Craft TIME!

I remembered a friend doing this craft on her blog a REALLY long time ago (right, Sarah?), thought it was cute, but didn't have a need for it at the time. Well, lucky for me, I recently was in need of a clock. So, I found my old one we got years ago, and spruced it up to fit my current, crafty style! It's always fun to see something go from old to new, especially knowing it was all totally free!!!

Materials used: Old clock that could use a makeover, scrapbook paper I had on hand that matched my bathroom colors and was pretty clever with the clock theme, leftover paint in my garage from when the walls were painted in our house. I just used a sponge brush, and did kind of a light coat of paint so that it was streaky and showed a bit of the original wood. It gave the clock a "used" look to it, and I like it. I also used modge podge over the scrap book paper before putting the hands back on. But I would not recommend doing so; it made me paper bumpy instead of flat and smooth. Or maybe you are better with modge podge than I am, and you can pull it off. This was a lot of fun, quick, and free! I'm pleased.

In other craft news,

My creative friend Ashley helped me create this advent type countdown to Valentine's day.

On the back of each heart is a cute little poem that gives an idea of service to show to someone else that day. It's such a fun addition to my Valentines decor, and I have loved that it's helped me think of others, instead of focusing on all the chocolate I want from the stores. The scrapbook paper Ashley had, and she used her Cricut to cut the heart and numbers. The clothespins were from the dollar store and I just painted them black to tie it all together. And the garland it's hanging on is also dollar store!Yay cheap and cute!

 Now, I know exactly what you are thinking...how can she go TWO posts without a picture of that handsome guy she lives with????

Evan and I were enjoying a little Wheel of Fortune action this morning. He LOVES to clap along in this show. But today, he decided he should be clapping with his feet, instead. I was trying so hard not to laugh so that I could get a picture, but I was shaking, so the pic is blurry. Plus, he looked when the camera beeped and got embarrassed. From there, he decided to just nibble on his toes for awhile instead of feet-clap. Have I mentioned lately how he's my favorite? Oh, and that other guy I live with? My other, favorite handsome one? He's been getting "14 Days of Valentines", so he'll be getting his own post sooner or later. Happy Thursday!

For Megan

I have this dear friend here in Ridgecrest. In the last month and a half or so, she learned she had breast cancer, had it removed, and is today, starting radiation. The first time I met her, she said, "I'm in Young Women's, so I'll probably never see you." Soon after, she was assigned as my visiting teacher. Needless to say, we have definitely gotten to know each other. She was calling us at the hospital when Evan was born, thinking of US on Christmas Eve, making sure we were alright. She came and stayed with me until late into the night when Evan was less than a week old, because Nate was going to pick up his mom from the airport and I was terrified of being alone with my new baby. She has been completely genuine since the moment I met her, sincerely wanting to get to know me and my family. Although she's a Cougar, I've managed to put that aside since there are so many other things I enjoy about her. She loves to sing. She appreciates music. She has a special bond with my child, and seems quite fond of him. She is the founder of Brazil night. She is always in the know, about anything and everything. She is superbly organized. She has a tender heart, and always manages to bring the spirit into my home. She thinks my husband is a dork, and still likes to be his friend. She seems to always know exactly what I need. She teaches her kids how to be champions at rock band. She let me be her BFF for a day, giving me lunch from my favorite restaurant in town, just because she could tell I had been having a hard week. She is dedicated to whatever she puts her mind to. She has done a spectacular job raising 3 pretty spectacular kids. She has the heartiest of hearty "real" laughs. (If I can get her to laugh her "real" laugh, man, do I feel awesome.) She can always find a good deal. She truly knows her Savior. She is always up for a girls night/lunch/day, whatever to just get out and chat. She is real. She is not afraid to let the world know how she feels. She's an avid blogger. She has taught me so very much about motherhood and sisterhood. And as I lay in bed last night, after praying for her peace and safety today, on her first day of radiation, tears were streaming onto my pillow thinking of all the reasons why I am so grateful she is in my life. Suddenly I was ticked at her because I had to get out of my warm bed to go retrieve tissues from the bathroom. Then I smiled as I thought about sharing that story with her and picturing how it would probably make her laugh and cry and the same time. So, my dear Megan, this one is for you, since I know there is NOTHING (okay, so that's probably a mighty exaggeration) that would make you happier today:

The TRIPLE BumpIt.

