Valentine's Craft

Last week my friends and I got together and made these heart wreaths. We got the idea from theidearoom.blogspot.com. It's just so fun to get together, do something fun, and just hang out and laugh.

Aren't we so cute? We're just proud of our accomplishment.

Hanging on my door, proudly. I should make more for the inside of my house, since I don't have any valentine decor, as least I don't think I do. I can't remember. If I do, it's packed a way, and I have no desire to go looking for it.

These are the girls I hang out with the most, Sarah, Beth and Robin. And we have the best time. We try as often as we can to get together. I've been so blessed to have them in my life. My girlfriends are very important to me, I just plain need them, they help me a be better person.

Project Life Scrapbook

Today I ordered 'Project Life'. It's a scrapbook kit that comes with tons of things to help journal and scrapbook your pictures for a whole year. I am so excited about it. I've never been a good scrapbooker, my kids don't even have baby books, but I want to be better. So I think this might be the solution. I started reading Becky Higgins blog a while back (http://www.beckyhiggins.com/). She used to work for a scrapbook magazine, can't remember which one, but she stopped and has started her own business. And it's to make it more fun and a lot easier and not so overwhelming, which happens to me whenever I begin to think about it. She has challenged for everyone to take a picture a day for the whole year and then journal about it. She did this challenge for the first time last year and she had great responses. But you can scrapbook weekly or monthly even too. It's what ever suits your wants and needs. So I'm taking on that challenge for fun and am taking a picture everyday. She talks all about it on her blog, so you have to go check it out. So I've been taking pictures since Jan. 1, but the kits haven't been available 'til today. They switched there shipping process over to Amazon.com and it took a few weeks for that process to all happen. I'm so excited to get it in the mail and start putting it all together.

So this is a picture from her blog that shows what comes in the kit. It's a lot of stuff. It's 49.99 and the shipping is free. I think that's a pretty dang good deal. There is a digital version also, but I want something tangible that I'm able to play with all year. Maybe next year I'll do the digital one. We'll see.

And this is what a page layout would look like (taken from her blog). Taking a picture a day, you get to be creative, random and silly with what really goes on through out the year, in your everyday life.

I'm hoping that once a week I'll get my pictures printed out from Costco and then get together with my friends that are doing this too and put them in the book. Sounds fun, huh? I ordered my kit this morning and it's already been shipped. Yay! So go check it out.

Craft Projects

My hands have been busy lately. I've been getting together with some friends doing crafts and loving it. I'm always finding fun new ideas on blogs and have been wanting to try them and lately that's just what I've done. Going down my list and now checking them off. It's been a lot of fun.

So these bows are made out of magazine pages cut into strips. Each piece is folded then put on top of eachother. Don't know what I'm going to do with them, but they sure are cute. MJ loves them in her room for decoration. But now I know how to make them at least.



This purse was fun too. Found the pattern last summer and have been sitting on it just waiting for the desire to make it. Way cute I must say. There are so many cute free purse/bag patterns out there, I think I'm going to have to keep trying them all, just because.

Then these slippers are from Martha Stewart and are made from felt. The hardest part was cutting out that darn leaf pattern.

My friend Robin made some for her daughter too.

Then the other night I saw a similar project, like the one i did below, on someones craft blog and just had to do it.

I made fabric yo-yo's, for the first time, and put them in a shadow box frame that was just sitting in my closet.

How cute are these yo-yo's. I just love them.


I love to sew and I love to quilt, but I've been having a hard time wanting to send my quilts out to have someone else quilt it everytime I make something. So, being inspired by the blogs I read I decided to buy my sewing machine a darning foot and try it myself.

I just need some practice, ok maybe a lot of practice, but I think I can get the hang of it. I'm excited to learn and finally get my quilts finished and then make new ones.


Yay for projects. I love having fun things to do that keep my hands busy and I love trying new things.

Next up is a cute felt heart wreath to hang on my door for Valentines. The girls and I are getting together on Fri. to make them. You can see it on theidearoom.blogspot.com. I can't wait.

What comes with age?

