Strange...

Strange how we spent a LONG weekend in Utah with family during Thanksgiving and the only pictures we got of Eden and Leila during our entire trip were these....

(p.s. the "teeth" in the first picture are mushroom stems)

But you know, at least you know we had a good time.

Actually, it was a really great time. We spent the first few days with Tyson's family where we played, relaxed, and watched the new Muppet movie.

...um....HIGHLY recommend the Muppet Movie. Totally rocked.

Seriously.

Thanksgiving day we went up to my parent's house and spend a few days with them. We played, relaxed, ate lots of delicious food, and shopped until we dropped (quite literally).

I'm thankful for so many things. I have a wonderful husband and children. I am so thankful that I can stay at home with them and be the mom I've always wanted to be. I'm thankful for family AND in-laws that I get along with so well that we LOVE holidays where we can get together...and even when it ISN'T a holiday they will still get together whenever possible. I'm thankful for being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It gives me a foundation in life that truly guides me to what is right and true and guides me towards the ultimate goal of perfection.

Tyson and I went Black Friday shopping for the first time ever.

This is us FREEZING in the line at Target.

We first went to Walmart where I just about lost all faith in humanity. A little piece of my naive, sheltered life was thrown to the ground and shattered on Black Friday (perhaps there's a reason why its called BLACK Friday....a day of darkness, greed, and selfishness all rolled into one day).

A bunch of my family prepared for the event by going several hours early, standing by the items we sought out to get first dibs.

Then we waited....

More and more people started to pile in....

We waited longer....

People started to get antsy and pushy and aggravated.

We waited some more....

The start of the "dark and dreary night" was to begin at 10:00...but Walmart had it in good faith that if they opened the plastic wrap around the sale items at 9:30 that people would graciously wait until 10:00 with a few Wally World workers there to say "Oh, please don't take that yet."

That didn't take.

I was feeling a little claustrophobic and then 9:30 rolled around.

My claustrophobia turned into.....I'm not even sure the word. But it wasn't a positive feeling.

I was around some nice and well behaved ladies who graciously stood waiting for the clock to chime 10:00.

Then another lady ran us over.

(Lady grabs item we are wanting)

Well Behaved Lady: "Oh, you're not supposed to get things until 10:00."

(glares at us)

Poorly Behaved Lady: "I'll take my chances."

(Runs off with item)

That's when a part of me filled with sadness.

Then craziness ensued.

People grabbed things left and right, ran around like wild animals in search for the last sip of water in a dried up lake, and I sat thinking, "I don't want to grab something that I know I'm not supposed to grab. I mean, rules are rules."

Eventually it got the best of me and I gave in. My family had grabbed their items and I just gave in and grabbed my items (items, by the way, I ended up returning to the store because we decided we didn't want them).

I admit my sins. I took the items before 10:00.

We left Walmart, the place of disgrace and sin, and I was ready to call it a night.

Tyson: "Okay, let's go to Target!"

Me: "You want to go to Target?"

I knew that if I didn't go to Target I would miss out on the opportunity to give Eden an gift I KNEW she'd love. So, I went with Tyson.

We shivered in the cold as we waited in line outside for the clock to strike 12:00.

Everyone around seemed very nice and friendly.

Nobody seemed overly pushy or mean.

Target seemed very under control, police were on stand by, and things were organized.

Some faith was restored. I may never shop with Walmart loonies again, stick with the Target peeps, they have some dignity and goodness.

Then the line wrapped around and people started to worry that once midnight came the people wrapped around would jump "cut in line" and people would turn into raging crazies.

I spend the rest of the hour praying "PLEASE DON'T LET ALL PEOPLE BE BAD!"

My prayers were answered. Nobody cut in line when it was time to go in.

Tyson and I quickly and easily got what we wanted and stood in line to the check out.

I've never seen so many HUGE tv's in a check out line before. (p.s. that's NOT what we got Eden).

Anyhow, that was a long story about how a piece of my heart has been shattered as I realized first hand how many people are willing to lessen themselves just to save $20. Heck, even $200....is it worth your dignity as a human being!!!???

