watch out for the woestmans

Lehi's Dream/Don't eat Pete

2012-02-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

We had a special visitor at our family home evening last week. Lehi came and told us about his dream! Tucker and Penelope even got to put on blindfolds and act it out. It was fun. I think the kids were getting confused when we first told them to hold to the rod all the way to the end where a tree statue was. And then once we started everyone was trying to get them to let go of the rod just like in the dream. Penelope was not as steadfast as Tucker because she did give in and let go of the rod once people started telling her to. haha.

After the lesson we played Don't Eat Pete. I think it is one of my favorite games. I first played it when I was in primary.

To play you make a piece of paper with 12 numbered squares on it each square gets a candy. We used M&Ms this time. Then one person leaves the room and everyone else decides which number M&M is Pete. when the person comes back they start randomly eating the M&Ms one at a time. When they get to Pete everyone shouts "Don't eat Pete!" and they have to stop eating. The board gets refilled and the next person gets a turn. The kids love it and so do I.

Braided Headband Tutorial

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

This week I want to explain how to make a braided headband with your own hair. It is a simple easy way to dress up your hair when you want to wear it down. Whenever I do my hair like this someone asks if it is real or a headband. The only thing is your hair has to be medium long for this to work.

Check out the video to see how its done:

I think braids are best explained in a video but just in case you don't want to watch it I will explain it here.

1) Take a chunk of hair from behind your ear.

2) Braid it.

3) Flip it over your head where you would wear a headband.

4) Bobby pin it.

Have fun braiding!

Last week

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

Bob went to Florida on a business trip last week. It could have lasted for two weeks but luckily for me it only took one and I picked him up at the airport saturday afternoon. He left early Sunday morning and by that I mean like 2 am so I went to church by myself. Actually not by myself, it was the opposite of by myself since I had the three kiddos with me. Getting everyone ready was a challenge but we made it on time. We would have made it through the whole sacrament if it didn't go over 15 minutes. I took the kids out during the end and changed two poopy diapers. Scarlett actually fell asleep on me while I taught my primary class and wasn't that much of a distraction at all.

On Monday I headed to my parents house because I didn't have anything to do at home that I couldn't do there. It was nice to spend time with family and to get extra help from my Mom, Dad, and brother. We took the kids to the Y to swim, made cookies, found a geocache, I got my hair done, and had plenty of time to go ring shopping. My ring keeps falling off so I am thinking about getting a new one. A few places have already told me they wont size it and since Bob spent a ton of money on a new guitar I figure I get to spend at least that much on a ring.

So while I had double diaper duty all week Bob was doing this

Along with hang gliding bob went snorkeling, and on a alligator swamp tour. I'll get him to blog more about it later.

I am glad Bob had a fun time I just wish I could have gone too.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunkers

2012-01-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

My brother Caleb got a cake mix cookie book for Christmas and we decided to try out one of the recipes. While flipping through the 375 cookie recipes that used a box of cake the title "Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunkers" caught my eye. How could it not? We already had everything except the chocolate chunks so after a trip to the store by my mom and brother we got started. We did put in more chocolate chunks than recommended and my mom even added peanut butter chips that were not in the original recipe but were really good. I'll put the edited recipe below.

Ingredients:
1 box devil's food cake mix
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup softened butter
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks or chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat to 350. Place all the ingredients except the chunks and chips into a bowl and mix until well blended. Ad in the chunks/chips and mix on a slow speed.

Drop tablespoon size cookies onto the sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

These cookies are pretty good, especially if you like chocolate and peanut butter. Who doesn't right? And another great thing about these cookies is they were so easy to make. Plus if you are a fan of the warm cookie like I am just stick a cooled cookie in the microwave for 10 seconds to get the gooey yummy taste. I will definitely make these again.

Dad's Birthday

2012-01-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

I went to Puyallup to hang out and to celebrate my dads birthday which happened on Monday. Tucker had to find out what kind of show he likes so he knew what kind of cake to make him. Mom said he likes space and alien shows so we decided on making a rocket cake.
The cake would have looked even cooler if we put all 57 candles underneath the rocket! Happy Birthday Dad! Thanks for having us over.

Purse Camera Bag Review /Swiss Gear Diana SLR

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

I needed a bigger camera bag to hold my lenses. I wanted something a little bigger but still not huge because I didn't want to carry all my camera equipment around everywhere with me. I decided on the Swiss Gear Diana SLR camera bag. It was the cheapest purse style camera bag I could find and so far I like it. I probably could have made one for around $40ish but I decided to buy this $67 one from Best Buy instead. I had to buy it online and there wasn't very much info about it on the web so I thought I would do my own review for anyone else looking.

The Diana SLR camera bag looks just like a purse. I love it because now I don't need a purse and a camera bag. It has plenty of room for my wallet, cell phone, and keys. Another benefit of it being stylish is that I think given the option someone would steal a camera bag over a purse.

This picture doesn't quite do it justice because I needed to take my camera out to take the picture. I will say that it has room for my camera to sit lens down (lens attached) in the left most space, then in the middle I keep another lens and there is more room for keys or whatever, and the right is perfect for my external flash. Just on the other side of the edge dividers there is a small space for whatever you want. I slide in my charger, computer cord and wireless remote. The dividers are removable and adjustable.

On the back there is a thin zipper pocket. I keep a paper towel (just in case I need to wipe off the outside of my camera) and my rain shield.

The handles and top are a black leather material and the rest of the bag is more of a slick cloth.

Here you can see how big it is in relationship to me. It feels pretty sturdy and can stand up without leaning and falling when set down. It is not a messenger type bag meaning the straps are not really long. I have used it a few times and have been able to successfully shoot while wearing it although I do fidget with the straps while it is on.

Over all it is a good buy. It is not perfect for a camera bag but for the purse style I think it is the best for the price ($67).

Family Feud Auditions

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Last Sat. my family tried out for Family Feud! They were holding auditions in the South Hill mall in Puyallup so we decided to go ahead and try. For the auditions we pretty much just played a round of the show. Aside from waiting over 3 hours for our turn, and the speakers giving me a headache, it was fun. I honestly don't think we will get on the show, not for any reason but only because there were over 600 families trying out. The people who they do pick get their flights and hotel paid for and the filming is in Georgia. Other than that you only get money if you win and if you have watched the show you can win up to $20,000.

This is what it looked like. The family on the left is in my mom's ward and I wouldn't be surprised if they get on the show. The casting director talked to them after they played. It was crazy because when we started out the whole place was packed but by the time we got to go there were only two families after us. So we seriously just sat and watched everyone else play again and again.

We have enough people in my family to have at least two teams. I think I am going to make up a little game and set up a little family feud at my parents house sometime.

How to make a camera strap cover

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

I didn't think of jazzing up my camera strap until I saw someone else with a unique strap. It was like a light bulb went off in my head. Why had I been using such a boring black camera strap when I could add a little personality to my camera. And since I now have a sewing machine I decided to make my own. I probably could have bought a new strap anywhere from $20-$100 instead I bought the materials to make three strap covers for $20. I'm not sure which strap I like the best but this tutorial explains how to do the most complicated one with the ruffles and bows. If you don't want all that jazz just don't put it on and follow the rest of the tutorial. It's as easy at that! And it should fit most straps. I covered the one that came with my camera and there is room to spare.

Materials needed:

2 pieces of fabric each 28"x 3.5"

1 piece of fabric 6"x 5"

1 piece heavy weight fusible fleece 26.5"x 5.5"

extra fabric for ruffles/bows (optional)

26" of ric rack (optional)

elastic

1) Make the ruffle. I suggest using a piece of material that is twice as long as you want it to end up and about 1 to 2 inches wide. Then use the large zig zag setting and do both sides of the material. Do not back stitch at the beginning or end! This is important!

2) Hold on to the bottom thread and gently bunch the material. Work your way through the whole pieces. This might take a few minutes. When done it should look like the picture below.

3) Now on to the pocket. Fold the shorter length over and then over again. On the second fold make sure there is room to put your elastic without sewing on of it.

4) Place your elastic and sew.

5) Fold up the bottom of the pocket two times and sew it.

6) Now pin the pocket to the bottom of the your main piece of fabric. You can do it at the very bottom or up a few inches. Which ever you prefer. I had to sew one side of the pocket because I only used one piece of fabric for the front and back instead of two. I don't recommend this. If you have a front piece and back piece than don't worry about this and just pin the pocket and leave the sides raw because they will get sewed later.

7) Pin the ruffle on and sew it down the middle. I made sure and did mine on the opposite side of the pocket since I want the pocket on the back.

If you did it right you will have a front piece and a separate back piece. Not just one piece like I have here. The way I did it is doable it just makes the pocket a pain to put on.

8) Now pin the ric rack on and sew.

9) Before the fleece you will need to sew your front and back pieces together. Just pin them right sides together and sew along one edge.

10) Next is the fleece. Iron it on.

11) Now fold up the end two times and sew. Repeat this on the other end.

