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.

Higher Education Meme

It's been almost a week since I posted anything, so since I was tagged by My Ice Cream Diary, I'll post this cute meme!

Here are the rules:

Devise a list of 5-10 courses you would take to fix your life. It’s more fun to be in classes with friends, so include one class from the person who tagged you that you’d also like to take. Tag five.

Remembering Anything 201 (I'll take this class along with Ice Cream!!)Learn how to remember names, birthdays and to actually look at your lists, to do lists, calendar and every other place that you have written things down so that you won't forget and yet still do!

Learning to Say NO As long as you say "Yes" to this class, you will learn how to say no to everything else. Also, several lessons on not feeling guilty for saying no, especially when you can't do it even if you wanted to!

How to enjoy and continue to exercise and eat well for more than 5 minutes 101 Learn how to exercise in your sleep, while eating and anytime of the day that you won't notice!

How to Just Do It! Lessons in going from the list (which I am great at!) to reality and making it all happen at the right time and place! (Not always so great at...)

Forcing Children to Eat Healthy food Why is it that there are only about 4 meals that I make that my children will actually eat? (Not including Mac and cheese and chicken nuggets) I need some kind of lessons for me to learn how to convince them that carrots and broccoli taste good. Maybe she has it right with hypnosis!

Now, who should I tag??

Gretchen

Kathleen

Amber

Laura

PJ

Have fun!!

Story Request

I am giving a lesson in church, soon, about achieviing friendships, sociality and especially sisterhood through service.

My request is that I'd love to have some original stories about ways that you have gained relationships through service. It can be from someone serving you, you serving them, or from serving together and bonding that way.

If you have any personal (or family or whatever.. :) ) stories, would you PLEASE send them my way! It would help me a lot!!

Thanks!!!

What to do you think?

I'm not going to bother with trying to commit to a new SMART habit this week or probably next, either. There is just too much going on. I did, though, want to report on last week's progress. This is the hunting mask that my Dad requested. I think my design turned out pretty well. We had fun trying it on. I also made the Mary Jane slippers that I have been wanting to try for Belle. She loves them. They still need some latex on the bottom. I still need to find some. I also made a hat for my niece and play snakes. This week I started mittens and a matching hat for Luke. I am really taking a chunk out of my list!! It feels really good to be able to catch up to myself once in a while!When I come up with a plan to accomplish everything we have planned this weekend, or when I recover from it, I'll have to post about it! If we survive as more than piles of goo!

My Night

We watched my friend's kids at the last minute, last night. Things went pretty smoothly with stories, running around like crazy people and magic tricks. Oh, and splashing in the toilet. Right after Emily knocked on the door, I found Belle and two of the other kids playing in the toilet.

I could probably turn this into a much more entertaining post full of laughs, but I am having trouble spelling this morning. Seriously, I am misspelling every other word! I guess I didn't get enough sleep. I got uninterrupted sleep, since the kids were worn out, but I need more.

Cuties!

Moments like this are wonderful!

Lately, though, these two have been on each other's nerves! Belle loves Luke and wants to do everything he does. They both want the same spot. And she STILL wants to be him, too! It is really wearing on him. He just wants her to go away!

Any tips on how to get your young children to like each other? I haven't had to deal with this until now.

Human For Sale

HumanForSale.com - I am for sale!

Okay, no more posts today! This was an interesting quiz. Go see how much you are worth! LOL

Blog Action Day

I just found out that it is Blog Action Day. It is a day to post about the environment! I was on a real "green" kick for a while and I have gotten busy and not been doing as well. I should get back to that better attitude!!

For in the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught. Baba Dioum 1968

I found this quote on the wall at the aquarium we visited this summer. I think it is really true. We need to be aware and make our children aware of the beauty around us. There is so much to enjoy in this world! We have the responsibility to teach our children about our world. If we can teach them to love the planet and make them aware of how to preserve and make it a better place to live, we can change the attitudes of the next generation!!

SMILE

A while back a friend shared this with me. I thought it was really neat. If you aren't LDS, here is a link to the Book of Mormon online at lds.org. (Or just click below to go to the full reference.)

2 Nephi 9:39

...Spiritually-minded is life eternal.

What a wonderful reason to smile!! We are here to grow and learn and also to prove ourselves worthy of eternal life. If we attain that, we will be eternally happy!

Also, here in life, if we are spiritually minded, we will be happy!