A Birthday and a Gingerbread adventure

 My birthday has come and gone.  Yet another year under my belt.  I didn't take a picture of myself this year, but I couldn't resist a pic or two of my delish dinner.  I opted to have dinner at home and we had NY strip steaks, potatoes and corn; and for dessert, a fantastically very chocolatey cheese cake.  Yum!  The Steak was a little more pink than I like it, but it was still tasty!

 Then, later that week, we decorated gingerbread houses.  I found a Watkins kit that had 4 little houses and I thought it would be perfect.  No battling who gets to decorate what and no need to have 8 hands trying to work on the same house. (I would be documenting with the camera, thus not 10 hands....)

 Turns out, it was perfect.  I helped the kids with the frosting pouch and Jon decorated the 4th house.  Everyone was happy!

 Must have: funny face pictures.  Check!

 We found out as we started that we had to let the built houses "set up" so we took baths while we gave them (not quite enough) time.  Worked out great.  After we decorated, it was off to bed.

 Jon wouldn't look at the camera and Brooklyn can't figure out how to smile without making her eyes as open as possible....

 I had to prove I was there.....

 See Open WIDE!!!

 And, the finished goodies.  Not bad!  They did start to fall apart sooner than we'd hoped but it's all good.  They still taste yummy!

Finally, Des Moines actually had a snow storm this week!  We got 10 inches overnight between Wedensday and Thursday.  School cancelled and most things shut down right behind it.  The kids were dying to go out on Thursday but thanks to 40 mph wind gusts, I was mean enough to make them stay in.  Finally, on Friday, they could go out and they were all smiles!  I love winter.  I love snow.  I say we need another few storms just like that one! 

....Well, maybe minus the me-sliding-through-a-stop-light part, 'cause that kinda freaked me out.  No worries, the cross traffic saw that I couldn't stop and waited for me... Phew!

The Holiday Beginnings

 We had our very own Thanksgiving for the first time this year.  We had some dear friends over and Jon and I cooked our first turkey.  And, I might add, it tasted mighty fine!  All in all it was an excellent day.  Fantabulous company, great food, and a whole day of nowhere to be....Much to be grateful for, definitely

The first day of December brought on the trimming of the tree.  Generally, I'm a "real tree supporter" but this year we opted for good old fakey instead.  Turned out rather well, I think and the kids had a BALL decorating it.  Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed hanging our stockings a mantle for the first time.  I've had stocking holders since before we had kids and stockings with nowhere to go every year until now.  I'm loving how festive the front room feels with our decorations up.  The kids love it too.

 Last night, we enjoyed a little Muppets' Christmas Carol while the kids sat in their cardboard boxcars.  I've seen this done all over the place and the kids are always begging for boxes to play in.  These are leftovers from work (gift box boxes).  I just couldn't resist and they were a definite hit.  Don't tell my kids, but I brought home some more the next night for when they destroy these and we're ready to kill each other over Christmas break :).

 Mason and his sisters decorated a gingerbread man for his class.  Anything crafty instantly has their attention.  Mason LOVES to cut and tape and Julianne likes to write names.  Brooklyn has ventured into drawing and writing stories.  It's really interesting to see how they're all interested in the art but in very different ways.

Here's our happy little corner all lit up and ready to go!  The mantle was in desperate need of some color so I picked up a cheap garland today and it worked perfectly!  $4 + lights from storage totally works for me!  Plus, I got out our Mickey Christmas village for the first time.  We've never really had anywhere to put it before now.  I meant for it to go on the mantle, but there isn't really room with the stocking holders and the garland.  Thus, it's on the speakers around the T.V.  The kids loved seeing it when they got home.  Fun times!  Christmas is so fun when you can enjoy it through the eyes of your child!  Now, if only I knew what to get them for Christmas!!

I also wanted to make a little note of the very special friends in my life.  This month is always bittersweet and I am always reminded how lucky I am to count them as part of my family.  They remember me when I don't remember myself and I cannot express my love for them adequately.  I am truly blessed and I am grateful for this time of year to help me remember exactly why.  I am blessed and I hope those I love know how much I do! :)  Merry Christmas!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!  The old blog is a little belated thanks to my mom-brain and forgetting the camera :).  Jon took pictures with his phone and I had to get them before I cold blog!  As you can see, we had our little monkey; She was stoked to be a monkey and thought she was so funny when she tried to eat the banana...

 Then, there was Spiderman.  I would've preferred a half-face mask, but he loved it.  Wore the thing every day before Halloween and haven't touched it since.  Silly boy.

