birthday surprise

click on the photo to see the paintings closer. I might have lighted up the photo a tiny bit too much because the paintings are not quite as light in real life but you get the idea. Aren't they gorgeous?!

Well, now I know that airfare won't be necessary in the future. Overnight express for these three is probably much cheaper.

I had a knock on the door today and on my doorstep was the largest box I have ever received in my life! My mom mentioned earlier in the week to watch for a box. Wowza - was I surprised to see this mammoth sitting there! Once I opened it I realized it needed to be big to hold not just one, but 2 large paintings that were wrapped in many layers of bubblewrap (my mom told me that one is for my birthday that's coming up in a few days and one for Christmas but I opened both - oops), Christmas gifts for each of us, Christian's birthday gift (for January) and a lifetime supply of packing peanuts.


I'm so touched my mom painted these for us - she is so talented and I'm so proud of her! My very favorite type of gift is always the handmade & homemade type and these are not only gorgeous but a wonderful reminder of one of the stops we took on our summer road trip. They are landscapes of places in Glacier National Park (in fact, I think my mom painted these based on photos Troy and I took). Thank you so much, Mom!!! (and Dad who had to pack up and ship this beast of a box).


And the kids love the paintings, too - but you know their excitement is over the box, ha ha! They had a great time this evening jumping in it and throwing peanut everywhere.

look what the UPS truck brought today!

the joys of motherhood...

Today in church (during Sacrament meeting) our girls were a little bit more wiggly than usual and I was trying to quietly balance keeping them quiet and keeping their hands busy while still listening to the speaker. The girls are 3 and 4 years old so we do still bring coloring books and a few small quiet things to entertain them. Later in the meeting, an older woman in front of us handed Anna 3 bags (Halloween snack size bags) of candy - one for each of our children. I thought that was sweet of her (maybe it was her way of trying to quiet our kids more quickly than we were managing, lol). Emily chose the Skittles but I didn't want her to eat the whole thing herself in the middle of church so I had her split that with Christian and I put the third bag away for them to eat after church. She didn't seem to mind UNTIL her half of the Skittles were eaten and I told her the rest of the candy was for later.

A little bit of whining quickly escalated into a lot of whining and high pitched demands for MORE CANDY! I picked that girly up, headed to the foyer and tried to calm & reason with her while holding her on my lap. Her demands turned into a full screaming tantrum and after a few kicks, more screaming, and a bite from Emily, we moved outside for her to finish screaming. (I didn't want to bother the other ward that were in classes).

But there was no calming her down and none of the usual time out techniques were working. Back inside we went where I had a friend hold her (so she wouldn't be screaming right next to the chapel doors) while I went to summon Troy to get the car keys. And off we went to the car for the next 35 minutes. I buckled her into her carseat (thank goodness for a 5 point harness carseat she can't unbuckle out of still) and I sat and listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and knitted (thank goodness also that I always have a knitting project in my car) while she kicked my seat, screamed for MORE CANDY, and wailed for about 33 or those next 35 minutes. About two minutes before Troy came out when the meeting ended and the other kids went to class, Emily finally calmed down and we discussed why she was buckled in for timeout. She went back to her happy, cheerful self and we headed inside and off she went to nursery.

Emily has had significantly less tantrums the last few months (maybe it's the transition from terrible twos to trying threes) but about once a week or so we still have one of these lovely episodes to look forward to. The crazy thing is that afterward she really is back to being our darling and sweet natured little Em. I just hope she outgrows this behavior before she's about 13, ha ha.

will work for food

On Thursday I was offered money - and no, it wasn't because I'm married to a broker, lol. I was in Wenatchee on Thursday to take the girls to their dental appointments and we drove with Troy because he had a few appointments. While I was waiting for him to finish I ran my errands and stopped by Goodwill.