12) Fold the cover so the fleece is facing out. Pin it and sew along the edge.

13) Turn the entire thing inside out.

14) Sew along the outside top and bottom edges. This step is actually optional. I perfer the look of it with it sewn but as you can see in the picture I only sewed the top and not the bottom.

15) Now make and hot glue any kind of flower or embellishments your like onto the front. Tutorial on how to make flowers here. Be creative with it.

This is the simplest one I made. The front and back are contrasting colors and the pocket is on the front with interfacing instead of elastic. I prefer the elastic pockets.

Here is the one I have on my camera now. It is Bob's favorite. The pocket is on the back in the same black and red material so it isn't noticeable. I also made the pocket a couple inches up from the bottom although I think I like the pocket positioned at the bottom best.

Sledding

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

This is my last snow post. I promise... unless we magically get more snow. Actually I think we are %95 melted. It rained pretty much all of sunday so any lingering snowmen piles have mostly melted away. Penelope keeps talking about the snowman like he is a real person. She says, "Snowman upside down." "Snowman have my boots." "Snowman bring my boots in?" "snowman melted?" She was hilarious when we were outside making snow angels. She obviously has no idea what one is and I couldn't coax her into laying down in the snow so I demonstrated for her. After getting up she said "Wat that?" I told her it is an angel and this is the funny part. She goes "do a baby Jesus." Hahaha. It makes sense she is used to seeing the nativity sets and they always have and Angel and the Baby Jesus. Somehow I was supposed to make a baby Jesus to go with the angel.

The kids had fun sledding. Below is a video of them going down our street.

I was dying for snow but now I am ok with waiting another year for more.

Scrumptious Sunday Cake batter Pancakes

2012-01-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

We had to make a special breakfast on our snow day so we decided to try these cake batter pancakes. They were good but I have to be honest and say I was hoping they would taste better. I think they would have tasted better if I used a yellow box cake instead of fun fetti but that is all we had. The kids loved them! Tucker thought it was the greatest breakfast ever!

I had fun photographing them.

Pancakes

1: cup pancake mix

1: cup yellow cake mix

3: tablespoons candy sprinkles

1: cup milk

1: teaspoon vanilla

2: eggs

Glaze and Garnish

1: cup powdered sugar

1 1/2: teaspoons milk

1/2: teaspoon vanilla

: Additional candy sprinkles
Recipe from Betty Crocker

Does the name cake batter pancakes seem redundant to you? Aren't pancakes already a form of cake?

more snow pics

2012-01-20T07:47:00.000-08:00

The kids didn't seem as excited about the snow yesterday so I went out by myself. It was really great! I got to take pictures and just enjoy the quiet beauty. Everything looked so peaceful and amazing. It was like I stepped into another world. There were no cars on the street and no people outside. I loved it!

This is the street right in front of our house.

I tried to take some close up pictures of a snowflake. So these next two are larger than life.

I am glad we got a couple snow days in this year. For a while I was starting to think it wasn't going to happen. Aside from people being out of power and getting hurt I think I would be happy with many more snow days. Bob on the other hand was ready to get back to work and just left with another two hour delay.

Snow Pics

2012-01-19T07:27:00.000-08:00

We had fun playing outside in the snow yesterday. I think I was the most excited then Tucker and bob (excited he didn't have to go to work) then Penelope was a little excited and Scarlett could care less. We did all go outside once we got dressed and ready around 8:45. Scarlett cried almost the whole time. Keep in mind that it was snowing pretty hard so the snow was getting in everyones faces. Penelope lasted a few minutes before she wanted to go back inside. And Tucker and I stayed out for about 2 hours.

The snowman was fun to build!

Tucker was really excited about snowballs. He mostly just wanted to throw snowballs the entire time we were outside.

I made him wear his beard hat. he doesn't like it as much as his other hats because I think it itches him.

This picture is from the second time we went out. Penelope had bob put all of her warms clothes on. Then when she got out Tucker was ready to go back in. I was going to stay out with her but after about 1 minute she said she wanted to go inside. I made her stay out a little and she was crying by 5 minutes. That is when we went in.

Bob has a two hour delay this morning so he is getting ready to go to work now. I am watching the news and it seems like many people are out of power. Luckily we have power. I guess the problem today is not the snow but the ice. Still more snow pics to come.

Snow Snow Snow!

2012-01-18T07:43:00.000-08:00

Yay! it is snowing! We have been teased with snow the past couple of days. It seemed like everyone in the area including my mom has had snow except for us. Weather.com kept saying it was supposed to snow the past couple nights I kept waking up to no snow. Finally this morning I got up to Bob being home (he is normally gone long before I get up) and snow!

These pictures are of the most snow we got the past couple days. And the sad part is it all melted within hours. I'll need to take new pictures of the snow today. Right now we have 2 1/2" of snow and it is coming down hard. It is not supposed to stop snowing until after lunch. Bob was told he doesn't need to go to work! I am so excited! I feel like the kids are old enough to play and Tucker really wants to throw a snowball. I already bought sleds and we have a big hill outside our house. They should be up pretty soon so we will be outside in minutes playing and building a snowman for sure! Have fun in the snow! And stay safe!

How to make a Doll Stroller Seat

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

This Tuesday Tutorial explains how to make a new seat for a doll stroller. This should fit most simple doll strollers. We got our stroller from Good Will for $.99 but the seat needed replacing. The main problem was that the bottom part kept falling off of the pegs. It was easy for me to put it back on but was causing Penelope serious frustration. I will admit that this project was pretty hard for me as a beginner. It was my first time using a pattern without help. So for most of you this will be pretty dang easy, but for me it did cause a little stress. Mostly I had a hard time putting the binding tape on correctly. So even though I was frustrated I did finish it during one of the kids 3 hour naps and if you have sewed anything before I'm sure it will be no trouble at all for you. The best thing about this was that I made the whole thing out of materials I already had!

Materials Needed:

Pattern found here

Half yard fabric

Binding tape

Two 21/2" pieces of elastic

Two 10" pieces of ribbon (optional)

1) Print the pattern, pin it to the fabric and cut it out. I doubled up the fabric and recommend you do too.

2) Pin the two seat pieces together, fold the edges in and sew it.

3) Now fold the bottom up a quarter inch, sew it.

4) Fold it up again. This time fold it so about one inch is showing on the back side. Sew along the sides (vertically) and middle but make sure you leave about 1 1/2 inches on the horizontal sides where you do not sew. This is where the stroller bars will slide in. The picture really explains it better than I can in words.

5) Now pin the two back pieces together.

6) Get your binding tape out and pin that around the entire top edge.

7) Slide both ends of the elastic into the top corners. Then sew around the entire top edge. Make sure the elastic gets sewn into it.

8) Lay the bottom piece on top of the back piece the the top sides together.

9) Pin the two raw edges together. I started at the middle and worked my way to the ends.

10) Sew around the edges.

This is where I thought I was done. Unfortunately the stroller seat kept coming off of the stroller so I added ribbons to keep it in place.

11) Fold one ribbon in half and pin the fold into the back bottom corner of the seat. Repeat on the other corner. Then burn the ends of the ribbon so it doesn't fray.

It should look like this once tied on.

12) The last step is to add the binding tape to the bottom. I skipped this and it seems to be fine without it.

Enjoy! And thank you to sewinginomandsland for teaching me how to do it.

families can be together forever

2012-01-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning I got to go to the temple to watch my brother get sealed to his children. I have only been to marriage sealings before so this was a neat experience. Malachi and Layne adopted Andrew and Mallory officially in November and they were their foster parents before that. I am glad to have another niece and nephew around especially since they are so close to Tucker and Penelope's age and they are the only ones who live close by. I am happy for my brother and his family.

The temple is an amazing place. For those of you who have never heard of a temple sealing it basically means that you get to be together forever and that includes in the next life. So when Bob and I got married it was for all of eternity and not just till 'death do you part' or 'so long as you both shall live'. To know more about temples go here.

I feel so blessed to have the temple in my life. It is such a comfort to know that I get to be with my family forever.

Scrumptious Sunday Homemade Oreos

2012-01-15T07:52:00.000-08:00

Instead of the usual chocolate chip I wanted to try something new and came up with these homemade Oreos. They were pretty good. Definitely better than the real thing, I am not a huge fan of the real oreo cookie. The only problem with these was that I could only eat two before I started feeling sick. I kinda blame bob for that because he insisted that we make them double stuffed and we did doubled the filling on each cookie. Regardless these were easy to make and the kids had fun dunking them in milk.

For the yummy recipe go here.

friggatriskaidekaphobia

2012-01-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday the 13th everyone. I am partial to these days because my birthday is on the 13th and sometimes falls on a friday. Did you know that the fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia. Thats kind of a long word. And in many Spanish speaking countries they believe that Tuesday the 13th is unlucky instead of Friday. Here is an interesting fact,

"According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed. "It's been estimated that [US]$800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day".^[5] Despite this, representatives for both Delta and Continental Airlines say that their airlines do not suffer from any noticeable drop in travel on those Fridays."

