Finally a Post

I'm finally getting around to posting again....I know it has been way too long. Have I mentioned that we have a problem with our computer, and it won't load photos properly? (I know I have, probably about 20 times!) Well I just never feel like trying to load things, so I just never post. Ryan has been researching our problem though, and thinks he has figured out what is wrong. So...hopefully, with $50 and some new RAM we'll get the little problem fixed and loading photos will be a cinch. I'm hoping to do better at posting and reporting what is happening with us more often (starting next year-when we get the RAM in January).
Life has been rolling on for us. We had a great Thanksgiving here with my sister Lindsey, and her husband Kenny. They got to spend a week with us here in Kansas. Also, Ryan's sister Jenny, and her husband Nick got to come up for the day and hang out and eat with us. We were really sad they couldn't stay longer. We are excited to see them some more at Christmas though. They took the time off work for Christmas rather than Thanksgiving-understandable!
Carson's birthday is this week. Our little boy is going to be 5 years old. I can't even believe it! Speaking of birthdays...my sister Aubry had her little girl on the 3rd of December and she is oh so adorable! So if you know her, or just want to see her cute little Jada Monet (cutest name huh?) go check her out here (I think she is putting up photos tonight....if not, they better be up soon!)
I have still been working on my projects. The years is almost up and I still have a handful of projects to do to make my goal. So...hopefully I can get things together and finish it by the 31st! Here's some of them.
#36 I made some pumpkins for Halloween-don't underestimate how much time it took to cut these out and glue together! It was time consumingI made Carson this cork board to match his room. The photo is supposed to be turned the other way, but oh well-you get the idea. Project #37I made two of these earlier in the year...or maybe it was last year. And I have wanted to make one for myself since then. I finally got around to doing and finishing it. I'll hang it in my kitchen after the holidays are over (I've got something else hanging in it's place for the season.) #38A couple friends and I got together and tied the ribbons on these buckets then made some tags for them. They will be perfect for giving away some goodies this month! #39Ok, I know I still have 13 projects to do in just a couple weeks, but I am determined to get them done. They won't be super time consuming projects, but I'll be reporting my progress as they get completed! Here's to a jam packed month of crafting!

Oklahoma City

So Ryan and I got to go down to Oklahoma City last weekend...alone. It was so great! I have a friend who volunteered to take them for the night so we headed down and spent a night there. We had such a fun time, but still found ourselves exhausted by 10:30.
After Ryan got off work on Friday we drove down there, checked into our hotel downtown, and went to Cattleman's restaurant. It isn't the best looking place to eat, but it was dang good. It's been around for 100 years and has been featured in lots of magazines and food shows on TV. We've heard about it so we decided to check it out. We left there extremely full and completely satisfied. We also discovered while we were here that the camera I brought alot to take pictures had a dead batter...and of course I didn't bring the charger, so we took no pictures (I'm getting all these off the internet.)
We headed back into town and walked around bricktown for a little bit. We went to see if there was a movie we wanted to catch, but didn't see anything of interest so we picked up some ice cream and headed back to our hotel room.We spent the rest of the evening eating our ice cream, watching TV, and relaxing.
In the morning we decided to check out the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. It was a very sobering experience, to say the least. This photo shows the reflection pond where the road previously was that ran next to the Murrah Federal Building. The museum gives a detailed description of the happenings of that April day in 1995. I was only 11 years old when it happened, so I don't remember much about it. I only remember seeing stuff on the news-the pictures with the building half blown away. If you ever go to Oklahoma City I would definitely recommend going to this museum. I learned a lot, and felt a lot. It was a beautiful memorial and museum! I left there feeling physically and emotionally sick. It is hard to imagine all the lives that were changed in one day, one instant.
After the museum we looked around Bricktown a little bit more then headed over to the temple. The youth of our ward were going down there so we signed up to go help. It was so nice to be there especially after the museum. Isn't it so great that families can be together forever. We enjoyed our time at the temple. Afterward, we ate some dinner then headed back home. We really enjoyed the trip-it's the first time we've left our children...we'll have to do it more often than once every 5 years!

