"When I Grow Up..."

I was talking to someone the other day about something or other...I don't even know what exactly but it came up in the conversation that when I was younger I wanted to be a writer. The other person thought that was interesting and wondered why I didn't still pursue it. Anyway it got me thinking about other past ambitions...both silly and serious. Here's the list:

Childhood Ambitions (that I can remember):
- be a mother (doesn't every little girl)....this one actually came true
- be a teacher
- be a bride (this one came true too)
- be a nurse

Teenage Ambitions:
- be an author particularly of children's books
- write a comic strip about my grandfather and his friend Wally (this was a silly one)
- be a doctor (I was very serious about this one and even went to a conference in Washington D.C. for teenagers interested in medical careers. It was here that I learned about recreational therapy which I did end up pursuing a career in.)
-join the Peace Corps and live in some remote African village (my mom loved this one)
- be in the MOTAB's
- learn to play the violin


Adult Dreams:
- open a wedding reception center (only luke-warm about this still)
- open a store (maybe scrapbooking store and call it "Paper Goods")or some other crafty business
- get published in a scrapbooking magazine (would love to do this)
-learn the violin and/or cello

Here's some of my families past/current ambitions:

Bryan - he is living his childhood dream of being in law-enforcement. He never out-grew that boyhood dream to be a police officer. He loves his job and is good at it. He did however consider a few other options when he was going to school: a high school sports coach, a massage therapist (I think this one is silly), and a physical therapist. He also wanted to be a pilot in the air force when he was younger (think Top Gun!)

Ben - he continues to say he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up..."or a superhero"

Natalie - she's hasn't settled down on one thing yet but based on her current passions I'd say she's thinking about a mother, a cook ... or Snow White.


Anyway, its fun to reminisce and it'll be interesting to look back in a few years and see if I accomplished any of those. I'd love to hear about your past ambitions...serious and silly. So, I "tag" anyone reading this to post about what you want to be when you grow up! (Leave me a comment if you take the challenge so I can read it! Thanks)

Haylee Bean Photography

My sweet friend Haylee is having a little drawing to win a free photography session...to enter, all I have to do is dedicate a post to her and then email her. So here's a plug for my very talented friend. I've recently gotten to know her better as she is my teaching partner in Nursery. Anyway, she is a true artist, as I have told her...not just any old photographer. So check out her site and I bet you'll want a free session too! Here's the link to HayleeBean.photography. There's also a link on my bloglist. Enjoy her artwork!

Bye Bye Baby

Not sure why, but we have so babied our darling little girl but I realize as she gets closer to 3 years old that it's time to move her forward a little. This lovely picture was taken yesterday afternoon after 30+ minutes of crying for her binky. She loves her binkies and we have unsuccessfully tried to break her of such habits for a while. However, she likes to chew on binkies as well as suck on them and was warned that when her "pink binky" broke (it now has a huge hole in it)it was time to give them up. Well, as you can see she is not happy about such matters but I am determined to stick to my guns this time and do away with binkies! She's still allowed to have "blue binkie" at bedtime but that too is on the way out!

In addition to the binkie breaking I am ready to dive into the business of potty training. However, I need a little motivation and some advice. So to all you mothers out there...share your best potty training tips with me if you will. Thanks!

When It Rains, It Pours

You all know that saying "when it rains, it pours"....Well that's the kind of week I'm having...maybe it's kharma. Anyway, Sunday our home teachers came over to visit and we were talking about the enonomy and people's jobs and such and they asked me about my piano lessons. Well, like a fool, I said it was going great, I wasn't worried about losing my job because I had a stable group of students and a waiting list also...and so on. Since then however I have had 3 students quit lessons for a variety reasons and I already had one opening I'm trying to fill. Now I'm feeling like all of my students could quit at any moment and the majority of people on the waiting list want to keep waiting. So, I find myself officially humbled as I try to fill 4 piano spots. So, if anyone is interested in signing up for lessons in February...call or email me!

