where's the love?
This poor little corner of my world seems to have been abandoned. Sadness.
Between instagraming, facebooking, and texting, who needs a blog anymore?
*sigh*
What to do...what do to....
Start now and move forward?
Actually upload pictures from the last YEAR and start from where I left off??? Wait. What have I done with all the pictures I've taken in the last 365 days? Did I even take any? Do I even have a camera anymore?! What have I done with myself?!?!
I dunno.
Life is busy.
Kids keep me busy.
Sewing, altering, knitting (yes, I started that), being the Primary President (see what you've missed out on?!) and having 3 kids on the swim team (when did THAT happen?!) and trying to feed 6 hungry mouths, and keep a tiny house with waaaaaaaaaaay too much stuff in it situated and livable has been a lot.
Some days are better than others, but I love it. I really do...
...so, old blog....just take what you can get.
If and when I can figure out how to upload pictures from my smart phone (again, when did this happen, because I SWORE it NEVER WOULD!!!), I just might start showing some love in this corner again.
Over and out...till my next exploratory bored-ness evening...
Friday, December 5, 2014
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Because of Him
Because of Him, I have had the opportunity to have my beautiful family. Because of Him, my sins are no more. Because of him, I can repent when I've done wrong. Because of Him, I may have Eternal Life.
Happy Easter!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Easter Weekend
Spring Branding, a picnic, egg hunts and looking for Easter baskets was on our agenda for the weekend! Ryan had to work, so he stayed home while the kids and I headed to Grandma and Grandpas to "help" work cows and have some Easter fun.
We dyed some eggs (that nobody in my family will eat, and they have to be VERY cooked for me to eat!)...
our favorite part....mixing the dyes after we're done...
Saturday morning the kids found their Easter baskets that were hidden in Grandma's house...of course Tanner found all of them but his....and when he finally DID find his, we headed outside to the back yard to hunt for eggs! Uncle Reed was kind enough to scatter them ev.ry.where!
On your mark.....get set...GO!!!
Looks like everyone found a little something!
As soon as that race finished up, we put our working boots on, and went to work!
Following our very full and very fun day, we found Kortlen asleep on the rug by the back door....he slept there for a good hour, while Keetley and I tried to have a nap...then he came and cuddled with us for another hour nap. Silly, tired babies!
We dyed some eggs (that nobody in my family will eat, and they have to be VERY cooked for me to eat!)...
our favorite part....mixing the dyes after we're done...
Saturday morning the kids found their Easter baskets that were hidden in Grandma's house...of course Tanner found all of them but his....and when he finally DID find his, we headed outside to the back yard to hunt for eggs! Uncle Reed was kind enough to scatter them ev.ry.where!
On your mark.....get set...GO!!!
Looks like everyone found a little something!
As soon as that race finished up, we put our working boots on, and went to work!
We finished up the day with our traditional Family Easter Picnic...complete with hot dog roast in the back yard. While waiting for Grandpa and everyone to come over for out lunch, my boys found the peeps....and you can see what happened between building an AWESOME teepee fire with one match, and eating a delicious lunch! Roasting peeps. Um....I think I'll be buying up all the peeps left over for our summer campouts!
Following our very full and very fun day, we found Kortlen asleep on the rug by the back door....he slept there for a good hour, while Keetley and I tried to have a nap...then he came and cuddled with us for another hour nap. Silly, tired babies!
***I need to figure out how to get pictures off my phone....ever since I've gotten a fancy-smancy smart phone, I take entirely too many pictures with it, and there are a lot missing of our day stuck on that device. It is a tad tricky taking pictures simultaneously with a phone AND a camera.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Look Who's One!
I simply cannot believe that an entire year has passed since this little darling has joined our family!
We celebrated by inviting Grandma and Grandpa Poulsen and Grandma and Grandpa Crandall (and Desi and Clay). I am really good at keeping 'parties' small. :)
The cake should have taken about an hour....4 hours later, and covered in frosting, I was done with cupcakes AND cake! After 3 lbs of butter 2 lbs of powdered sugar and a pound of cream cheese, I was ready to wash my hands and have a bag of carrots. Lots of sugar!
...Uh, mom, I a mess! What do I do with this?!
She ate the ENTIRE cupcake by herself. And when Tanner gave her another and I took it away, it was melt-down city! She was definitely on sugar overload....poor princess had a tummy ache all night long.
