Insanity

So, I've been pretty busy lately. At one point I thought I was going out of my mind, and maybe I am. Who knows?

While the girls watch a movie and I avoid folding laundry and getting dressed for the day, I am going to blog. It has been too long on this family blog. I've been blogging a lot over at Bonne Nouvelle (check out all the parties, recipes and tutorials here http://shopbonnenouvelle.blogspot.com/. ). And I've been busy everywhere else in my life. Ready to listen? I need to vent. You'll get tired and might need to take a treat break but please come back and visit?

In a nutshell, if you don't have the energy to read the whole thing. Basically, I'm a glutton for punishment. So these major events, in addition to regular wifery, motherhood, exercising, domestic houselife, book clubs and such....
**Jocelyn's Birthday Party
**Build dollhouse
**Hotel Hannah
**Super Bowl Party
**10 day diet
**Anne of Green Gables
**Hotel Hannah
**Potty Party
**Puppy Dog
**Eye Surgery
**Church Video
**Moving

I thought that once Christmas was over I'd have a slower speed of life but that wasn't the case. Jocelyn's birthday is two days after Christmas and it was her year to have a birthday party again (I let them celebrate with friends at ages, 4, 5, 7 and every other year after that, if that). So we celebrated in January. I also decided to get her another huge Christmas/birthday present this year. It may seem unfair to you since she got the kitchen last year but this gift was really for both girls. And my way of justifying it is staying within my birthday/Christmas budget and keeping it comparable to Samuel's, which it was. So I scouted KSL for several months and found a Barbie sized house for $40 that needed some TLC so I gave it an update. I'll reveal that later on when I complete the finishing touches. Okay, sorry, this is turning into a VERY long post. So week one was devoted to her Alice in Wonderland Tea Party birthday party. Week two--the dollhouse. A little break.

Then Hotel Hannah reopened for the season. Troy and Jana and their boys came for a weekend visit. It was great to have them visit with us though it certainly showed Cecily's terrible two's side :( We made a visit to SLC to the aquarium and signed a lease on a new place in SLC! (we'll be moving in April). But they also decided they were going to buy a puppy which got Tyler to thinking (again) about that notion.....which got me to thinking about that notion......

Then the the next day we hosted a Super Bowl party. We had about 20 people at our house for that from Tyler's study group. We love that group and had a lot of fun. I didn't watch a lick of the game :)

For the next two weeks it was drama with the landlord and management company for the new place we were going to move to. We ironed that out. But there were several late nights in which Tyler and I discussed getting a dog. There are so many cons to getting one. We were never "dog people". But after having struggles with Samuel's behavior I felt it was right for him and the kids. So we researched and prepared for a dog!

Plus, I was on a 10 day diet! Trying to lose weight. It worked but I think I've already gained it back.

Then Valentine's Day. It was off to a great start with chocolate waffles and strawberry cream. Personal love notes and candy. But by the end Tyler was sick and went to bed early. I ate ice cream and my new favorite candy, junior mints.
In the meantime I was planning a potty training party (you can read about it here) and auditioning for a play. Then Tyler's family announced they were coming for a visit over President's Day weekend. The ENTIRE family, the same weekend that rehearsals started and this party was happening. So I kindly invited them to leave for the morning of the party and they cordially helped me with party prep. They were okay with that :) So we had four adults sleeping on our living room floor. Two nephews in Samuel's bedroom, two adults over in the extra room at my grandma's (across the driveway). Then the other two sisters (and an extra friend) stayed over at Tyler's married sister who is going to BYU. 13 adults and 5 children I fed and hosted for 4 days. Wow, talk about exhausting. Fun but exhausting. Home cooked meals, Just Dance on the Wii, card games, talking and visits from the pups that were coming home after everyone left. We finally finished up Tyler's sisters wedding portion of the DVD that we were commissioned to make for her October wedding. We handed those off to his parents and can sigh that we don't have any wedding videos to make anytime soon. Phew.

