A faithful lesson learned

Sunday morning Tyler, Kylee and I joined Mindy and Macey on a road trip to St. George! Both Mindy and her husbands' family live in St. George so she was coming down for a family baptism, and since she had exactly 3 seats open in her car we jumped at the chance to come down and spend the next two weeks soaking up (or sweating out) the heat of southern Utah-oh and to visit family!! On the way out of Logan we have to drive through a canyon and Tyler was SO scared! (apparently roller coasters will not be in his future) We're not sure if it's the windy roads he doesn't like, or the mountains that go straight up on either side of the road (like a claustrophobic thing) he just says he doesn't like it and he's scared. Then all of a sudden in the middle of his whining he says, "Mom, I am just scared I need to say a prayer to my Heavenly Father." Mindy told Tyler that was a great idea and I asked him if he wanted to say it. He said, "ya I will say it" and proceeded to say the sweetest little prayer. Afterwards he looked up and sighed a big sigh, thought for a minute, and said, "Okay, I feel better now I don't have to be scared." I told him that was exactly right and was so happy that he remembered that when he was scared he could pray to feel better. He nodded his head and said excitedly, "ya, AND Heavenly Father gave me my body!" ha ha, I never will understand how his little brain works!

I am so grateful for the lessons I learn from my children. I thought about that as I was falling asleep last night. About how often we teach them about the Holy Ghost, about prayer, about the love their Heavenly Father has for them and how often we forget the real gospel truth behind those doctrines. That we too can feel comfort from the Holy Ghost when we pray, and should pray when we're scared because Heavenly Father does love us and wants to be there for us when we're scared, lonely, or worried-even if they happen to be "little things". I think sometimes it's hard to remember that if it's important to us, it's important to Him. No matter how small or insignificant the experience may seem, Heavenly Father will be there for us if we invite Him to be. So from the little things of being scared to be home alone at night without the security of our husband, or the fear of speaking in church, to much bigger things like the fear of how we might look if we stand up for the truth or being scared to have the courage to follow a prompting of the spirit; we can stop whining for just a minute, say a quick prayer, sigh a big sigh, and then know that now we don't have to be scared. Allowing us to move forward with faith.

I am grateful for the innocent faith Tyler had and the reminder that I too need to, as King Benjamin encourages us, "becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him..." (Mosiah 3:19). And to unquestioningly know that I can always turn to my Heavenly Father when there is fear, doubt, or question in my heart. And through His spirit He will send peace to replace the fear, comfort to ease away the doubt, and provide answers to my troubled heart. But it all starts with faith. Simple faith that He IS there. That He does care, and that He loves you more than is possible to understand. Hmmm...everything I need to know I really did learn in primary.

The Demolition Derby

Okay, so let's take a break from all the craft posts (even I need one!) and take a look at our white trash weekend.

We went to the demolition derby Sat. night with the fackrell's:


And the Ellets and the Dana's:


And had SO much fun! I have never been to one of these before and I LOVED it! Seriously, I'm not even joking.

Tyler thought it was "awesome" the first couple rounds and then by the end he was bored out of his mind. It is like 2 1/2 hours long. Kylee on the other hand loved the whole thing. She would clap when the cars would hit each other and she was straining her lil' neck to try and see over the fence so she could soak up all the action! It was too funny.


All the cars lined up waiting for the countdown to begin their demolition!


Demolition complete


SO FUN!

Mindy and Tyler out line dancing during one of the clean-ups between rounds


It was a good thing she feel asleep on the way there and got a nap in because we didn't get home till 9:30 that night!


Silly girl!


I guess I do still have a little southern-hick left in me after all.

Crafty project #2, 3, 4 &5

#2-Welcome post/decoration hanger/thingy you put outside your house

I got this sweet puppy at DI for $5.


I'll be honest, when I first saw it all dusty and cobwebbed up, tossed aside on the floor, my faith in my ability to make anything out of it waivered a teensy weensy bit. But my sister saw it's potential and made me carry that baby home. And I'm so glad she did because I LOVE how it turned out!

I first washed the whole thing down with warm water and soap. Then I lightly sanded the whole thing to smooth out the wood chipping in several places and to take off some of the paint from the 1990 stencil job on the front.

Next I spray painted the whole thing white


and the base the same red as my pots.


