The Big Park

oh it was just beautiful wednesday! after m got home from school we picked up our friend, max and went to the BIG park. i love how our parks have titles...BIG and LITTLE. anyway...the boys had so much fun climbing on the playground and swinging.

they played with shovels and pails and wanted to slide down the slides but when they actually got to the top...i think they got scared and just wanted down.

everytime the kids would call me, max would call me too...MOMMY! as far as he knows...that's what my name is. i think it's adorable. he even came to hug me as my kids were hugging me the other day...he came over just like them with open arms saying...MOMMY! and giving me a great big hug. cute. m didn't want to play...for reasons i still don't understand so she sat in the stroller the whole time pouting.

after the park we went home for some peanut butter and honey sandwiches. you can't get that at a restaurant! then taegan called for m to play and heather came to pick max up. i put f down for a nap and watched more smallville. what a pleasant relaxing day.

STUPID BLOG

you've heard that song 'stupid boy'...country...well this is a stupid blog! i was just playing around and thought i would change the look of my blog. well now all my photos are directly on top of each other and no matter what i do i can't fix it. if this keeps up...it's back to the old blog.

stupid blog. stupid dog. stupid frog...check out the kid joke at the very bottom of my blog page. i LOL-ed!

Before and After

a before and after shot of my craft room!

well i finally got the grand idea to clean my craft room. and it was way over due. last night i was arranging the family room and getting the old furniture out and shelves back in and f decided that he wanted to look at my scrapbooks. so while he was looking i was organizing. after he had gone to bed i sat down on our new couches...i don't think i've actually sat on them before now. sad. anyway i picked up the album f was looking at and while flipping through 2005-2006 i noticed that there was a horrific jump! i had some pages from the beginning of the year...right up to m's birthday...then it skips to christmas! holy cow! i thought right then and there that i was not keeping good on my new year's resolution to scrapbook more. i am terrible. so i decided that i would do some today. but i'd have to clean my room before starting another project. i seem to have 5 going at the same time.

BEFORE....and AFTER

BEFORE...and AFTER

BEFORE...and AFTER

so now... my room is clean, one shelf is painted, old couches are gone (thanks mandi and kevin), furniture moved to where i want it in the family room. now...i have to mod podge the paper to the lids of my easter pails, finish putting velcro on file folders (what a nightmare), sew a's piano bag, find a present for em, call danielle to come over and help me decide how to decorate my craft room, and scrapbook at least ONE page today. i know i am missing something...oh yeah, start painting the 2nd shelf. gotta love projects and VERY CLEAN ROOMS!!!!!!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

well i don't know why that is so surprising. i am go go go it seems. this week was fun and long. so happy it's friday. i've been working on file folders and hopefully i can get at least 5 totally done this week. we'll see. on tuesday i helped lynette with a craft night at church. it was so fun to see everyone excited to get together and craft. we have so many talented women in our ward...and i think they don't realize it.

side bar: sunday was testimony meeting at church and as i listened to some of the women in our ward bear their testimonies....i thought to myself....they are my tender mercies. because when they share what they are learning or what they have learned with other it builds my up and edifies me. i gain so much quite strength from these incredible women. i am so lucky and grateful to be a part of this.

after picking up the kids from school i started sanding the wood for craft night. i could only do 10 at a time. there were so many and it was kind of cold outside. i also started spray painting the s family room shelve. i was freaking out tuesday night because the calendar that i ordered for melynda's baby shower had not come yet and it was wednesday night. after craft night i went to my mail box and there it was! boy was i happy. wednesday i spent most of the morning tying ribbon on it and using the leftover sticks to embellish it a bit more. it was so cute. i tried to stick with a monkey theme. i also made her a funny monkey notebook that she can journal in for her new little one. i really enjoyed making this one.

thursday b stayed home because he was sick. fever, cough...i made him meals he never ate, asked if i could get anything for him but he said no...while watching smallville without me. thanks. just a bit jealous of his sick day off. my mother in law took the kids early in the morning and i tried frantically to finish my file folders so i could take them to get laminated. i got 14 of them ready but by the time i was done it was time to head to the school to volunteer. so right after i went straight to laminte and buy spray paint for the family room shelves. after that i came home to chat with my mother in law then it was off the pick the kids up from school. b was trying to rest so i decided to take the kids to joann's to get velcro for my file folders and while we were there, a picked out some star wars fabric for his piano bag i've been meaning to make him. for a year now. he was happy. we came home and i had the kids practice their recital pieces for that night. i ran over to lynette's to drop off my cards because i wouldn't be at card swap due to the kids piano recital. i played with a and he did a great job. i am so proud of him and k for all the progress they have made. then i came home to see that ga was another rerun... i was a little miffed. so i went to lynette's to get my cards and some women were still there so i stayed to chat. i then came home 15 min. before leaving again for soccer.

