One finished gift!

Michele inspired me to create an Amish puzzle ball for Oliver for Christmas. He can't read yet so I'm pretty safe to post this:) Kirsten has already witnessed me putting it together so it's no big secret to her either!  So I have ONE finished gift! Yay me!  I have several other projects to work on so I'm off to get busy sewing.  If you would like to make a puzzle ball yourself you can check out these tutorials here and here.  Have a happy day!

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We had a wonderful day, hope you did too:)

Gotta LOVE that pumpkin pie!

Halloween

We had a fun weekend! Saturday started out with thoughts of Christmas at our Festival of Trees work day, and ended with the girls having a house full of friends for a Halloween party! Lots of kids, Lots of food, and Lots of fun!

Pre-party pics of our flapper, doctor, princess Leia and Yoda!

Sunday evening was much quieter, we had our annual pumpkin carving.  This is one of my favorite things to do for Halloween. Time well spent with my family.

As I'm browsing through the pictures I have to include one more.  Thayne made this awesome jack-o-lantern cheese ball for the party. It turned out great!

MAYHAM----Pathetic Puppy

Ok, so tonight while we were making dinner I look over at the pantry to see our dog, Keyki, laying on a bag of lumpy potatoes inside of our pantry with THREE bags of treats scattered around her.  Our dog is so pathetic.  Just thought I would share this funny moment with all of you.  Have a laugh and have a day.  :)

Ten Things I Love About Fall

1. Crunchy leaves in wonderful colors

2. Pumpkins of every shape and size

3. The smell of cinnamon

4. Pumpkin pie

5. Flannel sheets

6. Soup

7. Halloween costumes

8. Candy corn

9. Extra blankets on the bed

10. Warm air blowing up through the heater vents!

We went to a pumpkin patch last night for family night and here are our treasures!

Thursday Thought

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs

Now to DO IT!

Fall, Fall, My Most Favorite Time of All!

This past weekend I worked up these cute little pumpkins using the tutorial found here. I added the hemp because I felt like they needed a little bit of vine on them. I love them! Keyki loves them too, when I brought them outside to take photos she snatched one off of the bench and I had to chase her around the yard to get it back!  I also spent all morning this morning cleaning out my tomatoes and pumpkin patch. These are the lovely pumpkins that I found (literally) in all the overgrowth.

Pumpkins make me smile:)

Thursday Thought...Life is good!

"If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back." Regina Brett

This is Nathan's shoe, he is working hard and loving it!

Family Room re-do

For a few years now I have been wanting to paint our family room.  The time finally came! I'm glad we waited too because last year I picked up a bunch of paint chips and hung them on the wall so that I could decide which one I liked the best.  They were all shades of tan and gray.  I guess I was in a gray mood last year.  Well, I pulled them all down just a few months ago (classy huh, they were looking like wall art or something after that long!).  We went to Lowes and just picked a color. It's called "Betsy Ross House Moss" it's very cheerful and warm and not gray at all.  Of course since the paint is moss green the forest green carpet had to go...that may be the reason why my projects take some time to happen, because one thing always leads to another.

 Here is our finished family room!

Well, almost finished.  I need to hang the pictures back up and figure out curtains. I hope it doesn't take me years to do that!

Happy Birthday!

We had a fun day yesterday for Katie's birthday! We went to see the final Harry Potter movie, which was awesome! Katie wanted to decorate her own cake so after the movie we worked on her cake, with all of us helping it didn't take much time at all. I think it turned out great!  We took her out to dinner at the Cracker Barrel, then home for presents and cake.  It was a fun day.  Happy Birthday Katie! 

We didn't think that Kirsten would make it to Katie's birthday but she did.  The baby should be arriving on Thursday because her doctor has scheduled her to be induced.

Happy Independence Day!

For the past twenty three years our family has traveled to my Grandparents home's in Salina and Aurora to celebrate the fourth of July in the "small town" way!  We have missed only one year in all those twenty three and that was when I was nine months pregnant with Katie...fast forward to this year and we have Kirsten due to deliver her baby boy, our first grandbaby, any day now!  (Katie is hoping that it's closer to her birthday).  Wow, how quickly the years have gone. We stayed home this year and started our day out with breakfast in the park sponsored by the Lions Club.  This afternoon we parked at the high school and walked down to Main street for the parade.  This evening we'll watch the fireworks with friends.  We love where we live and I'm happy to say that Independence Day here still felt like the "small town" tradition that we love.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July!

The last "entry" of our parade! What a surprise! We love our cousins!!

Summer Reading

I just finished reading "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller.  Loved it!  The basic idea of the book is "Story", and going about creating a good one.  Here's a quote from the book: "If I have a hope, it's that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story, and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, Enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you."
One more favorite quote from the book:

 "The most repeated commandment in the Bible is "Do not fear."  It's in there over two hundred times.  That means a couple of things, if you think about it.  It means we are going to be afraid, and it means we shouldn't let fear boss us around.  Before I realized we were supposed to fight fear, I thought of fear as a subtle suggestion in our subconscious designed to keep us safe, or more important, keep us from getting humiliated.  And I guess it serves that purpose.  But fear isn't only a guide to keep us safe; it's also a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life." 

