:: my fav's::

Here again are my fav's for JanUarY :)

1. http://www.pioneerwoman.com/ seriously love her blog, love her cookbook (and I have her new one on Amazon to send to me when it comes out!), and I love her show on the Food Network. I have it recorded on my DVR! Last season it started at 10:00am now it starts at 6am, thank goodness for DVR!

2. Etsy and Pinterest. Love both of these! I have ordered jewelry on Etsy and it hasn't come yet but I hope it comes soon! I am trying to wear more inexpensive jewerly more now. I am growing my hair out long like Taylor Swift so I am trying to wear bigger, longer earrings :)

3. Trying to recycle more so my new website I like to look at and get inspired by is http://www.zerowastehome.blogspot.com/ I am so not to this ladies level of recycling and being better for the environment but she gives me good advise.

4. Fry boots. So love, love, love these boots but seriously cannot afford them! But my good friend, Jo, found me a used pair of Fry boots for $16.99 at a second hand store and I love, love, love them! These are boots that cost anywhere from $250-500 and I got them for $16.99! I will post a picture of them soon! She got them at Katelyn's Closet in Multnomah Village! Love, love that second hand store you gotta check it out!

So there you go! My fav's so far. :) I am still trying to go Organic and Perabin free and make my envionment good for my family. I just started a good earth once a month program that sends me a package every month with healthy good environment packages so will see how that goes and if I love it I will let you know all about it! Hugs for now and enjoy your weekend everyone! And if you want to me to know your fav's just let me know :)

Update...did I finish Grace's book of firsts? Nope, but I am really close! As soon as I am done I will post pictures! As soon as I get my earrings from Etsy I will post them too! Super, uber excited! Also, I asked Buddy what he wants to do for his birthday pary in March and I am so getting ready for that! So many projects on my plate and Larry is home for a little bit so I am going to enjoy my family life and then get back to my projects :)

:: preschool ::

Here is a picture of Hunter and his Preschool class. They are so cute! They sang two Christmas songs at a nursing home this last December. I am posting this picture because next year it will be Grace's turn to go to this Preschool which is very exciting! The stressful thing for me right now is trying to figure out what Kindergarden to put Buddy into. I really want him to go the schools in Canby that I grew up next to but it isn't looking that way. So I gotta figure out where he should go. Super stressful and super crazy and I hope I make the right decision for my buddy who is growing up too fast!

:: updated my blog ::

Finally updated my blog's pictures and look! Was on my list of things to do! Still haven't finished Grace book of first's but hope to do it today or tomorrow. It snowed today and of course I took pictures with my phone so I hope to post them soon! My kids were so excited it snowed it was just a bummer that it snowed just a little bit. I might have to take them to the moutain tomorrow where it will make there day. Will see :) Hope you like my update look on my blog ;)

::Grace's 3 year old stats and my skinny beans::

Grace had her 3 Year old check up today and this is her stats!
Weight: 29
Height: 37
DeOna said that she is a little thin but tall. And to feed her more. Not sure how that is going to happen when this girl wants a snack every half an hour to and hour, but ok. But she wasn't concerned. She said Hunter, who she also so today, was thin and tall too. She said to try to feed them more but not to stress. Thank goodness for that! They are picky eaters and hard to feed but I have been cracking down on feeding them more variety of different foods that they have to eat so that might be more issue with their thiness but I am not going to stop trying new foods. Here is a picture of my skinny beans taking last month. They are two peas in a pod with their skinniness and bruises. I also realized that if I take them both to an appt if Hunter goes first Grace will do everything Hunter does. Good to know and next time they are going seperate! DeOna checked Hunter's knee reflexes and he wouldn't raise his left foot when she tapped on his knee and guess what Grace had the same issue! I told DeOna that someone she copies and does what her brother does and it is crazy. She just smiled and understood so love that! I still can't believe my baby is 3 and I just let her answer all of DeOna's questions today and she answered her back along with Hunter. I felt like that odd person in the room since I wasn't doing all the talking but I am proud of my kids that they can listen to adults and answer their questions and if they can't they look at me for help but they are all about trying first and they can voice their issues. So crazy but I am so proud of both of them that they are not afraid of their doctor and they do what she says. I see so many kids letting their parents do everything and they don't get to talk and so I let mine talk and if I feel like I need to say something I do but they both did awesome today at their appts. :)

:: my girl is 3 ::

My baby turns 3 today! She is such a big girl in so many ways. She loves animals and wanted a pink kitty cat party so we had one! Aunt Lindsey made her cake and it matched her kitty cat invitations purrfectly! :) I had found a cat sweater that was handed down to her that was a size too big for her but once we both found it in a bin we knew it was what she should wear for her party! She was so excited! I am still amazed that she is 3 and that we get to be blessed with having Grace in our lives. She is the icing on the cake! I love her to death and she makes me laugh and smile all the time and amazes me everyday! Happy Birthday Miss Grace!!!! I love you so, so, so much!