Wrinkles and more wrinkles.
I'm sitting here blogging (and maybe a little bored this sunday afternoon) and there's something about this computer light that really makes my hands look extra wrinkly. I was trying to get the right angle and light to show just how wrinkly they really are and these pictures still don't even show every line and crease. But despite all those wrinkles they are mine. And to put it in Jeremy's words "I've always had old lady hands." True dat!
(I swear they looked like this at age 16 too.)

Our First Trip to Canada

The other day Jeremy had the urge to go to a hockey game and when he gets something stuck in his mind that he really wants to do, who am I to say no, especially if I want to do it too. So right after school we left and went to Vancouver. Crossing the border successfully we found our way to the arena.

Hockey games are so exciting. Action packed the whole time. Everyone's screaming and yelling the whole time and really into it, especially those Canadians. Hockey is there #1 sport. The game was sold out and always is. It was there 285th consecutive sold out game. Crazy.

The boys were glued to the game the whole time and well Maryjane, all that we could do to keep her from bothering us, I mean happy, was to keep food in front of her. She's not coming next time.

Fun to try on, we didn't buy them this time. Cute though.

Vancouver Canucks, we will be back.. They won by the way 4-0.

You think you're entering this foreign land being in a different country and all, but it's so much the same. The city itself was huge. It felt like a mix of something you would see in England with a Japanese influence. Very tall narrow buildings squeezed into a small amount of space. There money is in dollars too, all the same amounts, but with different pictures on them. Good thing they accept American money, even though we don't accept there's. We let the kids each keep Canadian $5 and some change for souvenirs. Fun, Fun, can't wait to do it again.

Concerts

So these are a little past dew, but that's ok. All the kids were in different concerts this last fall and c-mas that they sung in. It's always fun to go see them perform.


George came home one day and said he had tried out for chior and made it. Surprise! We had no idea, he didn't tell us he was going to do that. We were really proud of him for stepping out of his box. He can be a little shy sometimes you know.

They performed with the middle school and high school chiors and did a great job. He's in the front row, second from the left. He even got his first real tie, that he ties on his own. He taught himself from his scout book. Good thing 'cause I don't know how. (Jeremy wasn't home to help, so he figured it out himself)

Then little miss Maryjane performed on Veterans day at an assembly at her school. I couldn't get her to wear her cute red or blue dress, but her shirt does say USA on it.

And Mason had a Cmas concert with all the 2nd grade classes. When his class sang Frosty the Snowman he was the cop and he even got to blow a whistle.

I asked him if he needed to dress up, but he told me no, he would have on that vest, but he didn't mention he wouldn't be wearing it the whole time. Oh well, there was quite a mix of kids dressed up and those that weren't. I try not to freak out about stuff like that but it's hard. What says Cmas better than a BYU shirt. During this song the kid next to Mason in the red shirt was trying so hard not to pee his pants. It was so funny yet you felt so sorry for him. By the end of the song his pants were wet, pore kid, and even after when the teacher asked if he needed to go to the bathroom he said no. I just can't look at this picture the same anymore.

I love that my kids are envolved in music and I love watching them learn and grow and do things they normally wouldn't do. The boys' shells are cracking!

Home Depot Saturday

On the first Saturday of every month Home Depot has a kids workshop. You just show up between 9am and 12. It's a project just right for kids ages 5-12. Mason learned about it at school when they came to his class and helped them make bird houses. He was so excited and wouldn't let me forget when the next first sat. was. So last month was our first time going and they made little wagons. They give them an apron and a pin when they complete the project. The kids had a blast. We brought them home and the kids painted them right away. I forgot to get a picture of the finished ones.


So today we went again and I remembered my camera this time. We invited friends to come with us this time too. They made perpetual calendars.

George and Dalton working together. They became best friends from the moment we moved here. They are in the same Primary class at church.

Mason and Kayden are the same age too and love playing together.

And then there's MJ and Tenley, a dangerous combination. She's only 3 but acts like a little teenager too. Their cuteness is their weapon.

So we got home after a 2 hour lunch at McDonald's with the Jensen's and started painting.

And this is the finished project. Aren't they cute. Mason stained his and the other 2 painted theres. The peg goes across the top for the days of the week. And you turn the cubes and months.

Here are 2 of the pins that they've earned. Mason has one more because of his birdhouse.

What a great way to spend a Saturday. We decided we are going to make it a tradition with the Jensen's. We just had too much fun not to.