Monday, January 31, 2011

And the winner is....

So I had 9 total comments (thanks for the love btw, I don't know why but we all need it sometimes:) So I went over to random.org and did a random # generator with 1-9 and the winning # was #7 and the person who left the 7th comment was...Janae!!!  So Janae if you want to e-mail me your address I will send you something.  And since you didn't really pick something you are welcome to pick something or be surprised :)

Thanks everyone.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

I kinda feel like a loser...

So if you read my 100th post you will know that I am giving away a fun prize of your choosing.  And I know there are more of you out there than just 5 people that read my blog.  I am willing to ship a prize if it needs to be shipped so don't be concerned about that.  I like each and everyone of you enough to give you something :)  So please if you have not entered to win, do so.  I kinda dislike feeling like a loser :)  So head on over to my 100th post!
Thanks!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Erin and Lily are in this months Friend Magazine!!!

So if you get the friend magazine you have to check out this months issue.  On page 24 there is a little article about keeping family's together that are far away for job/military.  Anyways on this page you will find pictures of Erin and Lily and James, my brother Joe's 4 kids and my sisters husband and little girl.  It kinda exciting I must admit. If you don't get the magazine you can always check it out online at lds.org.  Or you can just look below :)  So fun.
ps. if you haven't read my last post (my 100th post) you might want to check it out ;)

Monday, January 24, 2011

My 100th post!

First off: I normally don't blog about things like this but I am so excited for this I just had too.  James has just been called to be the Ward Mission Leader.  So basically he will be meeting with the full time missionaries weekly and be working with people in our ward boundaries who are interested in the church.  I know that this is going to require a lot of time but I can see so many blessings that are going to come from this that I am excited.  I really think this is going to be a great thing for our family.

On a different note, guess what?  This is my 100th post!  Wow.  This has really been a journey for me and I love looking back through post.  I love my bloggy friends and all the things I have learned from your blogs as well.  I know it's kinda silly but I want to celebrate my 100th post.  And the only way I can think of to do that is to give something away.  I am just not sure what to giveaway.  So I will show you a few different things I am willing to giveaway and you comment which you would rather win. Than I will randomly pick a winner and you get what you wanted. 
So #1 is:
Pampered Chef Lemon Sprinkle and a Pampered Chef Seasons Best cookbook.
 Option #2: 3-5 Custom handmade hair bows.  (Small bows =5, large bows = 3, medium or a mix =4)
Here are some example of different bows I can do.





 Option 3: This cute wooden Dr. Suess Block.

Option #4:  You can pick something you know I can make as long as my price for it doesn't exceed $5 :)  Ideas could be a homemade goody or appliqued onseies/kids t-shirts.  Just be nice to me :)

So there you go. A giveaway that should make just about everyone happy.  I will randomly draw a winner one week from today (Monday Jan 31st). 

Friday, January 14, 2011

Parenthood

I saw this on facebook the other day and I got a really good hearty laugh.  I thought that I would share it with you so you could get a nice laugh too. 
So here is an 11 step program for those thinking of becoming parents. (I think lessons 2, 4, 7 and 11 are my fav)

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.


I love being a mom and wouldn't change it for the world.  It's true when they say our greatest blessing come out of our greatest trials!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

I Resolve...

So I have been meaning to type this for awhile just for me to remember.  But for these past few months I have felt very frustrated with life.  I have come to realize this is my own fault because I think I have had a "selfish" streak.  Meaning I feel like I have been focused on myself way to much.  So my resolve this year is to think more of others. To serve others more and to love others more. 

I know this is the right resolution for me because after having made it I have had so many answers to my prayers.  Some being simple such as going to church and singing the hymn the put to words exactly how I felt.

Lord, I Would Follow Thee

1. Savior, may I learn to love thee,
Walk the path that thou hast shown,
Pause to help and lift another,
Finding strength beyond my own.
Savior, may I learn to love thee—
[Chorus]
Lord, I would follow thee.
2. Who am I to judge another
When I walk imperfectly?
In the quiet heart is hidden
Sorrow that the eye can’t see.
Who am I to judge another?
3. I would be my brother’s keeper;
I would learn the healer’s art.
To the wounded and the weary
I would show a gentle heart.
I would be my brother’s keeper—
4. Savior, may I love my brother
As I know thou lovest me,
Find in thee my strength, my beacon,
For thy servant I would be.
Savior, may I love my brother—

Another answer was I was praying for opportunities to serve, but I wasn't seeing any opportunities.  The reason I wasn't seeing them was because I wasn't looking in the right place.  As I read my scriptures it came to me very clearly that the people I most needed to focus on serving was my family.  It seems like being a wife and mother that all I do is serve my family but in my "selfish" state I was doing it with the wrong heart.  So I am going to change my heart to better serve my family.

I look forward to a year where I can grow and learn.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Christmas 2010

 Wow what a whirlwind life is.  Anyways here are a few Christmas Photos from this past year. 
This first one is at Erin Kindergarten program.  I only have this one because I trying to video record it, take pictures and take care of a baby, plus I was all the way in the back and couldn't see her half the time.  Lesson learned. Anyway she got to be a bell ringer.  Only 10 of 100+ kids got to ring the bells so she was super excited.  She sang her songs wonderfully and it was super cute.
 On Christmas Eve just after we finished dinner while we were watching a movie we heard some bells.  And lo and behold Santa was at our door making sure the girls were getting ready for him.  (This is my dad and he goes and visits all the grand kids.  I think it is his favorite part of Christmas.)


 Christmas morning...



 Erin and Lily decided they wanted Santa to have No Bake Cookies.  Neither James or I complained so the cookies were defiantly eaten.







It was a wonderful Christmas.  Of course (as always) I forgot my camera for the rest of the day.  but it is sufficient to say; We spent wonderful time with family, ate super yummy food and we were spoiled rotten.