Now, most of you that know me really know that I love a good yardsale or the thrift stores (or Ebay, Craigslist, etc.). I figure once a piece of clothing has been worn & washed or a toy has been played with, it's used anyway (plus, I look for items in excellent or like new condition). I love to get what I can for a fraction of the price and save what I didn't spend. We haven't always been 100% consistent, but in general through the years Troy and I have tried to be thrifty and frugal.

So back to my story. I took the girls to Goodwill to poke around for a bit. The kids love to look in the toys and right now there is a ton of seasonal stuffed toys for sale. Once Anna saw those she had the idea to look for a penguin for Christian (he had mentioned he wanted one when we were at the store recently) - and I'm all for my kids buying their siblings used gifts that are every bit as nice as new - but less expensive. And they get a nice washing at home before being wrapped. We started looking and came across a couple of penguins to choose from. I mentioned to Anna that one of them was too much (meaning - I thought that the 1.50 pricetag GW had on it was too much for the small, ragged penguin she found - I do have my standards, people). The second one was bigger, looks new, and only 75cents - so that was the one we settled on.

Then Emily wanted to get in on the action and find Christian a toy. Both of the girls started looking and again and when they would find a toy they liked, lift it up to ask me if we should get it, I'd give feedback and mention if it looked dirty or the price was too high, etc. A few minutes into Em's search and a woman about my age came up to me and extended her hand with a few dollars in it. She quietly and in a very kind voice, offered me the money and said she had a few dollars to spare and would love to help the girls get a gift for their brother.

At this point my first reaction was confusion! I was so surprised that someone was offering me money and perplexed as to why. After all, the girls and I were dressed clean and nicely. I didn't think we looked poor or anything close to it. But I think she must have been close enough to me to hear when I was discussing that certain toys were too much, or heard that the girls were looking for a gift for Christmas (and maybe some people think a used gift means you can't afford anything else or are destitute?), or thought because I told the girls over 2.00 was too much for a used stuffed toy that I didn't have more than that?

I could tell she was sincere and I actually felt touched that someone would offer that, but I declined and told her we truly were just fine and that I did appreciate her kindness. She still tried to insist but I explained again that we were okay and that we are just a frugal family. It was quite an interesting situation though. It makes me wonder if people think that buying used goods is only for those that can't buy new? Or that Christmas gifts should always be new? Or perhaps she offered for some other reason I'm not sure of? Interesting things to think about - any thoughts?

little miss creative

I have paper scrap drawers and craft supply bins for our kids to use. Christian is quite crafty and the girls just love when he teaches or helps them how to make various projects. But lately, Anna herself has started to try making things all on her own. She told me she had an idea to make a headband to be an Indian girl (I didn't quite know what she meant though) and got to work. She cut out feathers from my paper scraps, made a band to go around her head, and asked to use the stapler, though she wasn't able to manage to put enough force into closing the stapler so I did help with that when she had each feather positioned. I was so impressed with her creativity and asked her where she got the idea. She saw it in a Family Fun craft book and figured it out herself - our little four year old. Such a smartie!

my scrapbook getaway

A glimpse of my workspace. We each had our own long table but I still managed to get every inch covered with my mess

My 34 pages - and all but one came home fully complete (including journaling).

Our wonderful retreat organizers Deb Keeley (far left) and Jane Payne (second from the right)

This layout of Emily's 3rd birthday had my most recent photos, but I also worked on a few sets of photos from as far back as 1997.

Our roommates (in the lodge, each bedroom holds anywhere from 4 or 6 people to a dozen I think because there are big log bunkbeds). Left to right: Mindy, Me/Leslie, Leanne, Susan, and Heidi

Look at those gorgeous trees out the windows! Leanne and I had tables at the very end of this row.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to a scrapbook getaway with my sister-in-law, Leanne. Last year we went after a friend invited me about DJ's Scrappin' Retreats and we were so happy to be able to go again this year. From 10:00 a.m. Thursday until checkout time at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday we scrapbooked for hours on end, stopping only to eat (and all the food was prepared for us and we were just summoned) or to visit with the wonderful women there, or tosleep (which I tried to limit as much as I could and still function, lol).

