Bricks & Beams

Happiness is Homemade...

2011-12-05T22:26:00.001-08:00

...because we are happy when we save money!

Someone at work recently told me that Mod Podge (which I use ALL the time) was just water and glue. WHAT? Water and ELMER'S glue? Why have I been paying $3-$4 for Mod Podge when I have bottle after bottle of glue sitting at home that I got on sale for like $.50?

So, I found a recipe and thought I'd share it with you all...just in case you feel like saving a little $$ too :)

All you need is...

All you have to do is...

(FYI...you put equal parts water and glue)

Make sense? If so, get craftin'! :)

and remember...

Attack of the Volcano Monkeys!

2011-11-15T21:18:00.001-08:00

We checked this book out of the library the other day and LOVE it. You should read it to your kids...it's super cute!

Catch up

2011-11-13T20:25:00.001-08:00

Since I'm supposed to be posting more often, and nothing notable seems to be happening right now, I thought I'd do a little "catching up" on posts I should have done before :)

My sister had surgery in September so J. and I went to Utah county to help her with her kiddo's . Thank heaven for home school! I don't know how we would have managed the "trip" if J. was in traditional school.

We were able to slip away one of the afternoons to visit family in SLC. J has lived away from northern Utah for so long that he can't remember ever going to the planetarium, temple square, etc. so we thought it would be fun to go. At first we were kind of disappointed because everyone was busy and couldn't come with us. It worked out nicely though. I was able to spend some time with my little guy doing something other than the usual day-to-day stuff.

We really really missed MBH! We will definitely have to go back to see the lights this Christmas...

all 3 of us!

Halloween

2011-11-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

The cooler weather, falling leaves, corn mazes, pumpkin carving, costumes,

the smell of cooked pumpkins...all of it!

Isn't he the cutest Spiderman EVER? He said that super hero's that fly are his favorite so I think he'll be Superman next year, besides, check out those bangs! Throw a little gel on them and he'll look exactly like Superman. :)

We hope you all had a great Halloween as well.

Now, are you ready for Christmas? (don't you hat how the stores put Christmas items out at the same time as the costumes? It drives me crazy!

Corn Maze

2011-10-23T22:08:00.000-07:00

There's this great farm in the next town over that does some fun activities in the fall. They have rubber ducky racing, a giant jumping pillow, a petting zoo, a hay ride, a corn maze, tether ball, and pig racing. They even have the tallest swing set EVER and a large pile of sand, which was a big hit with J. (I love when kids have the most fun with the simple things...like a pile so sand :)

We are glad that Z got to come along with us! I hope his parents aren't too mad that we kept him out until 9:30...and told him ghost stories while walking through a dark corn maze. oops!

What's New?

2011-10-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it's OCTOBER! Where has the summer gone? It feels like it should be the beginning of September to me. Perhaps losing track of time is what happens when life is cRaZy busy?

If you are at all curious about what on Earth is keeping us so busy these days...it's:

Work (for MBH and myself)

School (for MBH and the little one)

Babysitting the neighbors

and Well, everyday life (do I really need to elaborate

on the time consuming nature of everyday life?:)

Did you know that last February I got a job? I didn't get just any old job though.

It's pretty much the best job in the whole world!

(with the exception of my job as "mom & wife" of course.)

It's only about 10 hours a week.

I get to make my own schedule.

It's only 1 block away from my house.

I have some awesome co-workers.

and

I get to order scrapbook supplies and make paper CRAFTS!

Am I lucky or what?

MBH has been super busy at work and doing GrEaT in school.

We are hoping he'll graduate this spring. Hallelujah! Please keep your fingers X'ed! :)

And then there's the little guy. He's doing fantastic and is cute as ever. We (mostly me)

were a little unsatisfied with our local elementary school last year so, after much thought and prayer, we decided to make some big changes for 1st grade.

Yes, you read the board right! We are officially a home schoolin' family.

The program is amazing. It is done through our school district and is FREE.

They gave me everything I could possibly need (teacher manuals, student work books,

and a whole bunch of support materials and extras).

They even offer group classes so we get to spend P.E., Choir, and Art with

about 30 other kids.

Some days I think I've officially gone crazy but it's actually been great. I LOVE having

some extra time to spend with J. Kids grow up so stinkin fast and I'm glad I get to

have him around for a while longer. :)

ay ay ay

I feel that there definitely aren't enough hours in a day! But, we are blessed to keep busy.

