"The Strangest Things That Have Ever Happened To Me"

Creativity abounds in the mind of my six year old. He really is so clever and smart. He never watches a movie without pen and paper in hand. He'll draw out the story as he sees it and add captions of what is going on. I love watching him do this because this is not something I do well. Art is not my thing.

A few days ago, Hayden had another stroke of genius, but I have to admit...it was partly my fault.

After Family Home Evening, I asked Hayden and Maya to go and brush their teeth. Hayden responded with moans and groans and "I don't want to go to bed!". I finally responded with, "Go brush your teeth, or you'll end up like your older brother!" (please don't think I'm the meanest mom ever! We are big teasers at this houses.)

Hayden stopped, looked at me, and then went and brushed his teeth. Eric and I looked at each other and started laughing. I thought Hayden must not have heard me, since he didn't respond with any questions.

10 seconds later, he poked his head out of the bathroom and asked, "Wait, what big brother?"

"The one that lives in the attic."

Hayden totally accepted this as truth, and started saying things like, "Oh, so that's what all that noise is up there at night."

It took me until the rest of bed time to convince Hayden that I was just joking. He made Eric promise that he could see the attic the next day, just to be sure.

The next day, as promised, Eric lifted Hayden up into the attic. Hayden had a wierded-out look on his face. "It's different than I imagined." he said.

Nothing else was said about it. Later that night, Eric and I took the kids to the gym's day care so that we could exercise for an hour. While Hayden was in there, he started his newest art project.

I give you: "The Strangest Things That Have Ever Happened to Me" art exhibit

First, we have "The Attic".
Here is Hayden with the flashlight looking around the attic. The black balls, are dust, and the brown lines are the wooden planks.

This one is called "The Strange Blue Light".
One time when Hayden was taking a diaper out to the garbage in the dark, the street light that is normally yellow, was blue. That is strange!

This one is called "Black Out".
While Hayden was watching a movie with his cousin and some friends, the power suddenly went out and left them in complete darkness.

I think its a pretty great exhibit, myself!
I think Hayden works through a lot of his emotions while coloring. After he drew these pictures, he hasn't said a word, or asked about the attic.
(Thank goodness I only scarred the child for a day or two, and not for life!)

"...You get out of it what you put into it"

For the second time in my life, I've taken up running. I really tried hard to start running again after I had Crew, but I started way too early after having a C-section and the pain set me back. (and by set me back, I mean I didn't try again for 10 months.) The joy wasn't in it for me anymore. I had forgotten why I liked it; why I had gotten up some Saturdays at 5 AM just to run.

On my quest to enjoy running again, I signed up for the Ragnar relay race in June. Nothing like FORCING yourself to run because others are counting on you, right? And I'll tell you, after 2 months of consistent running: I am getting back to loving it again. After I decided a couple of things about running, the "fun" factor clicked again.

1st, I decided that while I AM running to lose weight and get healthier, it is not the PRIMARY reason I'm running. I am running because it makes me feel good. I feel like, "Hey, if I can run this distance, I can tackle those other hard things in my life." It feels good to accomplish a goal. It helps my self-esteem and self-image. It's one of those things where I can see my efforts and realize I am improving. To quote Oprah,

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."

2nd, I decided that it really doesn't matter how fast I run. A couple of months ago, I would dread my running days because I felt so slow. Then I realized, "Who CARES?!" Isn't the point of a race, to finish the race? It's not always the goal to be the fastest. It's not like I'm an olympian. (YET! ;)) My mantra has been "Progress...not perfection." And with that mantra in mind, I've shaved 1 minute + off my miles in only 2 weeks, not to mention that I also doubled my miles from last month. It's amazing how much we psych ourselves out. Or at least I do. (did.)

What keeps you motivated to run? I would love to hear!


And, as a side note, I updated my sidebar to include the races I'm doing this year. Wanna join me for any of them? I would love some company!

Party without Pictures

Hayden's class party was today. I am sad about the fact that I forgot my camera. I planned the party and had a huge bucket of stuff to remember with sticky notes all over it (reminding me of what to do) and so with all that stuff, I forgot my camera.

We played a few games, painted, and had cookies. Then it took 30 minutes for them to pass out Valentines to each other. THIRTY MINUTES!!!

Thanks to a few of my friends that have a few class parties under their belts, we had some great games!

1st Station: Heart Games. Each child was given 10 candy hearts, a straw and a cup. They played racing games to see who was the fastest. They had to stack the hearts and suck the candy hearts with a straw and put it in the cup. They LOVED this!

2nd Station: Bingo. There's this great website I found where you can print your own Bingo board, so that's what we used. Here's the site.

3rd Station: Valentine Pictureka. My brilliant friend, Nichole, made this game for a child's class and let me borrow it. She used stamps and pictures to make three 8 1/2 by 11 boards, which she laminated. Then she had individual cards with some of the pictures from the boards. I brought a 1 minute timer, and the kids had to find the picture on the board before the time ran out. So. Fun!

