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!

Still got the craft bug!

I tell you, I have a major craft craving goin' on right now! Usually I just sit and drool over everyone elses beautiful crafts (my favorites list is always growing) but this week I have been making my own. What I have really been jonesing for is to get my home painted so I can hang up my awesome vinyl lettering that my awesome sister gave me for Christmas. But, since it is nice weather, the outdoorsy stuff has to be done first. :( No, I am looking forward to some fresh tomatoes and cukes this summer, not to mention needing a yard for the kids to play in, a garage that we can move in without holding your breath and squeazing through a narrow passageway, so I will gladly get that stuff out of the way first! So, while my hubby was outside putting the windows in on our beautiful new shed that he built (I am so proud of him!) I was inside keeping the kids busy with crafts!


In the beginning...


all we have left to do is put in the windows and paint. The color won't change much, but it is just primed for now. Didn't he do such a good job? He loves to build stuff and it always turns out so beautimous! Check out our yard, isn't it fabulous? JK, hopefully that is coming next along with some trees for shade!

Anywho, now that I have bored you to tears, on to the good stuff! I got the idea for these letters here. I copied her capital templates and then just went into microsoft publisher and made my own lower case. It was so easy! I love them! Mine aren't anywhere as cute or as perfect as hers, but I still think they are pretty good for someone who can't sew very well!

Ok, I know I am a doof. My lower case a is backwards. Oh well, it wasn't worth taking the pic over again by the time I discovered it.

I love them. I got most of the material from scraps from my mil and my stash. So basically all I had to buy was the batting. Not a bad little project. I have been playing with them with my 4 year old who puts his breaks on everytime he thinks he is about to learn something. Sneaky, sneaky! He doesn't even know he is learning, he just thinks we are playing a fun game!

This next project is my favorite. I bought some gaudy gold frames on good ol craigs list a while back with the thought to paint them black and start a pretty little black and white collage on my staircase. I was bummed though, because my favorite of the frames I got had this wierd defect. The paint would do this bubbly thing all around it. I don't know if it was something to do with the finish or what, but it just wasn't working. So, I decided to modpodge some scrapbook paper on it. Genius, I know! But really, it turned out even better than I expected! It is absolutley gorgeous! The paper I picked is black with silver writing on it. Not the greatest picture, but most of the frame did this wierd bubbly stuff.

I am in love with this after though! The pic is the one that came with the frame (obviously), I need to get some printed in black and white to put in this. I love, love, love it! Who would've thought, such a simple thing could make me so happy?! Anyway, I did some more, but they need some finishing touches put on them, so I will have to reveal them tomorrow maybe. I am so excited to show them, I think once I get some plate stands, I may actually like the space above my kitchen cupboards with the crafts I did a couple of days ago. I am loving this!
I am linking up to the diy showoff again, because I am obsessed with her site and I love looking at all the other links on her showoffs!

And also here

I love, love these sites!

Feelin Crafty

So, since we moved into our home in August, I have had this obsession with decorating and crafting. I look at decorating/craft blogs all. the. time. Seriously, I have a problem! I look at them and think how fun they would be, but I am too busy looking to actually do them on my own! I have had a piece of wood I bought at DI probably about a year ago now that has been waiting. I've had it painted since Christmas time and was just waiting to order the vinyl for our home evening chart. I finally got it done! I love it! The only problem is that I wasn't paying attention and ordered 1 too many "jobs". There are only 5 people in our family, so I was just going to get 5 assignments, but somewhere along the ordering I ordered 1 too many and didn't notice until the craft was complete. Oh well, I still love it! I have several other small projects in the works that I am working on getting spray painted when the wind calms down enough, which, lately has been hard. I am finally trying to get the space above my kitchen cupboards decorated the way I want too. I have been watching that spot since we moved in and have a bunch of this and that up there. Clayton has all of his popbottles that he collects, I am trying to decide what to do with those. I am thinking the office to go with his MtDew ones that are already up there. Anyway, I am hoping to finally get it to resemble somewhat of what I am going for soon. I hope. Maybe. We will see. :)

So here are the pics of my fhe sign. It is so simple I know, but I love it! Originally it was someones chore chart and had 4 holes drilled in it for hooks I guess. I painted it black (thank you Glidden sample jar that was FREE by mail!) and then distressed the edges. I like it better that way, I probably could've done more, but I was rubbing it off in places I didn't want to so I stopped. Then I put a piece of sheet metal I got at the craft store and had my hubby cut down on with E600. Great stuff! After that I added the vinyl lettering. I don't remember the fonts I used but I got them off of scrapvillage.com. I like how the fonts the assignments are in is not super straight, it made it easy because then I didn't have to worry quite so much about making sure it was perfect. I thought I was being so original with the sheet metal because all of the ones I have seen were done with little hooks or something to hang the names off of, but then when I went to get the metal, the craft store had one displayed similar to it. Darn it. Oh, well, I still love it!



Oh yeah, I made the magnets at Christmas time with those little flat, glass marbles that you get at the craft stores and some scrapbook paper that I had on hand. It worked great because it had little sayings about family on it. I thought that was fitting since it was for a family home evening chart. I wrote our names on the paper and then stuck the paper on with E600. Turned out cute, and was so simple I should be embarrassed that I am even sharing it! But I'm not. Because I love it. Now if I could just get Clayton to hang it.


I am linking up with diy showoff but I can't figure out how to get her cute little button to post in this post so the link is www.thediyshowoff.blogspot.com