Trip to Costa Rica

It's a Girl!

On January 6th we had our second ultrasound and found out that we are having a baby girl!

Christmas Morning

Christmas Activities

We did a couple of really great activities to get us in the spirit of the Christmas season. We went to Christmas in Collinsville and took a carriage ride through town.

Another great activity was to go on a train ride and see Santa. The train was decorated with lights inside and out and we even made a stop at Santa's special train workshop.

Christmas Set-Up

We were really early on setting up our christmas tree this year and getting out all the decorations. We were even done with all our gifts by Dec. 15th and it felt great.

T-Rex

My house has become the stomping ground for a T-Rex. I'm not sure how he escaped from the late Jurassic and ended up in my living room. It's even learned to open the fridge, when I shouted "What are you doing in my refrigerator?" It replied, in roar, of course "T-Rex's eat meat." Then it stomped on it's way. Don't believe me? Here's proof:

(Please excuse the camera shake. It's hard to get a clear photo when the ground is shaking with each step of this mighty dinosaur.)

Celebrate the Family

Join me at Chocolate on my Cranium as we commemorate the 15th anniversary of the The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Snag a button and spread the word...

Complimentary

52 Scrapbooking Challenges #1 - make a spread using complimentary colors. I chose to use blue and orange and create a spring feeling. If you'd like to see this bigger all you need to do is click on the photo.

Southwestern Black Bean Burgers

This is one of my favorite recipes. It's a great summer bbq vegetarian recipe. Enjoy!

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbs light mayonnaise
1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 tbsp plain dried bread crumbs
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
nonstick cooking spray
1 cup loosely packed sliced lettuce
hamburger buns
1/2 cup mild salsa
Ranch Dressing

1- In a large bowl, with potato masher or fork, mash beans with mayo until almost smooth with some lumps. Stir in Cilantro, bread crumbs, cumin, and pepper sauce until combined. With Lightly floured hands, shape bean mixture into 3-inch round patties. Spray both sides of each patty lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
2- Heat 10 inch skillet over medium heat until hot. Add patties and cook until lightly browned, about 3 min. With pancake turner, turn patties over, and cook until heated through, about 3 min.
3- Eat like a hamburger with ketchup and mayo on a bun or add salsa and ranch instead. Either way these are delicious.

An Adorable Alarm Clock

Just because I have an adorable alarm clock doesn't make it any easier to get up. When I was growing up my theory was that the cuter the alarm clock the easier it was to get up. Which led to things like hello kitty alarm clocks, disney princess alarm clocks and when I matured a little and when to college, the giant fluffy purple alarm clock. Well, now I have the cutest alarm clock:

Oliver has moved into his toddler bed and my alarm has been set for an early 7:45 wake up call ever since. I know that isn't very early but for my little boy who stayed in his crib until mom came rolling out of bed and finally retrieved him at 9, and hour and 15 min is a little hard to swallow.
In fact at this point it would be easier if he weren't cute. He's like a modern vampire, all cute then you let him into your house and just watch in horror as he turns into a monster. It's starts out cute, he crawls in bed, snuggles up, gives you a kiss. Then the tossing and turning begins, followed by the kicking, then the talking, then the actual requests and before you know it, I'm a monster too. Though usually just a grouchy tickle monster.

Wordfull Wednesday - Caring for your Family

The topic is "Caring for your Family - How do you let them know you care about them? What do you do as parents to show your children they are loved? "Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children." (Family Proclamation, paragraph 6)" Go check out what others are writing at chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com

Hmmm, this is a tough question for me but at the same time it's not so tough. I grew up in a family that was very open about our love and caring for each other and that has transferred over into my marriage and my family. Bryan and I love to hold hands at church, we tell each other we love each other and share a kiss every time that we leave the house, and we end every phone conversation with "I love you."
I hope that every moment I spend listening to Ollie's stories, watching "Little Mermaid," or having teaching moments lets him know that I love him and care enough to take the time out of my day to share that time with him.
I try to live so that there isn't any doubt in my family's mind that I love them. I don't want to have the regret of anything happening to them and me not doing all I could to tell them how much I care or to give one last hug.

Spring Reading Thing 2010

Sometimes, I just get going with life and forget that I have a to-be-read list sitting in my living room just waiting patiently. (Although sometimes it goes the other way and I read and read and read and forget that I have a toddler waiting not-so-patiently for me.) But I found this challenge and thought that it would be fun to post my spring reading list and try to get through some books that are just waiting to be read while Oliver plays in the sunshine and digs up my garden. I love to read fairy tale books in the spring, it's just the season.