 Finally, Our Rainbow Fairy.  Again, mom-brain kicked in and I totally spaced pulling her hair up all cute....In my defense, she forgot too; until we got home that is. It was fun though and except for Mason's costume, I had to buy very little of it (double bonus).

 Here we are, ready to go trick-or-treating.  They were so excited and luckily, it wasn't too cold.

 Here we are with the Yates.  It wouldn't be trick-or-treating without the Yates.  This year we were joined by Jack Sparrow and the Clown.  The kids had a blast!

 These are our pumpkins.  We carved them the night before, but at least we were able to do it as a family!  The kids love this part of Halloween.  Finally they're getting big enough to where Jon and I don't have to do all the cutting.  I tried those pumpkin carving kits and was underwhelmed.  The saw thingy was handy but so cheaply made.  I bent one just trying to cut through Mason's pumpkin.

Oh well, it is fun and I absolutely cannot imagine Halloween without pumpkins :).  We had a fun holiday and the kids are loving having a bunch of candy around :).

Successful

If you recall, I won some fabric back at the beginning of the year.  Starting in April, I pieced together a quilt top and the project had officially begun!  I hemmed and hawed around debating whether to quilt the quilt or just tie it.  I'd never quilted an entire quilt before but I just felt like tying it wouldn't look that great.  I'd decided to keep this one for myself and I wanted to try quilting out.  My Mom used to quilt a TON and I'd never really gotten into it.  But, I am pretty much always feeling nostalgic so we decided to give the quilting a go.  Jon said he'd help me.  I worried and fretted about what quilting boards to buy and all the things I needed. Finally I got it all together and the quilting began!

 True to his word, Jon helped.  We put it up Saturday afternoon and took it down Tuesday night.  I did NOT expect it to go that quickly!  It was really fun, though.  I'm excited to find a reason to do it again!  As you can see, I still need to find some quilting stands :).  My dining room table got relocated to the living room, but even that wasn't too bad.

 Turns out, I didn't center the backing on very well, but I resewed the parts I saw and it'll still be great.  I'm so excited at how well it turned out!  If I didn't have to work tonight, I'd totally be getting a movie just so we could sit under it and watch :).  I am blessed that I have time to enjoy hobbies and that my husband tolerates them!

To be an Iowan

 Jon has always enjoyed politics.  Thus, I have always been on the fringes; sort of paying attention.  But, when we moved to Iowa, we were thrust into a total awareness of the political arena.  Even if you don't read up on all the candidates or study out their ideas, living in Iowa, you hear all about them (NON-STOP).  Today was no exception.  Mitt Romney had a rally out in BFE Van Meter and Jon and I went.  It was actually pretty fun.  Not as cold as I was expecting and kind of exciting to hear the crowd get excited.  There were some speakers before Mitt made an appearance.  His son Josh being one of them, was one of the better speakers of the "pre-show".  We enjoyed ourselves at least.  Unfortunately, Julianne was ready to leave before it even started.  Poor kid.  She gets picked on a little as she gets dragged around....

At the end of the rally, this plane started circling with a banner that read "Crack down on Wall St. not Sesame St." (or something to that effect), which I thought was kind of funny.  People are so crazy!  They grab on to an idea and run with it, most of the time not really understanding what they are protesting.  It just makes me shake my head in wonder.  In all honesty, I cannot wait for November to come so the political ads will cut down to one every 15 minutes instead of one in every 15 seconds; but until then, we'll take advantage of the opportunities that would not be available elsewhere.  Even if Big Bird suddenly has to be at every political rally.....

Oh the fun....

 It's kind of amazing how life trudges on, and seems to go faster and faster.  It seems I blink on Monday and it's suddenly Friday.  The quilt above I just finished for a friend and her little girl's toddler bed.  She chose the fabric and I think it turned out SOO cute!  We tied it using my **new** quilting boards (which are going back b/c the wood was WAYYY too hard!).  It was fun to have my first taste of putting a quilt up on my own though (i.e. without my mom's expertise :)).  I'm looking forward to getting some softer wood and putting up a quilt to actually quilt.  Cross your fingers for me!

 Thursday was mine and Jon's 11th Anniversary! I can't hardly believe it has been 11 years!  We had lunch together and then stopped at Hyvee for a little 'triangle of wedding cake'.  It was ok, the cookies I make this afternoon will be much tastier :).  It was a good day though.

 See, we made it! 

 Julianne got to participate in the lunch time festivities.  She was loving the cars that day.

 And, like the other kids, always ends up lining them up at one point or another....

 Then we spent a romantic evening at soccer. Brooklyn had a game (see Jon coaching wayyyyy in the back?)....

 And Mason had practice.  What can I say?  We have to keep the flame alive!  It was a good day and I'm looking forward to going out to dinner this evening.  We never get to do that, so it'll be a great break.