My Grandmother Remembers

I took my kids to visit my grandmother the other day. She has to be one of the best storytellers around. Ever since I was a child, I loved to sit with her or work beside her and listen to her tell stories about her childhood or my mother's childhood. Anyway, so as I was visiting her we started talking about how times have changed so much since she was younger. She reminisced about days before refrigerators and microwaves. She recalled having an ice box (you know, that kind that you put a big block of ice in to keep a few things cold) as a little girl and making daily trips to the corner market with her sister to pick up items for dinner. On the one hand, I can't imagine what it would be like to prepare meals and keep a home without all the modern conveniences we enjoy today. But on the other hand, in some ways their life seems simpler than mine. Her stories make life back then so romantic and charming.
Our conversation also reminded me of a great book I read with book club awhile back..."These is My Words". It's a fictional journal about a woman's experiences growing up in the Arizona Territories in the late 1800's. This was of course before my grandmothers time but I remember reading the main character comment how she often "went to bed with the sun" after working hard in the fields all day, just exhausted from intense physical labor...what a contrast to my life. I do sometimes go to bed exhausted, but not usually from physical labor. I think I go to bed overstimulated by the electronic buzz around me...TV, radio, computer, Playstations, etc. I wonder, would I rather be a mother in 1950 or even in 1890? It would give me an interesting perspective to try it for a day or two but honestly I think I want to shout thank you Whirlpool and Mr. Maytag for dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves, refrigerators, and all that! And thanks to my wonderful Grandmother for her wit and wisdom!

Happy Birthday Ben!

Today was Ben's 6th birthday...my how time is flying!

This is a picture of Ben the day we brought him home from the hospital. He was 3 weeks old, weighed 4 lbs 8oz. and was 18 inches long. He was our little preemie. Born 8 weeks early and weighed 4 lbs and was 17 inches long. He stayed in the NICU for about 3 and 1/2 weeks. It was quite a challenging time in our lives I must say but we LOVE having Ben in our family. I can't imagine life without him. It's hard to believe that he has grown up so much since those early baby days. He's started school, he's learning to read and is starting to love being with his friends more than is Mom! He's out growing the "little boy" things he used to love like trains and Elmo and peek a boo and now he's all about bikes and scooters, video games and the computer, playing with friends, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Transformers, etc. The next thing I know, he'll be asking to take the car! I hope he doesn't grow up too fast.
We had an Indiana Jones Birthday party for him this morning with a few friends. They had a fun time hunting for treasure, watching some movie clips, and eating cake and ice cream!

Project 365

I'm a big Creating Keepsakes Magazine fan, especially of their Becky Higgins. They often put out Kits of the Month for scrapbookers and their latest and greatest is for something called Project 365. The idea is to take a photo everyday and journal about it. While I'm not the greatest photographer and I don't have a fancy camera, I've decided it's a great idea for journaling our everyday life and the all too quickly passing days of my 2 little ones. I'm a terrible journal writer but the older I get the more important it seems...so I'm hoping this blog and Project 365 will help me journal my life and my children's young lives. So, since I'm not one of the lucky kit holders,I've decided to try this project blog style. So I've started yet another blog - 365 Simple Joys. You're welcome to view it if you want and then you can see what an amatuer photographer I really am! Wish me luck in keeping it up!

Target Dollar Spot

I love the dollar aisles at Target...don't you? Here's my latest find. It's a cute magazine holder. For any of you needing organization containers...this is a great one for not just magazines, but also for small books, recipes, schoolwork, bills, etc. I love the trendy little birds too!

Recipe for You

Here's a recipe for all you cookie lovers. I love chocolate chip cookies...nothings better than a warm chocolate chip cookie right from the oven. I'm always looking from new cookie recipes to try. I found this one on Sunday Baker. Try it out and let me know what you think. I've made it twice so far and love it. So far I've just used vanilla pudding but next time I think I'll experiment with a different flavor...maybe butterscotch.

Pudding Cookies

Ingredients:
4 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
1-1/2 c butter (3 sticks) softened
1-1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. white sugar
2 (3.4 oz.) pkgs. instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs, room temp
2 t. vanilla extract
4 c. of add-ins you want to use like chocolate/butterscotch/peanut butter/white chocolate chips, candy bars, m&m's, nuts, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together flour and baking soda in seperate bowl and set aside; in a large bowl, cream butter, brown and white sugar. Beat in pudding mix until well blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. When smooth, slowly add in the flour mixture. This can take a little while, but make sure it's well incorporated into mix.
Finally, add the "fillers": chocolate chips of any kind, cut up candy bars, etc.

