I window shop...a lot. I actually prefer it. I always get buyers remorse when I buy things I didn't really need. Silly eh. Karl took me out Friday night and we ended up window shopping. We went to the funnest store called Rod & Vinyl. Love it there! Karl, however does not like window shopping. He thinks if we are going to be out looking we may as well be buying.


So we came home with this. I LoVe it! Thanks Karlie Magarlie!! LoVe you!!!

I have always wanted to turn old, ugly furniture and whatnots into new, cute, useable versions of themselves. I've never had the space or the right tools (like an electric sander...a must!). Now I have both so it's time to set sail. You will be seeing lots of these posts. I have a stockpile of projects in my garage. And don't be suprised if you see me dumpster diving, I am not above it. I get it from my Aunt Brenda...although I leave out the costumes. That may come later :)!
I found this piece while on a fun filled trip to the DI with my partner in crime. It's old and ugly....very ugly. But I turned it into....

...this! Now how cute is that! Super cute! It compliments my Prom pic perfectly. Hehe...

We're going on a bear hunt, going to catch a big one... Karter and Hudson spent the morning hunting bears using hangers as guns. It was so cute. I LoVe having little boys around.

Karl gave me a new camera for Christmas and I have been carrying it around in the foam case it came in since then. It didn't come with a case and I never think about buying one and would probably decide I didn't want to spend the money on one even if I remembered while I was at the store. I am however super anal about my stuff staying nice and scratch free for as long as possible. Hence the reason I still have it in the foam.
I decided I would put my new found crocheting skills to use. Hehe.... I made a camera case. It's stinking cute and I think more user friendly than a normal case. I pull the wrist cord on my camera through the side and since there is no zipper you can just pull the camera in and out with no hassle. All the while the case stays hooked on the wrist cord so you don't have to hold onto the case while trying to take your pic.
Now I can toss it in my HuMoNgO purse and it's safe and sound. Lovely!!

Sometimes things happen in life that are totally unexpected and so hard to make it through. One minute in time will change your life forever. On a beautiful fall morning my sister-in-law and I had just finished walking when the police called and told me that my mom had been in a car accident and was being life flighted. As all of you know the next two months were the most trying time in my life....but those two months also included the most profound spiritual experiences I have ever witnessed. I did not keep a journal during this time and for the most part only blogged about my moms condition. Not my feelings and thoughts. I regret that so much now. When I was going through it I did not want to ever remember the pain and anguish I felt everyday. And now I don't ever want to forget the tender mercies that Heavenly Father provided me with. He knew exactly what I needed to make it through this time. He never left me alone.
My friend emailed me this families story today...stakerzxposed.blogspot.com. They have a video on youtube. I can't get the link to come up (silly anti-virus stuff is to smart for me) but it's called Bronson's miracle and is well worth your time to watch. I cried the entire time I watched it. Through their story of their sweet little boy I was again reminded very bluntly that we truly do have a loving Heavenly Father who performs miracles on this earth. I am grateful that I was blessed to witness one. He hears our prayers and although the answers are not always what we want they do not go unheard. I am so thankful for the simple precious gift of faith. It truly can move mountains.

Fifteen down fifteen to go.

Two of my three cute Valentines ready for church. We didn't do much to celebrate. We are kinda bums when it comes to "little" holidays. I did make a fabulous rasberry white chocolate cheesecake. Oh-yum!

Big Bubba got his hair cut. He has to get one every six weeks. That kids hair GrOwS!

Big Bubba got his hair cut. He has to get one every six weeks. That kids hair GrOwS!

My friend Brit sent me a link for these cute headwarmers. Since I am trying to keep myself occupied (so I won't eat) I thought I would give them a shot. Also I do live in what seems like the artic tundra half the year. Now...I have never crocheted before and didn't know of anyone that could teach me. So where do you go when you need to learn how to do something? Youtube of course. I've learned to tie a tie, Karl's learned how to play guitar and now I can say that I can do a single crochet pretty darn good. It took me about six hours (six hours straight, it was Saturday so Karl was home to manage the kids) to really get the hang of it. Thankfully when you crochet you can just pull it apart and start over...it's very forgiving. Any-who.
Brit also showed me how to make some cute fabric flower barrets so instead of crocheting a flower and sticking it on I thought it would be fun to be able to change up the look depending on your outfit. Clip a barret on and your ready to go. Stinking cute if you ask me! I think I may alter the design a little and put a button on the back. That way you don't have to slip it on and off of your beautiful locks messing them up in the process.