Today, however, pinterest has caught my eye.  I pinned this the other day and Betsy suggested we make some together.  They turned out so fun and I love it!  We had a great time sewing today!  Good times! Good times!

Talented Friends...

 I am blessed.  I have many talented people who love me.  One of my very best friends comes every year to do pictures in Iowa.

 Lucky for us, last year she came twice! Just in time to do Julianne's 3 year pictures and Brooklyn's 8-year pictures.  And, of course, Mason's; so he didn't feel left out :).  They turned out A. Mazing! 

 If you would like to share in her talents, she'll be back this fall!  Hooray for us!

Isn't she awesome?  And my kids cute?  Hee hee!  Love it!

Joys of Boys

Oh, yesterday was fun.  (This cute picture was from our trip to the fair).  Let's back up a little farther than yesterday.  The day before yesterday, Mason was at school playing with his buddies and they all decided it would be super fun to each put a rock in his ear.  Yeah.  A ROCK in his ear!  OIY! So, yesterday, we headed to the Dr's office to get said rock out.  Jon had tried but it was too far in for him to get out.  I picked Mason up from school yesterday morning thinking we'd miss an hour or so and bring him back, no biggie.  Dr. Kemp made a valiant effort.  The more she dug the worse he cried and the more it hurt.  So, off to the ENT we went.  We hurried over to get there before noon and he took a look.  Mason wouldn't sit still for the ENT at all.  By then, I think it was just too tender and he was afraid for how much it had already hurt.  The ENT said he couldn't get it without putting Mason under so he would hold still.  The rock was very near his eardrum and the Dr. was worried about damaging it.  Since we hadn't eaten lunch and it'd been several hours since breakfast, they signed us up to go to the outpatient surgical center within an hour to get that darn rock out.  Poor Mason was already starving and had to watch while Julianne and I had a quick lunch on our way over to our 3rd Dr. office of the day.  They were really nice to him at the surgical center.  He got all gowned up and they explained what they were going to do.  I could barely keep myself from crying while they were telling us how they would give him laughing gas and then the gas that would put him to sleep.  I felt so pathetic for how much I was struggling with the day, but I guess the thought of it was just too much for me.  It took longer to get him to sleep and wake him up than it took to get the rock out.  The ENT got it out, no problem.  He said there was a little scratch from when he shoved it in, but other than that, no damage.  Finally, at 3:00 p.m., we headed home.  We got Mason some food, which he'd been begging for, and called the school to have Brooklyn bring home his backpack.  I'd spent my whole day in Dr's offices and was exhausted.  I'm fairly certain that Mason will NEVER do that again!  Ah the joys of having a boy.....

Time...

 Shockingly, time has gotten away from me.  Again.  It's been a busy, busy summer.  After our Utah summer run, we had visitors, fun, and a move.  All before school started.  Jon's dad decided to head home for good at the end of July.  That meant we got to spend his mom's birthday with her!  We had a super yummy cake and a VERY fun gift!  I can't wait to see what she makes with it!

 Of course, while they were here, Julianne had to get in some Go Fish!  It's her favorite game.  She giggles still if anyone says, "I'm gonna go fishing!" because Grandpa kept saying it the whole game.

Then, rather than pack my house, we went to the Science Center for the first time since we've been back. It was really really fun.  Mason loved the bubbles, and the rocket demo.  We definitely should have been sooner, and will need to go again!

 Sticking your body into the pins is super cool (as long as you're not thinking about the germs there....)

 Then, the mayhem began.  We packed up and moved our house in about a week.  We found a new place to live that changed our school district.  The new district started 2 weeks before the one we were planning on attending. So, we moved on Monday and the kids started school on Wednesday.  It was a little stressful but we made it.

 The first day of school!  Mason's first day of Kindergarten and Brooklyn's first day of 3rd grade.  And, of course, Julianne who isn't interested in being left out :).

 It took a couple days to figure out the whole bus-thing.  Finally by Friday we were there waiting for our first ride.  I love that they ride the bus but the timing has been an adjustment.  School starts later than the old school and I struggled a little with my usual schedule.  Oh well, again, it all worked out :).

 Our new place has a fireplace and mantle. yay!  Now, if only I had decoration skills :).  Luckily, Erica will be here soon!

 Right before school, we hit the state Fair.  This year's butter sculpture was Snow White and the Evil Queen.  They were awesome.

Randomly, lastly, is the moving truck.  Next time I move, someone else needs to do it..... :).  Hopefully, now that school has started I'll be able to keep up (yeah right).  Oh well, at least you know I'm still alive :).  Happy Fall!