I got this little fence topper thing at Home Depot for $4. 50


And her transformation was complete! I would like to get a vinyl lettering that says 'Welcome' to go down the front, but for now I like this just fine.


I love that I can use this year round and decorate it with all the different holidays! This is obviously for the 4th of July (and if you live in UT you get to leave it up all month because we celebrate pioneer day on the 24th!)


#3-"America" decoration (the sign hanging from the post above)

So the sign you see above started out like this (bought for $1 at DI):


I first stripped everything off and then got a little spray paint happy :).


After doing my pot and post projects I wanted to spray paint anything I could get my hands on, I was hooked! I actually think the stars were ok the way they were, but I wanted to create a little bit of a fresher look. You can't really tell from the pic but the paint was pretty scratched up in places, and the white was more of a yellowish color now.

Then I took a white paint pen and made some dotted lines to outline the stars and banner above.


Then I picked up some big, metallic blue letters at Micheals (with a 40% off coupon) to spell AMERICA (I actually was going to keep the I heart America that was already on the banner, but after I had painted everything else, the yellowy color just wasn't doing it for me)


And hung everything together with the wires that were used to hold them in place on the wreath. Ta Da!


#4-July 4th Wreath

Since I had an extra wreath lying around I decided to throw together a quick, cheap 4th of July wreath. I saw this idea here first, so when I went into Michaels (to get the blue, metallic letters) I was delighted to see their 4th of July stuff on sale for 30% off.

What you need for this is about 9 feet of garland (give or take- depending on how big your wreath is), a wreath and a glue gun.

Then I just started by gluing the beginning of the string of garland onto the back of my wreath and then tightly wrapped it around the whole thing until it came back to where we started. Then glued the end of the string (I used all 9 feet) to the wreath and that was all!

*Garland-$3.50, wreath free from above project, glue/gun already had.

Ta-Da!


I finished this before the sign was done so I hung it up on the post for a few days.


Then moved it over to the door. For $3.50 I love, love, love my spunky wreath!


#5-The Flower Box
I don't know that I would call this a "project" per se, because it didn't take any work but it adds the perfect balance to the front of the house. My Grandparents brought up these awesome wood crates that my great-grandparents had before they passed away. I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to use them for, but Bobby thought that they would make perfect flower planters. I loved the idea and so we brought one out and filled it with beautiful flowers that I had left over from my pot project. We just left the flowers inside the plastic pots they come in so as to save time, dirt, money and make this as simple as possible and to not ruin the wood, but you can't tell what they're sitting in so it works perfect!


The printed stamp on the side gives it such character I think.


----Projects #1-5 combined----

So here's how everything looks all put together outside. Cause I know you're all just *dying* to see.

Up-close:


From the sidewalk:


Total Cost breakdown:
*For the wreath, post and sign:
-post...$5
-topper...$4.50
-white paint...$3.50
-wreath...$1
-garland...$3.50
-sign...$1.50 (the cost of the blue letters)
-red paint...free (from pot project)
Total: $19.00

*For the flower box:
-flowers...left over from pot project and gift from friend
-box...was a gift
Total: FREE!

*For the tiered planter
Large Pot...4.50 (sold as same price as med. pot b/c it had a crack)
medium pot...$4.50
small pot...$2
saucer...$3
spray paint (2 red, 1 yellow, clear gloss)...$14
flowers...honestly I don't remember but I want to say about $15-definitely the most expensive part!
Total: $43

Not the cheapest project but that's not why I did this one. I fell in LOVE with the tiered pot idea and really wanted to see if I could pull it off. Thanks to the encouragement of my mom and sisters I went for it! I also LOVE flowers-I occasionally buy them just for myself because they make me happy :)

I also love that my family is now apart of my house. My mom and sisters helped me pick out and decide which projects, colors, etc. to do, my BF Mindy gave me a pot of flowers to help me get started, my husband helped me plant the flowers and my kids help me water them. My grandparents, and even great-grandparents, have their representation here as well through the flower box, and when I look at my house that's what I see. That's what I remember. How much I love my family. All my family. Whenever I pull up to my house now I can't help but smile. Yay for family, flowers and pretty girly things!