I've been dreaming of all kinds of blog posts that I want to do so if I can get myself

a bit more organized, I'll be spending more time here than on FB (I've outgrown it I think) so

PLEASE check back and chat with me so I don't feel so lonely!

Turning 6

2011-06-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY J!

We did a superhero theme this year and it was super fun!

Of course we had to provide a phone booth for the children to use to change into their super identities...

And after some training,

training...

training....

some presents,

and some cake,

their super-ness was complete!

We are so thankful for all those who came to our super birthday training. We had a BLAST!

I have SO many pictures of all the children I wanted to include in this post but I didn't have time to upload all of them. I did, however, want to include a series of them I call "the blowing out of candles". Of course J is super funny/cute in them but you HAVE to look at the kids in the background as he's blowing them out. He was pretending to do a giant sneeze...

Did you notice all the faces? Kids are SO funny!

Ps...I posted about J's K graduation right before this post...you should check it out by clicking on "older posts"!

Kindergarten Grad

2011-06-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe J is a kindergarten graduate!

He loved every minute of being at school and has grown up so very much.

The graduation program was SO cute. This is one of the best shots I could get...next time I'm

going to try and get a seat on the first row!

Doesn't he look so excited to be getting a Road Runner reward? He may not look happy about it but I know he was...and so were we :)

We are so proud of our little guy :). Congratulations J!

Science Fair

2011-04-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

J. participated in his first science fair last week. He decided to make paper airplanes and test them to see which flies the furthest. In addition to the planes, he made random paper "shapes" to see which of those would got further.

We had fun making, testing, and measuring his objects...

Here he is waiting for the judges to come to his booth

the judging

J. at home after the fair

Look what he got!!

We are so of our little scientist. :)

Good job James!!

Spring Treat

2011-04-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

Our ward's "Spring Fling" was last night and I was lucky enough to be able to make some cupcakes to share. They requested that they be decorated for spring and since Easter is around the corner, I thought I'd throw some of that in too :)

I usually decorate a whole batch exactly them same but I was having too much fun experimenting. ( Does anyone have insights on how to draw a CUTE bunny face? Mine seem to be 'lacking' in that department... LOL!)

I think these egg ones are my favorite. Could it be because delicious, chocolaty Cadbury eggs are the centerpiece? Perhaps - perhaps not...I can't decide. (Curse you Cadburry for making such yummy Easter treats!)

You all should make cupcakes for Easter too. It's super fun AND easy! If you make them, post them in your blog (if you have one) so everyone can see.

HAPPY SPRING!

Luau cake

2011-03-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight 2 of our friends got married and we were able to make their cake. L (the bride) said that I could make what ever I wanted...and since it was a Luau theme...and since Luau's are so much fun...we decided to go with a fun cake (how's that for a never ending sentence? ;).

As usual, MBH had a huge hand in the making in this cake. Truth be told, if he had time to make a whole cake, it would be far better than anything I've ever made. He's one talented dude :) and I love it when he helps me with projects.

Congrats R&L! Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day.

Spring Break

2011-03-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

Below are a few pictures from our trip to California.

We spent one day at Sea World.

This is C and J at the dolphin pool. J was a little hesitant to touch the dolphin. It has tons of sharp teeth that look a bit frightening to a 5 year old...and his mom ;)

Here are C and J observing the whale pool.

They were pretty active and were very fun to watch.

J and myself at the whale observation deck.

We love the Bat Rays! I think it's great to be able to park yourself there as long as you want, can touch them as much as you want (assuming they are coming near enough)...without being charged $6 additional per person.

Beluga whales are so fun to watch!

Here are the tide pools...which are also fun at no extra charge :) Notice how wet J and I are in these last two pictures. We were fortunate enough to be direct recipients of 3 great waves of water from "Shamu". The first one was, of course, expected. We were sitting in the splash zone after all. The whale went to 3 other spots in the zone before getting to us...all of those people got splashed once. We got splashed once - and were surveying the "damage" done to our little one when we, VERY unexpectedly, received another one....and then another. We were shocked and SOAKED!

*Mental Note - Do not remove protective poncho at any point while sitting in the splash zone. Even if you think the whale is finished with you. Oh..and keep your mouth closed!*

Today J told me that his favorite part of Sea World was the Churro. Looking back on it...I'm pretty sure he wasn't kidding. Nothing else made him smile quite like the Churro!