I didn't realize that so many people actually cared. I have gone through a few and not even noticed that it was Friday the 13th. I certainly do not change my routine because of it. What about you? Do you do anything different on this day? I did have some crazy weird dreams last night but that has been happening every night so I don't think it is related. Good Luck on an supposedly unlucky day!

NewPort Aquarium

2012-01-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

While in Cincinnati we got to see the Newport Aquarium. Tucker and Penelope loved it! Especially Tucker! I think he could have sat and looked at the sharks all day. Unfortunately while we were there I started to feel sick. At the time I just thought it was from the fishy smell but just after we got back to the house I started throwing up and was sick all night long. Because I was feeling queasy I rushed the family through some of the aquarium. Don't get me wrong, we were there for a good two hours. The kids would have liked to stay for at least another two.

We went on a 'no stroller day' so the lent us a bay carrier. Scarlett was in heaven. She loves to be carried. My shoulders hurt, this one was not a comfy as the one we own.

There were a couple places we could touch the fish. Bob and I even got to touch a shark. Poor Tucker couldn't reach the shark, he wanted to touch it so bad. He was even sad about it a couple days later when he was telling people. Maybe next time buddy.

We got to see Santa scuba diving with the sharks. He said he lost his reindeer so he was going to use the sea-horses instead. It was a cute little program.

The had a bird area and we got to feed the birds.

Bob even managed to get a couple of them to stand on his fingers.

This was when I told them that I needed to leave and I sat on the floor in the corner of the gift shop trying not to puke while waiting for them to finish up. That sounds worse than it was. I told them to take their time and I am glad we went. I didn't start feeling really bad until we got back to the house.

Zoo Lights

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

While in Ohio we went to Zoo lights with the fam.

I got a chance to take pictures of the lights while we were waiting for a muppets black light show to start. I will say that the show was pretty cool. I was not able to get any good pictures of people. Taking pictures in the dark is so hard!

I like how my light pictures turned out. Although I didn't really capture the magnitude of how many christmas lights there really were.

DIY Chalkboard Sign

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

This tutorial explains how to make your own two sided chalkboard sign. I originally wanted to make one of these for a picture prop but I am sure it can be used for other things also. I currently have it sitting on my front porch saying Happy New Years! And one of the best things about this is it only cost me $5. I learned how to do this from LynnSpin.

Materials Needed:

Chalkboard paint (had it)

door hinges (habitat store $1)

kitchen cabinet doors (habitat for humanity store $4)

other paint colors (had it)

sand paper (had it)

oil base primer (optional)

1) Get the doors ready by removing the hardware and sanding them down.

2) Paint the edges whatever colors you like. I had some problems getting the paint to stick so if you have it I would recommend going over the entire thing with an oil based primer first. I wish I did.

3) Once the edges are completely dry tape it off and paint the chalkboard part. Mine needed two coats.

4) Drill the door hinges onto the back of the doors. I like these kind of hinges because with them the door can rotate pretty much any way you want it.

Now just be creative while writing on it and ignore my bad handwriting.

enterTRAINment junction

2012-01-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

While in Ohio over the break we went to EnterTrainment Junction. It is the worlds largest indoor train display. Tucker and Penelope were really into it. It was pretty amazing how much detail was put into these train displays.

They had thousands of little people in these little towns they set up. The whole place even went from day to night about every 10 minutes. When it was night everything except for the trains got dark, I preferred the day time so I could take better pictures.

Here is Tucker with his uncle Ben. Ben is leaving for a mission in Oregon in a few weeks.

Penelope did not like it up on Bob's shoulders. He tried hard to get her to stay up there because it was hard for her to see from the ground and Bob was getting tired of holding her.

I had to take pictures of the local monuments.

They had a whole Christmas area where I think Santa was riding around on a train.

At the end they had this huge kids jungle gym. Kinda like the ones at McDonalds but bigger and train themed. i think they could have played there all day.

8 months

2012-01-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

On Friday Scarlett officially became 8 months old. We did a little photo-shoot to document what she looked liked. In case you haven't noticed I am doing this every month her first year.

I am only posting the head shots because she is not wearing anything in the pictures and although I think her little behind is so cute Bob didn't want me to post them.

Just this past week I would say that Scarlett finally figured out how to eat. We now put the food in her mouth and it doesn't all come right back out (only some comes back out). She still has one tooth (I think it has been about a month) and she likes to use it. Everything she grabs goes into her mouth.

Scarlett is becoming more and more attached to me and it is making life difficult. I thought Penelope had it bad but in some ways Scarlett is much worse. She won't go to Bob if I am in the room. She actually won't even play by herself if I am in the room. She will be playing fine and the second I walk by and she glimpses my feet she looses it and starts screaming. Penelope really only had a hard time around other people.

By now you might be wondering what is with the crying pictures. Someone told me they thought her cry is cute so i thought I'd better take a picture of it. Babies and young kids cry so often it would be weird not to have a picture of the crying.

Scarlett has also started snuggling with me a little bit. Sometimes I will be holding her and she will just rest her head on my shoulder and lay there for a minute. I think it started because she was trying to suck on my shoulder and then it evolved into just resting her head. I love it.

Bells

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

In Sacrament on Sunday we got to play the bells. At first I was skeptical because even the kids got bells but I have to say that it was pretty fun and it turned out well. Aside from the primary program I think this was my first time playing something/singing in Sacrament. We played Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

I didn't video the actual performance but I do have a video of us practicing the night before.

I don't think I have even seen a bell performance before. We were thinking that it would have been cool if we were all sitting randomly throughout the chapel and then we quickly stood up for our part and then sat back down. Kinda like random popcorn popping throughout the song. Maybe next time.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

While at Grandma Woestmans house there was plenty for the kids to do, including make ornaments.

Then on Christmas Eve more family came over and the kids did a nativity play for everyone. It was kind of difficult to get all of them to do their part but I thought it was cute even when they weren't.

Here is Penelope (the Shepard) talking to Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus (Kate, Anson, and Otto).

We also did presents! Below is a picture of all the grandkids with their Great-Grandma, Great-Aunt, Great-Uncle, and Great-Great-Aunt.

It was a fun Christmas Eve.

We also spent a lot of time working on our graham cracker houses. It was fun, but really competitive. While looking at the pictures Tucker informed me that Ben's was the best. Ours is the second one in this picture.

Tomorrow I will post about how we played the Bells in Sacrament!

Cincinnati

2012-01-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

We had a blast in Cincinnati this Christmas break. It was the Woestman family reunion and it went really well thanks to Mom and Dad Woestman and all the work they put into the week. Here is a picture of the whole group together. Can you believe there were 10 kids and Tucker was the oldest. That is right 10 kids 4 and under!

Of course while in Ohio we had to make a few necessary stops. The first one being Skyline. Skyline is a chili restaurant but it isn't anything like the chili you are used to. The chili itself is much more runny and you put it on spaghetti noodles on top of the noodles they pile on the cheese. That is called a three-way. Add onions and you get a four-way. i had my first phony coney over the break. That is like a chili dog but there is no hot dog. Just bun, chili, and cheese. Hence the name phony coney. It doesn't look good, but it does grow on you.

Then to the even more appetizing Graters. Graters is a yummy ice cream parlor that is famous for their black raspberry chocolate chunk ice cream. It is so good Oprah has it shipped to her house. My only complaint was that I wanted more.

Tucker especially had a lot of fun playing with his cousins. And Penelope wasn't scared of all the people like I thought she might be. She was actually really into the other babies. It was cute.

Check back tomorrow for more on our Cincinnati vaca.

Waterfall Braid Tutorial How to start and finsish

2012-01-03T07:54:00.000-08:00

I have been pretty into braids lately. And it seems like every time I do my hair in this waterfall braid someone comments that they like my hair. It is pretty easy to do so I thought I would do a tutorial on how to do it. I have seen this done different ways so I will try to explain them both. There also seems to be confusion on how to end the braid so I will explain that too.

I made a video tutorial explaining how to do the braid. And as a side note, this is not by best braid because I was trying to do it quickly and I didn't have a mirror to look in, only the video but that was a backwards reflection.

In case it is easier for you to read how to do it I will just write it here.

1) Start a regular french braid, either before or after your bangs.
2) Once you get to the side of your head start the waterfall by splitting the bottom chunk, dropping most of it, and adding in a new chunk with what is left. Or just drop it and grab a new chunk.
3) Continue to add in hair on the top side like a normal french braid and continue splitting/dropping the bottom piece replacing it with a new chunk.
4) Get bigger pieces as you go.
5) End it by putting a small rubber band near the top of the braid and let the ends fall just like the rest of the waterfall pieces or continue it until you have taken all the hair around the top of your head.
6) Do a normal braid to end it and then use a rubber band.

Have fun braiding. And let me know if there are any other hairstyles you want me to demo.