I don't know if this has ever been done before.

And to all my friends in Utah who see nothing wrong with this picture, that makes this that much more awesome. :)

I'm lovin' it

I love this kid. He makes my heart so happy.

I think it's safe to say that Evan enjoys music. Not only does he like to dance (as seen above), he also loves to sit on my lap and play the piano with me, and especially find the microphone from Rock Band (which he has never seen us play) and crawl around with it and sing. The other day, he held the microphone up to me, so I sang, "LA". He took the microphone back, and repeated my "LA" in the same pitch! We played that game for several more LA's, in several different pitches. It was awesome! American Idol here we come!!!!!!

"Rarr"

 Evan and I spent all morning at the doctor's office. After staring at this giant bear for approximately 3 minutes without moving, he turned to me and said, "Rarr". So I "rarred" back, and said, "Yeah, that's what the bear says." (I have no idea where he learned that)

He stared the bear down for another couple of minutes or so, quietly whispering a "rarr" every now and then to the bear. Then he suddenly squealed  with his hands in the air and a huge grin on his face. He took off to attack the bear...

Or just cuddle with him. :) I like that he wanted to snuggle with the teddy bear, even though he "rarr"s. He stayed like this for a REALLY long time. For a half a second, I had the urge to run to K-Mart across the street and find him the biggest teddy bear in the store, because this is the first smile I have seen from him in awhile. Doc confirmed the eye infections that I was suspicious of, to go along with his horrible cough and congested nose. We've got antibiotics starting this afternoon, and hopefully they will keep away the ear infection Doc told us to watch out for coming. (Sigh) Not only is it no fun for a (normally) happy go-lucky boy to be quarantined, it's a killer for mom, too. Especially when said little boy is awfully ornery and fights napping, which he is usually more than happy to do. Not to mention it's about 70 degrees outside. (Double sigh) Such is life. I'm going to go find me a giant teddy bear to snuggle.

Peace Out 2010

 I know. This post is awfully late. But I have been busy keeping up with my resolutions!! One of them being to spend less time "social networking" and use free time more wisely. But, seeing as how this blog is for my own personal family journal, it doesn't really matter if things get posted in a timely manner, now does it? :) But, since the magic of the whole event has kind of been lost, since we are two weeks past, this post is a MAJOR PICTURE OVERLOAD. You asked for it. ;)

       We were fortunate to be able to spend our last couple of weeks of 2010 at home with our families. I could not have wished for anything better. Thankfully, the long drive induced a lot of this: 

(which it usually does)

 The unfortunate part was almost immediately upon arrival in Idaho, my little family each individually caught a stomach bug. Thank heavens we were with family, so willing to help us. I don't know if I have ever been that sick before. Needless to say, our time in Idaho was spent very laid back, seeing as how there was much puking, time spent in the bathroom, and lots of hot baths. Luckily, Evan was feeling much better just in time for his 1st birthday! Unfortunately again, his parents still weren't quite up to par. So we took it easy and it was perfect. 

 Evan immediately taught himself how to climb the stairs at Grandma Fuller's house. I forget about stairs living in The Ridge where there are none in the whole town! I was impressed he just went for it like it was no big deal and he had been doing it his whole life.

 Nate and I took Evan (really, it was just for ourselves, but he happened to be there :) to Subway for lunch and he was just so excited to eat out for his birthday he couldn't sit still!

 He had a blast being the center of attention, of course, and LOVED the balloon Grandma Fuller got him for the highchair.

 I'd had enough puking for the week and didn't want to risk dealing with anymore, so this was his "cake". And he was only allowed to eat half. I know, I'm such a mean mom. Well, guess what? He loved it anyways and I don't feel the least bit bad about it. :)

 We also took him bowling! What 1 year old wouldn't want to do that for his birthday?! Ok, it was mostly just because it's kind of the only thing to do in Preston. But we all really enjoyed ourselves! And Evan was a pro.

 Christmas morning was a lot fun with this little ham. He was thrilled by everything. So thrilled, in fact, I had to let Nate go wake him up at 9am, because the rest of us were nearly done with Christmas morning, but decided we should let Evan join the fun. :)

 He is the best little Christmas Elf that ever was!