Karter and Hudson spend alot of time "wrestling" on their indoor trampoline. It gets pretty interesting at times but it is nice for them to have a place to be able to go and bounce around during the winter months. I snapped these pics just after a match had completed. Bubba's hair was flying everywhere.

I went pant shopping last night. I needed some new jeans but didn't want to spend money on some until I had reached my thirty pound weight loss goal. But...I couldn't hold out. It was definately time for some new ones. I had noticed that my pants were fitting better but I didn't think that I had dropped a size. Which is totally frustrating. I am an instant gratification type of person.
It was the best decision to buy new ones!! I bought a pair of pants that are two sizes smaller than the ones in my drawer...without even sucking in. It was such a confidence booster! I got to see results of eating celery(barf) instead of chocolate chip cookies. It was the first time in years that I have enjoyed a shopping experience. I kept trying on different pants and making Karl look at all of them (poor guy). I found a pair that I absolutely loved but they were a little pricey...$80. I told Karl that when I reach my goal weight they will be my reward. I may even buy two. Ohhh...I'm so excited!

Karter was asked to say the closing prayer in Primary last Sunday. I was so excited...silly huh. But it's a milestone so that's fun. He is really good at saying his bedtime prayers but won't say the prayer for meals or Family Home Evening. I was a little worried if he would do it or not. I asked him who he would like to help him say the prayer...thinking Karl or me but he responded with a quick "Sister Frost". She is the music lady in Primary and is so good with the kids. I forgot to tell Karl or anyone else that that was who he wanted to help him. I snuck in at the end of Primary to watch him and saw Karl sitting up front with him. I thought that I should tell Karl that Karter wanted Sister Frost to help him but then figured that Karter had probably forgotten and would want Karl to help. Uhh...no. Karl went up to help and Karter let out a squeal of words that only a mom could understand. He wanted Sister Frost!! After I had explained what he was insisting upon. She went up to help him but first he had to get organized by putting his scriptures up against the microphone (like the kid before him) so he could "read" them. So cute...I love all these little moments in time that will be things that Karl and I look back on and cherish when we are old.

So...if you haven't noticed I took a leave of absence from my blog. I guess there hasn't been much going on that's worth blogging about.
My brother came home from Iraq last week. Hooray! I love when he comes home from deployment. I can talk to him whenever I want and know that he is safe. I have so much respect for the spouses of military people. It would be a hard life and they sacrifice so much for us.
I found out that I am going to be getting two more nieces or nephews this year. Both are unplanned surprises. Should be lots of fun for the expecting parents! Hehe...
I set a goal for myself at the begining of the year to loose 30 pounds by the end of April. I don't normally like to tell people that I am "dieting" because if and when I fail I don't want to have other people know I did. But...I feel different about it this time. I'm not on a diet. I'm not starving myself or depriving myself. I am making a lifestyle change. I watch what I eat, exercise everyday, and eliminate sugar from my diet for atleast five days a week. I have lost 13 punds since I started three weeks ago. Yippee! If I was counting from my heaviest weight I am 26 pounds lighter. Dang!! Luckily for me having kids helped me to loose some. I wish it showed more but I do notice a few changes in my body. (like a smaller muffin top...hehe) Now you all know. And that means I'm going to be embarrassed if I don't stick to it and loose the weight. So...I'm going to.

The kiddos decided that they needed to get sick...again. So we spent a lot of time doing breathing treatments and taking meds. Karter is not a kid that sits still for anything so when I found him laying down on the couch not even thirty minutes after waking up I knew we were in for something nasty. Hudson got over his pretty quickly. Karter seems to hang on to his coughs for a long time. He will not cough all day and then at midnight he will wake himself up having a coughing attack. Not fun!

I love the way Karter talks! He is so cute and funny. I know the days of funny pronunciations are coming to a fast end with him. I want to be able to remember the funny things he says forever. So....this post is mostly for myself. He has his own special way of saying lots of things.
When his tummy is full he will say "My tummy is big. I'm going to have a baby." One day he added to this and said "It's going to come out on my birthday and I'm going to show it to everybody." Hmmm...that would definately be interesting.
What he means versuses what he says:
I want some more. When Karter asks for more he says....I want too much.
Trampoline - trampo-tine
Helicopter - heck-o-tocker
McDonalds - used to be On'Donales and now is Uncle Donalds
Logan - was Yo-yo and is now Yogan. Karter will correct you if you say it Logan. He will get really loud and say slowly, "It's Yo-gan. Not Logan...Yo-gan."