Spring Photos

i love updating my kids pics every year.

so here they are.

i just loved how they turned out. they would have been better if i had ironed the sheet but i don't care. i couldn't believe how many shots m was letting me take of her. i think i got at least 25! my little flower!

i just love the ones with just girls or just boys. they are so precious.

f was so good to smile and say cheese but only if i gave him jelly beans first. thanks buddy! i am so happy with them and uploaded them and ordered them from costco before my computer shuts down again.

*if you know of any computer specialists who could take a look at my computer please send them my way.

The SHED!

well b's tuff shed came and he loves it. he has moved things in and is already planning to build shelves. when he walked inside he said he should've had a vent put in because it's gonna get really hot. but he is so excited to have it and to clear out the garage. as we were driving around on thursday running errands i was noticing all the sheds in people's backyards. this confirmed one thing to me...the houses here don't have storage space. very sad. i guess ulitmately that means that if you want storage space you have to live on the hill. in any event we have big plans for our shed and just love that it matches out house. perfect. now i can plant tulips around it in the fall! hurray.

SMALLVILLE

we finally finished seasons 1-4 last night. i came home from working out with danielle last night and b was watching the season finale of 4. i was a little confused. what season is this i asked? he said 4. i didn't see that one. i don't know how i missed it. holy cow. i walked in when b was 20 min. into it so when it was over i started it at the beginning. that one was REALLY good. so now we are ready for season 5! i am SO EXCITED! i can't wait to see what happens.

CRAFTS

okay so all my home projects and crafty things will be posted on another link. if you scroll down my side bar...under craft center, i think, i will post all my happenings in Let's Get Creative.

Easter Egg Hunts

we started our saturday morning off early...with a pancake breakfast at the park. our ward pulled together a wonderfully delicious...or so i was told....breakfast. complete with egg casseroles, muffins, fruit, juice and milk, and pancakes hot off the grill. i couldn't believe how many families were there right at 8 am! it was amazing and so good to see.

after our yummy ward breakfast...we had photos with the easter bunny! there were so many kids that were terrified of the easter bunny. my own kids would not sit with him. then we had the easter egg hunt. it was crazy! every child was able to get 10 eggs. f didn't want to find eggs so he just watched all the other kids running around like crazy kids on sugar. it was so fun.

after lunch we took the kids to grandma creswell's house so they could decorate eggs with their cousins. it was really low key but they had fun. after what seemed like 5 hours we finally hid the eggs and let them go look for them.

f was more willing to look for eggs now so he searched and searched. he found lots of eggs and even random pieces of candy on the ground. he was really excited.

after gathering their eggs, the older kids helped the younger kids get the rest of theirs. then we all sat in the shade and relaxed and watched the kids dig into their easter buckets. they had a great time.

More Decor

okay...so i am going full speed ahead to finish my family room. and yesterday i found unfinished frames for $1! i brought them home and used some rustic americana scrapbook paper i've had for YEARS! then i put strung them together, thanks lynette for the idea, with raffia and place 4th of july pics from last year of the kids. i love them! hurray.

So Many Projects...

why is it that when you receive those scrapbook emails from various magazines they are always jam packed with the cutest ideas ever? so what do i do...i copy all the pics and directions i can and then....nothing. i always forget about them and they just sit here on my computer waiting. there are so many great ideas out there of ways i can use my photos and i can't find the time to sit down and do them. okay girls...whoever is reading this and lives by me...and i do mean WHOEVER...we have to do these crafts. here are some i copied today...and i really want to do them. if anyone is interested let me know. having a friend(s) to do it with is such a motivator.

Project #1

Project #2

Sweet Georgia Brown

oh how i love saying....sweet georgia brown. that is the color b picked out for our family room. we had to repaint due to f's lovely art work. we had to paint over that marker 7 times! 7 times! but oh how i love our family room now! b likes it too. i painted all saturday day and night. i was up till midnight.

then up sunday morning finishing the last 2 walls. listening to conference while we worked, which is probably not the best thing to do, but family was coming over for dinner and i wanted it done before they came. it really makes the family room warm and inviting. i love it. i brought my homemade frames downstairs to the hallway and finally used the vinyl lettering i won at a bunco night many many moons ago.

now my white curtains and shelves, and black frames and decor really pop. i just love it all.

i want to bring in white frames to put on either side of the entertainment hutch so that will be my next project! but i am so excited. and did i mention i absolutely love it!

Erythema Multiforme

pronouced er-uh-thee-ma multi-form-aye is a common skin disorder consisting of target-like circular lesions appearing suddenly on the legs, arms, palms, hands, feet, and inside the mouth. erythema multiforme minor is the most frequent form and i generally mild. the cause is often unknown and is not contagious.

for those of you who saw this...it didn't appear mild. poor f! he spent the last 2 nights itching so bad that he couldn't sleep. the doctor said to try not to use any medications because erythema multiforme is usually caused by a reaction to an infection or certain medications. but last night it was so bad that i gave him benedryll and hydrocordizone. he looks a lot worse than a couple of days ago...it all started on his torso, armpits, knee caps, and elbow. saturday it moved to his neck, head, bottom, ankles, and wrists. now it's to his face, hands, and feet. he looks worse than it really is but poor little guy. and on top of all that he has a mucas-ie cough and runny nose. and i can't give him anything for it. the doctor said it would pass in 2-3 WEEKS! oh i hope it's sooner than that.