To have hours and hours to enjoy a hobby I love, spend time with my awesome sis Leanne, have a break from my regular life of laundry, cooking, & child wrangling was bliss. I don't know if I'll be able to go every year because it does take quite a bit of tricky kid scheduling for when Troy needs to work. And frankly, the frugal side of me knows that while it's a wonderful deal (two nights in a gorgeous lodge, 7 gourmet meals, scrappin' goodies & the time for myself, treats, etc.) it's a little hard to spend that on myself when that can buy groceries for a month and a half. So if it's the last one for a while I'm very grateful for the fabulous time! And hey, I finished 34 pages - not bad at all.

my favorite sugar cookies

A couple of years ago I came across this recipe in The Joy Of Cooking Christmas Cookies (I've included my tips & alterations though) and for most of the main holidays the kids and I decorate cookies to share with others. I love the sugar cookies because there isn't a flour mess everywhere as you roll them out and scraps can be rerolled and cut out without getting tough (plus, they are just deliciously buttery). I love the icing recipe because it doesn't dry rock hard like royal icing, nor is it goopy and shortened filled like traditional buttercream icing, but it's shiny & pretty, firms up nicely and can be stacked. Plus, the coloring/icing part of it is SUPER easy - the kids just sqeeze out icing from bottles to fill in the borders. They love to make a swirled marble effect, or put polka dots, etc. Almost every time we make them we are asked for the recipe & instructions. Give it a try!

Sugar Cookies (makes about 3 dozen 2" cookies)

Stir together & set aside:

3 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt ( just 1/2 teaspoon if you are using salted butter)

Using an electric mixer, beat together until well mixed and fluffy:

1 1/2 cups softened butter (do NOT use margarine because the dough will not firm sufficiently to cut out and release from the wax paper)

1 cup sugar

Add and then beat until blended:

1 large egg

1 tablespoon milk

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine flour mixture with butter mixture and blend well. Divide dough into half and place each portion between two large sheets of wax paper (the size of jelly roll pans or cookie sheets). Roll out a scant 1/4" thick, smoothing out any creases the wax paper makes. Keeping the wax paper in place, put rolled dough onto cookie sheets or jelly roll pans and chill in refrigerator for about 30 minutes or longer until cold and firm.

While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease cookie sheets.

Take out just 1 portion at a time, gently peel away each side of wax paper, but replace one of them for dough to lay on. (This will make it easier to lift the cookies from the paper.) Using 2-or 3-inch cutters, cut out cookies quickly and carefully transfer them with a spatula to the cookie sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Combine and reroll scraps between wax paper and chill in refrigerator.

Bake for 8-11 minutes, until lightly golden around edges. Let cookies firm for a minute or two on cookie sheets and then transfer them to wire racks to cool.

Quick Vanilla Icing

Thoroughly stir together with electric mixer:

5 cups powdered sugar, measured then sifted

1/3 cup hot water

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

food coloring

This is usually the consistency used to line and decorate the cookies with white borders. I use a Wilton decorating bag and a #2 or #3 round decorating tip. Keep icing covered with a lid or moist washcloth so that it doesn't crust over while you are icing cookies. If necessary, add more water to thin or more powdered sugar to thicken (your icing should nicely flow from the tip as you are quickly working but not be dripping out). Let cookies sit and firm for at least an hour before moving on.

After the cookies are lined with borders, divide the remaining icing into several small bowls to color and thin. A little more water is needed to thin to a runny syrup or oil consistency so that it will flow easily and more quickly from the decorator/candy bottles (these can be found in the cake decorator section at Walmart of JoAnns - usually 2 bottles come together for a little over a dollar).

If adding sprinkles, sprinkle on a minute or so after icing is put on (so that they don't sink in immediately, but quickly enough so that the icing didn't firm up too much).

Let cookies sit for a couple of hours before stacking. Sometimes I stack them between sheets of wax paper too.

our new niece!

