting e-mails so that started my day out in a happy place :)
Tonight is also the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics. I Love the Olympics! It is really funny because I am not that big on watching sports, but the Olympics fascinate me. I do like watching the athletes compete in the different sporting events, I like seeing the American flag raised and hearing the National Anthem. I like watching all of the different varieties of sports that aren't typically aired (curling was the one we really got into during the last Olympics- never even knew what it was before that!) I think what I like most about the Olympics are the stories! Oh the stories- I know everyone loves them. The runner who had to practice in a war zone, the swimmer who grew up as a orphan, the team that has no chance of winning but wants to play just for the love of the game. Oh man I love those stories. I think I really love the Olympics because it shows the best of people from around the world. People competing against all odds struggling to conquer and overcome. I love seeing people from around the world in a good light. I love that these games have been going on for 112 years. I am so excited and can't wait for all the fun to begin!

Entertainment . . .Complements of the City

The city has been working on the road that goes in front of the house for about a week. They are working on some drainage, widening it in spots, and resurfacing it. This morning the backhoe and the dump truck were in front of the house working and the boys were so excited. We had to go out and watch and this kept them occupied for the about 45 min or so, at which time the trucks had moved on and we could no longer see them. Jake was so excited when then showed up he was still eating breakfast and when he heard there were trucks he excitedly said, "All done! Truck, Truck." The baby to English translation here is I am done eating mommy! and would like to go and see the truck with Will! We got to watch then scoop up the dirt from the side of the road and dump it into the dump truck- which was fun because they have dump trucks, Will kept saying Mommy that is like my truck, or that is like Jakey's truck. Then for the grand finale, grandpa had asked if he could have some of the dirt to fill in a spot in the yard. They said sure and dumped big piles in the yard. This was met with pure excitement and clapping.

A buyer's Market?

Well of those of you who were wondering we are still house hunting. They say it is a buyer's market but that doesn't seem to be helping us. We can find lots of houses that are not in the greatest shape many we don't want to tackle the improvements that need to be made. We don't mind doing some remodeling, but would rather not have to gut the entire house! Then there are a lot of houses that we like but pass over because the taxes are too high. Taxes are HIGH here. Then there are others that are on a short sale, like the last one we had offered on, and that process takes forever. We have just made an offer on house # 3. We will hopefully hear something this week. . . if we get it great! If not we will keep looking. We are getting frustrated and want to be in a our own house. Hopefully our wait will be over soon.

More Digi Wonderfulness

I am continuing on in my photoshop journey this week with Jessica Sprague. The techniques in this class are great. This week I learned to do several things I didn't even know you could do! I edited my photos and even made my own paper (the paper the star is out of). I am loving fading one photo into another one, still perfecting it a bit. I am sure you will see a LO of Will like this soon.

A couple of layouts

This week I started two new digital scrapbooking classes (online). I am loving it, but also feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the things I "need" to do, but I know it will be a huge sense of accomplishment when I am all done. The classes are definitely giving me the push I needed to get out of my creative slump. Here are the first two pages from Digi: In Deep I have to admit that I was a bit afraid that the class might not be advanced enough. It has not only met but exceeded my expectations. It is just challenging enough that I am getting a bit frustrated but can keep up with all of the techniques. I have been learning tons of new techniques and getting lots of inspiration and it has only been one week!

Call me Paco

I often ask Jake what his name is. He is starting to be able to answer questions, I say he is able not that he is always willing often the answer to a question is NO! Anyway tonight I asked him his name three times the conversation went like this:
Me: Jakey what is your name?
Jake: Will?
Me: Noooo what is your name?
Jake: Jonah
Me: No what is your name?
Jake: Paco!
Ummm maybe a bit of identity crisis? Maybe he thinks it is a trick question as I often say Jake what is your name. Maybe he thinks Jakey, or JJ is not the answer I am looking for. I have no idea where he got that from but we had a bit of fun with it. After dinner we drove into town for some ice cream and we would say come on Paco and he would say with enthusiasm PACO! Then on the drive back. I asked him again what is your name? He said Paco Will says, "He said Paca" Jake looks at him and says with annoyance in his voice, "co, co" He is actually correcting him- not Paca, Paco. ROFL!

This and That

We went out to dinner last night, with the grandparents and some friends of theirs. Food was decent. . . boys were great. Don't you love it when it is your kids that are behaving well and being adorable. We have had mostly good experiences taking the boys to restaurants, the only complaint that I have is that Jake is so fascinated watching other people that he neglect his food. Not this time though, he ate 2 pieces of french toast all by himself, this kid loves breakfast foods! Will ate a "hot dog corn", or corn dog if you don't speak 2 year old, and was fascinated with the fact that everyone at the table was eating something different. He kept asking me, "Mommy what's that mom eating" translation -Mommy what is that lady eating. We can't seem to make him understand that not every woman is a mom and not every man is a dad.

Feeling a bit "Un"

I don't know what my deal is this week but I am feeling . . . unmotivated, uncreative (is this even a word) unsettled, and due to all of the previous un's you can add unproductive to the list. I keep trying to come up with pages to scrap but can't seem to get the creative juices flowing. I have a couple of classes that I am planning on taking ( Digi: In Deep and Scrap Yourself )but they aren't starting for a couple of weeks. So I am sure that motivation and creativity will be making an appearance soon but I think they are waylaid just now.
Keep thinking of projects I want to try with the boys, but can't seem to get motivated to make a big mess.
Some good news . . . did hear from the realtor today we are now the primary offer on the house we have bid on and something else about the bank might be getting ready to look at the offer. I can't remember the exact details, this goes in with the "un" feelings- here it is unfocused. But anyway we may have good news soon.
Some bad (or not really good) news . . . found out my grandma may have to have back surgery (again she had it about 15 or so years ago) I don't have all of the detail here but hopefully it will all turn out well. They were planning a trip out in September and I was really looking forward to it.
Hopefully my funk will go away and inspiration will return along with peace, joy, and wonderful news. Here is my hope for exactly those things coming to pass.

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Fourth of July

This year was pretty quiet for the fourth. We wanted to keep the boys up to do a few fireworks so we had a pretty low key morning. We grilled hamburgers for dinner and had watermelon, potato salad and corn- a wonderful summer meal! Then after playing outside for a while we roasted marshmallows and made smores. This is the first time either of them have had this wonderful dessert so they were thrilled. Will jumped right in and ate his like a sandwich- Jake took his apart and ate the chocolate first and then the graham cracker and marshmallows. Once the sun finally went down, around 9, we set off a few fireworks that we had purchased. They thought these were fun but loved the snapping ones the most- you know the little ones that you throw and they pop. Those were the biggest hit. Will keeps reminding me that we need to go to the store and get some more, which is not a problem here because there is a permanent fireworks store just a few miles away.

Chocolate icing Beaters

Everyone remembers, with fondness, licking the mixer beaters. This joy has been diminished for our guys due to the fact that they are not really supposed to have raw eggs, at least that is what "they" say. So they have not licked too many beaters in their lives, I think this may be Jake's first. We made cake this morning and while it was baking we made chocolate icing, no raw eggs just pure sweetness. As you can see they really enjoyed it! I am sure they will enjoy the cake later as well.

Yes he actually got this messy just by licking a beater, I even scrapped most of it off first.

Here Jake was offering Will some icing off of his finger and Will says, "No back away Jake you all messy!" As if he wasn't!

BTW Yes Jake did get a new haircut. The buzzed look seems to fit him!