The Chalice by Robin McKinley
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
Lips Touch: 3 Times by Laini Taylor

These are simple easy to read Disney Fairy Books that I enjoy reading in the sunshine:
Fawn and the Mysterious Trickster
Tinkerbell Takes Charge
Myka Finds Her Way
Fira and the Full Moon
Silvermist and the Ladybug Curse

Pink are the books that I have finished reading.

A blogpost that's more like a Tweet

I'd like to update my blog to let everyone know I'm still alive but I'd like even more to watch Angel... I'll do wordfull Wednesday later.

Mom Mishaps

Okay, I have a quick 15 min to kick out a post.

1 - Tore apart my living room, painted it chocolate brown. It's lovely...but... I bought up some floating shelves to put up and they don't fit snug against my wall. So, I wood glued them to the wall and put my first knick knack on them and they leaned off the wall again. Photos to come and if you have any advice for floating shelves, it's probably too late, ya know, cause of all that wood glue and stuff.

2- Friends are out for a surprise visit so I planned to take them to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I ran to the library to pick up the free pass, then came home and had the kids all ready to go, lunch packed, my camera in the car and I glanced down at the hours on the museum and it stared back at me in deviance saying "Closed on Mondays." What! Don't worry we ended up going to the Peabody.

3- (This one is my Personal Favorite.) This week was my turn to send out postcards for the Swap and I didn't do it until the absolute last minute. Monday night at 8:30 I ran to Walgreens and picked up 51 postcards. They didn't have 51 all the same so I actually have about 4 different cards that went out... then I ran to Staples and picked up some sticker paper thinking that would be the easiest to put my facts and labels on. I'm running through the door as the manager is yelling at me about closing in 10 min. So I grab the sticker paper, run home and make my labels. I open the paper and realize that it isn't sticker paper at all. It's window cling printer paper! So I print out my labels on the regular paper and gluestick it to my 51 postcards. GLUESTICK! Hope everyone gets my postcards with all their labels attached.

Wordfull Wednesday - Unity in Marriage

This will be quick because I have to get back to James Bond but unity is very important. Right now in our little family it has become increasingly more important to make sure that we are consistent. It's been awful to watch our little baby start to twist things between us to get his way. He knows that Dad doesn't like to take his loveys when we go out but mom's a sucker and will let him sneak giraffe into the car.
The best way to stay united is through communication. We live in a time where we can constantly be in contact with our spouses and I am with mine. My husband has a pretty good grasp on what me and Ollie are up to because he gets constant facebook messages, text messages, photos, and he can get on my blog and read up on our activities. It has helped to have Bryan always support and know what is going on. He's fully aware of what is expected and how to deal with things.
Unity hard to break down and talk about because it is marriage. You are united in everything you do - forever. Your decisions will always affect your marriage. It's like plucking a string. When the string is short and the ends are close together if you pluck it then it's a small short ripple but the longer the string the bigger the waves from plucking it will be. No matter what plucks our string as long as we stay close together the effects won't be to big.

To Be Our Brother's Keeper

Creating things brings me a lot of joy and confidence as I am working to create a home all on my own. It's harder than I thought it would be. This isn't another "I wish I had payed more attention to my mom" post but I sure do miss having her around. But Third to my mom and all my wonderful friends out here is the internet, more specifically the blogging nation. I just love that I can find normal people like me trying to be thrifty, crafty, cute, and organized. There are so many beautiful ideas out there and now they are being shared all over the world. It's simply amazing.
This morning I was reading in "Small and Simple Things" and Sister Hinckley said," We all have a responsibility-a responsibility to make a difference, to be an influence, to lift someone. We are all in this together to work out our salvation, to reach our potential, and to be our brother's keeper-to help each other."
That's how I've felt about blogging lately. If I can do my little part to help someone else than I am doing something great and I want to thank all the other people out there posting the things that they are doing. I'm probably using your ideas to help my home and family keep on track. Thanks!

Week 8: Feb. 14-20

Okay, this is small bit of fudging. This actually happened on the 13th but it was part of my birthday/valentine's day so I'm claiming it happened on Valentine's day.

Bryan surprised me with two tickets to Lion King on Broadway. It was certainly a surprise. I had been asking for them every time he asked what I wanted but I didn't really think that would be what I would get. I thought I was getting a mixer but this was so much better.

It was so amazing! The costumes were just beautiful. The music was a good mix of my cartoon favorites and real African feeling music. I was in shock just being there. In fact it's still hard for me to wrap my head around. It was such a wonderful gift and I truly loved it.

Thank you, Bryan!

Week 7: Feb. 7 - 13

2 newest members of the household. Clementine and Churchill.

week 6: Jan 31-Feb. 6

This is like beating a dead horse but this is all that I did that entire week. But I'm still proud of it.

Week 5: Jan 24-30

Working on my Gospel Principles book.