So Tuesday, the day after everyone left, rehearsals commenced (I got into a PLAY! Anne of Green Gables, the part of Marilla!!! Talk about scary. Fun but intimidating for that role. So far, it's going a lot better than I thought and I don't have to play her like she's 60 years old). Come and see it if you're in Utah!

Tuesday afternoon we picked up Zoey, our new pet puppy. She's a lab/retriever mix. More on her in another post. You can see photos on Facebook.

Two days later Jocelyn went in for eye surgery. She's had an eye that has crossed for about 1 1/2 years and it was getting worse. So we took her into a specialist. A patch or glasses wouldn't fix the problem so she had surgery. She handled it well. The first day was miserable, she was in pain. But after that she's been handling it well. Her eyes are still bloodshot (and will be for another week). I'll blog about this too and show scary pictures of her eyes.

But this "semester" of life is not yet over. I still have lines to memorize and a video to make for our Relief Society activity coming up in March. Then moving. I've contemplated participating in a boutique up in SLC, one that I've done before, but that would involve more stress and a lot of time sewing. I think I'll have to say "no" to that  which makes me sad but I've got to give somewhere. This church activity is the last "big" one I'll get to plan for this ward. It entails a lot of work though (and creativity on my part) and I'm tired just thinking about it. But happy about what it'll end up with (a video involving portraits taken by a talented photographer in the ward, visiting teaching messages, service vignettes filmed of sisters in our ward, and history all rolled up into a 20 minute program made on Adobe Premier). Plus I still have a closing social to plan for our Law Partners group (of which I am a board member) for 100 people in April. Crazy!!

So, yes, we are moving in April, the day after graduation. We found a walk-out basement home in a nice neighborhood in downtown SLC that allows pets. It has a horribly small kitchen, large yard and 4 bedrooms. It'll do for the next two years. Tyler will be working for a Law firm in SLC while studying for the Utah bar. Then next year he'll clerk for a judge in SLC for one year. So we know what we'll be doing for the next 22 months of life.

You tired? I am. But having FUN! I'm trying not to think of this as survival mode. I'm trying to cherish these last few months of living on student loans, wic, and a student schedule. Life is changing! We're growing up and growing closer together. I look forward to another good year!

Thanks for listening! Please leave a comment letting me know you're still there :)

The 5 minute visit

We went. We froze. We remembered. We headed up to SLC to redeem our Aquarium passes and while we were up there we decided to use our restaurant.com credit ($3 a gift card for $25 gift card, sure!) and then head to Temple Square. Rose, my sister, took a break during her finals to come to the Thai restaurant with us (Pad Thai was amazing!) and then we went to Temple Square to show the kids the lights. Oh....my....coldness! We were unprepared for how cold it was. No gloves or hats. Cecily was shaking she was so cold. It was terribly terribly cold. So we parked far away. We walked to reflecting pool. Looked at the nativity. Took 3 pictures and left. That was it. I hope the children remember what they saw because it's a beautiful thing. The nativity at Temple Square is magnificent and magical. The lights are stunning and it was a pleasure to go, even for 5 minutes.

Thanksgiving

We went out to Colorado for Thanksgiving. We decided to surprise his family and arrive early. So we left at 5pm after Tyler's class got out  (more like 5:45, Hannah standard time) and got there at 1:15 am. Yikes! But the kids traveled great. We only stopped once for gas and it was worth it to be there for one extra day.

The whole week was filled with laughter, shopping, gaming, swimming and of course, eating.

 The ambush for the return of Steph and Papa from their trip to Wisconsin (they brought us some nice Venison too. Yum!)

Carson turned 3! And guess what cake he requested? A car wash cake. No kidding. Jana is such a good mom and obliged this request. I would have suggested my child come up with an easier cake to make! And look how creative she was! That's coconut on the giant marshmallows and fruit roll-up flaps complete with a rice krispie treat car and cookie wheels.

 The kids playing at the piano. They also enjoyed swimming and visiting the Colorado Winder Farms (haha, actually the Spencer's home) to pick up the daily carton of chicken eggs, visit the cat Cookie and tried not to break any limbs on their zip line. Forget about chuck-e-cheese, when you have such a sweet backyard!

