Crayon Hearts!

As I've mentioned before I love Pinning. I realized I need to start some of the projects I pin instead of putting them on a board and forgetting about them. So, I picked a couple of Valentine's Day projects. One is a gift for Damon and I will post it later. The other is a little something for his friends at school. It was great because I got to use up all the little crayon pieces we have lying around the house. I decided to group the crayons into like colors instead of mixing all the colors together (like the one I pinned.)

I removed the wrappers and cut the crayons into little pieces.


Then I put the pieces in a heart mold. I think I got it at Target a few years ago. It is actually for ice cubes, but it is dishwasher safe and the oven only needed to be on 230 so I put them in, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. Everything worked out great, and as soon as they were cool I popped them out. There is a little crayon residue left in the mold, but it is easy to scrape out. Tyler also had a few comments about our "rainbow cutting board,"but I just flipped it over and used the other side. After a few passes through the dishwasher it is nearly good as new.


Here are the fun little heart crayons. We just need to make a card to stick them to and they will be ready to slip into the little Valentine's Day pockets at school.

Damon was pretty excited that the same day we were making Valentine's he found this strawberry in his Special K. Nearly perfect heart in the middle.

P.S. I don't think a morning goes by that we don't have a bed head situation going on over here.

P.S.S. In case anyone was wondering, we didn't get any snow.

Let it snow, I guess.

If it's going to be freezing cold we may as well have some snow. It's been such a brown winter and Damon got a new sled for Christmas. Just before Christmas we actually got some snow (which was gone within a couple of days.) Damon and I wondered what Zoë would think. Terk never loved the snow so her reaction was quite the surprise.


She ran,

she chased,

she jumped,
she ate.

She loved the snow! It's a good thing because it has been threatening for the last week and I think it is finally here. A little late for all the school kids though. Last night the district sent out e-mails saying that if it snowed like it was supposed to last night school would probably be canceled. We woke up to not a bit. It waited until all the kids got to school. I wonder what they would think if they got stuck there? It's happened before!

It was a happy Christmas!

We started the week off with a Jon Schmidt concert. Damon remained interested even though it was pretty long and kept him up later than he has ever been up on a school night. Thank goodness the next day was the last before the break.

We visited with Tyler's grandma.

All traditional activites where on the list of things to do.

As well as a few new ones. Dad and I made chocolate covered bacon.

We had fun trying out my new camera remote. (Focus is sometimes as issue.)

Sleigh riding.

Being together. (Damon is on a Harry Potter kick.)

I was sad to see the holiday fly by so quickly, and it was hard to send Damon back to school this week. However, I love the New Year and look forward to lots of fun new activites. One of which is city league basketball. Damon had his first practice last night, and Tyler feels the need to remind me not to be one of those annoying parents. I'm working on it.

Ties!

Finally! Sorry it took so long. The pictures didn't turn out great and I quickly used photoshop to add instructions so if there are any parts that are unclear let me know. Also, I downloaded the pictures in the reverse order by mistake and don't have time to switch them. So, start at the bottom of the post and work your way back here. Have fun!

I also trimed the top knot piece straight across,here. You will still have raw edges that you tuck in on step 14.

You will just have to use a ruler and make a pattern, I didn't have time to make a PDF. Sorry!

Start with fabric, iron on interfacing, and elastic (I used 3/8".)

It's finally done...

...our ward Christmas party! I can finally breath. Thank goodness I had such great help, but still so glad it is done and I can finally get really ready for Christmas. I know I don't have many days left. I promise to work on the tie tutorial and try to post that next. I know I promised it to a few of you weeks ago. Don't worry, you still have plenty of time to get some made in time for Christmas! See you soon!

Acting silly with family is my favorite!

Last weekend a few of us went to visit Lori. We played some games and acted silly in celebration of all the 11's.
Even though it was late, and Damon had already fallen asleep sitting up (while watching Elf) we played a quick game of Perudo. I remembered why I like it, and want to play again soon. Maybe Thanksgiving!

Also, this week I learned how to make cute little ties. I made all of these using scraps I had and they only took about 15min. total. I love something new without spending any $ or having to make a trip to the store. They would make cute Christmas gifts! Let me know if anyone wants the instructions. So easy! Wish I would have figured this out before my sisters got married. Damon could have been matchy!

We had a happy Halloween!

It wasn't as cold as last year, and we got lots of good candy!



Zoë wouldn't keep a costume on so she stayed home.


I loved Damon's pumpkin. It had such personality, especially after a few days of aging in the sun. He did a great job, all by himself. I should have taken a picture before we threw him in the canal. (After Halloween I let Damon destroy our pumpkins.)

Now, the Holiday's are in full swing. I put away all of our scary stuff and pulled out the "Blessing Jar". I need to find some cute paper for this year. Tonight, Damon and I had fun reading what things we were grateful for the last few years. Some that made us smile: "electricity" Damon, "halo wars" Michael, "family" I think just about everyone had that in there, "food" Damon. It's crazy how just a few words on a piece of paper can stir such memories. Fun! The little jar is getting kind of full so I might need to come up with a long term storage sollution for the old ones. Maybe a cute mini-album. If you have any ideas let me know.

P.S. Have I already told you I am addicted to Pinterest. Can't get enough!

Happy Fall!

I tried holding on to summer as long as I could.



But these last few weeks we have been harvesting the last of our garden, which was crazy this year. Everything was either very successful or really struggled. Lucky for us Damon's watermellon turned out great this year. He was very proud. And, I have finally come to accept that Summer 2011 is officially over.


I've also been busy working on Halloween costumes (and wondering if they will actually turn out like I hope.)

And, Damon finished the last of his soccer games.

2 more sure signs that summer has been gone for awhile. I do miss summer, but we have been having an amazing fall. The weather has been beautiful and we even had a little rain today, which is always fun!

Conference Weekend!

Amazing as usual. This year was especially exciting because we were able to attend the Saturday morning session in Salt Lake City. This was the 1st time Damon was old enough to go and he was so excited. Never mind the fact that we had to get up from our seats, in the middle of a very long row, twice in the 2 1\2 hours that we were there so he could go to the bathroom. It was still awesome.

I'm amazed by Temple Square. It's always so beautiful. Damon was sad to leave. He said he wants to live in Salt Lake.

But the time came to go home. On our way we stopped at a new favorite burger and frozen custard shop. I think it was exit 319 and we will definitely be stopping again.

Sunday we relaxed at home while we watched the rest of Conference on T.V.

Damon broke out the watercolors and Ryan and I joined him in making a little book.

This is my favorite page. Not only because I think it looks super cool, but because Damon was inspired by the amazing talk on the Book Of Mormon, by Tad R. Callister . If you missed it check it out. I'm not sure which talk is my favorite because I loved so many. But I do know, I can't wait for the November Ensign so I can re-read, and highlight, and mark all of them. We had such a great weekend and we all felt a special spirit being in the presence of such incredible men and women.

P.S. Please don't forget to let me know your favorite Christmas Party memory or idea. I know more of you have read this than have let me know. Remember, I need your help!