Birthday

2012-01-02T08:44:00.000-08:00

I took so many pictures over the Christmas break I feel a little bit like I am in picture overload. So if you are waiting for me to go through pictures I should have time to work on it today during the kids naps. Last night I got to sleep in my own bed again and it was nice. We have had a busy Christmas break that started with celebrating Bob's birthday early, then Christmas at our house, then off to Cincinnati and back to my Parents house. Now we have today to take down all the decorations and get ready to get back to normal so bob can go to work tomorrow. As far as the blog goes I will just start at the begining with bob's birthday.

Penelope and Tucker picked out candy they wanted to give to Bob for his birthday.

I got him this recording book and made him a hat. Bob actually made pretty much the same hat for his seceret santa. The beard was tricky. Maybe I'll post a tutorial on it sometime.

Instead of cake and ice cream Bob wanted pie and ice cream. I love pie and when it came out of the oven I let it cool a little and then started putting the 28 candles in it. That was a mistake because the pie started turning blue. The candles were melting into the top of the pie. haha. we had to quickly take them out and put them into the ice cream. Now some of the ice cream was blue because the candle bottoms were already melted. oh well. We still ate it. Happy Birthday!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T08:13:00.000-08:00

I am excited for this new year to start. Yay for 2012 (everyone is saying twenty twelve not two thousand and twelve right?)! For some reason I could never remember last year was 2011 I kept writing 2010 on accident. I am happy to get a new year to write on everything.

We celebrated last night with my family in Puyallup and I am happy to report that Penelope did not throw up all day yesterday! I am hoping that she is better. We are still not going to church just to make sure we are not contagious. Last night was a good night. I put Penelope and Scarlett in bed around 9 and thought I would let tucker stay up until midnight. Last year we just put them all in bed at normal time. It was funny because while we were playing games all night Tucker kept moping around saying how this party wasn't very fun and how he was bored. he finally around 10:30 said that he wanted to go to bed. Of course i didn't try to persuade him to stay up but I just put him in bed.

When midnight rolled around we did a quick toast (with sparking cider of course) and then ran around my parents house banging pots and pans. I think mostly everyone was in bed by 12:10.

Bob and i did spare a few minutes last night to talk about our new years resolutions/goals. Here are a few things we came up with.

Bob and I:

Do better at daily scripture reading and prayers.

Set aside more money each paycheck for savings

Exercise at least four times a week (that one was for me, Bob wants to work out 3 additional times to his bike rides)

Tucker:

Learn how to write all the numbers and letters without help

Learn to recognize all of the letters and their sounds

Learn all the basic colors and shapes

(He does know most of his letters/colors but he doesn't know how to write many of them and a few he doesn't recognize)

Learn my phone number

Penelope:

Learn the colors

Get potty trained

Scarlett:

???

Whatever she feels like doing in the next year.

Happy New Year!

Sick Again

2011-12-31T09:11:00.000-08:00

Two nights ago was probably the worst night of my life that I can remember. Penelope was throwing up a night before that but she was acting fine during the day. On Thursday I felt fine in the morning and since Penelope was acting fine we decided to go to the Cincinnati Aquarium. It was really neat and fun until I started feeling sick. I noticed that Penelope was also getting tired so we started to look through the aquarium a little faster. Tucker was loving it so i didn't want to rush him. I thought the fish smell and walking through the glass tunnels with fish swimming above and on the sides of me was what was making me not feel good. Anyway we stopped at Rally's on the way home and i couldn't eat my burger. that is when i realized that I might actually be getting sick. We put penelope in bed once we got to the house and i fell asleep on the couch. About an hour latter i woke up and started throwing up everything I had in my system. From that point on i only left the couch to throw up and go to the bathroom. i felt so horrible. Penelope was also throwing up more. I got a blessing and bob had to get me small sips of water and continually wash out my thow up bucket. I thought there was no way I was going to be able to make my 9 am flight since I couldn't even walk upstairs to my bed let alone get dressed or pack. Bob said the airline wouldn't change the ticket and my heart pounded every time I tried thinking about how I was going to get home. It was the worst night.

Bob woke up early and packed up everything. He then got the kids ready. Then he helped me get my shoes, coat, and bucket and walk out to the car. It was seriously a miracle we made it through the airport. I felt like a zombie running on absolutely no calories. I focused all my energy on not throwing up and on getting better and luckily I didn't throw up at all on the flight. I actually haven't thrown up since last night. I left taking care of the kids, carrying all 8 carry ons and our coats and basically everything to bob for our trip through the airport and flight. I seriously just left all my stuff with bob even my shoes and walked through the security gate then sat down on a bench for about 5 minutes trying not to puke while bob figured everything else out. On top of all of this penelope threw up at least 10 times on the plane. We used all the throw up bags in ours and tuckers row and had to ask the flight attendant for more. She was not doing well. I was able to take a nap and by the time we got to my parents house I was feeling considerably better.

I feel back to normal now but I am keeping some distance from people because I don't want to get anyone sick. Bob and Tucker still feel fine and I really hope they don't get it because it was pretty bad. Penelope did throw up once in the middle of the night last night but she is acting fine now. I also heard that someone else we were with in Ohio is now throwing up. So i hope he is also feeling better.

2011 Highlights

2011-12-29T06:28:00.000-08:00

As the year comes to a close I like to think back over all the highlights of what happened in the the past 365 days. And thinking about this year we have been through a lot. Probably one of the biggest adventures was our trip to Japan.

I remember everywhere I hiked around to get to the parks. In this picture I marked my apartment and I also climbed a good deal higher after I took the pic.

Then of course there was the 9.0 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear melt down that ruined all my fun. We were stuck in the apartment for the next week and then sent home. At least no one we knew got hurt.

One we got home we bought our first car together!

Tucker gave his first talk in Primary.

I was pregnant and couldn't wait for our baby (who had no name until after she as born) to be born.

Then on May 6th, Scarlett Genevie was born.

Bob and i traveled to a friends wedding in bend Oregon.

Family came over for Scarletts Baby blessing.

We went camping on fourth of July weekend. And then another trip to Spokane for my sister's 40th birthday.

Bob and I celebrated our 5th anniversary after which I had my 24th birthday. On my birthday we got to tour the shipyard and i finally got to see where Bob works everyday.

We had fun with the kids. One time we went bowlinng.

We spent hours and hours remolding our kitchen.

The pumpkin patch was fun.

And so was halloween.

Of course i cannot forget Thanksgiving at my moms house and the crazy Black Friday shopping that happened that night.Then Bob and i had our short but fun trip to San Diego.

I would say we had a pretty busy year. That is how I like it though. This was our last year with all of the kids out of school. In just a few more months Tucker's school will keep us to a schedule. Looking back it is hard to think how we crammed all of that plus a ton more into just one year. And of course I have a lot to post about Christmas and the family reunion that is going on, but that will have to wait until I upload my pictures onto my Mac.

Family Photos

2011-12-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

So I need a new family photo to put up in my parents hall. It is like the picture that represents your family and it is right by the doorway so everyone who comes in their house gets to see it. It's kinda big deal. I loved the one we have up now, but since it is missing a family member I have been told it needs updating.

Can you believe that was us about two years ago? It says 2010 but judging by Penelope's size it must have been the beginning of 2010.

We went to a park and took some new family photos. I actually like a couple of them but I need input. Which one do you think I should put up? Please comment. Especially you Mom since this is going up in your house.

pic #1 the old school black and white

pic #2 us doing our serious faces

pic #3 basic sitting and smiling

pic #4 kids blurred out (or bokeh, I think that is the photography term)

pic #5 the family from the waist down

cast your vote!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is having a good time with their families celebrating the birth of our Savior.

O Christmas Tree

2011-12-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

This post is in response to my mom who asked how I decorated my tree. When Tucker was staying with her while Bob and I were in San Diego he kept telling her how our tree is better than hers. Not quite sure why he thinks that but I wanted to take pictures of the tree anyway so here you go.

I messed around with different settings but I think I like these ones because the lights on the tree get that little starburst effect. To do that I put the aperture at 16 and the shutter speed at 4 seconds and the iso was pretty low. I used a tripod too.

Whenever I took a picture of the Christmas tree before I always was a little disappointed with how it looked. It is hard to capture the glowing lights correctly in a picture. But I am happy with how these turned out.

It was crazy how different I could make the tree look by just changing the settings on my camera.

In this last picture the tree looks so bright it almost looks like it is on fire. I didn't mess with these pictures at all on the computer so they are SOOC (straight out of the camera). I put the aperture at 1.8, shutter speed 1/30 and I think the iso was 3200. I also had all the lights in the house turned off and I took it at night.

So if anyone is wanting to take some last minute Christmas Eve pictures maybe some of these settings will work for you.

b.o.b.