Keetley is fairly easy going...Not walking on her own yet, but cruising along the furniture...which is just fine with all of us! She finally crawls on hands and knees, and babbles as if she's telling stories....no 'real' words yet, but we'll get there...in due time! She does like to climb though! Below, Tanner took this picture of her after she had climbed up on our window seat. She LOVES looking out the window, watching her brothers, the squirrels, birds, or neighbors walking by. She pushes the child rocking chair over to the window, and will clap on it to get her brothers' attention. She's a fire cracker!
Oh, sweet Keetley, we're SO glad you belong in our family! We can hardly wait to see what the coming years will bring, yet cherish your sweet and calm disposition.
You are finding new independence, and this summer is sure to be a fun one!
We celebrated by inviting Grandma and Grandpa Poulsen and Grandma and Grandpa Crandall (and Desi and Clay). I am really good at keeping 'parties' small. :)
The cake should have taken about an hour....4 hours later, and covered in frosting, I was done with cupcakes AND cake! After 3 lbs of butter 2 lbs of powdered sugar and a pound of cream cheese, I was ready to wash my hands and have a bag of carrots. Lots of sugar!
I need to be better about getting pictures of WHO came and celebrated with us! Gene and Camille also came for BYU-I graduation but we were very lucky to host them for a day or two. They were troopers, putting up with Keetley waking up at night, and our wild indians!
...Uh, mom, I a mess! What do I do with this?!
Keetley is fairly easy going...Not walking on her own yet, but cruising along the furniture...which is just fine with all of us! She finally crawls on hands and knees, and babbles as if she's telling stories....no 'real' words yet, but we'll get there...in due time! She does like to climb though! Below, Tanner took this picture of her after she had climbed up on our window seat. She LOVES looking out the window, watching her brothers, the squirrels, birds, or neighbors walking by. She pushes the child rocking chair over to the window, and will clap on it to get her brothers' attention. She's a fire cracker!
Oh, sweet Keetley, we're SO glad you belong in our family! We can hardly wait to see what the coming years will bring, yet cherish your sweet and calm disposition.
You are finding new independence, and this summer is sure to be a fun one!
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Derby
Tanner participated in his first Pinewood Derby, and we are so proud of him!
Between Ryan, Tanner, and I, we got the car done, and had lots of fun doing it together. It took EVERYTHING I had not to just do it for him. :)
While we worked hard, and did some research, we didn't do as well as he had hoped....But Tanner sure was a good sport, and we all resolved to work harder and do better next time! Somebody has to bring up the rear!
Between Ryan, Tanner, and I, we got the car done, and had lots of fun doing it together. It took EVERYTHING I had not to just do it for him. :)
While we worked hard, and did some research, we didn't do as well as he had hoped....But Tanner sure was a good sport, and we all resolved to work harder and do better next time! Somebody has to bring up the rear!
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Going for a Dip
We packed up and headed out, needing a break from the mundane.
The first thing the kids wanted to do when we got to Grandma and Grandpas was go swimming!
Tanner refused to get in, saying it was "too cold"....Taylor was very brave and jumped right in! It was a bit chilly to go for swim, so they went for a dip instead. Keetley and I went for a splash, thanks to Taylor jumping across the pool. We lasted less than 10 minutes.
I wish fatty rolls looked as cute on me as they do on this little darling! Poor little thing has some teeth coming in and just didn't feel good. I think the cool water on her feet felt the best, but it was much to cold for she and I to enjoy it.
I got in a good run down to the mailbox and back, and the boys had a blast on the trampoline.
Grandpa was a trooper and kept the boys so Grandma, Deseret, her fake baby for FCS, Keetley and I attended the General Women's Meeting together at the stake center in Grace. Then Grandpa met us at the bottom of Fish Creek with kids and we all drove to our respective homes. While it rained all the way home, and gave me time to reflect on the uplifting meeting, I couldn't help but think that everyone should have gone potty before getting in the car. Hehehehe! Good thing it was dark, raining, and I have boys.
The rain, turning into giant white snowflakes wrapped up our warmish and fun week of Spring Break! Maybe next year we'll plan something extraordinary....like a ski trip up North, or a bike trip down South...or maybe not.
