I need to finish Christmas!

We took our van in to be fixed on Monday. Last week, Aaron replaced the spark plugs and wires. It made the van run so much smoother! It was wonderful...until the break light turned on and a few days later the "service engine soon" light came on and the blower for the heater stopped blowing. Why does it all come on at once?

Anyway, the van is in the shop and it is our only vehicle. I need to get some stocking stuffers and a few gifts for teachers, etc. I can't go to the store. It is starting to be frustrating.

I need to go volunteer in Luke's class. I was going to walk but it is raining/snowing this morning. Frustrating! We are hoping to get it back today. It is expensive, but not so much that we are suffocating under the pressure.

We really need to get an emergency fund for things like this. $500 would cover most repairs and problems!

Anyway, enough gripping! At least being stuck at home will give me time to make the angel costume for Luke's Christmas program. The kindergartners are the angel choir. I haven't started, unless you count finding the sheet that I'll adapt into a tunic of some sort.

Giant Rat

Isn't this just the news you were wanting to hear today??

Randomness

It's no wonder I don't have a lot of readership... If I'd post more than once per week, maybe you'd come back to read, huh?

I guess it's the season to be busy and I've been really tired, so I'm just trying to keep up and I haven't been very creative.

I had some ideas in the middle of the night that would be fun to blog about, but of course, I didn't write them down and they probably were more interesting when I was half asleep anyway.

I did have a random dream, though. (Surprise!)

In my dream, Barack Obama decided to choose a republican running mate. He chose Scott Bakula. I don't even know if Scott Bakula is a republican, probably not. My brain makes up weird stuff.

One rant: I hate obligatory Christmas gifts. You know the ones. You wouldn't get them a gift unless they got you one. I mostly like to give gifts to people that I know well, friends and family. Some years we get around to making plates of treats for our neighbors, but it doesn't go much further than that.

So, that's enough randomness for one day. I hope to be in a more creative mindset, soon!

Superpowers

I've discovered why I am so exhausted all the time!

Chasing kids?
Dogs?
Cleaning? (Probably not, I don't do that enough.)
Not enough sleep?
Sick?

Could be, but the real reason is that Luke has discovered his superpowers. One of them is to make people sleepy. It could be useful in a superhero battle, don't you think? I mean, there you are, fighting the supervillan and all of a sudden you can make him fall asleep. Fight over, you tie him up and send him off to jail! It's perfect!

But why would he use it on his sweet mother???

Kids Say...

Last night, we had our church Christmas party. We were on our way out, when Aaron saw someone he needed to talk to. Belle was in a run away mood, so I was holding her captive on my lap.

A little girl came up to us and asked if Belle was her brother's friend. I told her that they probably played in nursery together (Sunday school for 18 mo-3 yrs).

Four Yr Old: They do.

Me: Um, Okay. (Or something equally lame.)

Four Yr Old: I think they're in Love.

And what do you say to that? It was pretty cute! Kids can be so funny. It is amazing the things that they notice, pick up and repeat to other people!

Defended!

Aaron defended his thesis yesterday!! He passed and will be able to graduate in May!! We are so excited!

It also feels really weird. He has been working on it for two years. The last six months or so have been especially stressful. We almost don't know what to do with ourselves! We have been saying "no" to so many things due to lack of time or stress that we don't know how life will be.

We've only had about 6 months (not counting summers, but some of those had school as well) in our married life that one or both of us were not in school. We won't know what to do, without trying to save for tuition and books and then dealing with student life.

We'll find places (like hopefully a new house) to put the money. I'm sure the time will get filled up as well!

I am really proud of Aaron for all the hard work he put into this Master's degree!

I'm also REALLY glad to have him back! We have missed the family time with him!

Enchanted

We went to see Disney's new movie, Enchanted. It was so cute! It was sweet and refreshing and clever. I really liked it.

We don't go to see movies in the theater much, especially with the kids. The last one we saw was Superman Returns. Belle and I spent most of that one out in the hall, since she thought she should cry through the entire thing.

We thought this one would be better. At least I was the one to spill a ton of popcorn on the floor! And we should have gotten a larger bucket. Belle got bored and started to wander around the theater. At least she wasn't too loud, most of the time.

The best part was Luke. He decided that he needed to teach Belle how to go to the movies. He held her hand in the parking lot and into the theater. Then, he showed her how to push the seat down to sit on it. He was SO cute! He is a great big brother!

High School Reunion Dream

My HS reunion was this summer, but I wasn't able to go. It was in Florida and that is an expensive trip that we need to make when we aren't moving, selling a house, having a baby or going to school. We need to stop doing expensive things in the summer.

Anyway, I had a long and weird dream that I was at my HS reunion the other morning. I saw lots of people I knew and I even knew a lot of their names. (Which I wouldn't be able to do in real life!) It was really vivid and I woke up wanting to know what some of my old friend were up to.

I got out my yearbook so that I didn't have to guess on names and spellings. I found a web page set up for the reunion and it had links to lots of the people I wanted to know about. I emailed several of them and I have already heard back from one.