2011-12-22T06:13:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post a few things you might not know (or you might) about Bob:

today is his birthday. I'm not sure if anyone in his office or any of his friends know.

he likes to write his name b.o.b

he hates oatmeal, lemon flavored things, and coconut (three things I like)

he used to run the 6 miles to work everyday but now he rides his bike

he won't have cake and ice cream together, or pie and ice cream. Always separate plates or just one at a time. mixing is not his thing.

he doesn't like to drink the milk after his cereal is gone.

in high school he rigged his locker Christmas lights to automatically turn on when he opened his locker and then off when he shut it.

he is a nuclear engineer but would love to be a design engineer.

he hates being late, and therefore gets progressively earlier.

when he was a kid he wanted to be a pilot

now he wants to go hang gliding

he is really into nerf basketball

he likes to play the guitar, sing and record music

I love him

Here are a couple pictures I found of Bob that I haven't posted yet.

Happy Birthday Bob! I will always be glad that you are older than me; this way I will never seem old.

New Decorations

2011-12-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

Every year we add a few more decorations to the house. I could see this getting way out of control in like 15 years but for now we don't have too many so it works out to keep adding more. Along with the nativity and joy blocks I made we added a couple more things.

My mom gave me her little glass village. I like them and I would have never bought my own because I think they are like $15 a house.

I try to make sure I have a good amount of Christ related decorations up as well.

These snowflakes are hanging above our kitchen table.

I think we are going to buy more outdoor lights after Christmas this year so we can put them up next year. Our lights are looking a little sloppy this year.

DIY JOY Blocks

2011-12-19T14:10:00.000-08:00

This tuesday tutorial explains how to make your own Christmas JOY blocks with 2x4s. You can really write whatever word you want on it. My mom made this at the Super Saturday their ward did and I thought I could replicate it easily enough.

Materials Needed:

2 x 4 (about 17")

4 pieces of scrapbook paper (One red and three christmas greens)

red paint

mod podge

scissors

step 1
Cut the two by four then slightly sand the edges. You need three blocks one 7" one 5 1/2" and one 4". Those are the dimensions I made mine but you could really do any lengths you want.

step 2
Paint them red. I did two coats and wasn't very picky about them being perfect since most of the front is covered by paper anyway.

step 3
Cut scrapbook paper to fit on the fronts of the blocks, making sure the front edges of the blocks are still showing. Then mod podge them on. I choose three green papers because I wanted the blocks red and the letters red.

step 4

Print the letters JOY in the font you like on the computer. I did Apple Casual size 500, then I had to adjust the O so it would fit inside my block. Then cut out the letters, trace them onto a your red piece of paper, cut those out, and glue them on.

Now display it in your house for everyone to see!

Happy Crafting!

Flash

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

I was playing around with my new flash. The kids are always up for me to take their picture. They just don't want to hold still or stand how I want them too. :)

Yesterday was the last week we had to go to church at 1 o'clock. At least for a while. I am pretty happy we get to switch back to the 9 am time. The sleeping in and relaxing all morning is nice but it is not worth grumpy kids at church and skipped nap times. It was also the last week with my primary class. I had such a great class! I love the 7/8 year olds because they are old enough to participate and also young enough to still want to participate. And I get to go all the baptisms. I am glad I get to teach the same age group next year. After looking through the roster I think it is going to be a pretty easy class! Hopefully they like me. I know I am not the most exciting teacher. The only downside is that I do not get to be a team teacher anymore. My class is going to be so easy it just doesn't make sense to give it two teachers especially since we always seem to not have enough teachers in primary.

Have a great day!

Christmas Ward Activity

2011-12-18T09:29:00.000-08:00

We had our Christmas ward activity on Friday. The dinner was delicious and so were the deserts. I just got a little at first because I wanted to make sure there was enough for everyone. That wasn't necessary because there were plenty of left over desserts for everyone. It was one of those situations where I wanted to try to hurry up and eat what was on my plate so I could go get more better things without wasting what I already got.

Tucker got to participate in the little primary program. He knows the song but he didn't sing it. I guess he was too distracted by all the people. He is in the front middle. Penelope is sitting on my lap and keeps saying Tucker Tucker. At the end she says "I want to go up there, Pease?"

Christmas Lights

2011-12-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

For family activity on Monday we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. It is on of my favorite Christmas traditions. Penelope especially loved it this year. She kept saying, 'nother one, nother one.' I don't know that Tucker's problem was, he kept saying he wanted to go home. I think he wanted attention because every time we saw lights he got excited and would point them out to us. here are some pics Bob and I took from the car.

This last one doesn't look that cool but the lights blinked to music. We just turned our car radio to the right station and enjoyed the show.

For anyone interested in how to find the lights in our area there is a great list on the kitsap sun website. You just type in your address and it takes you to a map where the closest ones to you are pin pointed.

SoCal

2011-12-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

We had time to do a little more sight seeing before we had to catch our flight to come home Friday night. Speaking of the flight United called yesterday and said they were going to bring over our car seat sometime before 11pm last night. We didn't hear a thing and when I woke up I saw that I missed two calls from the airlines at 1:15 am. I guess they thought it was a good idea to come switch car seats in the middle of the night.

We started the morning out with a big swap meet. It was so sunny I broke down and bought sunglasses. It seemed like the whole time we were there I was hot with a coat on but after I took it off i would walk in the shade and the wind would blow so I would be putting my coat back on.

Here we are feeding the meeter. This is the first time I can remember ever parking with a meeter.

I think I read on a sign about this being the oldest sail boat that still goes out to sea. We didn't pay the $18 per person to go on the tour so I am not sure on the details.

This one was on the movie "Master and Commander."

Add in a couple geocaches a day shopping at an outdoor mall, three bike stores, another trip to the beach, and that is what we did in San Diego.

Mormon Battalion

2011-12-14T08:40:00.000-08:00

I didn't know anything about the Mormon Battalion before we took a tour of the site in San Diego. It was really neat. Some members of the church got paid by the government to form a small army and march out west. The money they got was used to bring the first group of pioneers out to Utah and they didn't even have to fight.

This was probably the coolest church history site I have been too. The tour guide (sister missionary) started telling us the story when these pictures inturrupted her. The people in the pictures moved and talked. It reminded me of Harry Potter.

We switched rooms and the floor shook when the stampede came.

The whole place was decorated old school and we had a really good time.

I would say this was one of my favorite things we did in San Diego, if not my favorite.

They had lots of kids things to do but for once we didn't have our kids with us. I did get to pan for gold though.

They even took our picture and said we were honorary members of the Mormon Battalion. I would recommend going here to anyone in the San Diego area!

How to Make a Wood block Nativity

2011-12-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

This is a DIY tutorial explaining how to make your own nativity out of 2 x 2 pieces of wood. It is a great Christmas craft to spruce up your home this time of year. Perfect for those of you who are looking for something a little less Santa. This nativity is simple and it reminds me of the humble birth of the Savior. I saw it at the nativity showing last week and so I recreated it myself. It was easy to do and I love how it turned out. It probably took less than an hour if you don't count the time waiting for the paint to dry.

Materials Needed:
1 6" 2x2
1 5" 2x2
1 3/4" x 2 1/2" thin piece of wood
2 doll head/knob 11/2"
1 3/8" button plug
craft paint
blue and yellow paper clips or wire and star
hot glue gun
twine

1. Sand your blocks if necessary and then paint the wood whatever colors you like. The wait for the paint to dry. I redid my red a darker red because it was a little too patriotic.

2. Sand the edges for a distressed look.

3. Hot glue your heads on.

4. Glue baby Jesus in place.

5. Tie the twine on and glue it there. I started with about a 2' piece, wrapped it around twice, tied a bow then cut the ends off.

6. Put your star up. If using paperclips unbend them, cut the yellow one and glue it into a star shape then glue it to the blue one and hot glue the whole thing onto the back.

Thats all!

P.S. If anyone local wants to make one let me know because knobs came in packs so I have extras. I think I have more 2 by 2s also.

Old Town San Diego

2011-12-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

Because we took such an early flight we had most of Wednesday to hang out so after lunch at Joes Crab Shack we headed over to Old Town San Diego to do some sight seeing.

Old Town is where they first settled in San Diego. It pretty much felt like we were in Mexico. Not that I know anything about what Mexico is like. It was neat and I would have never known about it if Bob's co-worker wouldn't have shown it to us.

This is their first jail.

I like how you can see they tried to make it more festive by adding a Christmas tree in the background. It still didn't feel at all like Christmas to me.

I took a couple pictures of the restaurant area.

Everyone in the shops were dressed up in old pioneer clothing. This is probably the first time I have heard people who aren't mormon talk and dress like pioneers.

There were tons of little shops and things to see. Bob and I got a few gifts and a picture frame. Whenever we go on a trip instead of a spoon or magnet we try to pick up a picture frame and then we put a picture of us on the trip in it. One day we will have wall full of little pictures. We had a good time. And it was funny how warm it was during the day and how quickly it got cold once the sun went down. We were freezing by the time we got back to the car.