 The guys decided to make a trip to the local thrift store and buy some ugly outfits to surprise us all.

 Giving Thanks

I made some rosemary place settings, waaay too much cornbread stuffing (which we ate for the next week),and Tyler made 5 gourmet pumpkin (custard) pies. Then of course, we had the good stuff.

 Tyler and I being matchy matchy. Oh, and as a side note...I've noticed people eying my belly, friends even, and I know what they're thinking. And you're wrong! It's just fat!

 Samuel obsessing over cousin Nathan's ipad game, plants vs zombies (I think?)

A shameless plug!

Okay, so I realize I haven't posted in like....nearly a month. But I have more so on my other blog. I've been busy! Or maybe my priorities all mixed up?
Well, this priority is not really mixed up....trying to save money so I can send you all (well, some of you perhaps) cute Christmas cards. And to save myself even more money I just have to blog about my latest projects!
I used Shutterfly because a friend of mine got to host a Shutterfly party, balloons and all. (it was free for her) and for going we went home with a bunch of free stuff too. I got 20 deluxe Christmas cards, a free 8x8 book and then for sharing it I received free shipping plus a 7x9 photo book. Sweet! So now to save even more money to get even more deluxe Christmas cards to send out to you fun friends, I have to blog about it. There, I said, shameless plug. But seriously though, I LOVE Shutterfly. 

I've used them for several projects in the past including photo cards last year, photo books and calendars! Love them!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Twilight Woods Giveaway

Hi! I am hosting a giveaway on my other blog. Check it out here to see how to enter. Adding entries ends on Monday night at midnight (November 14th). Just click on the image and it'll take you there. Good luck!

Halloween 2011

Halloween has come and gone already! Halloween!?! Wow, the time is flying....eek!

Honestly, I've been thinking about costumes since....January or February? I had decided we were doing a theme (which we've never really done before, last year it was a loosely Asian theme). The theme was to be Wizard of Oz. Why? Because a) Cecily had to be the lion because that was her size costume and the other two already wore it. Tradition.  And b) because what little girl doesn't want to be Dorothy? Well, apparently more than I thought, including my own. Jocelyn didn't think Dorothy was pretty enough, even with the ruby slippers. What? Samuel was billed to play the tin man, me the wicked witch and Tyler, the scarecrow.

Well, after Jocelyn announced she didn't want to be Dorothy, Samuel realized he didn't really want to be the tin man. It wasn't cool enough. So, after we told him he couldn't go trick-or-treating if he didn't dress up, I decided to revise my vision a bit to a modern Wizard of Oz. Dorothy with a tutu and apron and Samuel could be a bit more like a robot. And I would be the sassy witch without the green face. So, we were happy with that until my Aunt Mary offered to let Samuel wear my cousin's costume from last year, a clone star wars dude (Captain Fordo, to be more specific). So I weighed my options.....borrow a hand-me-down costume or make a costume from scratch and have a son be sort of happy wearing it. I chose the easy route. So that's what it was, for a day. The theme changed to movie-theme characters. We borrowed the costume the day of two parties...and though he looked really cool and my aunt rocked at coming up with this handmade costume, it didn't fit Samuel well enough and I was worried he would break it during his class party. So he wore it for one day.

On Sunday night, the night before Halloween, I decided to change his costume, once again, and made him a mummy costume (which we had discussed as an aption days before as well). It was super easy to make just took a couple of hours. Now, are you ready for the costume changes for Joc? I know, right? I'm so crazy!! It's only Halloween already!?! But costumes...are costumes. You get to pretend you are someone else. It's like being on the stage or in front of a camera. It's so fun!!