It was nice to just have a week "off". And just Be.
The first thing the kids wanted to do when we got to Grandma and Grandpas was go swimming!
Tanner refused to get in, saying it was "too cold"....Taylor was very brave and jumped right in! It was a bit chilly to go for swim, so they went for a dip instead. Keetley and I went for a splash, thanks to Taylor jumping across the pool. We lasted less than 10 minutes.
I wish fatty rolls looked as cute on me as they do on this little darling! Poor little thing has some teeth coming in and just didn't feel good. I think the cool water on her feet felt the best, but it was much to cold for she and I to enjoy it.
I got in a good run down to the mailbox and back, and the boys had a blast on the trampoline.
Grandpa was a trooper and kept the boys so Grandma, Deseret, her fake baby for FCS, Keetley and I attended the General Women's Meeting together at the stake center in Grace. Then Grandpa met us at the bottom of Fish Creek with kids and we all drove to our respective homes. While it rained all the way home, and gave me time to reflect on the uplifting meeting, I couldn't help but think that everyone should have gone potty before getting in the car. Hehehehe! Good thing it was dark, raining, and I have boys.
The rain, turning into giant white snowflakes wrapped up our warmish and fun week of Spring Break! Maybe next year we'll plan something extraordinary....like a ski trip up North, or a bike trip down South...or maybe not.
It was nice to just have a week "off". And just Be.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Pinterest Success....er....not.
It's spring break around here. It's also in the mid 60's...65 degrees to be precise. My kids could be playing on a slip-n-slide or with water balloons, but *I* wanted to try this:
It's a newspaper fort, in case you're not well versed in the brains of parents who have nothing better to do, or kids who are super creative!!!
I found it on pinterest last night. Pinterest is such a time waster, in more ways than one.
I figured that after our AWESOME (and I honestly mean that!) 30 minute piano lessons (they each did a 30 minute practice and we are going places, let me tell ya!), they needed somewhere fun to read.
Why the heck not a newspaper fort? Our neighbor generously donates his newspapers towards our heating bill (aka, the wood burning monstrosity of a stove we feed every day), and we were getting a bit of a pile-up.
So I stopped at Staples, for....a stapler, since my cute little boys broke mine a few months ago. We came home and promptly started rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling....
...and rolling till we had a pile of 48 (the recommended amount) rolled and taped paper tubes.
Being the DIY'er that I am, I didn't bother to read the instructions, we just started rolling and taping single sheets of newspaper. Half-way into stapling them into triangles, I realized we needed to probably do 3-4 sheets per roll.
Oh well. (Ryan just walked past and said, "Thanks for making it easy for me to start a fire tonight!")
We got one done, and I decided that each boy should have their own little reading space to avoid any FIGHTS....because you KNOW there's going to be a fight in a glass house.
At least one child was enjoying it! Tanner was having a hay-day with my camera, too.
By the time I (yes....I am the only one left working this circus) finished the second house, there were no rules remaining. The whole "triangle contraption" went out the window because some kids don't know how to roll corner-to-corner, resulting in very short tubes.
The frustration in the picture above is clearly evident.
What I thought would take us 30 minutes to build, took about 3 hours....and that last 2 hour time frame was just me and the newspaper tubes....and a baby who turned black from newsprint. Took more than 10 minutes to clean up her shredded mess. LOL!
Well...now that everyone is outside enjoying the sunshine, I'm going to cozy up in that Newspaper Fort with a good book and read....for as long as it is quiet!
Monday, March 24, 2014
Time does not stop
I often think that if I could just 'freeze' this moment, all would be right with the world....but time does not stop. Nor will it ever.
Keetley is growing up much to quickly! She's only 10...wait! 11 1/2 months old!
Some day she'll be our little dancer. She just realized she can stand for a moment before toppling over.
I am thinking the baby legs are much cuter with just the baby and not the whole outfit. Hehehehe! Ruffles, piggie tail, and all!
I know that she is doing as she should be...but I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO not ready for my baby to be learning how to walk! She's too little. She's too sweet. She's not yet one!
That's it. I want time to stop RIGHT NOW!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Time Out For Women
I, my mom and my sister, Deseret, had an awesome chance to attend Deseret Book's Time Out For Women Event here in Idaho Falls.
It.Was.AMAZING!!! It did not disappoint!!!
