Snugglies

My mom wants pictures of her grandbabies to hang on her walls and here are my favorites from the other day. The blanket was Corban's so all three of my babies are represented.

Lovely Moment

Best moment of my day so far:

We went to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather for the 3rd day in a row but it wasn't then.

Gage took a long nap while Kendall was at school but it wasn't that either.

It was actually while I was cleaning.

Kendall's usual chore is to pick up everything off the floor and put it on the couch and then I put things away from there. It's very helpful and really speeds up the cleaning process. She has been bored with that job lately so today as she was cleaning up she suggested another one that she wanted to do, scrub the tile floor in the kitchen. Um, yes please! So she picked up the floor and then I gave her our spray bottle with cleaner and a rag and she started scrubbing. I was doing the dishes and Gage turned off the tv and was watching us. I started singing Silent Night and they BOTH started singing with me. We were all smiles and the atmosphere was really lovely. I hate chores and cleaning but it was such a happy moment.



Now we're getting ready to go to Tepanyaki with my parents. A good day indeed!

BOO!

We had a great Halloween. Productive in the morning and full of treats in the evening. Grammy, Papa, Katy, Ollie, Lily, Charlotte, and Michael all came over for dinner and trick or treating.

Thanksgiving Point

Katy and her kids came up from Vegas for Halloween and we took the kids to Thanksgiving Point for some Halloween fun. It was snowing when we got there (thank you UTAH) and was really cold the whole time we were there. The older kids didn't care much and had a really good time. Gage had fun but was shivering really bad and became VERY cranky at the end. He and I ended up sitting by the fire under a blanket while everyone else finished playing. We went to the mall for some lunch after that and Gage was coughing the whole time. Turns out he was having an allergic reaction to something, we think pecans, and ended up breaking out in hives. Other than that, it was a fun day.

Halloween Party

Kendall had a lot of fun at her class' Halloween party. Dress up, games, and get candy? What's not to love?!

Ugh

It's snowing outside.


To say I am displeased would be a gigantic understatement.


The kids, however, are thrilled.

Success!

I had a short, thanks to the rain, shoot with some friends today. It was short and their SUPER adorable baby girl wasn't feeling the whole thing but I think we got some super cute shots all the same.

My sleepy boys

Every weekend Dave ends up napping. He usually falls asleep on our couch but he also LOVES to be warmed by the sun. A couple weeks ago I walked downstairs to find this...



Dave asleep on a blanket on our TILE floor. I can't imagine the sun was worth the trade of sleeping on the hard floor but that's just me.

Gage has been napping on the couch lately, if he naps at all, and I caught a picture of him yawning as he was waking up recently.



I love my sleepy boys.

Wedding Cake Pops

I saw these wedding cake pops on Bakerella's website and wanted to try them. I don't have a real reason to make them other than my baking energy has been building and I have wanted to try to make cake pops for awhile now. All I had was a white cake mix and these sprinkles so that's what I went with. I want to make a chocolate batch and see if I like that better, these ones were just okay. I want to try to decorate them differently too. I have some different colored candy melts so I can try pumpkins and make the mint oreo truffle pops I'm going to make this weekend green. But they were fun and easy to make so I think I'll keep practicing and call it a success.





Gage wanted to help me set up the shot and kept putting his trains in the way. Looks good I think!



I made some in the cake shape and some round and a few heart shaped. The round was the easiest and I'll use that shape for some jack-o-lantern ones this weekend.

Finished

I finished editing Secelie's pictures and I think there are some really cute ones. I hope she likes them. Here are a couple more.

Sundance

I don't know why we don't go up there more often, it's beautiful and it's close.

Recent pictures.

For fun.

Secelie's kids

I met my freind, Secelie, and her kids in Provo today for a photo shoot. Her kids were so cooperative and friendly and super super cute.

Playing in photoshop.

Learning lots. Thank you Katy and ilovephotography.com









Before sharpening and after.

Holiday crafts

Today is cold and rainy and feels very Fallish. To me Fall means the beginning of the Christmas season so I've spent some time today looking at different holiday craft ideas on marthastewart.com. Nobody does it like Martha after all. I think I'm going to make different types of wreaths to hang about the house including a new ornament wreath since the kids recently destroyed mine from last year. Here are a few that I liked that I might try to attempt in the next couple months if the mood hits.



I'd probably use different colored gumdrops.


And different sized jingle bells.




It's funny, all the wreaths I like are ones that are made from something other than the traditional greenery. Figures.

I'm trying to narrow down the who and what part of presents. It's super fun for me and I'm excited for Halloween to be done so I can feel justified in getting started on gifts. Here are a few ideas for friend, neighbor, mail carrier, home teacher, visiting teacher, kindergarten teacher, anyone else gifts.

Tea cup candles. I'd do this if I could find cheap tea cups at DI or online.


Custom Christmas CDs. Burn your favorite holiday tunes on a cd.


Make some treats and include some of your favorite recipes on recipe cards.


Mulling sachets. I'd probably only use these to make the house smell nice since I don't actually like the taste of mulled cider but other people might like them.


I'm excited to make other decorations too and am often drawn to paper crafts because I know they can be cheap and Gage can't break them. He can, and does, crumple and rip them which is where the- I'm glad it was cheap- comes in. I collect angels and I want to make these paper plate angels to put in the tree or hang somewhere.



I've been wanting to make an advent calendar for years and I think I'll try to do something like this box one. I wonder if the dollar store has little boxes I could paint.



And of course we'll make homemade ornaments. Or at least I will and Kendall, and maybe Gage, will help as much as they're able and allowed. Dave can help too if he wants and does a good job. :) Here are a few new ones I want to try.













Christmas is pretty much the only holiday I decorate for. I might put out a candle or dish for some other holidays and I put out a couple pumpkins for Halloween but that's about it. But if I did decorate for other holidays, and I could guarantee I, my kids, or husband wouldn't sneak from this, I'd love to make this candy topiary for Halloween.