Merry Christmas!

Since life has been so crazy these past few months, our Christmas cards are running late!

We just wanted to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas! We send love and good wishes for all in the New Year!

As we celebrate this fun day we also want to remember the real reason for this special day!

 

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

 

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Smiles and kisses

Lathen has grown so much. He is now 4 months old and is rolling all over. He smiles whenever he sees my face and cries when I walk out of the room. He usually is a pretty happy fellow until he is hungry or wants to be picked up. He has started sticking his tongue out, blowing raspberries, and eating his toes. He loves sitting in his Bumbo especially if Lucy sits with him and entertains him!

Silly smile

His serious look

Hanging out in his Bumbo with Lucy.

Lucy was being a mess and kissing "pretty,pretty Lulu" in the mirror

She then decided Lathen needed kisses too. He loves her attention!

 

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SPOOKY, SPOOKY!!!

I know I'm a bit late with a Halloween post, but I have a good excuse! ;) It's called life! Hehe! Well this week life has given me a wake up call and told me to slow down. My oldest, Cooper, came down with strep and the flu at the same time. Crazy! So we have been home bound for 5 days now. I have been cleaning and sanitizing like a crazy women in hopes of keeping the baby from getting it. We shall see if all my efforts pay off. But for now I am taking a break from the madness of decontaminating the house and having a little fun posting photos to my blog!

On Halloween Eve we invited over the Britt cousins to battle off with pumpkin carving! Of course we waited till the last minute to get any pumpkins and only the odd shaped pumpkins were left.

Team Blaine with Older kids Coop and Emily directing him.

Team Ben with younger kids Ava and Carter telling him how to cut it.

Finished pumpkins! We decided they were equally spooky and both teams won! Yea!

Crazy kiddos! I tried multiple times to get a normal picture. This was the best one!!!!! Lol :)

Dressed up on Halloween for school. Super Carter and Dracula Cooper. They just picked random costumes from years past since I still had not finished their costumes at this point. Nothing like waiting till the last minute right?!

Halloween 2013!

I finished their costumes in the nick of time! They were Jedi from Star Wars! Carter had a bad night that night so sadly this is the only picture I got of him. He jumped off the couch with a pen in his mouth and jabbed it down his throat! He cried and was upset most of the night.

Lucy had a blast though!!! She did not like the Spookies, but loved all the treats! She was the cutest Minnie Mouse ever! I Loved having a girl to dress up for Halloween this year! She let me put makeup on her and was loving doing the girly thing!

Little man was a pumpkin, thanks to the thrift shop where I found his outfit for a $1.00 at the last minute! :) He was a cutie though!

Since we live far from most houses we just did trunk or treat at our church. It stormed that night so it turned into an indoor acticity, but the kids had fun (except Carter, who was upset all night). Jedi Cooper with zombie bride cousin Emily.

Lucy had a blast getting candy!

Jedi Cooper getting in on the candy action.

Proof that Blaine and I were there! Don't you think Blaine's daddy costume turned out awesome! LOL :) Joking!

 

 

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Thoughts

I don't do personal posts very often, but I have a lot on my mind lately. Here are some random thoughts, that I just needed to get out.

~Owning and running ones own practice is a lot of hard work and stress.

~Paying off student loan debt stinks as does housework! I love the reward at the end though! :)

~Gossip hurts!

~Living in a small town has its perks and it's downsides.

~Babies are EXHAUSTING but oh so cuddly and lovable!!!!!

~Days are long, but years are short.

~Being a mother is emotionally, spiritually, and physically draining. I have been forgetting to take time to refill these things.

~2 year olds talk a lot (most of which I cant understand) and have a lot of meltdowns! ;)

~Vacuuming keeps me sane (the sound and motion is therapeutic, plus it drowns out baby crying or toddler whining)! :)

~Yes,I have my hands full, but that's the way I like it. I would probably be bored otherwise! ;)

~We have a most gracious and loving Heavenly Father who loves us and knows each one of us personally! Never forget that!

 

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Fall is in the air

I am loving the cooler weather we've had lately and it has put me in the decorating mood. Along with the cooler weather we have been enjoying the boys soccer games and doing more outdoor activities. I very rarely get any pictures of these said "outdoor activities" because I usually have the baby strapped to me and honestly it's just too much effort to pull out the camera. But while the baby is taking a nap I really enjoy decorating things at the house and taking pics.

Front door cuteness! Even though NOBODY comes down my road! Lol :)

The boys are on different soccer teams but ended up with the same color jerseys.