that was one long day.

now friday is here and i can relax and just do laundry until after the kids get home. then it's off to piano lessons and violin lessons. i still have to buy a gift for em, cause we're celebrating it on sunday. i really am starting to hate birthdays in feb. and march. no offense to those of you who have one in either of these months. i have 2 kids born in feb. but the cost of gifts really adds up quickly. my budget and time and energy are shot. i am excited for m's friend, taegan though. my mom was born on march 17th so it will remind me of her.

better go. i hear a little dustin baby crying.

My Last 2 Year Old

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FORD!

it's a little wierd to think that f is just turned 2. only because he's been in the terrible 2 stage for awhile now and i just can't bear the thought of what he might do now! i am so not prepared.

f wanted corndogs for his bday dinner but b hates corndogs so i asked f if there was something else he would like to eat. he said, 'donalds'. i told him we couldn't get mcdonalds on sunday. so i offered pizza. and he agreed. so we celebrated with pizza, bread sticks, and salad for dinner and...

a madagascar cake for dessert. f loves madagascar so he really liked his cake! it was so yummy!

f got a lot of fun presents but the one we were really excited for was his very first bike!

we hid it for the week at lynette's house and picked it up on sunday after church. and after he had opened all his presents we brought out the bike! he loves it. so does m. his helmet is so adorable and it's a toddler size but it's too small. darn it. but he wore it and he was so cute.

we love our little 2 year old! he's so fun. all day he kept asking, 'my birday, mom?' i just love that he is finally catching on to the word thing. happy bday f!

Three Down, One To Go!

well i have been to michaels 3 times this week hoping that they would have more notebooks. and finally today they had 3. so i bought them all. i made a notebook for k and f and this one is for m. i'll work on a's another day. and i also made a special one i can't talk about or post right now. and i'll tell you why later. i am so excited to have m's done though. she'll probably have the most written in her book. well, until f can talk more. i just love it. it makes me happy. i love the colors.

Easter Pails

i know it's early but my friend lynette inspired me. the two of us are offering crafts next month for rs and one of the things she offered to do was personalized names in vinyl to put on easter pails. well i looked and looked for pails that i liked and came up empty handed. so then i thought who is my really good friend...MOD PODGE! i went to sherman williams and bought empty paint cans for $2 including the lid and a handle. then lynette and i went to heartland paper, a local scrapbook store, and found THE cutest paper...easter paper. i fell in love with the pastel colors and little chicks. after quite a while i found the perfect matching paper. and matching BOY paper. i went to tai pan to get ribbon that was $3 for 10 yards! i couldn't believe it. $20 worth of ribbon later and here they are. my easter pails. now all i have to do is stick the names on. i am so excited for my kids to use these pails. and the best part is...is that they can use them for a long, long time! how great is that. i love them. i wish easter was in march.

cute stickers for added embellishments. thanks, lynette. now you have another reason to use them!

these are for the girls...i love the ribbon! it makes me so happy!

this is the back of k's. i had to put flowers on it to cover up the can.

Birthday Party

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADELYN!

today f and m and i went to madelyn's bday party at wheeler farm. we had so much fun. we fed the ducks...they're crazy! we fed them duck seed and then when we ran out of seed the 'bread man' (aka joey) gave us all the bread we could throw.

those ducks must be starving or have pretty big appetites! they couldn't get enough of our food. they were eating whole pieces of bread. wheat bread, white bread, english muffins, hot dog buns, hamburger buns...you name it, the bread man had it. the kids loved feeding those hungry ducks.

then we had pizza for lunch followed by a hayride...actually it was a wagon ride as joey pointed out because there really was no hay. but it was a fun ride.

the kids loved looking at the open fields and the brown grass! we saw 2 chickens, 2 horses, 3 dogs, and some kids! it was great! oh yeah, and at the end of the ride we saw some cows. moooo. baby brielle found the hayride so soothing that she went right to sleep. what a precious baby.

i know this is the back of their heads but i just thought it was so dang cute. then i black and whited it. even cuter! love it.

then we had bday cupcakes that lynette made each with it's own candle sitting in the middle of a lifesavor with sprinkles around the edge...too cute...and watched maddie open presents! she really wanted to play with her big purple ball that someone gave her. it was really big and f was playing with it too. as a party favor, nettie made small totes out of paint cans. each can was personalized with each child's name and inside was a bunch of fun play dough, markers, paper, and sidewalk chalk.

we had such a wonderful time with our friends and thank you thank you lynette and joey for inviting us. and thank you maddie for being such a good friend and having your bday party at the farm.