Total cost breakdown: PRICELESS

Crafty project #1-The tiered planter

I found this cute little baby over at an awesome craft blog called I am Momma Hear me Roar and thought I'd try my hand at it.

The Tiered Planter


That blog didn't actually have the tutorial for the project-just some pictures- so I linked up to this blog to get the exact instructions on how to do it. In case you're interested here's how I did it...

I started with 3 terrecota pots (1 large, 1 medium, 1 small-which I got for 50% off at Hobby Lobby) and a saucer to fit the largest pot.


I sprayed everything with a clear water seal spray.


After that dried I sprayed my largest and smallest pot red (colonial red to be specific)


And sprayed my medium pot yellow (summer squash I think was the name of it). I think I ended up doing about 3 coats of spray per pot.


I let everything dry about 24 hours and then started stacking them. I first laid about 3 inch of potting soil in the bottom pot, stacked 2 rectangular bricks on top (.50 each at Home Depot), and cut up some water bottles to fill in the extra space. I did this to allow room for the roots to grow and to make it lighter to move around.


Next I placed the yellow pot on top of the bricks and then poured soil in to fill in the rest of the bottom red pot. (sorry no pic)

Then you just repeat those steps for your next two pots to make your tier. Just to note- I only used the water bottles in the bottom pot and only used 1 square brick in the medium pot (instead of 2 like in the large one). Is this making sense? I was trying to finish planting before it got dark so I wasn't too concerned with taking pictures along the way.

Then we planted our flowers!! (I say we because at this point it was after 9:00 at night and I needed Bobby's help to finish before dark)


On the tutorial mentioned above Amy said that you should have a thriller, a spiller and a filler. For my "thriller" I used lilies and snapdragons. For my "spiller" I used Ivy, and for the "filler" (I couldn't stop with just one type; flowers are going on major sale right now since the season for them is almost over-or so I was told-and I wanted this to be super bright, fun and cheery) so I have a mixture of several different flowers-of which most I can't remember the names or find those little tags that come in the pots so...sorry. I guess those of you that are flower gurus will know. Anyhow, I really love how it turned out!


The lilies on top are my favorite!



I love how much color it adds to the front of our house! Now let's just see how long I can keep everything alive!

The nursery story

It absolutely could not have gone any worse! Which I was not prepared for as Tyler did great his first day, and still loves it till this day! As my mom pointed out to me the next day (and I don't know why I didn't think about this and prepare myself better) Kylee has ALWAYS been very attached to me. Since she was just weeks old I was the only person she would quiet down for and the only person that she would let hold. We really struggled with her separation anxiety issues for several months because she literally would not let me out of her sight. The past few months though it's been better (meaning she is okay with strangers playing with her, talking to her, etc-still won't let them hold her, but before she would cry if people she didn't know even began to approach her). I guess since it's been getting better I figured nursery would have gone over better. I was DEAD wrong! I think it would have helped if Tyler would have been there with her but our ward has 3 nursery classes and Tyler is in the oldest one since he is already 3. The second we walked in the door she gripped my arm like she knew something she wasn't comfortable with was about to happen. Her eyes were frantically scouting out the room and she started to breathe a little heavier. When I set her down and turned to go, her lip was doing the quiver thing and she was reaching her arms out to me to pick her up and her eyes looked so sad you'd of thought her puppy just died. But I was firm and didn't want to give into her because she needs to be okay with nursery, so I handed her over to the nursery leader and walked out the door. The second the door closes she starts SCREAMING, and trust me the girl knows how to scream! But I was holding my ground and didn't go back in to "save" her because, after working in nursery in the past, I hate those moms that won't let their kids cry it out for a bit cause usually after a few minuets of distraction they're just fine. They need to learn to deal with separation and gain the independence that comes from that. So thinking I'm such a great mom I just let her scream. I stayed in the hall to see how long she'd cry for and after about 5 min. had passed, of constant crying, there's a little lull and I think, "oh good, she's fine" when a nursery worker BOLTS out the door and comes running down the hall yelling to me, "Kylee just threw up ALL over!" GREAT! So I run back in and sure enough all over this woman (a less active woman who is just starting to come back to church I might add) is pink, chunky vomit. Down her dress, spilling down her legs and seeping into her shoes. Wonderful. I was mortified!!! And Kylee's eyes and face were so blotchy from crying so hard that she looked like she had a weird face disease. But the second I walk in the room she's all smiles. I feel so bad that I let her cry so hard she threw up. Of course she wouldn't let me leave her side-literally she sat on my lap the whole 2 hours-and if I even shifted my weight in the slightest she would squeeze my neck and start to whimper. Even for snack time she wouldn't sit on those itty, bitty, little chairs by herself. At the end the leaders were doing bubbles and she wanted to play SO bad but she wouldn't leave my side for a second. She was reaching for them on her tip-toes and saying, "Bubbles! Bubbles!" and I was trying to encourage her to go, but she wasn't havin it! There's no way I can do this again next week because I have to teach in RS and Bobby teaches in primary so who knows what we'll do. All I can say is bobby will definitely be the one taking her!