I thought I'd have a page of notes for each day....and came away with at least a page from each speaker, and a very long list (that had to be reasonably whittled down) of things to implement NOW to be a better wife, a better mother, and a better person.
We tried to get some pictures, but either someone is squinting, or I have a silly curl in the middle of my forehead, or we're not looking at the camera. LOL! Oh wait...here's one. Taken at the end of the day, when our makeup had been wiped off with the backs of our hands for crying, our lipstick gone from snacking, and our shirts wrinkled from sitting.
THANK YOU mom, for this wonderful weekend! Thanks also goes to Ryan for being an amazing daddy and having fun with the kiddos while expanding our garden!
And for your viewing pleasure:
 |
| someone else had a time out today, too! |
There was a LOT of mud to be washed down the shower drain! I think we used half a bottle of soap and shampoo getting these boys squeaky clean for Sunday.
My new focus includes: recognizing the gifts that my children bring to our family, and helping them to develop those gifts; come to know that God made me the mother of my children (they were meant for me!); being patient with myself because God is patient with me.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
being a mom
There are some chores I procrastinate till they must be done. Laundry and dusting my blinds and cleaning window tracks make the top of that long list.
However, there are some tasks that I find therapeutic, like vacuuming, organizing the kids' drawers, making beds, ironing and making bread.
I could make bread every day and not even feel bad about it. I might gain a thousand pounds, but I will never tire of tasting the yeasty dough, rounding the loaves, taking them from the oven and slicing a heel to make sure it tastes good, always with room temperature butter (not margarine!) and homemade jam.
Today I had a helper! She wanted that dough hook as bad as I wanted that scrumptious and freshly ground whole wheat dough!
Tried a new recipe, and it turned out pretty good (getting used to swapping butter for coconut oil)! You know you're obsessed when you have more than one "whole wheat bread" recipe book, and you keep checking more out from the local library on a weekly basis.
Needing both my hands for loaf making, and Keetley needing lunch, I had to set her down for a few minutes. :) Such a cutie, my darling daughter, piggie tail and all!
My favorite tool: a retro-electric heating pad from the 60's, given to me by my mother-in-law for a kinked neck and backaches during my pregnancy with Tanner....It has stayed in my kitchen, and the cover washed, because it is the heat source for raising these beauties!!!
And of course these loaves were gone by the time I got around to taking a picture of the finished product. We ate one and gave the other three away.
Being a mom includes many joyful moments, but this is probably my favorite. ♥
However, there are some tasks that I find therapeutic, like vacuuming, organizing the kids' drawers, making beds, ironing and making bread.
I could make bread every day and not even feel bad about it. I might gain a thousand pounds, but I will never tire of tasting the yeasty dough, rounding the loaves, taking them from the oven and slicing a heel to make sure it tastes good, always with room temperature butter (not margarine!) and homemade jam.
Today I had a helper! She wanted that dough hook as bad as I wanted that scrumptious and freshly ground whole wheat dough!
Tried a new recipe, and it turned out pretty good (getting used to swapping butter for coconut oil)! You know you're obsessed when you have more than one "whole wheat bread" recipe book, and you keep checking more out from the local library on a weekly basis.
Needing both my hands for loaf making, and Keetley needing lunch, I had to set her down for a few minutes. :) Such a cutie, my darling daughter, piggie tail and all!
My favorite tool: a retro-electric heating pad from the 60's, given to me by my mother-in-law for a kinked neck and backaches during my pregnancy with Tanner....It has stayed in my kitchen, and the cover washed, because it is the heat source for raising these beauties!!!
And of course these loaves were gone by the time I got around to taking a picture of the finished product. We ate one and gave the other three away.
Being a mom includes many joyful moments, but this is probably my favorite. ♥
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
So Happy
I love these little monsters of mine. They find joy in the simplest of forms: Playing with baby sister on their bed, building blocks and making her giggle!
I cannot believe that in less than a month, she's going to be one year old! Crazy at how quickly times goes by.
Tanner is working on a 'collection' requirement for Cub Scouts....can you guess what he is organizing for his collection???
Yup. Stickers. He has THOUSANDS of stickers (some of those are books of 2-1000 stickers!). The more we do together, the more I realize he is so much like me. Maybe that's why we don't always see eye-to-eye.
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