Happiness is Homemade...

...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!

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

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

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

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?

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

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"!