Our next day was spent at the tide pools in La Jolla.

J was very cautious at first but once he was convinced we weren't in any danger from tsunamis we had SO much fun! (mental note...don't talk about current events in front of a worrisome 5 year old)

We found some empty oyster shells that we used as shovels to pick up the little ocean creatures we found.

Hermit crabs are hilarious and quite fascinating!

I think the tide pools were my favorite part of our trip. The ocean and shore here were beautiful!

There are some 'beached' seals (or sea lions, I'm not sure which) not too far from the pools. We were running low on time so we didn't get any closer but I think we will try too next time we get the opportunity. Doesn't it look like J's going to eat them in this pic?

We also went to Hoover Dam on our way to Vegas. Holy-moly that thing is huge. J wanted to look over the edge to see how far down it went which made me SO nervous. I don't think I've ever held on to him more tightly! LOL :)

We were able to spend the night at some friends house for the last night of our little vaca.

What a fun time we had! It's always great to "get away" but I was glad to get home...and recuperate from our break :)

Catching Leprechauns

2011-03-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to celebrate St. Patricks day by catching a leprechaun.

We found some small empty boxes, got some colored paper, and went to work. J's box had a hole in the top that he covered with paper. He then cut the paper over the hole into strips and added some clover stickers to those strips. Leprechauns love clovers as you know, so when they saw them they would walk over and fall into the box. He added shredded paper to ensure a soft landing and some lucky charms for them to snack on.

We were going to be out of town on St. Patricks day so we added some flour to the board the traps sat on so we could see the foot prints they were sure to leave behind. (It was a bit messy but was all I could come up on short notice ;)

We were so excited to see if some Leprechauns would visit our house on St. Patties day! J. really hoped that there would be one stuck in his trap so we could keep it as a pet...we took comfort in knowing that if you catch a Leprechaun, it is required (by his magical law) to leave some treasure behind when he gets out.

So, we got home and found that we had, in fact, caught a leprechaun. It did get out though so he left us some treasure. We think there were probably 3 that got into the house...2 were trapped and the third one helped them escape. They sure are sneaky! ;)

Who knew St. Patricks day could be so fun! I think we'll try again next year.

Love

2011-02-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

We made some yummy sugar cookies for Valentines day and since we can't physically give you all some, I thought I'd share them here. Does that mean we give you all our love without giving you the extra calories?

I got the idea from the "how does she" blog. I was going to show you some step by step pictures but blogger seems to be struggling a little with photo uploads at the moment. I'll give you a quick run down so you can make some too if you so choose. :)

1) Make some yummy sugar cookies. I used the recipe from HERE. They ended up being crisp, which was recommended for this decorating type, but I wish they had been soft and chewy.

2) Make some Royal Icing. I used the recipe from THIS post on Sweetopia. . It's the best royal icing I've ever tried. PLUS, if you search their awesome site, you will come across all kinds of great royal icing tips. If you've never seen the Sweetopia page, you should go on over. Her cookies are amazing!

3) Frost the cookie with your base color. Then pick your secondary color and drop little dots all around the perimeter of your cookie.

4) Grab a tooth pick and drag it around....kind of like a dot to dot. Let them dry over night before stacking them! So cute and easy!

Happy Valentines Day!

I need friends

2011-02-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

Several months ago (so many that I can't remember) I signed up for an account on goodreads. It's a great place to get book recommendations, keep track of books you've read, and even form little "book clubs". Doesn't it sound fun?!

When I signed up, the site said they could access my e-mail account to search for "friends" but there was a disclaimer that said they would have access to it anytime they wanted, even when I wasn't logged in. I was a little uneasy about giving them such permission so I said no. Now I only have 1 friend! I feel lonely. You all should sign up...and be my goodreads friends! :) LOL

The Power of Basics

2011-02-08T18:56:00.000-08:00

Many of you probably remember the great talk Elder Uchtdorf gave in the last General Conference titled "Of Things That Matter Most". Don't you love his talks? I'm amazed that he always finds an airplane metaphor. Do you think he'll eventually run out of them? Somehow, I doubt it :). The other day I flipped open my Ensign and there sat his talk. I needed to read it that day. It was very inspiring. I heard him share his message during GC but a few things stood out to me in new ways when I read it.