So I've been thinking lately; What's MY story? 

The girls and I decided to sew ourselves a hobo bag, that was our project for this week. We found a couple of cute tutorials for similar bags here and here. We did lengthen the shoulder strap a few inches but both patterns were great!

Both girls sewing and my bag still on the cutting table.

Finished bags! Katie's bag is from the tiny happy pattern and mine and Hannah's are from the Lula Louise pattern, all of them are reversible. They were so much fun that we took them to the zoo with us today!

Nathan update

So we got our "phone call from the airport" call this morning at about 7:15.  Nathan sounded so upbeat and happy!  I asked him how he's doing and he said "GREAT!"  He was the 'flight leader' for a group of elders and one sister missionary.  It was so good to hear his voice, I don't think he's ever talked on the phone for more than one minute, and he was so talkative!  He said in one of his letters that he has learned to be more outgoing and talkative, that is such a good thing for him!  Their flight left here at 8:30 a.m. and arrived in St. Louis around 11:30.  We shipped his bedding, bike helmet, and other misc. stuff last week and it was due to arrive in the mission home today about the same time as Nathan.  Here is a picture of the quilt we made for him, everyone who came to his luncheon the Sunday before he left had a chance to sign on one of the squares.  I think it turned out really great!

I'm looking forward to sharing in Nathan's mission adventure.

Weekend project

Saturday was such a wonderfully warm day that we spent the whole day outside working in the yard.  I have a spot that I have wanted to turn into a birdhouse garden.  A few years ago I put plastic over the area and killed the lawn/weeds growing there.  The plastic got removed and then the weeds grew back!  It's been that way for a couple of years now, full of weeds and good intentions...  I didn't get a weedy before picture but there were so many that it required a pickup truck and a trip to the dump.  Here is the product of our day's work.

We will put a weed guard down and fill it with decorative rocks to finish it up, but it's a huge improvement from how it looked before.  Plus it helped with my organizing/declutter projects, I was able to get those big posts and the birdhouses and plant hooks out of my garage and shed. Yay!

Next thing I need to work on are lovely little baby boy things. 

Our grandbaby is due to arrive next month! 

Thursday Thought

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize

 they were the big things." Robert Brault

Don't blink....

May

Wow, no posts this month at all.  It's been a busy month and is going by crazy fast! Nathan has finished up work and is taking this week to get things ready for his mission. Really it's so he can spend time with ME before he leaves:) We have a long to-do list to tackle. Wish us luck! 

We have some monster rhubarb growing in our garden!

Thursday Thought

"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."  ~Mary Engelbreit

Spring Break

We're back from our Spring Break Vacation! Check here for some pictures from Nathan and here for a day to day from Thayne. (They've already done all the work for me so why double up on it??)
Have a super day!

Soup for a cold, snowy day...in April

Evenings can get crazy around our house! Coming up with a dinner idea is not my favorite thing to do, but a friend of mine recently gave me this soup recipe that is as easy as opening up a couple of cans. It is so super quick and yummy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 can (26oz. family size) Chicken with Rice Soup
1 can (14-15 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
29-32 oz. chicken or vegetable broth (box, can, or homemade!)
2 cans (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 cup salsa, your favorite
2 cans (15 oz.) black beans, undrained
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
Combine all ingredients, except for the chicken, in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Add chicken; heat through. Top with corn chips and cheese.

It's a pretty flexible recipe too, I threw in some leftover corn and rice from the fridge.
**Also if you have a Bosch you should check out this video from the Everyday Food Storage Blog about shredding chicken with your Bosch. I was SO excited! I cooked some chicken, shredded it all up in just a few seconds and packaged it for the freezer to use in this yummy soup later.

Thursday Thought

"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful."  ~Buddha

Buddha is so very wise! Have a wonderful day everyone!

Thursday Thought

“Some battles are better won by example than by persuasion.” -Chris Guillebeau

This quote came from the author of a book I read recently: "The Art of Non-Conformity".  Doesn't really sound like me does it... I really enjoyed this book though! It's not the idea that I want to travel the world or try to live like Chris Guillebeau lives, but it's more the idea of just living life how I want to and not worrying so much about how life is "supposed" to be.  I was keeping stuff out of guilt..."what will the person who gave me _____ think if they come over and it's not displayed in my home." "Everyone has a _______ so we probably need one too."  My clothes, hair, house, car, etc. etc. etc. "should" be or look a certain way (like other peoples look, of course!)  Anyway, what I learned from the book is to STOP that kind of thinking. 

The quote is from his web-site today, it really made me think about people who just never seem to LISTEN.  Most all the time it is better just to go on living your life and being an example of good, happy things, rather than trying to persuade them to see why you choose to live with a good and happy attitude:)  So that is the thought for the day:

“Some battles are better won by example than by persuasion.”

