more craftiness

I have still been in the mood to craft and decorate like crazy! I don't get near as much done as I would like to, but have gotten a few things done recently.
First up is this cute little family sign. I don't think my crappy pic does it justice. It is metal and was painted brown when I bought it at my new fav store Hobby Lobby. It was cute, but I thought it would be even better black with some white distressing. So, I primed it with white primer, and then painted it black. I sanded around each letter and the decorative edging so that some of the white would show through and hung it in my stairway where I am working on a photo wall that is all black and white. Looks great there, I think.
Then I had a gift card to TJ Maxx (that I got free for doing surveys through Lightspeed consumer panel) and found this finial there. It was hideous and gold, but I liked the shape. I put it back down and kicked myself the whole way home. Fast forward over a month, I was in Boise again, so I stopped in to see what I could waste my money on(hehe!) and it was still there. Not only was it there, but it was marked down to $2!!!! Poor ugly little thing. I didn't put it back this time! I was so excited when I got it home. I am pretty sure Clayton thought I was nuts! I taped off the pretty red glass section on the bottom and gave it a good couple coats of primer and spray paint. I wish I had gotten an antique white, but I goofed and got regular. I still think it turned out pretty though. It is broken on top, but it went up on top of my cupboards, so you can't see that part anyway. Not bad for $2!

What do you think? Was it worth a couple bucks? I wish I had gotten a before pic, cause this baby was bad I am linking up to a couple parties again. At Thrifty Decor Chick And tatertots and jello

Drumroll please...

We have a yard! (Please ignore the sad excuse for a garden that didn't work in the background) Finally, there is grass in our backyard! I am so excited...the only bummer is that they told not to walk on it for 3 weeks, just in time for the kiddos to go back to school. Oh well, it will still get plenty of use! It is gorgeous! Who would've thought that grass could be so stinkin pretty?
Clayton told me that he checked out our blog the other day and that I don't have any pictures of our shed finished. Oops. I took them, honest! Life gets busy! So here is for you Clayton, our purdy new shed :)

And here is one with the nice new grass
(ignore Courtni's little booty in the corner, the kids were enjoying the sprinklers from the patio since we can't go in the grass!)
Oh, I almost forgot! We have a nice new patio too! Our friend Matt came and poured it a couple weeks ago along with adding to our front step so noone would fall off and sue us!
It has since cured all the way and is the same color as the existing section.
We have been so busy since we got back from our little vacay. To top it all off, Brayden just turned 5! That is so hard for me to believe! He is going to be a kindergartener in a couple of weeks! He had so much fun! His party (which he decided to have this year after opting out of having one last year) is tomorrow, and I will have to post some pics. He is way into legos this year. Especially Indiana Jones Lego video game so he got some Indy legos as well as just some regular legos. He loves them! He is growing up too fast, I love getting to celebrate bdays with my babies, but sometimes I just want to freeze time and not let them get any bigger!

Our family vacation

Ok, so Clayton has always gotten vacation time, but this year is the first year in our lives together that we have gone on an actual vacation. Crazy, I know! It seems like something else always comes up, we don't have the money, there is a family reunion, something. I mean, don't get me wrong, we love the reunions and the quick weekend trips to see his Grandma, but we have longed for a trip where we got to do what we wanted to do and we finally got one!
We still went to Utah, because we figured there is a lot down there that we have missed and the kids have never seen,plus we really wanted to see Grandma and my sister Lora and her family. First on our agenda was seeing Clayton's gma who lives in Lehi. I don't know what it is about her, but Courtni has always been so attached. She sends her letters regularlly, wants to call her all the time and just talks about her a lot. It is special and we really want to nurture that. We went there first and spent 2 nights with her. We didn't really do anything, just sat and visited. It was great! Relaxing and easy, the kids adjusted really well and Brayden even asked her to go to the park with him!!! (Anyone who knows him knows that this is a HUGE thing for him.
When we got done there we headed to Salt Lake. I don't know what it is about Salt Lake, but I have always been in love with it. I am sure that a lot of it has to do with the church history there, but its more than that. I love it. All of it. We were supposed to stay in a hotel just outside of SLC but it ended being scary. Long story. So we got out of it and were able to get a room at the Crystal Inn downtown SLC. We wanted to stay downtown so we could be closer to everything, so that worked out nicely. It was a nice hotel. The kids loved the pool. Even Brayden! He wouldn't get in the 1st day, but the 2nd while I stayed in the room with Bryson to get him to nap, Clayton took the kids to the pool and both Brayden and Courtni swam all over. They had their float ring things of course, but they were everywhere. I was so proud when Bryson woke up and I went to find out where the rest of my family was and found them in the pool still.
We crammed a lot into our 2 days there. We went to temple square (at least for a little while the kids got tired and bored but part of that was the fact it was lunch time. Shoulda planned that better). We also went to Hogle Zoo, This is the Place monument, the school where High School Musical was filmed (I had forgotten it was there until we passed it), and then got to see Lora for a while and went to the church history museum with her. I was bummed we didn't get to see her family, but we crossed paths. She came to Idaho for her vac and we went to Utah. Next time we will have to plan better. I was just glad to get to see her for a little while anyway.
There is so much more we couldve done, so much we wanted to do, but we only had 4 days, so I think it was pretty successful. I am just greatful we got the chance to make those memories. It was rushed, hectic and very tiring, but so worth it in the end!