 After a week and Christmas morning in Idaho, we headed down to Utah spend another week at Grandma Susan's and Grandpa Dan's. Evan REALLY loved the limes my sister sent to my mom from her lime tree! :)

 Again, he was fascinated by all of his gifts, and the tree, and baby Jesus, and the ornaments, and all of the singing Christmas toys. It is so fun to watch the world through his eyes!!

 Grandma Susan spent a lot of time trying to teach him to stand up, so he would start walking. He thought it was a great game, but is still no where near wanting to walk.

 Naughty little reindeer...

 We got to have another birthday party in Utah! What a lucky boy!!

 The best part of this party was when he cried when I blew the candle out. It was so dang funny.

 In Utah, my entire family took turns going through the same stomach bug we got in Idaho. So even though we weren't sick, it was another very laid back week, taking care of others. So again, we just went simple with a cupcake. But I did let him have at the whole thing this time. :)

 Happy 1st birthday, little man!

 All done!

 He really wanted to share his chocolate with everyone, especially Aunt Mandy.

 He really started to get the hang of opening gifts after a week full of presents!

 So excited about the little walker from Grandpa Dan and Grandma Susan!

 And he absolutely adores the rocking horse rubber ducky from Aunt Stacey.

 Several weeks later, he still takes this little guy with him everywhere. From room to room, and in his crib to bed, he never lets go.

 Doin' a monkey dance in his new monkey jammies!

 Evan seriously LOVES reading books. He would sit and read all day if you let him. (Notice the horse duck in his hand! And those totally cute crossed feet!)

 He likes to brush his own hair before going to bed.

 But his favorite part about bedtime is brushing his teeth with his cute Eeyore toothbrush.

Practicing on Grandma's walker.

 Since we were sick, we missed out on seeing SO many people. We were really bummed about that. The day before we left, we did manage to visit with our friend's Zach and Callie and their daughter Berkeley, who was born a month after Evan. It was fun to see them play together, because Evan doesn't play with anyone his own age. Here he is saying, "Mom! Look! A girl!!!! Can you believe it?!"

 "Now must be when I'm supposed to show off for her, right?"

 Berkeley is either saying, "Gross, boy cooties!" or "Those lips are mine." We may or may not like to think that they are boyfriend and girlfriend. ;)

 Ah, as always, my beautiful mountain.

 Thanks to my sister, Nate made it to his annual Jazz game, just in time before the year ended.

 Evan was pretty spoiled spending so much time with his Aunties that love him so much. He pretty much got to do whatever he wanted, like sit in the middle of the kitchen table :) We had a rough time adjusting to life as we know it in The Ridge, without so many people to play with everyday, and  having to follow rules again.

 We had quite the surprise the day after we got back to Cali. Snow! For the second year in a row!!!!

 And an even bigger surprise when it kept going all night long and we woke up to this! What a BEAUTIFUL sight to see snow in the desert!!

 It was unbelievable. The whole town didn't know what to do with themselves, so there was a snow day, of course!! School was canceled for the day and the Base delayed opening their gates for 2 hours. It was ridiculous, really. A first, that's for sure!

 See all that snow on the road? Oh wait, nope cause there really isn't any! I laughed so hard when I went to the post office to retrieve our mail and they said, "woah, you braved the storm just for your mail?!" What storm?! The sun is out and the streets are clear! It was pretty hysterical for this Utah girl.

 There's our house, "covered" in snow. A day I will never forget, that's for sure!

And yes, OF COURSE, Evan and I immediately went and played in it. :)

Here is a little clip of Evan first learning to use the walker. My sister says it looks like he is being rehabilitated. :) It melts my heart to see him be such a big boy!

Talk about melt your heart!!!!!! I think he was three days old here. The last year has certainly zoomed by! Here's to hoping 2011 is just as wonderful! Thank you 2010 for being one of the best years ever!

The Dating Divas

One of my (many) resolutions this year is to be a better, kinder, more thoughtful and loving wife. He deserves it, after all. And I know it makes me happier to be one. Thank goodness someone has already thought up a gazillion ways for me to do so! I happened upon this website from a friend and love, love, love it. Check it out!! (And they just so happen to be doing a killer giveaway right now. My luck runneth over!)

http://www.thedatingdivas.com/