San Diego

2011-12-11T08:44:00.001-08:00

Bob, Scarlett, and I were in San Diego the past couple of days. Bob had to go for work and since we had the airline miles Scarlett and I decided to tag along. Thanks mom and dad for watching Tucker and Penelope. There were a lot of ups and downs on the trip. Traveling can be hard for a baby. It seemed like every time Scarlett fell asleep in the car we had to get her out. We also let her cry it out at night but we couldn't really do that in the Hotel so nights were hard.

I got frustrated with the airline. When did it become ok to treat people better because they have more money? The people who needed help boarding and the people with babies were like the third group to board. We could get on after the first class premium and elite passengers (not that we used it, we like to get on very last with a baby). Then they broke off part of our stroller, lost the part, and told us they didn't cover that so they weren't going to do anything about it. On the way home they left our car seat in San Francisco (we had a layover there). We waited all day at my parents house yesterday because they were going to bring it over in the morning. We didn't find out until we called them in the afternoon that it wasn't coming. They said it was still in San Francisco. At least they gave us a loner.

Regardless of all that, we had fun on our trip.

The first thing we did was drive to the beach!

Here Bob is blocking out all of the warm sun. It got up to 70 degrees. It did not feel like December.

Here is Scarlett enjoying the beach.

The sand was so sparkly.

Bob and I could both see ourselves living right on the beach and going for jogs along the water. Wouldn't that be nice? I am sure I would be sick of the heat once it reaches upper 80s.

Kid Pictures

2011-12-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted these pictures of the kids yet because they just weren't turning out how I like. I'm not really sure why I am posting them now except for the fact that I don't have anything else to post about. Ok, that is not exactly true. I have a lot to post about but no time now to upload and go through pictures. We have had a busy week and should have lots to write about tomorrow.

I do really like this first one. The only problem is that I was trying to get a picture of all three of the kids together. They are wearing their big brother/ big sister/ little sister shirts and I thought it would be cute together.

Unfortunately I didn't have the cooperation (Penelope) or lighting (sun where were you) I desired. I will try it again sometime soon. By soon I mean sometime before they outgrow the clothes.

Scarlett's 7 Months

2011-12-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

Scarlett is now seven months old and she:

mastered the army crawl.

has one tooth on the bottom middle.

puts everything in her mouth.

won't take a pacifier.

doesn't like to go to bed.

sleeps from 8:30 to 7ish.

almost has the hang of eating rice cereal.

loves attention.

loves her exersaucer.

sticks her tongue out all the time.

makes the airplane noise a lot.

and loves her family!

(p.s. although these pictures are adorable the little Christmas photoshoot I set up in my family room was a pain and I was so mad at Penelope for not smiling and looking at the camera by the end of it I just put them all bed.)

How to Pierce a Babies Ears

2011-12-05T15:44:00.001-08:00

I know everyone has different opinions about when to pierce a girls ears. Mine is to do it before they are old enough to grab them and play with them. I did it when Penelope was 6 months and it worked out fine so just after Thanksgiving we did the same thing with Scarlett. Did it hurt her? Yes. Was she over it after I finished feeding her? Yes!

So if you are thinking about when the best time to pierce your daughters ears I think it is around 6 months. My mom made me wait until I was 14 and it was hard. Maybe this video tutorial will help you decide. My sister Talitha is the one doing the ear piercing in this. She owns her own salon and even though she doesn't like to pierce baby ears she does have experience. According to her the hardest time to pierce a child's ear is between the ages of 5 and 11. That is the time they get really scared and cry about it and then they take the earrings out and stuff like that.

Untitled from Doranda Woestman on Vimeo.

Here is a picture of Scarlett's ear the next day. As you can see she has the thicker earring in her ear. I bought it at Sally's for $7. If you are piercing a babies ear make sure you get the mini size. Even with it being mini she still has some space there, which can be nice if there is swelling. Her ears didn't swell. As far as maintenance on the ears goes I just washed them with soap and water and make sure to turn them or move them back and forth once a day.

Here she is eating my lens cap with her new earrings on.

Nativity

2011-12-04T09:44:00.001-08:00

Friday night we went to the nativity set up in Port Orchard. They had hundreds of different nativities, many from different countries. The kids did pretty good this year walking around quietly and looking at them. I seem to remember a lot of crying from Penelope last year. I think it helped that there weren't very many people there. Here are a few of our favorites.

The first one is a Precious Moments nativity. I really liked the angel who was shining a flashlight on the baby.

I'm not sure where these ones are from but I thought they were pretty unique.

Tucker wanted me to take a picture of the Indian one. And the peanut one on the bottom was really different. It looks like something a child made for a craft project.

Now these peanuts ones is a completely different story. the Charlie brown nativity was one of my favorites.

I also really liked this one. bob didn't like it as much. He was like "I could make that in 5 minutes." I guess according to him if it is easily made than it is not as cool. I love the simplicity of it. It actually reminded me of the humble birth of the Savior. Maybe I will make my own just like it, or get Bob to.

After looking at the nativities we took the kids to the children's room where they had dress up cloths and crafts for them to do.

The kids really enjoyed it. And it didn't hurt that we told them they could have ice cream if they didn't touch anything and were quiet and didn't run around. Not touching the nativities was hard for Penelope.

I love it when we get to do something Christ related during Christmas time.

Christmas Tree pic

2011-12-03T08:15:00.001-08:00

Today is the first Saturday in a while that we don't have a bunch of things planned to do. All we have is tithing settlement and that doesn't take very long. We will see where the day takes us.

I took this picture of our Christmas tree yesterday. I like the abstract look. It is just a little different than your average Christmas tree picture. I will probably post more pictures of the tree as I play around with it a bit more. I read this great blog post that explains how to do it. She even tells how to do it with a point and shoot camera so don't think it is too hard for you to do because you don't have a fancy camera. Anyone can do this!

Disguise

2011-12-02T08:42:00.001-08:00

Tucker has been into disguises lately. This is him being daddy. I thought he looked hilarious so I took his picture. He is funny because he thinks (or pretends, i'm not really sure) that we don't know who he really is. He says things like "you didn't know I was Tucker did you? you thought I was daddy and I didn't need to go to work today because I was a kid daddy and kids don't go to work."

I am happy today is Friday! The garbage has been taken out and everything! our Christmas decorations are all up including the outside lights and later today we are going to the nativity display in Port Orchard. I am in a good mood and I hope it lasts.

Vaseline

2011-12-01T08:53:00.001-08:00

Penelope got into the Vaseline the other day. She put it all over her face and hair. It was kinda funny. The bad thing was we needed to leave so bob just rinsed it out by putting her head under the sink. That didn't really get it out but only spread it around more. I later tried both shampoo and dish soap to get it out. Her hair now has less in it than it did before but it still looks like here hair is wet all the time or like it has gel in it. i think I am going to try baking soda next.

Here you can see how shiny she is and the globs in her hair.

She is into everything!

Black Friday

2011-11-30T08:25:00.001-08:00

Bob and I like to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving, along with a lot of my family. We started scoping out deals a couple weeks before the big day and found a couple things we wanted to get. Sometimes we go because we really want to get something specific and sometimes we just go because it is fun. This year we wanted to buy an external hard drive but Bob was able to buy it online on Thursday for a great price so we didn't need to go out for that. There were also a few things at walmart we wanted to get. One being a sewing machine for me for only $50. It just does the basics but that is all I want/need. And the other was dual headrest dvd players for the car for only $59. This year Walmart was selling some things at 10 pm on Thursday and some at midnight. Since the sewing machine was selling at 10 and the dvd players at midnight we got to the store around 9:40 and hung out till after midnight.

The store was pretty packed in certain areas with people crowding around what they wanted. In case you have never been you should know that Walmart put their great deals on these pallets in the center of the isles and wrapped them up in plastic wrap. Then when it is time a worker is supposed to cut them open and everyone gets what they want. This is pretty much how it went at 10. It was really packed and I heard people were getting pretty intense over by the sheets but I didn't have any problems. Once I had the sewing machine I didn't have anything to do for a couple hours so I thought I would just wait by the dvd players. There was one 10-year-old boy already waiting and so I just stood next to him in front of the pallet. As time went on more and more people got there. By 11 it was pretty packed and people had taken off the plastic wrap. One guy was holding on to a specific dvd player and would not let it go. I even heard him talking to the 10-year-old about how he couldn't live without it. Bob and I, along with others, thought we was being ridiculous. Needless to say things were getting intense as people counted the number of dvd players. I was not worried at all because we still had a good amount of time left and I was standing right in front. A vendor was passing out free 5 hour energy drinks and I think that added to the madness.