Okay, I really don't think black Friday is all that bad. I don't even feel horrible about taking items before 10:00. But I was sad to see the people out there who didn't seem to care what the workers at Walmart were trying to do, the people who had been waiting for ages to "play fair", and anything other than "getting a good deal".

Alright, off my soap box.

On another note, I actually did get another picture of Eden while on break. Well, actually Aunt Kylie took this picture of Eden and Eva on Santa's lap and sent it to me. Good thing SOMEONE knows how to use a camera. Cause I'm starting to wonder if I know how. Even those pictures above were taken on Tyson's cell phone. I'm so lame.

Santa: "What do you want for Christmas this year?"

Eden: "Toys."

Well, at least she's making it easy for us this year.

All in all, it was a wonderful time in Utah (with the exception of the Walmart incident....)

Thanks to the few (if any) of you who actually read through this entire blog post.

Happy holidays!

Another Craft Project

After my last post and hanging a CHRISTMAS picture up BEFORE Thanksgiving....

I realized that I need to go back in time and not forget fall. Fall is awesome. It deserves a spot in our house.

Inspiration came to me by ways of a library book. A Curious George Thanksgiving book. Thanks George and the Man with the Yellow Hat.

The girls and I went outside with little bags and collected leaves. The girls loved it.

Then we went inside and sifted through the leaves to find the BEST ones.

While Leila slept, Eden and I did leaf rubs and cut them out (alright, I admit that it was mostly me while Eden took the leaves I made and threw them into the air, put them in a box with her doll, and pretended they were other things).

Then I had Eden stand on the dining table (her favorite part) and tape the leaves on the wall. Eden put one leaf way out by itself...then after a while she decided that the leaf needed a friend.

Notice that there are several groups of two where Eden would make "leaf friends".
I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of Eden and Leila as my leaf collectors.....they were so cute.

But here's a picture of Leila the leaf collector after we had collected them all.

She kept giving me these cheesy faces when she looked at me.

All in all, it was a lot of fun. They love it and we'll probably go leaf collecting several more times.

Art Projects

Last post...Halloween...

This post...Thanksgiving...

...and Christmas.

It feels like I've been busier than ever....and yet have NOTHING exciting to blog about. I get out of the house more than I ever have during married life. I've been LOVING life here in Grand Junction. Amazing people. Perfect size city. We even LOVE the housing place that we live in. Well...Eden would disagree with me about the house...

...Eden tells me EVERY DAY "Mom, we need a bigger house." "One with stairs." We keep trying to convince her that smaller is better and finally today she said, "Mom, we don't need a bigger house...just a small house with stairs."

ANYHOW...on to our holiday craftiness.

We babysat for another couple in our ward and we plan to do a regular babysitting swap with them. They have two awesome kids, Isaac and Madelyn.

Project #1: Painting a Turkey

Cereal Boxes

Paint

Hot Glue Gun

I decided it might be nice to have a fun project for the kids to do part of the time. So I cut up some empty cereal boxes and decided to paint them.

I realized that one of the boxes had a "find out if you won the grand prize inside". So in the middle there was a square that said, "Sorry you are not a winner." Eden ask me what it said and after I read it to her I thought, "man, that's a downer." Eden wasn't so impressed either. So, Eden and I decided it was best to cut out the square.

Then I decided to draw a turkey on it with the empty space to put your face through as if you were the turkey. And then I cut out feathers to paint and attach.

The Finished Product:

Eden the turkey.

Isaac the turkey.

Maddy the turkey.

Isaac actually didn't do any painting. That's when I discovered that my challenge babysitting is that I have NO idea how to entertain a 5 year old boy. Luckily Tyson was playing a game on the computer and he was hooked on watching Tyson and asking him questions and figuring out how the game worked. So I was able to play with Eden, Maddy, and Leila with painting while Isaac remained entertained.

Project #2: Manger Scene Picture

Poster Board

Construction Paper

Scissors

Glue Stick

I recently decided to take on the challenge of Christmas decor.

I'm not into holiday decorating...I just hate storing boxes for one month of display. I don't have the storage. I change what I like year to year. I dunno...it just isn't my thing.

But I decided it would be a fun little challenge this year.