4th Station: Scratch and Sniff Painting. I was having a hard time finding a craft for these kids to do. That's weird for me, I know, but the budget for these parties is not much. Basically nothing. So, finally I decided on something simple and cost effective. I bought kool-aid in grape, lemon-lime, cherry, lemonade, blue-raspberry and orange. I put 2 TBS. water in a small cup and then added the kool-aid and stirred it with a paint brush. Each flavor smells different and has a different color. It's a real scratch and sniff that the kids made themselves! This activity deserves it's own post, really. We're going to have to do this again and take pictures.

So, that was the party in a nut shell. Very fun, easy and successful! My three favorite things.

All You Need Is Love

Valentines morning started EARLY! I was hoping to get to sleep until at least 7 AM, you know, like normal. Nope. Bright and early 6:15AM, excited children (all three) hopped out of bed to peek in their mailbox for their final gift. They found two yummy caramel apples and a nice little note from the Love Bugs. Their tired eyes and excited smiles were enough to get me out of bed and start the day.

The kids DID NOT want pancakes for breakfast. They wanted caramel apples, of course! So, since it's Valentines day, I caved. Chocolate for breakfast always seems like a great idea, right!?



Our romantic (?) Valentines dinner consisted of everyone's favorite Sunday meal: Honey glazed ham, twice baked potatoes, some vegetables and pink juice; all served by candle light. Maya helped me with the centerpiece of candy hearts and paper hearts, and then I had her go downstairs with Hayden until dinner was ready.

When they came up stairs in the dark house to see the candles on the table, they were so excited! Hayden, for some reason, thought that the candles reminded him of Halloween. He wanted to tell scary stories and play "No Bears Are Out Tonight". He also said that the candles were the best idea ever and that he'll have to remember that for when he's older and married. That made me smile.

Then we went around the table and said what we loved about each other. It was sweet and we all felt loved. Especially me.

To be honest, I was a grouch when Eric got home from work at 5pm. After struggling with kids during Sacrament meeting, wanting to bear my testimony but not being able to, and then doing singing time for jr, sr, and nursery left me tired and needing a break, which the kids were not allowing. He came home at the peak of my frustration. Poor man. But...he still loves me! And that's what is awesome about love. To love someone, you also need to forgive and boy does he forgive me more than necessary. It wasn't a great start to our Valentines evening, but it ended well! And left me feeling thankful and loved, like I said.

All You Need Is Love

Last Minute Things

Remember how I said that I was going to make THESE for my kid's Valentines gifts? Well, I haven't even started. So, I'm having Eric pick up a couple of THESE on his way home from work tomorrow instead. They are so yummy, and are decorated very cute for the holidays. Homemade is usually the way I roll, but you can't make caramel apples like this! You just can't. (and they aren't as expensive as they say on the site. They're $4.95 each...totally worth it!)

Since Valentines day is on a Sunday, Eric and I celebrated last night. (he surprised me with a whole night planned and even got a babysitter!) So, Sunday, it will be a family celebration. I have a few things planned, but what I'm most excited for is having a family candle-lit dinner! I'll for sure post pictures of how it goes.

Have a WONDERFUL Valentines day!

Valentines from the Past:

We made these cute cupcakes from (where else?) Family Fun in 2007.
They turned out so well, but you can't tell because I am horrible at taking pictures!
Trust me, though, they were cute.

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In 2008 and 2009, we had a special heart shaped breakfast.
Cinnamon french toast cut out in a heart shape with cookie cutters.
Pink Heart Shaped (sort of...) pancakes.
Both were awesome!

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One of my best Valentines ever in 2002, right after Eric and I started dating.
He brought me a dozen fire and ice roses (my fav!) and tied to each rose was written something that he loves about me. I still have all the little tags, even.

Then he wrote me the sweetest, most funny poem in the whole world.
I love that guy.
Here are some pictures of us from that Valentines day long ago...

I still love him.
Just a whole lot more.

Delivered!

We got our "Loveland" Valentine in the mail yesterday!
They put a cute stamp on the left of the envelope and a very darling postmark on the top right.
I sent them out a week ago, so plan on that when you're sending out your Valentines.
I just love it.

More To Do...

Here are some things I want to get done in the next 4 days before Valentines Day:

*Make THESE cookies (Saturday night...while kids are in bed)
*Put some Valentines together for Hayden's class -- I'm thinking THESE!
*Make THESE bean bag chairs for the kid's Valentines gift (Might have to be an Easter gift...)

Looking for more *easy* Valentine ideas? Let me point you in the right direction:

*Family Fun's Valentines Archives*

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE their ideas?!

What are you working on?