About 15 minutes before midnight everyone went crazy. Somebody shouted something and next think I knew a crowd management worker shouted 'No' but everyone started ripping and pushing and grabbing saying "what go?" I was getting slammed by several people into the pallet and I couldn't even get out. Bob got behind me and had to move people out of the way so I could get out. The whole top layer of players was gone by now so you could guess how many people had pushed me to get theirs. As I turned to back out I saw this huge greedy smile and this girls face as she pushed past me to get a dvd player. It was disgusting. She was so happy and giddy as people were getting hurt and going crazy. I got a huge bruise on my arm and was shaking. I really couldn't go back in the crowd. I was able to grab one but only because my instinct kicked in. Everything went so quickly. I stood in the cloths section by myself for a few minutes just watching the crowd. The sad part was after about a minute all the people were gone from the pallet and there were about 15 ish dvd players left. i couldn't help thinking about how all those people were pushing and going crazy thinking they weren't going to get one and there were still some left. My brother-in-law pointed out to me how opposite of Thanksgiving this whole thing was.

After the Walmart fiasco we went home and went to bed. Bob and I went back out after we woke up around 8 and got everything else we wanted without crowds. It was nice and we got a few great deals. Above is a picture of me with most of the things we bought. The sewing machine is a Christmas present for me so I have to pretend I don't know about it. ;-)

Bob and Amery looking through ads on Thanksgiving.

Am I going to do it again next year? Probably. Do I hope it is less crazy? Yes. Will it be? Probably not.

How to Make a Plastic Wrap Christmas Advent Calender

2011-11-29T08:25:00.001-08:00

This tutorial was inspired by my sister Talitha who makes advent calenders with the kids every year after Thanksgiving. She helped me make one when I was younger and now she makes them with my kids and their cousins. It is a fun tradition and the kids love it. It is also great for kids who have no concept of time or when things are coming. Now I can tell Tucker that it will be Christmas when he runs out of candy and he gets to eat one new candy everyday.

Materials Needed:

Plastic Wrap

Candy

Ribbon

1) Roll out a long piece of Plastic wrap. Probably several feet long depending on how many days are left until Christmas. I would suggest about 3-4" per day depending on how large your candy is.

2) Place your candy at least an inch to two inches apart on the plastic wrap. I used m&ms because that is what I had. We usually do some sort of wrapped candy. Put one piece of candy for each day left until Christmas. If you make it today do 26 pieces.

3) Fold the plastic wrap in making sure the candy can't fall out.

4) Tie knots with ribbon between the candy pieces. Curl the ends if you want. It looks good if you use red green and white colors for the ribbon. I didn't have those colors.

5) Make a loop at the top with either ribbon or extra plastic wrap, hang it up and you are done!

Only 26 more days until Christmas!

Thanksgiving Dinner

2011-11-28T08:32:00.001-08:00

This year my sister Talitha was in charge of what everyone was bringing for dinner. She herself made one turkey and her husband made and brought another. There was plenty of food to go around. Bob and I were of course in charge of bringing breadsticks. It all started the first year when I was asked to bring the rolls. My mom thought I would just buy them but I was determined to make the best rolls ever. Several batches later Bob and I now make the breadsticks ever and are always asked to bring them to every family event. They are pretty good!

The secret to making them is tons of butter and parmesan cheese on top. Here are some pictures of the other delicious food we had.

I think this turkey was the one that was deep fried.

My plate. I think that saying about eyes being too big for my stomach was appropriate. I couldn't finish.

Orange sorbet cake.

My dad and Scarlett hanging out together. Bob and I got a lot of help with the kids while at my parents house. Thanks to everyone who watched/played with them.

Thanksgiving Pre-game

2011-11-27T08:40:00.001-08:00

Instead of the usual football game Thursday morning we went to the church gym and played kickball with the kids. It was much warmer and much less wet. Not to mention the kids could actually play it. Everyone had a good time. Here are some action shots.

My brother brought his unicycle and he let us all try it. it was too hard for me to even get on but Bob was starting to get it. My mom even tried it.

Scarlett stayed in the stroller the whole time. I like this picture because I she looks scared to have Penelope pushing her.

Tomorrow I'll post about our yummy dinner!

Things I am Thankful for

2011-11-26T09:20:00.001-08:00

In no apparent order, so if you are at the bottom of the list don't be upset.

Family

Gospel

Health

Warm house

Bob's job

3 red heads

Blogs

Lemon meringue pie

Nap time

Slippers

Snuggie

Pintrest

Netflix

Microwave meals

Brownies with hot fudge and ice cream

Camera

Parents living close

G.N.I.

Hair color

Heated seats

Monster Smoothies

Ice cream

There are many more things, but these are just the first ones that are coming to mind at the moment.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Busy Busy

2011-11-25T11:32:00.001-08:00

Had a niceThanksgiving yesterday went a little crazy shopping yesterday and now off to get my hair done. I'll have more time to post all the juicy details tomorrow!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T08:13:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago for FHE we told the kids the story of the first Thanksgiving. And for activity we made our own thankful turkey. We each wrote things we are thankful for on the feathers. I think my favorite one was when Penelope said she was thankful for the computer. I had to laugh because she is always grabbing the computer mouse and pushing buttons on the keyboard every time I turn around. I tried time outs but they really have no effect for her. She will go right back and do it. Then I read the study that said 2-year-olds will repeat the same offense the same day 80% of the time no matter what kind of discipline you use. For Penelope that was dead on.
For Mondays activity we retold the story and made these little pilgrim popsicle sticks. Sometime later a king got mentioned while we were in the car. I think I was talking on the phone to my mom about if we have any kings in our genealogy when Tucker says "mom, kings are bad, right?" And I was like, "Some are bad and some are good just like regular people." Then Tucker replied with "But mom, kings don't let you go to the church you want." It was cute. I think he got that idea from the first Thanksgiving story when we talked about why the pilgrims left.

Happy Thanksgiving!

How to decorate and hang your own name blocks

2011-11-22T07:48:00.001-08:00

This tutorial explains how to put scrap-booking paper on wood letters and them put them into a frame with material for a background. When done correctly it looks great! I first saw this idea on my sister-in-law Sarah's blog I thought it was so cool. I immediately wanted to do it for my girls. Unfortunately it seems like once I started it I had a hard time with it the entire time I tried to put it together and now that it is finished I don't think it looks near as good as hers. Regardless here is the tutorial of how to do it. And I do want to say that I think this whole thing would have worked out better if my kids had shorter names.

Materials Needed:
letters
scrapbook paper
hot glue gun
mod podge
picture frame
spray paint
a couple feet of material

1) The first step is to spray paint your letters and then glue the scrap booking paper onto them. I used mod podge for the glue but I think elmers would work fine. After letting the paper dry cut off excess paper with an exacto knife.

2) Sand the edges of the paper and some of the middle of the paper to create a vintage look (This picture shows the first paper I choose but I redid the whole thing because it really clashed with the fabric, this was one of the frustrations I was talking about earlier).

4) Once the letters are ready it is time to get the frame done. Just take the frame apart and wash, sand, and spray paint it the color you want.

I got this at Good Will but only after I went to what felt like 50 stores looking for a cheap frame that was long enough to fit my 8 letters in it. I gave up on trying to find a long frame and just got this one.

5) Take the glass from the frame and lay it on top of the back of your fabric. Then glue the edges of the fabric and pull it tight onto the back of the glass. Wait for it to dry.

6) Put the frame back together. Arrange the letters how you like and hot glue them on.The first one I did was hard because I redid the scrapbook paper I chose a black with a design on it but now that it is done you can't really see the design. I also couldn't find a long frame. But I like how it turned out.

For Penelope's I had envisioned a big pretty chunky white frame but I ended up just buying a poster frame. It was the only thing long enough. The fabric is the same one I used to upholster the rocking chair that is in her room. I wish the letters took up more of the frame. To me it feels like the background is way to distracting. Oh well. I still like it. For me when crafting some things turn out how I want some turn out better and some don't really turn out. I just try not to spend to much money either way so I don't get disappointed.

Cookies

2011-11-21T08:53:00.001-08:00

I have been waiting for the past couple of weeks for a chance to practice taking pictures of food but it seems like we have been lacking in the treat department lately. Bob made some cookies for scouts on Thursday so I stole a couple cookies for a photo shoot.

mmmm... doesn't that look yummy.

They tasted almost as good as they look. Oatmeal chocolate chip are good but not my fav I am more into straight up chocolate chip cookies.

Bob surprised me and bought me some things for my camera, one was the lens add on thing. I'm not sure what it is called but you hook it onto your lens. Anyway it makes it possible to get way up close and personal to anything. Like these cookies!

What should I photogarph next?

First Army Crawl

2011-11-20T08:05:00.001-08:00

On Friday night we set Scarlett down in her tummy and Bob noticed she started crawling. Ok, so it is more like an army crawl. But it counts! It is purposeful forward motion. This makes Scarlett our youngest crawler. She is only six and a half months old! Tucker was seven months and Penelope was ... well, older. I wasn't too surprised because she spends a lot of time on her tummy and she doesn't seem to mind it.

Good job Scarlett! It is one more step (or crawl) toward being independent.