Project:Simplify Paper Clutter

Week two of Simple Mom's Project Simplify . This week's hot spot is paper clutter... Can I say that when I read the announcement on Monday morning my brain had a meltdown.  Paper clutter is my downfall.  I tend to just stack and think I'll deal with it "later"... later usually comes, well, later when the coupons are all expired and we've missed the event that goes with the invitation that was in the stack, etc. etc.  I've also had a cold all this week, another excuse to skip the project and wait until next week's hotspot.  Nope, I'm STRONG, I told myself, I CAN DO IT!  So I started.  Here are my before pictures:

I had a large pile of recycling that I sent to work with Thayne to be shredded.

And After!  The big file cabinet upstairs also acts as a bedside table.

This smaller file box is in the kitchen and is supposed to hold school papers, store ads, coupons, bills to pay, and other short term items. The idea was to keep it all off the counter.  It's a good system, but I need to use it now! I think I still have some work to do in this area:)  Thanks Simple Mom for the motivation!

Thursday Thought

     "Happiness is an attitude.  We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong.  The amount of work is the same."     ~Francesca Reigler

     Well, if the amount of work is the same, then I CHOOSE Happy and Strong!  Love, Happiness and Strength to you all too!

Project: Simplify

I'm participating in Simple Mom's Project: Simplify! The project this week? My wardrobe and closet.  I had a bit of a jump start on this project because we had gone through our clothes in January and sent quite a pile to the Deseret Industries Trift store.  I turned all the hangers backwards so we could see what we were really wearing and what items we had kept 'just because we may wear them'.  The Project:Simplify gave me the push to go through all my clothes again, a lot of the clothes whose hangers were still hanging backwards were put in the give away pile.  A few are still backwards because it's just too cold to wear them yet! I got rid of a big pile of stuff, I can see and vacuum the floor in my closet now without moving anything! Yay! Here are my pictures BEFORE:

and AFTER:

Now I'm ready for next week!

Thursday Thought

"And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them."  Doctrine and Covenants 109:22

This is my thought for today.  I'm planning to print it out and place it near the door to our home so that when we come and go we can be mindful of the love and power of our Heavenly Father, and so that we can know that we are being watched over.

Baby!

I get to be the next Grandma Atkinson! We're getting a baby BOY...So I have been purchasing little pieces of flannel to make a quilt or a receiving blanket.  Maybe both, but now that we know it's a boy I need to get started. (I was buying both boy and girl fabric up to this point, so the girl stuff will go in the stash for now)

Thursday Thought

"There are two types of pain you will go through in life, the pain of discipline and the pain of regret."
— Jim Rohn

This is a thought that a missionary friend of ours used in his talk this past week.  Hannah said it is also hanging on the wall in her gym class at school.  It really made me think when I heard it, I guess because it applies to everything in life.  The first thing I thought of was the pain I have been having with my lower back.  If I had been disciplined I would have stayed physically fit throughout my life and would not have to work so hard at it now, I am suffering the pain of regret for that.  There is also the disclipline to do what is right no matter the consequences.  Sometimes even when you choose to do the right thing, people get upset with you and you may suffer. NO REGRETS though, because choosing to ignore a situation or to look the other way will always cause the pain of regret.  You could have done something about the situation and instead you choose to ignore it. The pain of regret is always heavier than the pain of discipline.

Nathan News!

Big news from Nathan....But I'm waiting for him to post about it first:)

Thursday Thought

"Remember, a good attitude produces good results, a fair attitude fair results, a poor attitude poor results.  We each shape our own life, and the shape of it is determined largely by our attitude."
Elder M. Russell Ballard

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this thought and have frequent need to remember it.

Happy Anniversary

We had a fabulous weekend in Park City!  Thayne had a business dinner/overnight stay that happened to land right on our anniversary.  It was with a company that he purchases computers from for work.  They paid for the beautiful hotel room at Newpark resort in Park City, and for a dinner (sales presentation) on Friday.  Saturday they had different activities for us to choose from.  We chose to have a massage at Massage Envy (the other options were skiing or snowmobiling).  Thayne had roses and chocolates delivered on Saturday morning.  I felt so spoiled!  What a nice, relaxing weekend.  It really beat last years anniversary which was spent with Thayne in the hospital.  It was difficult to get back to real life when we got home:)

Closet Space

We went through our closet and donated a bunch of clothes a couple of weeks ago. I still think that there are items in there that we are not wearing, so I have turned all the hangers backwards in an effort to narrow it down some more. This is one of those you can't be in denial exercises.  After the clothes are worn and washed they go back in the closet with the hanger the right way.  If, after a season is over, those clothes are still hanging on a backward hanger in the closet then you DID NOT wear them.  They will leave our home...even if we think we should keep them just in case.  This will be a long term project as each season comes and goes.  (Notice the empty space on the shelf above!! That is where the big box of pictures was!! A clutter free spot.)

Finished Scrapbook

Yay! One project done!  This took me almost a month of Sundays to finish but now all the pictures I have of my childhood are in one book instead of eight falling apart magnetic books in a box.  I'm really surprised that all of it fit into one book.  There are no fancy scrapbooking papers, stickers or wavy scissor cuts, just simple white paper and pictures (that is how they were in the old books, so that is how you will see them here.)  Now I have one uncluttered shelf spot in my closet.  Done...now on to the next project!