Over the past few years I've been on a quest...the quest to SIMPLIFY! I'm pretty sure I've passed some of you along the way. It's been quite a journey. I think I've taken it a little too far.

Crafts, organizing, cooking, blogging, cleaning, sewing...NONE of them are simple enough for me anymore! I never finish a project unless it's done in 10 min. or less. I feel like I've short changed myself. How am I supposed to get better at anything I do, if I'm not spending time doing it?

In Pres. U's talk, he shares a little story about Vince Lombardi. (I don't want to type it all here, but if you want to read it, you can click on the link above.) In his story he says, "This coach knew that even these experienced players, and indeed the team, could become great only by mastering the fundamentals". Only by mastering the fundamentals! I love that :)

So now, I'm starting a new journey...the journey to master the fundamentals of home-making (as opposed to skimming past my homemaking duties because they aren't simple enough, as I've been doing). Have your ever admired your grandma, or someone grandmotherly, who can do all kinds of amazing things from scratch? I have! I want to cook from scratch (without using canned foods if possible), and to make more home-made things, and to learn...the fundamentals!

I'm going to "slow down a little, steady the course, and focus on the essentials" in regards to anything related to our home. I'm excited for all the learning possibilities that are ahead of me.

Any advice?

2011-02-04T21:39:00.000-08:00

*Previous Post DELETED*

Isn't "venting" an amazing thing...sometimes. It can be very refreshing, but my favorite thing about it is that it helps me recognize my moments of irrationality. :) Thank you all for your advice! I'm going to try some of your suggestions. I'm so thankful for my little one and I don't care if he fits into whatever mold others may try to force him into. We will work things out. Maybe all I need is a little more focus ;)

Day Trip

2011-02-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

The Weather has been so fantastic lately! Coming from a "northern" climate, the idea that January is cold and snowy is forever ingrained deep in side me. I can't seem to convince myself that each beautiful day is real. Unfortunately, the arctic chill came and blew all that away. It was freezing here today (although, I'm well aware that it is no where near as cold here as it is where some of you are...I feel for you and pray that you stay warm:)!

We've been spending a lot of time outside and even took a day trip to Snow Canyon. We have lived here for more than three years now (can you believe it? I can't!) and have only gone one other time. It was such a blast! I don't know why we don't go more often.

The red "eroded" sandstone is a common geological feature of So. U. but I think it is beautiful, no matter how often I see it. J. has fun sitting in/climbing around the large holes...occasionally we use them as hand holds so as to climb walls...and they're always fun to look at. :)

We also discovered a little patch of Sand dunes contained inside the park. We played for about an hour but It looks like the perfect place to spend an entire day. I want to set up some chairs and umbrellas, pack a lunch, and turn the little one loose.

While we were there, we plopped ourselves down at the top of a hill to dig in the sand. After a few minutes, I looked over and J. was somersaulting down. It looked painful to me but he had a blast...and as you can imagine, he was CoVeReD from head to toe in sand. Oh well...my car needed to be vacuumed anyway!

Look at all that sand! I can't wait to go back and hike the trails we didn't have time for...especially the trail to the top of the volcano. Anyone want to come?

I'm discovering that a desert really can be beautiful. If we ever move away from here, I will truly miss the uniqueness and wonder that surrounds us here.

New

2011-01-11T21:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new blog!

Ever since I started my original blog I regretted putting our last name as part of the address. I've been thinking about making a new one for a long time but didn't have the energy...until now :). Looking back on this new journey, I'm wondering if I should have just changed the address on the other one. I'm kind of sad that I'll have to delete all of my posts from the last 2 years. Maybe there's a way to link or transfer them? I'll have to look into it.

How do you like the name...Bricks and Beams? I know it might seem strange but I was looking for a blog title that was unique and meaningful. Let me tell you...it was a CHORE to find a descent one that wasn't already taken. Everything cute and clever I came up with was being used. (So much for original thought on my part!) But then I was looking through a catalog that had the quote "A house is made of bricks and beams, a home is made of love and dreams" and I thought it was catchy. Since most of what will be written here will have something to do with my family, home, and house, it seemed appropriate.

I love fresh starts and the new year (and a new blog) will be good for my soul! I have many goals I want to accomplish and I look forward to sharing some of them here. Thanks for stopping by and please remember to add this address to your directory instead of the old one. I know how irritating it can be to update all those gadgets. I really hate doing it myself so I'm sorry for the inconvenience!