Court's 4th of July dress

I did it! I made a cute little jumper for Courtni. I think it turned out pretty cute. I was going to make it all one color (the white) so I bought the material that way, but then decided at the last minute I liked the blue better. What to do, what to do? I didn't have enough blue, dangit! so I thought it might be cute to divide it and just do the bottom section in the white. Not only did I sew the dress, which pattern I found here, but I changed it a little bit and veered off of the pattern and still managed to make it look decent! I am shocked! I don't have any talent in this area. Zero. Nada. This pattern was just so easy to follow, if I can do it anyone can, trust me! I know it isn't perfect, I made a couple adjustments, but it is all straight anyway! Now she can show off her festive side at church Sunday and still wear it to the bbq afterward to celebrate her cousins blessing day! She looks gorgeous in it, even if her hair hasn't been done yet. I can't wait to try to make some fun accessories to add to the festivity!
I can honestly say that I didn't know you were supposed to iron while you sewed, what a difference it makes! It looks so much more professional this way. Anyone who has a brain is probably saying, "duh" but I was clueless, now I am hooked and can't wait to sew some more!
I am linking up here

Meet Lexi...Plus the longest blog post ever!

I did it. I tried to talk myself out of it for so long, but I caved. I got a puppy! Clayton has been wanting a pure bred boxer pretty much his whole life. It just so happens that he married an avid dog hater. Ok, so not so much a hater, I don't mind petting a puppy occasionally, but I don't like being licked, or followed, or to clean up after them. Call me selfish, but I have enough to clean up after at home! I managed to get out of having a dog around pretty much our whole married life(except for a brief time when I was preggers with Brayden, but that didn't last very long).
Well, the kids decided to side with dad, oh, um, I mean wanted a dog. We told them that we would when we got a fence. We have a fence now. The excuses don't work anymore. They are smart! I decided to man up, and give in.
It actually wasn't really planned. I was trying to decide what to get Clayton for father's day that he wouldn't find out about and that I might actually be able to surprise him with this year (if you know Clayton you know that is pretty hard to do). So I got on ZIdaho.com and did a search. There I found the cutest litte girl boxer puppy ever and her 2 siblings. They were registered, cute, purebred and a lot cheaper than regular price. So I debated about what I should do. (Ok, I tried to talk myself out of it). When Clayton got home I decided I needed to talk to him about it. Surprise or no surprise, a puppy isn't exactly a decision you make alone without discussing it with your hubby. I showed him the ad and told him what I was thinking. He just stared at me. Yep, just stared. I think he thought I was joking. Unfortunatley, I was not.
Our conversation went something like this: Him: "But you said you didn't want to have to take care of a dog because I am always at work."
Me: "I know, but I changed my mind"
Him:"You can't just change your mind on that. It is a big thing."
Me:"I know, but you are never going to find a boxer in this pricerange again, and I am actually excited about it. The kids would love her."
Him:"Whatever, you are lying."
(Apparently I am evil and would show him pictures of cute little puppy dogs that he has wanted since forever and then say, just kidding!)
He fell in love with the same one I did. I breathed a sigh of relief because her brother was not so cute. He was the ugly brindle fur color that is gross.
We called my wonderful mother in law who watched the kids for us. I didn't want to bring them, get their hopes up just to squish them back down when we left empty handed. We didn't leave empty handed. I have since questioned my sanity several times. What the heck was I thinking? But, then she looks up at you with those so cute puppy dog eyes and you can't help but love her. There I said it. I love her. Most of the time.
Most importantly, my family loves her. All of them. Brayden is terrified of dogs, even Betsy's microscopic chihuahua terrifies him. Not Lexi. He lets her chew on him, chase him, lick him and love on him. I am so proud!
I have figured out why God made puppies so cute. Its the same with babies. If they weren't cute, and did all the gross things they do, and you have to care for them the way you do, then you would get tired of it really fast. You would always be annoyed at them, and you would never want to do it again. He makes them cute so that when they look up at you with their innocent faces, you love them no matter what they just did. This way they grow up into a not so cute do slowly, gradually. You have already grown to love them by the time you realize the cute puppy is no longer,its now a grown up dog that isn't nearly as cute or cuddly. Pretty smart, because if we were born looking like adults who in the world would want to change our bums, or feed us?

My heart is full

I just had to take a minute tonight to express how very thankful I am for everything that Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I get so wrapped up in the day to day monotany that sometimes I forget how truly blessed I am. I have the absolute best kids in the world. Sometimes I feel like I just need a break, I think that is natural, but at the end of the day, all it really comes down to is that this is where I want to be. I would be lost without them. Them and my wonderful husband Clayton complete me. As cheesy as that may sound, it is so very true. Today there was a tornado warning in our area. It was no big deal, but the only thing I could think about is how I would keep my babies safe and what I should do in an emergency. I am blessed to live in a part of the country where we really don't have any major weather situations like in other areas of this nation where it seems like there is some crazy weather situation. I love that.
I have really been working on my attitude, because honestly, I get really grumpy easily. I am not an easy person to put up with. I want things done my way or no way, and I know with kids (and husbands) that just isn't going to happen. I want my kids to be strong, independent, brave, spiritual giants when they grow up, and I have to let them learn things their own way. I have been really trying to let them do more and stretch their wings. It is hard for me, but to see the joy on their faces when they vacuumm all by themselves, reminds me that it is so worth it.
I wouldn't trade any of what I have, these kiddos were given to me to look after and raise into the best adults they can be. I really can't say anything more than that. My heart is just so full when I look at all I have and see the smiles on my babies faces. I love them with all my heart and just hope that I can convey that to them.

Great giveaway

Ok, I have to admit something. I had never heard about a Bosch mixer until a few months ago. I know, I am a loser ;). But, I have always wanted a kitchenaid. This baby has cured that want! From what I hear it is so much better! Go to this link for Deals to Meals and enter her giveaway to win one. Make sure you put on your entry that I referred you pretty please! She has a great site, with or without the awesome giveaway!