Then I realized it really was a CHALLENGE. My budget....little to none. Our landlord is one that you don't want to mess with...so I don't want to add any more holes in the wall or even put up tape that might scrape paint or something. So I thought it out...

I decided my first project...take a picture that is already up in my living room and change it out with a little art project that Eden could be a part of. I mean, that's half the fun, making it something the kids can do with me, right?.

I used construction paper I already had and cut out basic shapes to make a nativity scene. I glued together the manger, sheep, horse, angel, Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus. Then I bought a piece of poster board and cut it to the size of our picture frame.

Then I had Eden place it all where she wanted them to go.

There was only one problem with her positioning...JOY. Er....YOJ....

I mean, obviously not her fault since she can't read. But we did fix that.

I brought out the camera and told her to pick out her favorite piece and let me take a picture of her with it. She chose baby Jesus. Good choice. Very good choice.
She got to gluing and pasting. I did help quite a bit to make sure pieces didn't get ripped, were secured well, and positioned ON the poster board without pieces coming off the edges.
I admit that Leila's contribution to this project was to stay away at all cost. Anytime she came near we almost lost a member of the nativity. This definitely wasn't Leila friendly.

The Finished Project

It might not be an HGTV designer awesomeness, but I like it. Its a cute little project that was cheap, Eden was able to be a part of, and if it gets ruined or I decide to not take it with me to the next move (or even keep it after the Christmas holiday) it cost about $1 to make.

So, those are my recent projects and I plan to do more to celebrate the season.

I've also been inspired to:

Try new recipes

Re-vamp old recipes

Invite people over for dinner and games

Clean the house more often

Exercise regularly

Halloween

Halloween was lots of fun. It is WAY more fun with kids than without them. Eden's school group had a little Halloween party where they painted pumpkins, read Halloween books, practiced trick or treating, decorated sugar cookies, and ate mummy dogs and other deliciousness.

We also had a ward "fall festival" party with a costume contest, chili cook-off, trunk-or-treat, and.....*drum roll* pie cooking contest.

The drum roll is because Tyson signed me up for this pie contest and I've NEVER made a pie in my life. NEVER. Like....EVER. p.s. I don't even LIKE pie much. This was obviously for Tyson's benefit for me to learn to make pie.

I sweat.

I toiled.

I feared.

I made pie....three of them.

Practice pie #1: Basic apple pie. It turned alright.

Practice pie #2: Caramel apple pie. It turned out alright.

For the REAL pie, I chose to do the caramel apple pie because it was a little different than just your normal apple pie. And I was told this pie had RAVE reviews from everyone and their dog. Not MY pie, but when others have made this pie it was a success.

In the end, I didn't win.

Technically, I don't think I was part of the contest. I found out (after it was too late) that I was supposed to NUMBER my pie if it was to be judged. All that sweating and toiling. Ugh.

Tyson may have enjoyed having pie...after pie....after pie. But in the end, he may suffer from lack of pie. Because now even the THOUGHT of pie puts me in a state of panic and I may not eat another pie for as long as I live.

Now on to the cute pictures of my children during the Halloween season...

Leila with a full set of teeth.

She has been growing teeth like a wild-woman..but luckily they don't look like those.

Leila and Eden in the costume contest. Leila an indian and Eden a purple fairy. I wish the pictures were better, but they aren't. I tried to take other pictures of their costumes later and it ended up in complete meltdown...I decided it wasn't worth it.

Someone came up to me after the results and said that they were disappointed that Leila didn't win in the young kids category for cutest because they thought she made the cutest Indian ever and should have won over Frankenstein.

Eden's "loot" that she LOVES. Up until the day Eden GOT the candy she would say, "I can only eat ONE a day or else I'll get sick." Now that she has the candy, she always finds herself saying, "OK, just ONE more."
My Halloween dinner. Stuffed peppers....er....jack-o-lanterns.

In the end, Halloween was a success! The kids loved it and I don't have to make another pie for the rest of my life.

Tyson's Birthday

Tyson's birthday wish....a night without children.

Wish granted.

Present given by Tyson's family.

Thank you.

....Seriously, thank you.