:: my hockey boy ::

My favorite sport is hockey. When Larry and I dated he would take me to Winterhawks games and I loved them! My favorite player is the goalie. I like how the goalie scratches up his goal space and hunkers down for the game. Who would have known that Hunter would love hockey as much as me :) Him and I started watching hockey the end of last years season when the Boston Bruins played for the Stanley Cup with Vancouver Canucks. We were cheering for the Canucks cause Larry was in Canada so much and they seemed to be doing good. Grace was routing for Boston and stuck with them through the end and they won the Stanley Cup. Hunter would get so upset when the Canucks lost but now he is better when the team he picks loses. Now we are still fans of the Canucks they are the Canada team we cheer for and we love Boston Bruins and Tim Thomas, the goalie, is our fav both Hunter and I. We like the goalie Schneider better then Lingo or however you spell his name on the Canucks. We like Pittsburg Penguins cause they are my fav animal and they are yellow or were yellow and we like the goalie Fleury. But we are big, big fans of the Canucks we know alot of the teams guys names but Boston is so close to our fav just because of Tim Thomas and now Rase the other goalie. But back to my hockey boy. I used a couple of groupons and took Hunter to some Winterhawk games this last year and he loved them and now he is so into hockey it is crazy! He can tell you so much about each team and who is the Captain and he knows all the teams names and logo's. Seriously, he knows more then me! So of course he wants to be a hockey player! Yeah! I told him the first step is learning how to skate so we have put him in lessons and the first time he went he didn't listen very well because I had taken him to the skating rink just him and I and skated with him and told him all the stuff about hockey on the ice that he was all about telling his teachers about it and he didn't want to let go of the side of the rink. But after a couple of lessons he is doing awesome! He has fun, he smiles, he laughs, and falls all the time on the ice during his class but you can tell he is so wanting to be a hockey player and is enjoying learning how to skate! He has improved so much since his first lesson he listens to his teachers and does what they say and doesn't hold their hands at all! My mom and Wayne got him a Winterhawks jersey and some hockey sticks and he practices in the living room all the time! My poor walls they will be dented for sure! Here are pictures my mom took of him when she was watching him for me and he looks so grown up and so happy to be a hockey player :) Makes me so proud!

This picture makes me cry cause last week he told me he doesn't want to be the hockey player that makes goals cause that makes him tired but he wants to be a goalie! That would be awesome cause maybe he will not get hurt so much and will keep his teeth! But whatever he does I will be happy! And he doesn't have to play hockey either but I think that he will cause he loves, loves, loves it!

:: enjoy ::

My word for January is Enjoy! I have alot to do this month with Grace's birthday and Hunter's skating lessons and doing most of it solo I have to remind and tell myself to enjoy it all and not take it for granted. I also have to enjoy cleaning the house, taking care of my other kids my animals, and taking time for myself and doing what I enjoy reading books and scrapbooking. Hope everyone ENJOY's this month too! :)

:: hello 2012 ::

I can't believe another year has gone by! I also didn't get Grace's book of first done before the new year so now my 2nd goal on that is to have it done before her birthday which is in 7 days! In less than 3 months my kids will both be a year older and in 1 week I will have a 3 and a 4 year old for 3 months! That seems so crazy to me! Last year flew by and we started alot of new things! Hunter started Preschool and ice skating lessons. And this year it will be Grace's year to start new things! I got alot of debt out of the way and just figured out the debt for this year and it bums me out but it is the last of our credit card debt so once it is out of the way hopefully we can get out of this house and also get a van to haul the family around in. Having 2 small cars doesn't help get you places with sports and vacationing we learned that this year. So my new years resolution is to keep getting out of debt and try to do a 1/2 marathon or a run smaller than that but not sure that is going to work with how hected and crazy life is when Larry is in cold country but I am going to give it a try. My other goal is to try to see if we can get out of this house and into a bigger one but not sure how that is going to happen but it is on the burner to figure out. Also, on my list is to fix our pop up trailer it needs alot of love and it needs us to register it so will see how that goes. Just a few New Year goals will see how they all work out. :)

So happy 2012 everyone!

:: my new goal for December ::

I find if I do not write it down I will not get things done. My goal for the month of December and the month is almost done is to finish Grace's my firsts book! It goes up to age 3 and since she turns 3 next month it is perfect to get it finished and all up to date. The only problem is I stopped writing in it after she turned 1 so I got a lot of pictures to download and a lot of writing to do but I think it is achievable! I already made her birthday cards and sent them out to family and put them in her book so I am way ahead on that! I will take pictures of it when I am done :)

:: cheesy ::

My kids are cheesy. I was trying to get a good picture of BOTH of them together for our Christmas card and this is what I got!

