Crayon Roll-Up

 

Last week at church Kate found this cute little crayon roll-up someone had left under our bench. Because we were at church I did the right thing and turned into the lost and found, but not after I had looked it over and tried to figure out how to make one. That night I got online and found a tutorial on how to make one. It looked super easy, and I have been dying to get out my new sewing machine- so I bought some fabric and went to town. The first one took me about an hour and half, but after I figured it all out, it only took me about half an hour to do the second. 

Kate and Clark were so excited the next morning, they got our their coloring books and went to town.

This one is Kates

The excitement did wear off after a few days, and now they
are content with just using them at church.

Clarks crayon roll-up

Getting Ready for Baby

About a week ago I had the "Oh my gosh, I'm having a baby!" realization. Which sounds stupid, I know. How do you not notice your belly getting bigger, your hips hurting and the constant trips to the bathroom? But I guess I just hadn't had the mental capacity to wrap around all the little things that needed to happen for me to be ready for this baby. It just hit me that maybe I should buy a package of diapers, or maybe buy some pacifiers or even wash some blankets and clothes for the poor child. I guess it has just been so long since I've had a little baby that I forgot all the little things that babies require. 
 With the baby about a month away, Ryan and I decided it was time for Kate and Clark to bunk their beds and share the same room. In addition to putting their beds together, I had to find a new dresser for the 2 of them to share. Kate has been using the  changing table dresser and Clark had a small one a friend gave us. So that started the search on Craigslist. I found one that I liked, that was big enough for them to share and luckily when we went to look at it, it was in good shape. Dresser. Check.

Ryan assembling the beds

Kate helping Ryan( new dresser in back)

Ta da!

Once we got them in the same room, and moved the changing table dresser to the other room, I realized I didn't have a changing table pad anymore. There's one more thing to add to the list.  It's a good thing I still have about 5 weeks before this baby gets here- because I have a lot to do between now and then! I still have to get blankets, clothes, bouncy chair,  car seat, bumbo and other random things out of the attic. I also realized that I don't have a swing anymore, I never bought a boppy nursing pillow because I had to have a special one for twins, I don't have a diaper bag,  and maybe I should invest in a nursing bra! I may not be ready with these essentials, but I did manage to make the time to find fabric and make new bumper pads for the crib! It's so much funner to do bumper pads and make a quilt than make sure my baby has clothes to wear!

Here's Charlie's bumper pads. I will post a better picture when I get
the crib assembled!

Happy New Year

 We have quite a bit of fireworks leftover from when we lived in Utah, and decided that New Years Eve was a good time to get them out. It was a little chilly that night, but Kate and Clark had a good time with the sparklers and such. We basically just lit all we had, so now we just have a few sparklers and pops left. 

After we did fireworks with the kids, we dropped them off with my niece Hannah and went to Nancy's house for her new years party. I had a good time hanging out with my sisters and Ryan had fun playing darts with the boys in the garage. 

We knew that it had been snowing all that week up at the cabin and had debated all week whether or not to go up there. We were pretty upset that we were there just a week before and got NO snow. So on the way home from Nancy's party, at midnight, we decided,"What the heck! Lets just go!". We invited family first, and Ryan's brother Rick and his wife Amanda said they'd go with us. Because of all the snow that was on the highway- they weren't letting anyone with out 4 wheel drive or chains up there. Luckily we have both. (It is this very reason that we will ALWAYS own a vehicle with 4 wheel drive) So Saturday morning we loaded up the tahoe and took a day trip to the cabin.

This is just a small snapshot of what it looked like when we got there.  It was
absolutely beautiful. I haven't seen that much snow in Payson or up at the cabin
in a long time. 

We had to rummage through all the snow gear up there to find stuff for everyone
 to wear. Ryan found these bibs and had to tie them around his neck to get them
to stay on. I just died laughing when I saw that. 

Thanks to my older sister Aimee who bought this snow suit for her son Wyatt probably 15 years ago.  It was great for Clark. It kept him warm and dry all day. 

Here's Rick trying to make and throw snow balls. The snow was so powdery that it
wasn't stickin together very well.

Here's Kate with her favorite Auntie Amanda.

Here's Ryan and I relaxing in the snow. It was so soft you literally just had to fall into it. My snowboarding clothes came to good use- although I was not able to zip the pants! Needless to say my pants on the butt were a little wet by the end of the day!

Kate and Clark trying to walk in the snow. It was at least 3 feet deep,
and your feet would just go right through the snow.

After sledding down the hill for awhile, we decided to try it behind the tahoe.
My dad wanted Ryan to drive up and down the driveway to make it easier for
whoever came up after us, so he took that very seriously! We must have gone up and down the
driveway at least a dozen times. 

It was really fun being pulled behind the tahoe. My arms were so sore the next day, because I had to use my arms to hold myself on, as my abs are of no use these days!

It was a great ending to a long 2 weeks with Ryan at home. Too bad all good things come to an end, and Ryan went back to work, bills had to be paid, the budget needed reviewing, and new year goals had to be set. Even though real life eventually takes over, we look forward to this new year and all the fun things that will happen!