PICTURE TIME!!!

Ready or not, here are bucket loads of pictures from the last what...2 months! All I can say is we have been LOVING summer! We are outside as much as we can be, trying to do as many things as we can do before we're locked in doors for 7 months straight! These pictures probably won't get all the background info they deserve since I'm trying to jam them all into one post, but here goes...

(from oldest to most recent these are pictures of everything from random stuff to "events")

One thing we're enjoying about being in a house is that we get to sing "workin' at the car wash" in our driveway instead of inside the car wash!


makin' sure the water's coming out




The kids love to stand on the fence here and look out at...nothing. Well sometimes we can see the horses in the field behind our house so that's fun for them.


This particular day there was a chicken wandering around our backyard!


Tyler thought it was the coolest thing EVER and was good to keep his distance so he wouldn't scare, "that cute little chicky away!"


The first couple weeks of June it rained almost every day but we did get some beautiful double rainbows out of it! The one this night was HUGE! This is one side of it...


...and here is the other.


I knew Tyler would LOVE it so I had to go get him out of bed to come see it. I was right! This is his, "whoa, cool!" face...


he was so excited he just broke out dancing. It took awhile for him to get back to sleep, but it was worth it to see that cute, dimple smile on his face!


And that night we had the most beautiful sunset! My camera's like 5 years old so it doesn't nearly do this justice.


In the middle of June my mom, Alena, Alisa and Nate (alisa's little boy) came to visit us for almost a week and we LOVE LOVE LOVED having them here!!!!!!

Just can't resist those cousin in the bathtub pictures...


Um I think Tyler was trying to wash Kylee's back with the Octopus, but I just love how Nate is hoarding all the toys!


Unfortunately the week they were here was COLD and rainy so we mostly had to stay indoors, but we still managed to have fun playing LOTS of Clue, shopping at DI (thrift store for those of you not in UT) for treasures (post on all the fun projects I've been working on to come), using the air mattress as a slide, eating at some delicious restaurants, going to see Letter to Juliet (SOOO cute!), getting my mom's hair done, watching the new Elmo movie from Grandma and finally being able to play outside the last day they were here!









The kids enjoying their "movie theater" so we could enjoy our game :)


Kylee spent forever sitting in this rocking chair zipping this camera case open and close.






More bathtime fun... (I love nate's cute lil face in this one)








Tyler kept filling up this little tube with water...


...and then he'd pour down her face. Over and over and over.


She really didn't ever seem to mind...


...unless it got in her eyes. Then she didn't like it.


So she got out and snuggled with me on the chair while the boys played for a bit.


They would play this game where they would run from the pool to grandma back to the pool.






A little too cold in the pool


So they decided it'd be a little more fun to play in the sprinkler.




Tyler trying to convince Nate to get something for him out of the freezing pool


LOVE this little boy!


Before they left Tues. morning Alena gave Kylee a quick pedicure!




More random pictures of playing outside. (I'm totally serious...this is what we do EVERYday!) Tyler loves to spray the hose...


...espeically on Kylee-who hates it!


Playing with his new T-Ball set from Grandma!


FATHER'S DAY!
*This is what I wrote in the blog post I made on father's day but never posted b/c I couldn't get my videos to load...still can't, but here's the post*

We had a wonderful father's day weekend! It was 80 and sunny with bright, blue skies all weekend so we took full advantage and spent as much time together outside as we could! Bobby is hands down, THE best father in the world! He would do anything for the kids and they know it! :0) They adore him and are his permanent shadow from the second he walks in the door till the minute they go to bed. I'm so thankful to have him as my partner in this parenthood journey because he makes up for all the areas I fall short in. Thanks for all the blood, sweat and tears :) you put in to make our family the best it can be, we love you babe!