Olympic Oval

The greatest ice on earth is right in our back yard! We have the Utah Olympic Oval where the 2002 Olympic speed skaters competed. There is an indoor track here as well, and I have seen Apollo Ohno many times as I have run here on cold winter mornings. The 2002 records are all over the building. You can't help but feel like a champion yourself while running around the track...until you get passed and lapped by some real champions that are training there. But it is a cool place!

Because we have a pass to the Recreation Center, we can get in free to the Oval (+ the cost of skates) once a week. We took our kids for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and boy oh boy, was it an adventure!

Did you know they made skates so small? I thought it was the cutest thing ever.

The Oval allows strollers on their ice, and they had these "granny walkers" for the kids to cruise around with. Thank goodness for those things! I don't think we would have been able to enjoy the ice if we didn't have those. I am not a good skater myself, so it was nice to not have to worry about saving the kids every time they fell. Many people kept asking where we got the walkers, so not many people knew they had something like that. I would be willing to bet that your local skating rinks have something like this. If you're taking young kids, I think it's a necessity!

The kids cruisin' along!

The videos below are hilarious to me! I laugh every time I see the one of Hayden.
They had a blast, and can't wait to go back!

Our Valentines

As a teenager, I worked at a copy and print store after school. I loved seeing what people would bring in to copy, and often I would ask for a copy for myself. I got my wonderful chore chart system, organization sheets, and many other things that I love, including the Valentines that we are making this year.

I hope that the sweet lady who copied these off at the store 10 years ago doesn't mind that I'm sharing this! I seriously love this valentine, though. It's perfect for boys or girls and doesn't cost much to make.

Here's the template: (if you would like me to send you a copy by email, leave me your email address in the comment section)

We just copied these off on different colors of paper. Then cut them out. Fold the "holster" on the dotted line and glue around just the sides together so you can still put the gun in the holster. Glue a stick of gum to the barrel of the gun, then stick the gun inside the holster.

Here's a picture of my kids assembling the valentines. It's the only picture I took! I should have taken one of the finished product. If you look closely you can get an idea of what they'll look like. We like to mix up the colors and put a blue gun in an orange holster, etc.

Valentines day is getting close! Are you ready?

"Eat your Heart Out"

If you don't receive the Family Fun magazine, you are missing out! When it arrives in the mail, I devour it all month. It is full of fun ideas to do with children and they are simple, for the most part! Even their online ideas are amazing.

We tried the "Eat Your Heart Out" jello hearts for Family Home Evening. I didn't have time for the top layer, and it really needs the top layer for look and taste. They were a crowd pleaser, though, regardless of the way they looked.

Maya even matches with her striped shirt!

What We've Been Up To

Around 1pm, once I get the baby down for a nap and get the other two watching TV occupied, it's my hour of free time. Yesterday after an exhausting playgroup at my house and me in a foul mood, I decided it was time for me to have something sweet. I had deprived myself too long and wanted, (no, needed!) to give in to something!

One problem...at that moment we had nothing sweet in the house. For some reason, Christmas memories at my Grandma's flooded my mind and all I could think was *DIVINITY! I haven't had it in years. So, I pulled out my trusty recipe book and went to work. Only while I was working, I realized that this was a strange candy to make in February, so I made the divinity pink and added sprinkles.

I took a bite. Then another. Hmmm. Was I missing something? They taste like marshmallows with a more addicting texture. Not that great.

So I ate two more. And I felt really good about that decision.

But don't worry, folks. I'm back on the dieting band wagon again. Just a small hour of weakness, which I feel was totally necessary.

We called the divinity "Pink Snowballs". Maya and Crew were fans of the stuff, but not Hayden so much. (All he likes at the moment is pizza or spaghetti)

They look so fun and cute. Especially in the homemade take out box I got from Shabby Princess.

Apparently the Love Bugs like them, too, because this one that Hayden left in the mailbox was completely gone this morning!

We've also been busy with a rather successful impromptu art project and Valentine mailing.

With kids, there are two things you must always have in your house. Construction paper and glue. Oh, and googly eyes. So, those three things and you can get little imaginations going. Mine really gets going with the googly eyes. I pulled out the three items mentioned above during a very hectic playgroup and let my imagination run wild. Here's what we did:

I cut out a heart for each child using a color of their choice. They glued on two large googly eyes. Then I cut out strips of orange for the legs and yellow paper for the arms and had them fold the strips of paper back and forth to make the paper crinkly. Then I cut out smaller hearts in blue for the feet, and pink hearts for the hands. Red mouths, heart noses, and Voila! Heart monsters!

My kids have already requested to make these again today! Success!

*Here's the divinity recipe:

Divinity
Ingredients:
*4 cups sugar
*1 cup light corn syrup
*3/4 cup water
*1/8 tsp. salt
*3 egg whites
*1 tsp. vanilla
*1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, water and salt. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cook on high heat, without stirring, to hard ball stage. (I just do the cold water trick. Drop a small spoonful of mixture in a glass of cold water. It will form a hard ball in the water, when ready) Now is the time to add food coloring if you want to.