MIss Lou on the train at the zoo. She was SO EXCITED to ride on the train!!! I don't think I have ever seen her smile so big!

Lathen is growing like a weed and has turned into the most smiley baby! His smiles make my day!

My Halloween chalkboard. I have had so much fun changing the chalkboard for the seasons. The kids keep asking to draw on it and I have been telling them no. It has become "moms" chalkboard and they know they had better not touch (they have a kids chalkboard in the playroom, but mine must seem bigger and better)!! Lol ;)

 

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Spray paint DIY

Lately, I've been so busy being a mom of 4 (soccer, cub scouts, piano, gymnastics, church, nursing a hungry 3 month old, homework, studying for tests, dinner, grocery shopping, housework, and all the in-betweens) that I've been neglecting blogging, picture taking, and DIY crafting. Which are all the things I love and keep me sane. But, last week I decided to throw a going away party for a neighbor, which forced me to make time to craft some DIY decorations. I decided I wanted to make a large chalkboard to write a message on for the main focal point of the decorations (I didn't get any pictures of the party, because I was so busy). Anyway, that's when the spray paint fun began! Blaine found a fabulous shade of aqua spray paint (Rustoleum Seaside in gloss) at Home Depot and I started spray painting anything that wasn't bolted down! LOL :) Not really, but I had some beat up bar stools and an old paper towel holder that were just dying for some new paint. I love taking old things and changing them to make them look different!

DIY magnetic board/chalkboard

First, Blaine cut a piece of crown molding to the correct angles and nailed them together to form a frame. Then I caulked the seams and spray painted the frame. Next, I took a piece of sheet metal (they cut if for Blaine at Home Depot) and spray painted it with chalkboard paint(several coats with sanding in between). Last, I glued the sheet metal to the back of the frame. This happened over several days since I had to let it dry in between coats of paint.

TA-DA! I drew a cute design that went with the theme of the going away party. It was the perfect focal point for the party! I really like it in my living room also! I have changed the design for Halloween. I will post a Halloween post later. Who knew I would have so much fun drawing on a chalkboard?!

Here are the spray paints and glue I used in case you were wondering.

By the way this is what happens when you are painting and the two year old is tending herself! I have no clue why she is wearing a bib and colored in tiger stripes. She kept telling me something about the cartoon Daniel Tiger. Who knows?! Lol ;) She wasn't happy about me taking her picture.

After finishing the chalkboard I had the itch to paint something else. I finally decided my old bar stools needed a makeover. A little bit of primer and a couple coats of paint later transformed my old barstools into aqua beauties!

And last but not least I spray painted an old paper towel holder for my kitchen. Bright and cheery for a pop of color!

So now go get your spray paint on and transform something old into something beautiful!!!!! It's cheap and a lot of fun!

 

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House Tour

I have always taken pictures of each house we have lived in for the kids (and me) to remember it by. It is always fun to look back and show the kids their old rooms and such. Plus, I thought it would be an easy way to show the home owners a view of their rental house since they live in Utah. And seriously, sometimes it's just plain rewarding to clean a house from top to bottom and then take pictures to look back on whenever your house is a total disaster! :) Here's to happy, clean house memories!

Living Room

Those freshly vacuumed carpet lines make me SO happy!!! ;)

I really need to update pictures. Poor Lathen is not in a single one.

Kitchen

The kitchen is kinda plain, but I LOVE the chevron table runner my mother-in-law quilted for me!

Play Room

The play room is my favorite room in our rental house. It is so nice to be able to keep all of the toys and video games in one room out of view of the living room.

Ahhh, so clean and organized.

Just looking at this picture makes me all relaxed when in real life the playroom is a hot MESS!!!!

Homework/Reading/Art/Quiet Room

This room is the boys favorite room, since its where they play Legos, draw, and read.

Boy's Room

Kid's Bathroom

I love my towel hook!! For the first time ever each child has their own towel and they stay off the floor!! YEA!!

Lucy's room

Front Porch

My view from my front porch. I told you I lived in the middle of nowhere! :) It is very pretty and peaceful in the middle of nowhere, but I long for just a few neighbors (the deer, raccoons and turkeys do not count) and a paved road! LOL!

I did not take pics of our bedroom and bathroom because I never got around to painting or decorating those rooms. Plus, our bedroom is still the dumping ground for the last few unpacked boxes. UGH!!! And yes, we still have unpacked boxes a year after we have moved. BOO!! ;(

 

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