Strange Objects from Preschool

m came home from preschool today and showed me this!

what is it?, i asked. it's an AIRPLANE!, she exclaimed.

of course it is! the smarties are the body of the plane. the green lifesavors are the wheels. and the strip of gum become the wings. ingenious! way to go mrs. nelson! how cute is that. m went around the room zoooomming her airplane. high and low. they are learning about transportation this month. so fun. i love preschool!

A Girly Notebook

i love it! this one is for kennidy. i titled it 'comical quotations from Kennidy'. she's at the age where nothing she says is really funny but sarcastic. sad but true. she is her father's daughter. this notebook is kind of plain but i wanted the words to stand out so i refrained from adding too much to it. i did add a flower charm to the top and simple but cute ribbon. i really like it. i also added an envelope on the very back page so when i am finished with this notebook i can write a heartfelt message to her and she can keep it and share it with her kids. i just love this idea. this can be a gift for traveler...decorated in map paper and stamped with the words 'destination' or something. and the traveler can keep a journal of the places he or she goes without taking up a lot of space. it can be a journal for a child turning 8 or 12. it can be a photo book of special photos. it can be a lovers journal. on the 2 lovers right thoughts about eachother in it. the possibilities are endless. how about christmas...keep a running memory of the christmas' shared with your family. each year write your favorite memory. this sounds like an advertisement for notebooks but this is just my brain spewing out ideas. it just happens to be typed and viewed for all to see. happy reading then.

The Notebook

NOT THE MOVIE...today i went over my friend, melissa's house, to see her crafty notebooks. her mother dressed up some notebooks and titled them...the funny things talmage says. they were so stinkin' cute that i had to try it. i tried to keep it under $5 so we could do it as a scrapbook focus group project. and i succeeded! the most expensive thing was the notebook at $2.80. but the 12x12 paper can be divided by 3 people...the eyelets are 10cents each, the ribbon was 2 boult for $3, and the mod podge...well that goes a long way. so i think i can definitely make it for $5. anyway...i titled mine...the funny things FORD says. he doesn't talk a lot right now but when he does i'm sure i'll get a kick out of it. i am excited to do one for a girl. i want it to be really girly. lots of pinks and flowers. that one will be harder to keep under $5 because there are so many cute embellishments i could use. but i really like my frog notebook. and it took about 15 min. to make. i love it! i want to find a stamp for each page...the same stamp. like a frog stamp or dragonfly...something boy!

Wooden Letters

oh how i love to do crafts! i don't have all that much time any more but when i find something that i absolutely LOVE i do it. and i absolutely loved this 'cherish' craft from heartland paper. and the best thing was...and the reason for the purchase...it came with the paper, paint, ribbon, tag, flowers, brads, wire, brushes, sand paper, everything! everything but the mod podge. it was worth it. there have been many times i've seen these letters decorated so cute but i have to purchase the paper and everything else. usually i can't find the paper or they are sold out of it. and everything else to make it. so with this one i was so happy that the mine would look just like the display model in the store. gotta love KITS! i do. and i love my finished project. just in time for valentine's day. YEAH!

Valentine's Box

makinley's preschool class is having a valentine's party on wednesday and she was asked to make a box to put her valentine's in. well since i have ocd really bad i decided that i would make her box really cute for her. i am so lame. anyway...i went to the store, bought some cute paper, drank 3 cokes, put the kids to bed and made makinley's valentine box. i was awake till midnight thanks to those 3 cokes. oh well. she stamped her name on it and she had fun with that. this is our finished product. it was supposed to be turned in today but i didn't know that so we will drop it off later. i love it. i wish i had TONS of valentine decor because i just love pinks and reds! just love 'em.