While the mixture is cooking, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Continue beating the egg whites while pouring a thin stream of the mixture. Add vanilla. Beat until mixture holds its shape and becomes slightly dull. (it took about 5 minutes) Stir in nuts, if desired. Then spoon onto waxed paper. Let cool and harden a bit.

S.W.A.K.

There's a little known secret (at least I've never met anyone else that knows) about how to send Valentines out in the cutest way ever. This is perfect for you to mail out your love notes to family and friends!

Here's what you do:
*Seal your Valentines in an envelope
*Address and stamp each as you normally would
*Place all your addressed and stamped envelopes in a larger envelope and seal.
*Address and stamp the large envelope to a "Love" themed city. We have only ever tried Loveland, CO.
*Here is Loveland's Postmaster address:

Postmaster

Valentine Re-mailing

446 E. 29th St.

Loveland, CO 80538

Or you can look up other cities such as: Valentine, Nebraska; Romance, Arkansas; or Loveville, Maryland. Just address them the same way:

Postmaster

(Town Name) Valentine Re-mailing

City, State, ZIP Code

The Post Office will then send out your Valentines with a special Valentine postmark! (Deadline for this is February 11th or the 14th if you're sending them to Loveland, CO)

That's what we're doing today. Packaging up some Valentines for family and friends that live far away to let them know how much they mean to us. And we'll have one sent back to us--because I want to see the postmark!

Muffin Tin Meals

A couple of years ago, I found this blog post about fixing your children's meals in muffin tins. I tried it a couple of times, but had forgotten about it until last week.

Lunch time is always the hardest meal of the day for me. I am eating healthy things that my kids don't like (veggie burgers, usually) and I need to fix something for them and something for the baby. Three completely different meals at one meal time. When the kids started arguing that they wanted different meals, I remembered this trick and put it to the test. This time with older kids who actually had opinions.

The verdict: They LOVED it! Ate everything. Even the carrots! The next time lunch gets overwhelming for me, I will pull out our lovely muffin tin and go to work. It doesn't get easier (or more fun to eat!) than this!

The Fabric of My Life

Every night, Maya sleeps with these two blankets. The one on the left was made by my Grandma (her Great Grandma) Rigby. Hand stitched, even. I used to swaddle her in it when she was a baby. She now calls it her "circle" blanket because of the circular flowers in the pattern. The other blanket was given to her by Grandma Judy. It's her silky blanket, and is always snuggled close to her cheek while she sleeps. She has slept with both since birth, and asks for them every night.


These two blankets are Hayden's. The red one on the left was another Grandma Judy gift. This blanket was his comfort when he was a baby and he still has it on his bed at night. The other blanket is another Grandma Rigby blanket. That one has been a favorite for forts and also for Friday night movies. It was hand stitched as well.

And the one above was made by my Grandma Margaret for my wedding. The colors matched my wedding colors. This is a special blanket to me and stays put away, for the most part. When I do pull it out, I tell stories of my Grandma. How she made this for me and how many hours it must have taken. How being in her presence made me feel warm and loved, much like the blanket makes me feel when it's around my shoulders.

Almost every blanket in our house has a story. One made by an old boyfriend or girlfriend, one that won awards at a State fair by my Great Great Grandmother, one given by a neighbor who I barely knew, one that we use as a picnic blanket, one that we always share because it is the warmest one in the house. The blankets and quilts define important moments in my family's life.
Moments that I cherish. Moments that I want to replicate. Moments I want to pass on to my children's children.
These two above are quilts that I have made. The one on the left I made when I was expecting baby #3 and we didn't know the gender. I think I was hoping more for a girl, because it is so girly. But, maybe Crew can pass this on to a daughter and they can laugh about it. The one on the right is the first quilt I stitched and bound by myself. Lots of mistakes, but I love it!

I hope that someday these quilts will mean something to someone. The ones that I have are priceless to me. I found this out as I was cleaning my hall closet. I couldn't part with a single quilt. Like I said, they all have a story, and the stories make up my life.

It Deserves More...

I decorate for every holiday. (really, every one) When I was gathering the decorations for the month of February, I was a little disappointed in myself. I saw 4 boxes for Christmas, 3 for Halloween, 1 very large box for Easter, and a grocery bag for Valentines day. Even Thanksgiving and St. Patrick's day have a box, for cryin' out loud! The day we celebrate our love for each other deserves a little more, I think.

But then, I think that if anyone were to walk into our home, they would know that love is there. The people and things that I love are all over the walls and shelves. And hopefully, written all over the faces of the people that live here, is the contentment that comes from being loved.

So, that's how I'm decorating this year!