Since I moved 2000 miles away from where I grew up, there have been very few people that I have kept up with. I really tried for a while, but I got discouraged when no one wrote back.

Nativity Blocks Instructions

I got so many comments about the Nativity blocks that I posted about, that I thought I'd write a post about how to make them. I have to start with a disclaimer: I can't find my instructions, so I have to go make them up.

We started with blocks that were already cut, so I measured them and you'll need:

From a 2X3:

5 blocks cut 2 inches long and 7 blocks cut 3 1/2 inches long.

From a 2X4:

3 blocks cut 3 inches long.

Either bevel or sand the edges and any other rough spots.

Next, you paint the blocks with a cream acrylic paint. (Make sure it isn't a washable one, since it takes FOREVER to dry...we found that out the hard way.) Let the paint dry. Sand the edges a little if you'd like a bit of a worn look.

Either stain them or thin some brown acrylic paint. Paint it on and rub it off as if it were stain. (I used paint and I really like the effect. Plus, I didn't have to deal with an oil-based stain all over my hands...though you could use gloves.)

Our instructions had us put the stickers on before staining, but that makes it so that there isn't stain under them, only white. And, some stain creeps under them. It looks a lot better if you stain them first.

After the paint/stain dries, apply the stickers. Some of the blocks will have to be turned on their sides to fit the larger stickers. The camels and the horse will go on the blocks made from the 2X4. The baby Jesus sticker just barely fits, so you may need to make sure the edges are down and around the block before you seal it.

The last step is to coat the blocks with a clear protectant.

The manger is made from a CD crate that's made to be customized. Michael's sells them.

The stickers are called "Nativity Kids" by Me & My Big Ideas. The only website I can find them at is Treasured Memories. I know there are others.

I hope that helps! If you have any questions, just ask!!

I Elfed Them

Okay, so I have no clue where I saw this first, so I have to apologize for not giving credit!

Go check these out! Then, make your own!!

Dancing Elves!!!

I sold my first item at etsy.com!!!

I am so excited! I just sold a purse at etsy.com!! I haven't had anything sell before, and it has been a while. I was starting to get discouraged. Now I am excited to put more things on there. I just have to get some things made!

I think I had come to the conclusion that I wasn't going to sell anything and I didn't think I'd put too many more things on that site! Now I am so excited to put more things on there!!

YAY!!

Oh, yeah. Here it is! It is a miniature purse for a little girl. I actually really like the size of it for myself. I have made others of a different pattern that I use a lot. It can fit all the things I need when I want to go light.

Talk about Tuesday

First off, IT'S SNOWING! I am a lot more excited about it than I thought I would be this year! I love it!

I haven't done a Talk About Tuesday before. I thought I'd show our Christmas decorations. I keep adding new things. And I just realized I forgot to take pictures of two my new additions this year. That's probably because I can't figure out how to put them up, yet.

I made these cute nativity blocks for the kids to play with and learn about the Savior's birth. I love them! They were easy, once we could get the paint to dry.


They usually look more like this, though.



I also made a plate with vinyl lettering on it. I won a nativity on ebay!! I have wanted one like my mom's since we got married! I kept trying to find one that was good enough, but none of them were good enough. I finally decided I wanted that one. I won it for $4.99 plus shipping and insurance!

Last year, I made the matching stockings, tree skirt and advent calendar. Thankfully, I still like them.


This is one of my favorite ornaments. Aaron's mom gave it to us the Christmas we were engaged. I think it is really sweet and fun!



Luke thinks it is a fun game to get Belle to hug him! It is so sweet! They are really good friends, lately! I hope they keep it up. It is a lot more fun for me that way!



Go over and Talk About Tuesday with Lara!!

Save the Babies!!

That was the game that Luke and Belle played for a lot of yesterday. The couch was a boat, but it started to sink, so they had to move to a large pillow on the floor and try to get to the kitchen floor, which was land. You also had to keep your "baby" alive. Belle's baby dolls got tossed around a lot. I tried to explain that if you held a baby by the head it would get hurt really bad, but they were more concerned with getting them safely to land.

It was so cute. I love it when my kids play well together. It was fun (and loud) to watch them play.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Okay, so it isn't very cold, yet, but it is supposed to get pretty cold soon.

I love the cold. A lot of people think I'm crazy for liking Utah and it's weather over Florida. But I do.

I love the snow! (Not driving in it, but taking pictures, playing and seeing it!)

I love my leather jacket. I feel like I look pulled together and kind of cool in it. I usually just wear jeans and a t-shirt and in a leather jacket, that looks nice, rather than just "Mom". I also really like making and wearing scarves. The kids love them too. They spent quite a while last night running around the living room wearing several scarves between them.

I really like that you can bundle up against the cold. It can be pretty hard to do the opposite, unless you want to be indecent.

I love to sing "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Aaron. He plays the piano really well and I love to sing with him. It is a fun duet!

I love soup! Soup is so much nicer when it is cold outside and you can come in and have some warm and yummy soup. It's even better with some warm, homemade rolls!

Then, there is always hot chocolate! Stephen's is my favorite! I love their white chocolate...MMMmmmmm......