Yesterday my sister, Erin & her husband, Mark had their 4th child (and their first daughter)- an adorable little girl they named Ruby. Congratulations Erin & Mark!!! We wish we could be there in Utah to meet her.

Happy Halloween!

We're a couple that likes to clown around now and then!

Trick-or-treating downtown

Stopping at Uncle Roger's trunk at the church for a treat.

Now on to the fun part of Halloween - the costumes & the candy! I love costumes and four Halloweens ago I decided we should have a new tradition where Troy and I also dress up with the kids each year. I don't think Troy was thrilled by that decision and I know he'd be just fine never dressing up, but being the good sport that he is, he willingly has worn whatever I've found or made for him the last few years.

This year, since I knew I'd be making all three of the kids' costumes (having not found any good ones on clearance last year, at summer yard sales or thrift stores as I often do), I decided to use one I already had made 2 years ago for myself and then just make Troy one to go with mine. That's why we are clowns - because clowns are simple, not because being a clown is a dream of mine, lol. So all that sewing for one day was a first for me and I was literally finishing the last hem on Christian's robe this afternoon. Next year I'm starting the sewing in July!

The girls both chose their costumes off a pattern I had purchased with the intent to make them cute little witches. I think they turned out even cuter than if they had been witches. Emily loved her Little Red Riding Hood costume except didn't want the hood up, oh well. Anna carried a little sheep of hers while trick-or-treating but we couldn't find a shepherd's staff to go with her Bo Peep outfit.

Christian changed his mind a couple of times but last week finally decided he wanted to be a Jedi Knight after we saw some fun costume ideas online. However, I couldn't find any Star Wars costumes out there in the pattern books, so I had to use three different ones (for the robe, shirt, and pants) to put his get-up together. The waistband parts, and overlapping shoulder vest type things I just figured out. And his boots came were some cheap ones from the womens section at Walmart. A nice part about his costume is that he can now use the shirt and pants for pajamas.

This morning I was a little worried that Anna might not be able to go out today because she vomited a couple of times. She never developed a fever though and later in the morning she seemed back to normal. So we went this morning to Troy's office to show off their outfits and also see the two secretaries that were dressed like the coolest spooky witches. At 4:00, we headed downtown for the town's shop trick-or-treat. After a quick stop at the house for a bite of dinner, we went to the church trunk-or-treat and indoor carnival. Troy and I were even the winners for the adult costume category. No prize, though - just a certificate. It was a day with a lot of walking and busyness, but oh so fun!

what on earth?

Before I post all our cute Halloween photos and tell you about our fun day, I just have to share a Halloween vent - because I'm sitting here still amazed at the sheer stupidity and rudeness of some people. Well, one person and his kid.

As we were putting our kids to bed at 8:45 tonight, the doorbell rang. Then it rang again - and again, and again - probably about 7 times, and whoever it was just held their finger down on the button the last ring until Troy ran down the stairs and opened the door. At this point, we had already had the lights out downstairs for 10 minutes, we had given away the last of the candy to the final group of kids when there weren't any more kids in sight down the road, and we figured the trick-or-treaters were finished.

Troy opened it to find a boy Christian's age that had been doing the oh-so RUDE doorbell ringing. So Troy explained to him that our lights were out, the candy was all gone, and that it was rude to ring someone's doorbell repeatedly like that. Now yes, Troy was very direct and told it like it is, but hey, it's our house. I heard everything he said and didn't think he was out of place at all.

30 seconds later, the doorbell rang again so Troy headed back down the stairs to find the kid's dad standing there. This guy immediately started yelling at Troy for saying that to his kid and also for being out of candy (the candy part was his main vent I think). Troy tried explaining to him that our lights were out, the candy is gone, and his kid was the one ringing our doorbell over and over.