"Kittens"

When I put Halli to bed at night she frequently asks that I sing "kittens". Here she is singing the song herself-with a little help. Do you know what song it is?

Other October festivities

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch in October and the kids both picked out their own pumpkins. Here are their choices (along with the other pumpkins we purchased).
Here they are in front of the pumpkin patch sign this year

Here they were last year (2009) in front of the same sign. Looks like they've grown!

I made these fun snacks for a party my friend had (AC#33)

Here is another one of the projects I did at the beginning of the month #34

And this is the finished shelf i posted about a while back-I just need to get it on the wall #35

Happy Halloween

Yes, I'm back after a long absence from the world wide web. I've been so busy-my inbox is a nightmare that I still haven't faced. Here are the highlights from our Halloween. I made Carson and Ryan's costumes this year so they are also two of my AC projects (#31 and 32). Here's our night of howls hoopla.
I love taking photos in the dark because everyone looks so awkward...in this photo we were trying to be weird though. Here are the pumpkins Halli and Carson designed.

The good witch
The Bat..not batman, just a bat
All of us in our costumes

My masterpiece
We went to a Halloween party last week and Carson got his face painted-it was awesome!

Need Motivation

I've been in a creativity slump. I have next to no desire to do anything creative. Ok that isn't true...I have the desire, but I just can't seem to find the time. I've finished a few projects, but I've got to get back on my horse if I'm going to complete my 52 this year! Here are projects 28, 29, and 30
I made this board for Carson to move forward and backwards as he helps out or disobeys. Once he gets to the top he gets a prize. This board has really helped him be nicer to me and Halli-it's been so great, and he works hard to get to the top!
Last week I made these bread bundles to give away to some friends. I cut out this saying and positioned it on the mirror (not an easy feat!). It says 'Home is not a place it's a Feeling' This is the project I'm working on and hope to finish tomorrow. It has been in the works for about 2 months. It was stained and I had to strip it, sand it down, restain it a couple times, and now I'm putting the finishing polyurethane coats on it. I think I can finish it up tomorrow. So hopefully I'll have a post with the finished project tomorrow.

Problem fixed

Remember when we moved into our house a year and a half ago, and I posted this photo of our house...with the "lovely" hedges, and small dead tree over on the left.
We worked hard and transformed our front yard into something nice. Something that isn't painful to look at. The plants grew and flourished this summer.
We've even had about a dozen of beautiful flowers like this come out over the past few weeks.
And then something happened in our house. Ryan went down in the basement one evening and checked in our utility room to make sure everything was alright. This is what he found.
We called our home warranty company and they sent someone out the next morning. Two days later they came back to fix the problem. Here is the fine job they did to fix the leak.And the finished result has transformed our front yard. Here is the final result.My flower bed has been destroyed. My entire front yard has been destroyed. There is nothing we can do with it right now because the dirt has to settle back into the hole they covered up. So all I can do is go out and water the dirt to help it settle...I imagine it is a funny site to see a girl outside watering a mound of dirt. It makes me just laugh every time I'm out there.

DONE

Ok Halli was so much easier to potty train than Carson. Carson took FOREVER...we're still working with him during sleeping hours. Halli is done, doing it herself. It took two and a half days and she hasn't had an accident since Thursday afternoon. I know that doesn't seem long, but I know she's got it. She wakes up in the morning and uses the toilet before she even comes and wakes us up. She goes and takes care of things by herself. She is so stinkin independent, but in this case it is a wonderful thing cause she wants to do it all! We went out to dinner to celebrate, and got ice cream too. Halli girl, you rock my world!

The beginning of the end

Of diapers that is! Today is the first day of potty training with Halli. I decided I'm ready for her to be out of diapers. She is excited and interested in it so we went and picked out some panties and have her running around in them today. She's already wet in 4 of the 7 pairs we bought....hopefully she'll figure this out soon. I'm taking her to the toilet every 20 minutes...I guess maybe I need to make it every 10. Any suggestions or help here would be appreciated-I don't like potty training!!!