This weekend our little family packed inside the car (along with a several loads of laundry that were screaming "DON'T THROW ME IN THE SAD, COIN-OPERATED MACHINES") and headed to Utah for a short vacation.

Nana, Papa, Macie, Kylie, and Lydia were more than excited to watch the kids overnight. And the kids were more than excited to spend a few days playing, playing, playing (especially at one in the morning).

A family friend let us use their little cabin (which was incredibly adorable) to stay in for one night.

Tyson and I went out to eat, watched a few movies, relaxed, and ate Haagen Dazs ice cream and gelato. Then we slept in until 10, ate breakfast parfaits and a bit more Haagen Dazs and gelato.

Heavenly.

This was Tyson's dream for this birthday. Happy birthday my love.

I admit that I greatly benefited from his birthday present as well. May as well have been MY birthday. :)

Yesterday vs. Today

Yesterday...

Then the day that most mothers with a little girl face came to pass...

Eden took the scissors to her hair.

And I'm pretty sure she took a little chunk of Leila's hair too.

I should have been suspicious when Eden was sitting behind our recliner with scissors.

Even MORE suspicious when Leila went back there, then came to me with a distressed look on her face, tugging on her hair like someone had done something to it....

....like CUT IT.

It started out where I saw a little chunk of hair on the ground. I put Eden in time out.

As I went towards the scene of the crime, I kept finding more and more little chunks of hair. Quite a few "little chunks" of hair ended up a pretty decent sized chunk of hair.

Honestly, I probably could have spared cutting it SHORT. The chunks were in the front, probably hide-able. Even the hair stylist said that she could probably just tapper the front and spare the rest.

But being the mean mother I am....the lesson needed to be taught.

When I told her we had to cut her hair short, she panicked,

"NOOOO! I WANT LONG HAIR!"

Then she tried reasoning with me,

"I won't do it again. Its OK long. I only cut a little."

Then she tried to get rid of the problem....mom,

"Mom, you can't cut my hair because I'm going to sell you to the GYPSIES!"

Even as we traveled to the salon she tried to delay the inevitable,

"I think the salon is closed today."

And then.... *snip snip*

Today...

Although, in the end, I'm probably crying more on the inside than she is.

Things the pictures don't say....

1. Her hair yesterday was in my "experimental side french braid" and had been that way all day long, though a nap, and by the time those pictures were taken...her hair was a bit scraggly.

2. Her hair in TODAY's looks all cute and sweet. But really it only looks that way if her hair is behind her ears....which she can't do by herself and thus is hardly EVER behind her ears.

Overall, its OK.

We survived.

It could have been MUCH worse.

But I hope Eden NEVER does it again.

And maybe I'll luck out....and Leila won't ever try to cut her own hair.

.....maybe....

Then again, Leila could really use a haircut right about now...

Perhaps Eden was on to something.

Women's Conference

What a wonderful breath of fresh air.

Just take it all in.

*Inhale in....Exhale out*

Ahhhh. Wonderful.

I forget how fabulous conference time is. I was so glad that I could go listen to women's conference tonight. It just re-opened my eyes to life and made me feel happy inside.

A peek at what you missed if you didn't attend:

Julie B. Beck talked on the importance of women in the church and the Relief Society as a whole, as well as the importance of visiting teaching and to truly love and care for those you teach.

Silvia Alred talked on charity. The thing that made me think was when she talked about charity not being an ACT but a STATE of BEING to have with you always.

Barbara Thompson talked about cleaving to your covenants. There is so much joy, strength, and comfort that can be given to you if you cleave to your covenants.

Deiter F. Uchtdorf talked about the 5 petals of the "forget me not" flower. 1. Forget not to be patient with yourself. 2. Forget not to sacrifice things that are good for things that are better. 3. Forget not to be happy now. 4. Forget not the "why" of the gospel (remembering the gospel not as an obligation but as a joy, guidance, and pathway). 5. Forget not that God loves you.

Women's conference really made me think about what I should be doing to better myself. It gave me that push in the right direction. Knowing the things I should be focusing on in my life and letting go of the things that, in the end, aren't that important.

If you couldn't attend, go online and read it or listen to it when it is available. Get that breath of fresh air.

This post is short and sweet...very sweet.