This can all be difficult since I don't like to wear shoes or big heavy coats... I don't like to have my feet confined and I don't like to bother with the big coat when I get where I'm going.

I hope you have a wonderful winter!

Thesis done, More school?? Probably not...

Aaron has finished writing his Master's thesis!!!! He just has some minor revisions and then it is done. We aren't sure if he'll be able to defend it this semester, but we hope so. If he can't, we'll have to pay for another semester and we have other places for that money to go.

This semester has been so stressful that we are really glad that he is done writing, even if it does stretch into next year! It has already gotten easier.

I think we are done with degrees for a while! We really need a break. Aaron doesn't want another, anymore and if I go back for more, it won't be until all of our kids are in school.

We both love to learn, so we'll probably take some classes at the applied technology college. There are lots of vocational things that we'd like to know how to do. Those are a lot less stress and commitment, so I think we can handle it.

It has been about a year and a half since I've taken a class. I haven't missed it. I guess since I graduated, the "finished" feeling is still here. Thinking of taking a lot of classes again, with kids, keeps the feelings of wanting to go back at bay!

I do wish I'd kept myself up on a lot more of the things I knew. It is so easy for me to forget. I need to read my horticulture books more often. I pretty much take them out if I need something.

That should be a goal for me. To read and remember the things I learned during my time at school. It is fun for me, so I should do it more often!

It is embarrassing, when people find out that I have a degree in horticulture, and then I can't remember the answers to their questions. I can usually find it, though.

Christmas Giveaway!

5 Minutes for Mom is running a Christmas Giveaway!

They have lots of prizes to win and they'll continue to add more as the season progresses!! I want to win one of these (from the Stroller Depot):



They are versatile, light-weight and they fold really flat! I love that kids can choose how they ride...sit or stand, front or back! I think it would be so nice to have one of these! Wish me luck!

You can see what the strollers can do and how they work with these great videos.

So, go over and try to win something...Just leave the stroller for me. (And the 200 or so others who've already signed up to win it!)

Sweet

This morning, when Luke left with the carpool for school, Belle started saying that she missed him. Every couple of minutes she'd stop and say "Miss him." in such a sad, sweet little voice.

It's nice to have moments like that to remember, when they are fighting with each other.

Weirdo!

No, I'm not trying to be offensive, I'm calling myself a weirdo! I just wanted to make public some weird things about me...

1. I am paranoid about smells. I can never be certain that my house smells good. If I know someone is coming over, I almost always light a candle, open an air freshener, or make sure I am running the dishwasher--I love it when my house smells like the baking soda in the detergent!
2. Which brings me to my next eccentricity. I LOVE the smell of cleaners. I love the house to smell of Mr. Clean especially! Yum!
3. I love the smell of Play-Doh. Are you noticing a pattern, here? I am a very smell-oriented person. I think Play-Doh must remind me of the innocence of childhood or something. I can be found sniffing some most of the times the kids are playing with it!
4. I love cheese! We used to go and try all kinds of weird cheese in the store. I miss that, we should do it again! I really like warm string cheese. I discovered this once when I took one for a snack and it stayed in my van. It was soft and tasted so much better. Now, I put one in the microwave for 13 seconds and it is delicious! I also love to put a piece of SHARP cheddar cheese between to graham crackers. I even have my kids doing this one.
5. I was bitten by a dog when I was 13. (Yeah, I know, not so weird.) I had to have 12 stitches and I couldn't stand up for long periods or it would bleed, so I had to spend about two weeks laying around and reading. I wish I could do that, now! Okay, so on to the weird part... I was more afraid of dogs before I got bitten, than after! I guess I faced my fear and it wasn't all that bad??
6. I hate shoes. I hate shopping for shoes. I hate wearing shoes. Part of that probably comes from growing up in Florida, that would explain that if I do have to wear shoes, I'd rather wear a slip-on. I hate to have my feet feel enclosed and crowded. I also hate shoes because my feet are so wide that I can't wear very many cute shoes. I'm lucky to find something ugly that fits my feet! I guess I'd like to like shoes, but I just can't wear a lot of the ones that I'd like to, so that makes me hate them! I guess I'm jealous of girls with normal feet. (When Belle was first born, I checked to make sure her feet were narrower than mine! They are!! Thank goodness!)

Okay, so that's it! So, what is weird about you??

Fall Pictures

I know I should have posted the Halloween pics a long time ago, but I only just got them off of the camera! So here they are. The kids have also had a lot of fun playing with the leaves! They make such a nice background!

It's Sad When...

It's pretty sad when I can't have more interesting dreams than those with poopy diapers in them! I guess I've been dreading the after-effects of the stomach flu that Belle and the little boy I watch had.

Actually, my dream last night was interesting. There were weird travel plans in these little ski lift-type devices. And then came the colossal messy diaper!

Belle is feeling much better. She was sick on Friday, slept a lot of Saturday and then seemed fine on Sunday, but we think she got carsick, so Grandma got to experience the loveliness. Now, she seems mostly back to normal, though I don't think she has her full appetite back, yet. None of the rest of us have gotten sick. I was a little woozy, but that could be from cleaning up after her.