So for Joc.....I borrowed my cousin Micaela's Dorothy costume that her daughter wore last year. But after browsing Pinterest a bit, I saw this cute tutu/apron rendition and thought that might be a nice twist. But first it started with the ruby slippers. I followed a tutorial I found (again on Pinterest) for repurposign shoes. I mod podged red glitter onto some old/ratty shoes Jocelyn wasn't wearing anymore. It only took me about an hour but....that's about as long as the glitter lasted before it all peeled off. Dang. So much for trying to save money (luckily, I already had the materials on hand and it didn't' cost me anything but time) and paid $12 for the Target version. I made the tutu the night before the parade and when Jocelyn woke up at about midnight for her usual nightly waking (she just wanders out of  bed, half asleep, and announces she has to pee or something of that nature) I tried on this borrowed dress with the tutu and it looked...dumb. So the next morning, I quickly made up an apron out of this ugly calico skirt that was the main inspiration in the first place, right before the Law school parade. Then on Saturday, for the other 2 parties, she wore the borrowed gown, and on Halloween day she wore the handmade one again.

Musical costumes!!!Oh, the drama behind the scenes!

 

Law School Parade and trick-or-treating in the carrels. 

Jocleyn is standing behind me, behind Cecily. Joc wasn't brave enough to walk in front :(

This is from a little party we hosted.

 

 

 

For the party my Aunt Allie and Uncle Roger host each year we brought this puking pumpkin. Again, I got the idea from Pinterest. 

 

 Pancake cat breakfast and for dinner we had mummy dogs.

This first group is from the annual Law School parade/and trick-of-treating.

Samuel's school parade:

Trick-or-Treating

Cecily is not pictured because...she didn't go. Call me cruel but she woke up grumpy and refused to eat her dinner and I knew if she went trick-or-treating she'd eat candy the whole way through. I know, but it's Halloween! Well, if she hadn't already gathered candy at the law party, I would have let her go...maybe.
We went out for 1 1/2 hours! We went around our ward boundaries. Our neighbors had a little haunted house in their carport....which freaked my kids out. They didn't admit that until the end of the night. At first, Jocelyn wanted to go through again but by the time we passed it to go home, she insisted she was done and they both confessed they were too scared. It was a bit scarey...luckily they didn't wake up with nightmares. And there was one suspicious neighbor who was waring an ugly mask....who gave out unwrapped candy and had a camera and video-camera. Creepy. No wonder Jocelyn didn't want to take candy from him. But I made her just to be polite. I should have listened to her. Otherwise, they had a great time and between the two trick-or-treating events they gathered 5 lbs of candy! I gave them the choice.....sell their candy to a local dentist office or keep it. If they sold it we'd keep a bowl full for treats and then they'd get to use their money to buy a toy. Luckily, they chose the toy! We took it to the dentist and it was 5 lbs. So $5 later they each had a toy and their candy is going off to soldiers overseas! And I hope that made them feel good. And now we don't have to have sugar wars until Easter....because we won't have as much around.

Lump in my throat....I have a 7 year old!

So......I have a seven year old. A 7 year old! One more year before he is baptized. Wow.
It's been a wonderfully challenging 7 plus 9 months. Samuel has taught me more then I would have ever imagined I could in 7 years. Much much more. The little person that came into our lives has been such a blessing. When he was small, he was so easy. He slept well. He was very personable, always smiling. He was always a picky eater, that hasn't changed. And then hit 4 years old and became a bit more challenging. Then he entered pre-school and we realized he was attracted to trouble, at times. Then he entered public schools and he had more behavioral challenges. Now he is in 1st grade, and although he was off to a rough start, he's grown up a lot in this last month.  Tyler and I hadn't realized how impressionable these children are. They learn so quickly, both good and bad. And when we, as parents, are forgetting or slacking, particularity in the spiritual department, things get rough. I am not sure if it was due to prayer, fasting, consequences, or just my attitude, but he's turning around. I'm turning around. This child, who is still so young, has taught me much about faith, trust and love, and it's been particularly magnified in the last month.

I love this boy. He's so smart and loving. He is still my baby, my first, my guinea pig, my only son. What would I do without him? What would Jocelyn do without him? What would Tyler do without him? Or his papa's and grandma's? And Cecily? We wouldn't be loving and learning as much, that's what.

 He loves his things.

 He loves his friends.

More Lego party details on Bonne Nouvelle, coming to you all week!