And since you can't ever get a perfect picture of everyone we tried separate shots but with Bobby you can't ever get a serious picture :)


unless you beg! (look how white Tyler makes Bobby's legs look! ha ha)


Once again...has to be silly


before he can be serious. (one of the reasons I love him!!)


For my gift to Bobby I made him a video clip of both the kids expressing their *thoughts* about their daddy. (which is pretty stinkin' adorable so I'm still working on trying to post it)

The kids got him a super duper bouncy ball (supposedly goes 75 feet but how am I really supposed to know how high it's bouncing!?!?)
Look at that form for throwdown!


And the bounce...I guess that's what 75 feet look like


And Bobby found a RC car at DI the day before FD for $10 (with battery-he wants me to add) that he just had to get"for Tyler", but let's be honest...I just chalked it up as a second FD gift :)




Watchin' the boys being boys


Concentrating really hard on making it spin circles


This is his "Ah man it crashed" face.


Then they took a break and ate a "bowl full of cherries"!


Daddy taught him how to spit out the seeds


Love his cherry juice mouth


But I think Kylee's face takes the cake!


Random picture of Kylee kicking her brother that I had to throw in to show Kylee's pure sass personality. He is typically very patient with her and she totally plays on that by pushing his buttons-all the time!


I don't know if you can tell from the picture but she is CRACKING up laughing right now b/c she kicked him. Little stink!


We took the kids to see Toy Story 3 which Tyler loved! Kylee did great and then fell asleep towards the end cause it was in the middle of her nap time.




She is SO intrigued by the huge screen and loud music.


She got a little scared and wanted to hold my hand and then held it for SO long! Sometimes the stinker in her takes a break :)


Then we went to Mindy and Macey's house and had Popsicles!


Another place we frequent is the Logan Aquatic Center. Kylee spends most of her time playing on the edge of the pool. She is VERY cautious about everything.


Look at that pose! ha ha!


This time Mindy's nephew's were here so we spent an afternoon swimming away. Tyler loved having some older boys to play with.




Jeffrey diving after something. Tyler was his shadow the whole time which had the lifeguards constantly on their toes b/c tyler couldn't quite reach the bottom of the pool in all the places Jeffrey went.




Someone better call 911 on Mindy's boyfriend


Once again...out in the back. A "fun" game Tyler and Bobby were playing. Daddy scoops about a bucket full of water and...


...throws it on Tyler


Which makes his shorts fall off...check out that tan line! That is one WHITE buttox!


Some of Tyler's friends taking a break from swimming to watch The Incredibles


This weekend me and my besties went and saw Eclipse!!! SOOOO deliciously wonderful! Absolutely my favorite out of the three!


And Ashlie surprised us with matching Twilight t-shirts which we most definitely wore in the movie and to dinner afterwards!! We had such a good night out as always!!!!!


JULY 4TH

Not only did we get to celebrate our independence on Sun., we also celebrated Kylee going to nursery for the first time! As it turns out that was anything but a celebration (post on that to come...yes it deserves a whole post!) but we did have a great holiday weekend!

The kids right before church


He was whispering something to her, but I'm not sure what it was.




I just wanted ONE picture with my girl but she was NOT havin' it. Do you see how disgusted she is with me for trying to make her say "cheese"! Tyler was taking the picture and he kept saying, "come on baby girl, just say cheese!"


We did fireworks at the Ellet's house but I forgot my camera, so Mindy's got some pretty dang cute pictures I'll have to post when she gets them to me.

Then today we went to Bear Lake with the Ellet's and thoroughly enjoyed a relaxing day in the sun!


Going out in the "raft"




Cute little Macey


Frustrated little Kylee cause she can't dig up the sand


Oreo's anyone?


She devored almost a whole bag of cheetos byherself!


Just to prove Tyler really was there! This is the only pic I have of him from today. Somehow he seems to evade most of my pictures!


Well that mostly gets you caught up on our lives. I still have to post a little about Kylee's nursery visit, their recent doctor visits, and my crafting projets, but you've now seen-almost-every picture on my camera!