My Greatest Joys...Framed

i love my wall! while my father in law was watching my kids one saturday on of my frames in the hallway broke. i was a little upset because i actually made the frames in the hall. and the one that broke was a set. so...instead of getting all bent out of shape i went to kohl's and got all new frames.

my mind's thinking....if you get all new frames you better get one for each child's photo and you need to develop the wheat field photos lynette took last year to fill them! that's the only way i won't feel bad about getting all new frames.

so i got all new frames and developed my pics....got black ribbon to dress them up a bit and hung them in the hall. to top them all off i ordered more vinyl to say...These are my greatest joys....thanks so much lynette! i love it so much! i am so happy with the outcome. i feel like my house is finally coming together, design wise, and only after 2 years! sad. i just can't wait around anymore. i have to do it. and glad that i am.

Organizing

so here is my organized pantry.

this is, sadly, the only place we have food so if you are thinking that's not quite a year supply...you would be right. it's no where close. hopefully when our shed is here we can move things from the basement into it and that will be our cold storage area. hopefully.

i love the labels, thanks lynette...

and found some plastic containers. i have to get more later but this is a start. i love my clipboard with my grocery list on it! so handy! there is one more think i am looking for. i need to find a mix packet pocket!

if anyone has any ideas of where i could get one please let me know. it doesn't necessarily have to look exactly like this...but this one is $2.99 but on backorder. i would love to get one this week. like yesterday. i keep telling myself to be patient.

Work At Home

this weekend b and i went to homedepot to buy paint for our family room. f made his permanent mark on the walls so we have to cover it up. so this weekend between conferences we will be painting, hopefully. we also got a ceiling fan and i had to laugh last night when he turned it on. i said i felt like i was in a hotel with the fan on.

we are anxiously awaiting our shed! b wants to clear out the garage and i want the toy room cleared out so we can finally use it for cold storage! i am so excited.

today i organized our pantry and ordered some lettering from lynette for my shelves. i am really excited about that.

i love spring and what it brings. spring cleaning! i love organizing everything that has been disorganized for a whole year.

The Disguise

after helping at the kids school this is what greeted me at the door...

grandma c. had the kids today...every thursday...and they had a great time. they went to lunch at mcdonalds and i'm guessing to the dollar store. but they could have gotten their fun toys in grandma's piano shop. she has a basket full of dollar store toys and things for her piano students. each time they practice they get points. when they get 5 points they get a sticker. when they get 12 stickers they get to shop in grandma's basket. how fun.

f's black eye is getting better. we can tell by the dark purple and green coloring. hurray for black eyes.

BRUISER

last night i was folding laundry and putting it away. m and f were playing downstairs. i went to put the towels away and i heard a loud bang followed by a wailing scream. i ran downstairs and there was f with a folding chair on top of him. the chair hit his eye and lip. pour baby...we got the bleeding to stop but he wouldn't keep anything cold on his eye. and i'm not surprized. so now he has a black eye. i actually thought it would be worse...and it could have been but he's tough.

Happy St. Patty's Day

it is very sad when b is out of town...because instead of taking pics galore during the party...i have to run it. that sucks! but we did have a fabulous time. we had a bishopric breakfast for st. patrick's day!

audrey made yummy mint pancakes, amy brought golden scrambled eggs and green orange juice, mandi had the hash browns, lynette brought some delicious baked turkey bacon...i was pleasantly surprised at how good that was, carlynn brought piles of green grapes and melon, and i made the green french toast. we had lucky charms for the kids complete with green milk! everything was so tasty!

i loved that we all dressed in green for the special day...right down to the tiniest child. a had a green mohawk and all the kids got st. patrick's day tattoos from grandma sanchez. thanks, mom! they were such a hit. i wish i had pics to show you but i am sure that lynette will post a couple. so go to her blog. it's on my favorite blog list. nettie's blog. what a fun way to start the day! thanks to everyone who helped out!

now it's off to the bridal expo at thanksgiving point!

back from thanksgiving point and it was incredible. i was stunned at how many photographers were there and the lack of cake venders and dress venders. but no worries because em found her dress and it is simple beautiful! she is going to look stunning in it! rachel wants me to take all her pics but after looking at what pros do i am a little intimidated...okay a lot intimidated! i saw some pretty awesome photos. they were gorgeous. i kept thinking about what i have always said about my own daughters weddings...'i will go into debt for their dream dress and photos'. so i told rachel...i don't want em to feel like she has to have me just because i'm in the family. i mean i am definitely no professional next to some of those venders. maybe by the time k is ready to get married i will be but you should have seen some of those pictures. they were simple amazing. very inspiring.

we had a great time together and going to lunch. what a fun day.

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.