This guy just kept yelling, and threw in some profanity (seriously, is that ridiculous or what?) and started criticizing us (while yelling still) that if we went out for candy as kids, why couldn't we give his kid some. Also, he said they were at our house last year at 7:30 and we were out then, too and he couldn't believe we were out again this year (we were at a carnival last year past that time so I don't know what he was talking about - and even if we were home with no candy - then just don't come back to our house if you're disappointed!). And then he yelled a few more stupid things about why didn't we have candy?!!!

(Sure, we had our kids' trick-or-treating candy, but the passing-out-candy was all gone, and we weren't going to give candy to someone so rude anyway).

Now when I heard the swearing, I came down to see who it was and both Troy and I tried to explain to him that yes, we did have candy EARLIER and our lights were already out, which means the candy is gone. Obviously, rational logic wasn't working on this guy so nothing we said was getting through to him. Finally, he just stormed off to his truck.

Is there some rule that we can't go to the church carnival and take our kids downtown because we must stay home and give out candy all night in case random people choose to come to our house and demand it? And isn't there an unwritten rule that when the lights are out, that means you don't trick-or-treat there? And if YOUR kid is the rude one (and old enough to know better) ringing our bell OVER & OVER again, shouldn't you be the one apologizing and not swearing at us on our doorstep at almost 9:00 at night? Good grief. We are just so annoyed right now.

An interesting note - Troy couldn't quite place them at first, but near the end he realized this kid is in Christian's scout troop and he recognized the dad from troop meetings. It will be oh so interesting to see them at the next scout get together.

pumpkin painting

Emily's large pumpkin. We helped her glue on the eyes but she did the painting herself.

Emily wouldn't let us leave the park until every inch of this mini pumpkin was covered.

I've been sewing during every spare minute I have the last week or two which explains my lack of blogging. I really should have started the Halloween costumes during the summer (at least for Troy and I since the kids kept changing their minds until I made them finalize their decisions so I could actually cut out the fabric). I'm nearing the home stretch though (just in time since tomorrow is candy day!) and will share some pics hopefully tomorrow before we go out trick-or-treating.

In the meantime, here are some fun photos from our excursion downtown on Saturday morning. A friend told me about a free pumpkin painting/decorating activity that was hosted by one of the high school clubs. There were pumpkins (and a few gourds) of all sizes and the kids were welcome to choose one to decorate and take home - all for free (they even let our girls choose a large and small pumpkin). Thank you EHS! We've lived here for 3 years and this is the first I've heard of it, but I hope it's a yearly tradition. You all know how I like anything free & fun!

p.s. There no photos of Christian because he just brought his pumpkin home to carve instead of paint. And he actually was the one taking the photos - for a Cub Scout photo project.

back in 1996

(Yes, this is a repeat from my Curly Crafter blog - sorry about that if you read both. But just in case you don't read that one I had to share these scrapbook pages since the photos are from 1996! Can you believe we've been married that long?)

This is an actual paper layout I completed last week. I didn't really get into scrapbooking regularly until Christian was born in 1999 and even then I've jumped around sporadically in our family albumsthrough the years. Lately I've been wanting to actually fill in a lot of the chronolocial gaps - which is why this layout is just now getting completed. It was fun to look back out our early days. It sounds so cliche but some days I feel like we're still newlyweds and I'm amazed at how fast 12 years have flown by.

We have very few photos during our early months of marriage and unfortunately we didn't keep our negatives those first 2 years (I know - so crazy!). Other than our dating and wedding photos, this is pretty much 90% of our photos from October (when we married) - December that I could find. I'm hoping to come across more at some point when I go through the photos and negatives my parents. They live in another state so that could take me a while to get to.

I added a timeline of our relationship & merging of lives during this year (beginning with my move to a new apartment not far from where Troy was living in January, and then the day we met - February 4th). This was back in the day when I journaled almost daily and Troy also journaled several times a week so it was easy to look through those and get exact dates. I included job changes, apartment moves, a special road trip together, first kiss, meeting each other's families, shopping for rings, buying our first Christmas tree, camping with my family, lots of fun memories. . .

*to see the layout closer, click on the image.