Our December

It all started with a fun, family party.

Tyler won this candy with these crazy mittens.

Then came sweet little Landon's blessing day.

We made a gingerbread house.

Cassie and Keith had a beautiful wedding.

We ate a gingerbread house.

We spent lots of time with our families.

We delievered and received lots of yummy treats, talked to Ryan on the phone (who was having an 85 degree Christmas), probably spent way too much time with a cute stuffed snowman, and so many other fun things. Hope everyone else had as much fun as we did.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!

After our first real snowstorm in the end of November,Damon was so helpful in shoveling our sidewalk. I was so proud of him for choosing to do it on his own,and then following through to the end. Even though I think it was a lot more work than he anticipated. The snow lasted a lot longer than I expected and now with Christmas just around the corner it is almost all melted.

That's why I added some artificial snow, via photoshop, in some Christmas pictures we took the other day. Right now it is a little muddy and brown outside so I am hoping by Christmas everything is white again. If it's going to be windy and cold we may as well have some snow to go with it.

It may not look so festive outside, but I am trying to fill our home with Christmas. I made a new Christmas playlist for the I-pod, Damon keeps the pine scented candle burning most of the time, and we have far too many Christmas treats in every corner of the kitchen. I'm also displaying all of the Christmas cards we get from family and friends, so you are always on our minds.

A few years ago I covered a bunch of wooden clothes pins with a strips of wrapping paper.

I clipped them to the evergreens on our banister so I can add each new card as it comes.

Now, as we walk down the hall (at least 20 times a day) we see them and think of you.

P.S. I'm still getting lots of use out of the coffee filter flowers Damon and I made months ago. Make some, you will like them.

Snow Day!

Yesterday school was closed due to snow. Damon was excited at first, but then sad when he remembered he would miss his A.R. Party and Thanksgiving feast. He was also a little sad when he didn't get to go out and play in the snow. He was feeling a little sick and needed new boats so I told him he needed to wait until today. This is he and Ellie playing in the first real snow fall of this year, last Saturday. The snow day gave me some extra time to get ready for Thanksgiving.

I have this little "blessing jar" on my table to help us all catch the Thanksgiving spirit.

Next to the jar I have strips of paper and a pen. I like everyone to write something they are grateful for and stick it in the jar. These things range from really sweet to really silly (which I love). I use different colored paper each year to help keep the dates separate and I ask everyone to put their name on it. It is fun to read what people put. Last year Elise and Brady were here so it was fun to remember what we were doing then.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Caught in a bad romance!

Lately I have found myself using products whose warning labels scare me just a little.

After noticing the warning on the front of this glass etching cream I put on a second pair of gloves and banned Damon from the kitchen.

A few days later I decided to make soap. I knew something was up when I went to Lowe's to get Lye (which is no longer labeled Lye on the shelf's because of it's use in Methamphetamines) and the salesperson said, "That's some pretty strong stuff. I don't think you want that to make soap." After Damon found 100% Lye on the label I knew I had the right stuff. (Many people don't realize you must have lye to make soap, because before it processes it is so caustic.) I went home, put on my gloves and covered everything with newspaper once again. Both projects turned out pretty well and I think they would make fun Christmas presents.

I think I etched nearly everything. No piece of glasswear was safe. I put our last name on everything that might leave our house (also great for a wedding gift) It turned out great and was a fast project which always scores extra points with me. Using vinyl would be a little bit easier, but I am all about saving money so I used contact paper. I cut it down to fit on my Cricut cutting mat.

I removed all of the negative spaces and used masking tape to apply the sticker to the glass.

Next it was time to spread the cream on the glass. I found that thicker is better, and it's more important than the length of time you leave the cream on the glass (I assumed longer would be better, but I didn't notice much of a difference. The cream only needs to stay on for 5 min.)

I think it makes everything look cute, and now I won't have to label our dishes with masking tape, that might fall off, when we have potluck activites.

Soap was a little bit more time consuming. You must get a recipe you like and follow it specifically. It seems that, besides being extra careful while handling and measuring the lye, it is most important to mix the lye solution and the oils when the temperatures are nearly the same.

I made a simple castel soap, but I added ground oatmeal and lavendar. It turned out, just, okay. I learned a few things, such as: a little oatmeal goes a long way, pour quickly, don't touch the soap until it hardens (chemical burns are not cool, and after all the care I took while making it, opps!)... I am making soap again this week so I hope mistakes from last time can contribute to better soap this time. I also hope I can keep some enthusiasm for getting my Christmas gifts and planning done early so I can relax in December. I wish the same for each of you!

The glue was still hot, but we made it.

I spent so much time looking for Damon's green hat that I only had a few min. to put together a costume for me (Tyler's and Damon's were pretty easy so I guess I thought Princess Peach would be too, but it's clear I was wrong. I still wanted to be a part of the dressing up so I wore it anyway). I didn't have time to sew anything so I grabbed the hot glue gun and a bunch of saftey pins and finished up as we were pulling in to the park. Our trunk wasn't decorated and Damon's hat wasn't green, but we still had lots of fun. And, we didn't run out of candy this year. We spent the rest of the night with family at our house eating food and candy and playing games. We had lots of fun!