Christmas

Here are some of the highlights from our Christmas this year:

 Every Christmas Eve is spent with my family. It has always been a tradition for my family to reenact the Nativity story and then exchange gifts between siblings. The tradition has changed some over the years with our increase of numbers, but all of us being together on Christmas eve stays the same.  We still do a Nativity reenactment, but it's mostly the kids that do the acting, and now we watch a little video presentation of pictures from Christ's life with music. After all that we have a gift exchange. It used to be between my siblings, but as more and more in-laws joined the family, it started to become expensive. So it evolved to the kids having a cereal box exchange ( what kid doesn't want their own box of cereal) and the adults do a white elephant gift exchange. We used to do a $10 gift, but with the down turn in the economy- we decided to do just something funny you had at your house. Now it has evolved to who can find the funniest, most random object either in their own home, or at Goodwill. I must say, as every year goes by, it gets funnier and funnier. Although I didn't take any pictures of the adult gift exchange, there were some pretty hilarious gifts this year. So if in the years to come, you are looking for something to do on Christmas Eve- stop on by- you won't be disappointed!

Here are the kids doing the cereal box exchange.

Here's Clark with his box of Trix.  We brought this box, and he was bound and determined to win it back.

Kate ended up with Cocoa krispies. She had one bowl, and that was about it. I think Clark has
eaten the rest of it.

Ryan and I were up till midnight wrapping presents and getting everything
ready for Christmas morning.  Here's what it looked like when we went to bed.

I scored this brand new easel at a garage sale for $8- they sell at Walmart for $60.  I bought
the aprons from Michaels and added the names and pockets.

Clark got this cars 'garage'

Opening their stockings

Kate with her Jessie doll

Ryan had to buy this for Clark, but really it was for him.  It is a bit big for Clark, but he is figuring out how to work it himself.

Ryan opening his presents

I also scored this tinkerbell costume and a few other dress up dresses
 at a garage sale- all for about $12. Ryan bought her the tiara from Charming Charlie's. It is a 'real'
tiara- and she takes very good care of it!

My parents bought Clark a power tool set, complete with safety glasses. I thought that he might
not want tools anymore- but boy was I wrong! It's a good thing  Nana and Paco are on the ball. He still
wears the safety glasses all the time.

Kate had to give the safety glasses a try.

Funniest of all is Ryan with the safety  glasses and Clarks power drill.
I guess you never get too old for some things!

Christmas morning after we opened all our presents, my parents and my sister Nancy came over for blintzes. (Traditional breakfast in my family- kinda like crapes) After we ate and played for a bit, we got dressed and went over to the Johnson's for presents and Christmas dinner.  

All in all it was a great Christmas. Our kids were very spoiled this year, and will probably not get as much stuff in years to come! Ryan bought me a new sewing machine- which I am very excited to get out and use. I asked for a very basic machine, but of course Ryan cannot buy basic tools and got the 'quilting' sewing machine that has about 90 different stitches. I don't know if I will ever use all 90 stitches- but I will certainly try. I have already picked out fabric to start making the bumper pads for the baby's crib! 

Cabin Trip

After my nephew Preston's wedding and luncheon, we drove up to the cabin with our friends, the Whipples. This marked the start of Ryan's vacation, and he did not want to waste any time! We drove up Saturday afternoon and stayed until Wednesday morning. We had a great time relaxing at the cabin, but wished that it was about 10 degrees cooler. It rained the whole time we were there, and had it been a little bit colder, we would have seen a ton of snow. The kids had a great time playing together, Bret and Ryan had fun playing Xbox and reading books and Jess and I enjoyed standing around the kitchen munching and talking! Here's a few highlights from our trip. 

Although the kids played on the swing endlessly, Ryan did take his turn.

After going into Payson to watch "Tangled" at the theater, we decided to have a weenie roast
for dinner. 

It was a great idea, although it was  a little cold.  It's one of those things we
should do in the summer- not the winter!
The kids loved cooking their hot dogs in the fire, and believe it or not, we went through 24 hot dogs. Colton ate 4 all by himself!

Way to go Ryan and Bret for the most memorable part of our trip!

Other than the movies and hot dogs, we had fun doing crafts with the kids and playing cards at night. Thanks Bret and Jess for coming with us! We need to make sure to get up there together more than once every  4 years!

Preston's Wedding

My oldest nephew Preston got married December 18th, and aftter the sealing had a luncheon. At the luncheon all the younger cousins sang a song for Preston and his bride Hilary.
The picture is not very good, but it's still pretty cute!

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Lacking Motivation

Yes, as you can tell, I have been lacking in motivation to blog- or do much of anything these days! Ryan had 2 weeks off work for Christmas and New Years, and it has taken me awhile to get back into the swing of things. Not to mention that so much happened during that time, that I feel overwhelmed by the amount of posts I need to catch up on. So admittance is the first step to recovery, right? So this is my attempt to motivate myself to blog.