This is the story of a girl (and boy)

There once was a young maiden who was ruler of her castle. Any wish she made was quickly granted. She had the entire household in the palm of her hand.
One lovely summer day she decided to get all dolled up and enjoy a nice afternoon outside. The king and queen thought she look especially nice so decided to take some photos.Princess Halli wasn't happy about it, but her older brother prince Carson got some pictures taken too.Then they had to take some together. She decided it would be better for the pictures if they held hands...at least for one photo.The queen requested that a photo be taken of she and princess Halli. The princess first tried to stand in front of the queen, and after many attempts the castle photographer was able to get a decent shot with Halli beside the queen...not directly in front.Today was going to be a special day for the princess. She had a big party to attend that evening, so she wanted everything to be perfect for it. She demanded that her carriage be cleaned and shined for the big party. Of course she put Prince Carson to working scrubbing and scouring. Once she saw how much fun Carson was having she decided to join in (an apparently do so topless...sorry)After all the hard work she took a break and stopped to smell the roses...or daylilies.Excitement and adventure were on her mind so she decided to try out tree climbing for the first time. She wouldn't let the queen or king tell her climbing was too hard. She went inside and found a box to use as a stool so she could step up into the tree. She found climbing to be exhilarating. Carson was there to make sure she was comfortable.At last it was time to go to the party. Her first item of business was to go on the blow-up toy/slide/maze thingy. She was appalled at the length of the line, and couldn't figure out why there was a delay in excitement. After a horrendous wait (in little princess time) her time arrived to do a run through. It was the most fun she'd had all day!The party continued on. She enjoyed games, treats, prizes, balloons, music, dancing, and face painting. As the sun set in the sky she thought to herself, this has been the most magnificent day I've had all week. She rode off her in carriage, and returned home to rest her pretty little head and get her beauty sleep.

HAIRCUT

These photos turned out darker on here, but hopefully you can get the idea of my new cut. Here is the before photo. Before the cut, but right after a shower-my hair is wet.Here is the new look. What do you think? I love it. I love having short hair. I've always been scared to cut my hair, but I finally got the courage to do it and I love it. When I go back to have it cut again though I think I want it a little shorter, and I don't want the bangs. I got bangs cut, and I just don't like them...you can't even tell that I have them in these photos though so it is ok for now.

Say say my playmate

So I've been thinking about putting up a post for a little while, but I don't have much to post about. I feel like we've been playing all summer long and my life has been kinda out of order. This morning I realized that this was true...we have been playing all summer long and we have no set schedule (except nap and bed time). I've posted about most of the fun things we've done, but here's whats been happening for the past 3 weeks.

• I've been working out again...I took a long break this spring/summer so it's time to get back at it. I'm going at 5:15am three days a week with a friend to YMCA.
  
• I got a job working at a grocery store as a cashier...yes, I feel like I'm in high school again
  
• Ryan went on his first business trip-I guess he is all grown up now. He got to go to North and South Carolina. He really loved Charleston and keeps saying he wants to move there.
• Ryan's sister Jenny came to be with us for the week Ryan was gone-we LOVED having her with us she helped me out so much!
• Carson completely occupied Jenny's time while she was here by making her tell stories and draw (two things she is AWESOME at) the entire week.
• Halli and I have been playing a lot with her kitchen set she got for her birthday
• We took 2 trips to Oklahoma (to retrieve and return Jenny)
• I've been listening to Catching Fire with all that driving...I'M TOTALLY LOVING the book, and am nervous/excited to see what is going to happen.
• The new Mockingjay book is on it's way to my house, via Amazon, so I can start reading it the moment I finish Catching Fire.
  
• My sister Aubry and hubby Michael came to visit for a couple days. They have to leave this morning, and we are sad to see them go. We always love having them here with us.
  

So with the departure of my sister this morning, our summer will officially be over. I guess it is time to get back on a schedule. So here's to the amazing summer of 2010!!

hot, Hot, HOT

It has been oh so hot here for the past couple of weeks so we haven't been going out going much of anywhere for the past while. I don't even like to go out and get the mail! So we've been enjoying out time inside doing silly things like thisIf we do go outside we stick to keeping in the water which has resulted in this a time or two...