Make 1 " balls so the cookies are all uniform in size and bake evenly.
Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper and bake for 8-12 minutes or until golden. I like mine slightly underdone, just a tiny bit golden.

New Additions and New Year's Resolutions

So, here's a bit of a story for ya...

I few month ago, Ben started asking me if we could get a dog. Well, if any of you know him you would laugh just as I did because he jumps in my arms if we get any where near a dog! Anyway, we went the rounds with why not and I ended up suggesting maybe we should try a goldfish for a pet. He liked that idea but we never did anything about it and I just put him off. Well, 2 weeks ago we got this book from the library called "Dogfish". A really cute story about a boy who wants a dog but just has a goldfish. I highly recommend it...such a well-written, cute story. So the book rekindled his desire to have a goldfish and New Year's day we ventured out to Walmart and came home with a fishbowl kit and 2 pet goldfish. They have affectionately been named Goldie and Red. The kids love them!
Okay, so that's the first part of the story. The second part (sorry this is so long) is that the well-written "Dogfish" book got me thinking about my New Year's Resolutions. The book has such a sweet message. After arguing with his mom for days about getting a dog, the boys mother finally says to him: "maybe if you can't have what you want, you should try loving what you have." I found it very inspiring as I often find myself wishing for things I can't have...you know that "I'll be happy when" or "if only this". So I've decided to center my New Year's Resolutions on such a theme - to love what I have. So here's a few thoughts so far:
1. Instead of wishing for that perfect size 4 body I'll never have, I resolve to love that body I have and try harder to take better care of it.
2. Instead of waiting for the money tree to sprout, I resolve to be thankful for the good income we have and use it wisely.
3. Instead of putting off good intentions, I resolve to give service more freely and spontaneously and set a good example for my children.
4. I resolve to show more gratitude for the gospel in my life and study and live its principles more carefully and faithfully.

Anyway...wish me luck!

Happy New Year!

Gingerbread House Tip

Here's another belated Christmas post...

I decided this year it would be fun to make our traditional gingerbread house from scratch...usually we just by the kit and put it together. So, it really wasn't that hard. I found a template on Martha Stewart and baked the pieces and some gingerbread boys. Then I made some royal icing and attempted to put it together. Well, 2 hours later it still wasn't staying together so I called my sister for some help. She gave me a great tip she got from her friend...she used straight pins to put her gingerbread house together. I was skeptical that it would work but literally five minutes later I had an assembled gingerbread house! The straight pins made great nails! I called my sister back and told her to tell her friend that she is a GENIUS! It was a very helpful tip and one I will definitely use next year! Try it out too and let me know what you think!

Homemade for the Holidays

I love making homemade gifts for the holidays. However, I must say that I went a little over the top this year and by the end of December was quite crafted out! I even ended up with a few unfinished projects which is not like me. Anway...here is the crazy list of projects from the holidays:
30 Christmas cards
25 hair bows
20 sets of "JOY" blocks for friends and family
6 "Santa's Cookie" plates and recipe cards
1 Jedi Robe
2 "no-sew" tutus
3 woven headbands
2 flair skirts
18 treat bags for my Nursery darlings
6 batches of cookies
2 batches of English toffee...the 1st one burned
1 batch of chocolate covered pretzels
1 batch of crock-pot peanut clusters
1 set of "FAMILY" blocks for my mom
1 homemade gingerbread house
5 magnet boards
1 vinyl lettering sign for Ben's teacher Mrs. Craven
...and 1 fruit basket!
Whew!
Here are some pics:

Welcome to My Blog!

I've finally taken the time to join in the blogging world! I've loved sneeking peeks at the lives of family and friends through their blogs and debated whether creating my own personal blog was for me. My sister will attest that I was not sold on this blogging thing in the beginning but have since become a fan. I love reading about family and friends but also love the HUGE array of creative blogs that share ideas and info. So...that being said, my blog shall include some journaling of my family's daily adventures as well as some posting of my crafting and domestic adventures. I am mainly a "craft-lifter" but will share what I am working on for any who care about such matters. So, welcome all who wish to follow my ramblings and posting!