Almost ready!

I may not have done everything I would have liked to be ready for Halloween, but I am taking care of a few things today. After I help with Damon's school party I am going to hurry to the store to finish costumes and get what I need to make Stuffed Pumpkin Stew (I couldn't find a link, but it is in the Oct. '08 issue of Martha Stewart Living, and it is so yummy.) We are also carving our pumpkins tonight, finally.

Lucky for us last weekend, while visiting family, my mom had everything we needed to decorate and eat yummy sugar cookies. Also, while we were there Taylor carved this sweet pumpkin. So, we haven't been completely without a little Halloween fun.


I did have time earlier this month to make these cool paper "flowers" and I couldn't resist putting them all over the house.

And, Damon added to the decor with this cute spider he made at school. I especially love where he choose to hang it.

Have a Happy Halloween Weekend! (Wish I had pics of our costumes now, but ya know, I'm still working on that. I guess I'll have to post pics next week.)

Update!

Shells were found,

Parks were played in,
A bunny was captured (and later let loose),

Fish were caught,

Fair food was eaten,

A baby was born (more pics of this cute little guy later),

A tooth was lost,

Canning was done, canning was done, canning was done,

The garden finally froze and it is starting to feel like winter is just around the corner.

Most recently, and something I am pretty excited about, Hunting Season is finally over! We've been pretty busy lately. Halloween kind of snuck up on me. I am still finishing up getting costumes together. With only a few days left I think I need a little luck. Hope your having fun getting ready, and lots of luck if you're like me and still have a lot to do.

Party!

If you're not busy tomorrow night around 7:oo come on over. I am hosting a Discovery Toys party. E-mail me if you want more information donilynr18@yahoo.com. We're going to have some yummy Halloween goodies, and lots of fun, I am sure.
I remember some of the same fun toys when I was a kid, and there are lots of new ones as well. Damon and I have our eyes on MarbleWorks. Hope you can make it. ;)

Homemade Apron

This weekend's General Conference reminded me that, despite the amazing Summer-like weather we have been having, it is in fact Autumn. I thought we might find evidence in the mountains, but orange was the hardest color to find.

Conference also reminded me that this little baby has been hanging on a hook behing my pantry door for 6 months. It all started last General Conference while the boys were at their Priesthood meeting. Ari and I decided to be crafty and hurried to the fabric store. We found what we wanted and had it cut. When we got to the checkout line and heard the price I had the urge to drop my stuff and flee. I'm used to DIY being less expensive, not more. It took a second for me to remember that once the fabric is cut I am committed. At an attempt to tame my buyers remorse I rationalized. "I'm improving my sewing skills." "It is going to be really cute." "Tyler spent a lot more on a bike today." Things like that. The more time and effort I put into the apron the more I thought about when I'd use it. For example, I probably won't want to use it while cooking spagetti. And, since it is going to be sooo cute I may want to wear it in more than just the kitchen. And, since I don't want to get anything on that cute fabric, I may not want it in the kitchen at all. Hmm! But, that doens't make much sense and I like to be practical (I even considered spraying it with some of that waterproofing spray that Tyler uses on camping gear.)So, for the last 6 months it's just hung there (except for the one time I wore it while cutting Tyler's hair. I was pretty excited about that since it really did it's job of protecting my clothes, but couldn't get permenantly damaged.) So now I wonder, "Will it just hang there for the next 6 months?" Hard to say. Oh, and don't be surprised if you see me outside of the kitchen wearing an apron for no reason at all.

Nerdies

Don't be fooled by the simple design of Damon's latest Lego creations. Nerdies are actually quite complex.

They fly, but they aren't birds ("Their kind of like aliens." I'm just not sure how something can be like an alien. ???) And, when they fly they fly in "Herds" like this one.

They are friends with frogs, and they eat coins!

Pennies for dessert because they like them best.

They sleep in rows, on their backs, next to Indian Jones.

Who, as it turns out, takes off his hat for bed, but not his bag and holster. Hmm?

Little kiddo's creativity is so awesome! Don't you think?

I'll be back soon with pictures of what we have been up to since we said goodbye to summer.

Triple A (and I don't mean road side assistance)

Ari, and Andy, and Baby Alivia!

Damon got to meet his newest cousin yesterday.

Isn't she so precious?

Back To School Night #3!

I can't believe this is our 3rd Back-To-School Night Family Home Evening. The last 2 years we have made goals that we can work on all year. While we aren't perfect at our past goals, we are still working on them and adding more.

We mostly just ate a bunch of food (I love all of the fresh fruits and veggies we have available this time of year. I just added some grilled chicken kabobs and french bread.) While we ate we talked about our goals for the year.

I have it this quote framed and hanging up in our dinning room to help us remeber.

Damon is almost a big 2nd grader. Where does the time go?