Dennis the Menace

seriously, if i would have known how much trouble this little guy would get in...i would have named him dennis. yesterday morning...the kids were getting ready for school. i came out to the kitchen and a had just spilled a can of fresca all over the inside of the fridge. are you kidding me? i was already having a hard morning and i really didn't need this.

so i clean it up, take the kids to school, go to the mailbox and get my cell phone bill. can i just tell you i hate cingular. their rates are ridiculous. so i called to get some credit and get off the phone at 8:45am. i see f drawing on the floor with a permanant pink sharpie! i wipe it up and tell him only on paper. i then proceed downstairs to get on the computer to check out other mobile services when i find on the walls going downstairs more drawings. i was so mad i began to cry. i tried to wipe it off the walls but it was hopeless. i them walk down the hall to my craft room and there is another drawing...then i walk into my room and right by the door there is more drawing. i look for the sharpie box that was lying on the floor opened. i grabbed it and put it away when i noticed that f had drawn on my chair...imagine looking at the floor and your eyes working their way upward...from the chair i saw the desk, then the computer keyboard, then the printer, then the computer SCREEN! i was histarical! i couldn't believe my eyes! pink sharpie all over the place. all over the place. i was so mad. i ran upstairs grabbed f and brought him to see what he had done. he was in big trouble.

b came home about 10ish to pack for florida. i was not in a good mood. i started cleaning the kitchen, my room...that's what i do when i'm mad. i clean. he takes the kids for a short walk and i am fumming. he comes back and askes what the matter was and i told him my nightmare before 9am and said i didn't want to be the mom today. he gave me a hug and said i love you. i did i expect him to do...call florida and say i can't come because my wife needs me...anyway he took us to lunch then jetted off to the airport.

the rest of my day was okay. but then again last night... m and i were watching tv, k and a were in bed, and f leaves my room. he was quietly playing in the kitchen. why is it that we leave them alone when they are being quiet and every time we KNOW it's because they are doing something they shouldn't be doing. i went in after about 5 or 10 min. and again i couldn't believe what i was seeing. he had taken the tuperware bowls out of the fridge that were on top of the egg carton and put then on the bench by the table. he then removed the egg carton and placed it next to the tuperware. he opened the carton and smashed about 10 eggs with his hands in the carton and on the bench. it was gross and guess who had to clean it up. i was mad, tired, and sick of, yet again, being responsible for cleaning up the mess. holy cow. what a menace. today better be...better.

What a Week!

early wednesday morning, m woke up with a stomach ache. not 2 minutes later she was throwing up in my toilet. she repeated this process about 4 times before it stopped. poor little girl. so then b came home from a week in florida to f pucking all over the place...all day long, my poor and saintly mother in law...thank you for taking such good care of him, he just wanted to cuddle and watch tv. that night we had a wonderful birthday party for k. the next day...k came home from school and was planning on jess spending the night when all of a sudden she starts pucking. all night long. needless to say jess didn't stay over. then saturday night it was a's turn. all night or rather early sunday morning, i think it was 1am, and he didn't finish till about 6. so i stayed home with the boys and b took the girls to church. a was fine the rest of the day. he even played puppets and babies with m. now b is going back to florida and i can't wait to see what happens next. hopefully it's not me.

Happy Birthday!

february 1, 1998 our first child was born. 6lbs. 12oz. lots of black hair and the cutest smile ever. now she's 9. blonde hair, blue eyes, and still the cutest smile ever. i decided this year, for all birthdays in our home, we would break out the china and celebrate with a fancy dinner. k wanted steak, her favorite food, mashed potatoes, broccoli, homemade rolls and for dessert...chocolate cover strawberries. everything was so yummy. she was really excited when she saw the table all fancy with the chargers and nice glasses. and right in the center of the table and a platter of chocolate covered strawberries. wow! k got to open 3 of her presents and the rest we are saving for sunday when the creswell clan comes and my brother and his family. k got 3 pairs of earring from
g-ma and g-pa sanchez plus a gift card! she is soooooooooooooooooo excited for that gift card. a, f, and m got her a tamagotchi! she is in heaven. b and i got her a cute shirt from old navy that says...not listening 2 U. it's way cute. the sanchez' in maryland called to sing happy birthday to k via webcam. we couldn't see them but they could see k and hear her. she thought that was so cool. thanks, mom! well k is growing up so fast and i can't believe my little baby is 9. she is such a joy to have in our family and i am so blessed to have her as not only my daughter but also my friend. i love her so much and don't know what i would do without her!