So then I tried with just one kid at a time and started with Hunter and gave up and didn't get to Grace. They just weren't feeling it and I just used the cheesy picture for our Christmas card. And no Hunter doesn't have a bendy neck he is just goofy and Larry said this is so Hunter and he is right. We have one goofy boy. Sigh. :)

:: a new blog i love ::

Hi everyone! Once again I am behind in blog world but I will try to get some good stuff on here and pictures to! Wanted to throw out a blog I love that I stole from Pioneer Woman's website. Enjoy!

http://theletteredcottage.net/

Until I blog again!

:: balance ::

Balance. That is my new word for October. I feel like everyday I have changes in my life and I have to find the balance through the change and find a happiness through that change. Not fun, not easy. Everyday we get a call from Larry which is awesome but it always changes he is coming home he isn't, he has to stay 3 more weeks which would make it 1 and 1/2 months he would be gone, and then the next day he is coming home in a week. Seriously, it makes me crazy. I just want him home and I want balance in our lives for a week or more before he has to go back. The last change was he is coming home! Yeah! But I wish it was tomorrow cause I am ready to have balance in my life and have my family of four back and my man back. But I am going to San Fransico this weekend so when I leave he will (hopefully) be coming home!

One of the defintions for balance is harmony. Wow, love that. I try to make harmony in my life when it is just me and the kids but I will be honest I am not good at it. I need to be better my set back is I don't want it to be just me and the kids I want Larry here with us but I got to just make it balanced and harmonic when he is here or not.

My challenge of this month with the rain, halloween activities, Preschool, work, life, vacation, and having Larry home is to find a balance through it all. :)

:: the kitties ::

After I took Misha's tired dog pics I went in search of the cats. Here are update pictures of the cats. I feel bad I don't take their picture much they usually are sleeping away the day.

Kramer
Lucy, she is my fav I had her before I married Larry and she is the oldest of the animals. She is queen cat in my book. :) Hi Lucy! Sorry about the floor I am pretty sure I vaccumed before I took these pictures :)
There you go the kitties. Not kittens anymore. Lucy is 10 and Kramer is 8 the way I remember is I got Lucy 1 year before I got married and we got Kramer 1 year after we were married. Pretty cool way to remember, huh!?

:: Hunter is a Preschooler! ::

I am so behind in posting these pictures but my big boy is a Preschooler! I still can't believe he is in school! I should have put him in last year but under the circumstances didn't. But I think he is more ready this year then he would have been last year. He has a buddy named Logan that he sees 1 day a week at daycare that is in his class so he is thrilled! I took the morning off so Grace and I could take him to school! Here he is for his first day of school picture and sorry I took them with my cell phone. My bad!

He had to get a picture with his bunny cause when he is nervous or unsure of something bunny is there. So bunny went in the car to school but stayed in his carseat.Once he was at school he was SO excited! We got there when Logan did and Logan is on the left of him in this picture. I think these other boys are going to be some friends of his too! He is all smiles! Here he is once he got in his class he was all done with me and Grace he didn't even notice we were gone. He put his name stick in a pouch and told me mama I did it can I go into school and I said yes and he was gone into Preschool heaven. I just let him go in and do his thing I didn't go in and make sure he was ok and Grace and I went to Starbucks together to have some breakfast and then she went to daycare. Hunter and I had went the Friday before for the meet and greet at his Preschool which was nice cause we got to check everything out before the big day! It was so weird to be alone for the next hour and a half cause I knew my buddy was in the teacher's hands and I had no control of him and he wasn't with family. I was just hoping he was listening and obeying and going to the bathroom right just stressing over the little stuff. I know one of his teacher's cause she is a patient and I know some of his fellow students cause they are patients too! But still that first day was nerve racking! When I went to pick him up he was so excited to see me and I was so excited to see how his first big day was! I can't believe how much he has grown and that he is officially in school!

:: fish tank project almost complete ::

Before picture!After picture!

Here is my updated picture of the fish tank wall project like I promised! I am doing pretty good at blogging and taking pictures! So I need a plant for my white vase I got at Ikea super cheap and I wanted color but they were to much so white it is. I have to figure out what to put on top of the new cube shelving unit. Grace has taken so many books out of the top shelf so I am very glad that I didn't get bins for the top and decided to put books in them. The bins have all of the kids stuffed animals and I need to go through them and send some to Goodwill we have way to many that are baby kind and don't get touched. But for the moment I just put them in there for time. Then I moved the fish tank myself over just a bit to make it somewhat aligned. I also am thinking of getting a canvas print to put above the fish tank to fill it all up. There you have it weekend project is coming together! :)