Turkey Bowl

2011-11-19T08:05:00.001-08:00

Our ward activity last night was a Turkey Bowl! There were several bowling activities and turkey crafts for the kids to do. They made a competition out of wii bowling. Everyone bowled three frames and the two people who got the highest had to compete each other on the big projector in front of everyone. I didn't realize this when I did my turn or else I might not have done so well. I got second and had to play against the bishop in front of everyone. I was so nervous. I only got one strike the entire game. I think I got at least 6 or 7 nines and then turned them into the spare every time but once. I definitely do better at home. People were cheering and clapping between each bowl it was a lot of pressure. The bishop won. Luckily I wasn't too far behind I think I got 158 and the bishop got 185 (ok, maybe I was a lot behind). At home I normally get around 200. I say that loosely because at home we haven't played for about a year. Although the bishop probably does better at home too. I kind of wish Bob did better than me on the initial 3 frame bowl. He is way better than me and I think he would like playing in front of the entire ward. Despite my nervousness and embarrassment it was fun.

Here you can see the projector behind me.

Tucker made a cute Turkey craft. We were supposed to bring a pie but since I think pies are way a lot of work especially to have so much crust I just made brownies and baked them in a pie pan. Thanks to the people to put on the ward activity! I know these things can be a lot of work.

Squirrel what are you thinking?

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

What was this squirrel thinking letting me get so close to it?

Most wild animals, especially squirrels and birds, don't like to let people get very close to them. I think he must have been really into eating his pine cone. The kids and I were jumping on the trampoline when this little guy was eating on our fence post. I have seen them there many times before. We have what squirrels want, both an abundance of pine cones and no pets. I decided to go get my camera and slowly walked closer as I took pictures. I got about 5' away! I don't think I have gotten that close to one before. Definitely makes for a good picture.

Maybe we should give him a name. How about beady.

How to be a Ninja

2011-11-17T08:32:00.001-08:00

Things have been going well here lately. Once Halloween is over it seems like everything is so busy until after New years. I kinda want to get out Christmas decorations and start listening to Christmas music already but I am holding myself off until after Thanksgiving. With all the cold weather the kids and I have just been hanging out inside coming up with things to do here. such as pinterest. I spend lots of time on pinterest. Hot chocolate has become almost a daily staple for me usually because I get so cold from the ice cream I need to follow it with something hot.. I eat a lot of snacks when the kids are napping. Bob has been trying to eat healthier and so I feel bad eating yummy junk food in front of him and that basically just leaves nap time for me to gorge. I lost two pounds this past week just out of guilt form eating in front of Bob. This rambling has kinda taken a strange turn so I am just going to stop.

Here are two videos I took of Tucker the other day. I am thinking about doing a little series of videos titled "how to be a ninja" where Tucker will teach everyone how to be a ninja.

And yes, I do have sheets hanging up in my living room. I was taking pictures right before the video but the light wasn't cooperating with me.

Have a good Thursday!

Scarletts 6 Months!

2011-11-15T16:01:00.001-08:00

Scarlett is six months old! She actually has been for over a week but I wanted to wait until we went to the doctor to make this post. Like I suspected she has been declining percentage wise on the weight. She is little just like her sister and brother. Her umbilical hernia is noticeably smaller and will probably be gone in a couple more months and her head has even rounded out a bit.

Weight: 14.7 (17%)

Height: 26 1/2 (73%)

Head cir. 17 (68%)

I love this first picture! I almost only posted this picture because I didn't want to put up other pictures to distract from this one. It is our desktop background and I just want to sit and stare at it all day. You have to imagine how great it looks on our huge mac computer. Plus I spent a decent amount of time editing it in photoshop.

Scarlett is now pretty good at sitting up and rolling over. It is funny because after she sat that one time she just knew how to do it. She didn't really go through a practicing phase where she fell over a lot. She does fall over sometimes and she doesn't even cry about it she just starts playing on her tummy. As far as rolling goes it is cute because I have seen her roll toward something. She doesn't do it a lot but she can roll either direction on purpose and sometimes she will roll a couple times to get closer to something.

On Saturday I felt her first tooth sticking out. It is on the bottom right if you are looking at her and you can see it in the above picture. And about the picture, every time I look at it it makes me wonder how someone can have such a perfect little face.

Scarlett is still sticking everything in her mouth and sucking/chewing on it. Whenever we give her a pacifier she just takes it out turns it sideways and holds it halfway in her mouth with her hands and chews on it. Because she doesn't just suck on it she drop it all the time and they roll away. It was so annoying we kind of phased them out.

We love you Scarlett.

How to make your own Superhero Mask

2011-11-15T08:25:00.001-08:00

After headbands last week I thought I needed something for the boys. So here are DIY superhero Masks. They do not take me very long at all. All you need is felt elastic scissors and a hot glue gun.

1) Cut out your felt. I drew two simple mask templates here. You can either draw your own or print mine and cut them out then outline it on your piece of felt and cut that out. It is pretty easy to make your own template, the only hard part is making sure the eyes are the right size and distance apart. Mine are not perfect and only took me a couple seconds to make once I got the eyes right.

2) Cut a second piece of felt if you want it. For my second mask I layered up the felt making the second color slightly larger than the template.

3) Cut your elastic. 15 inches was good for my 4-year-old.

4) Glue your elastic to the mask. Either punch two holes in the mask slide the elastic through and glue it to itself. Or slide the elastic between your two layers of felt and glue it there. I did both and I prefer the second way but either will work fine.

Tada! Now you have a mask to go with the superhero capes!

Penelope, like usual refused to wear it correctly.

Carpet cleaning

2011-11-14T08:21:00.001-08:00

It was nice to have Bob home for an extra day this weekend. Thank you veterans! Because of the rainy weather we weren't about to get the work done outside like we wanted. Luckily between all of Bob's scout meetings we were able to get some work done inside of the house. We cleaned the carpets for the first time ever. We rented a rug doctor and did it ourselves. It was pretty easy and didn't take as long as we thought it would. We have lived here for three years and have had more than our share of spills/spit ups it was definitely time. The only snag we had was when our everyday vacuum broke before we had all of the carpets vacuumed. Bob had to run to the store to get a new one. I was kind of sad because it has basically been with us since our first place (we didn't vacuum at our first place and got this one in our second place). It was small and loud and pink and hard to push but I swear it picked up everything better than my moms Dyson.

It was nice that we cleaned the carpets at night because we just put the kids in bed and when everyone got up the carpets were dry. The only problem was that when we woke up the house still smelled like chemicals and Bob and I both had headaches. I am glad it is done. Especially with Scarlett on the floor all the time now.

I thought Penelope looked so cute before church on Sunday I made the kids do a video.

I don't know where Tucker comes up with these things.

Funny Story

2011-11-12T08:21:00.001-08:00

Sometimes Tucker says the funniest things but what he said the other day has got to be my favorite.

He was upstairs with Penelope and I had just put them in bed for a nap about ten minutes prior. He then comes out of his room saying
T: Mom Mom something is wrong!
D: What is it?
T: Mom we need to go to the doctor something is wrong with Penelope.
D: (at this point I am not really concerened because I do not hear any crying out of Penelope)
T: Mom help her teeth are growing!
D: What? (I follow him back upstairs and into his room)
T: See mom... Penleope open your mouth.
P: (says nothing and is just laying on her bed sucking her thumb)
D: (I pry her mouth open)
T: See mom something is wrong (pointing to her Canine teeth)
D: You mean these pointy ones?
T: (nodds)
D: Buddy, that is because your sister turned into a vampire!
T: Instant screaming and crying at the top of his lungs.

It was hilarious because I could tell that at that moment he actually believed that his sister was a vampire. He started backing away and it took me a while to calm him down. I had to tell him that I was just joking and show him that he also has pointy teeth in his mouth.

More Wedding Pics

2011-11-11T09:10:00.001-08:00

This first picture might be my very favorite of all. I wanted to feature the flowers and still show the couple. I think this worked out perfectly.

This picture of him reminded me of something you might see in an add selling mens suits.

There are so many great spots to take pictures on temple grounds I could have spent all day there.

Congrats to the newlyweds!

Photo of the Week!

2011-11-10T08:25:00.001-08:00

More wedding pictures tomorrow, right now I want to post about the photo of the week. Even though you probably already heard because I have been telling everyone.

A couple of months ago the church contacted me about using one of my photographs for their photo of the week. They also asked me to send in a picture of myself with it and to write a little story about the picture. I was and still am so excited. They have thousands and thousands of pictures so it is really exciting to think that someone saw one of my pictures and though, "hey lets use this one." I have been anxiosly waiting for what seemed like a long time for them to post it. And then on Monday I got an email saying that I can view my picture at this link and they look forward to seeing more of my pictures. There is a small chance that one of my pictures could show up in an Ensign or some other church material.

It is so neat because a picture of me is on the site also. I wonder how many people over the week are going to view it? I was telling Bob that I should have found a way to sneak in a link to my blog. But he was probably right when he said that they would have taken it out.

For those of you who don't want to click on the link here is the picture and story to go with it.

I took this picture on our only son’s fourth birthday. It looked beautiful and sunny outside our large kitchen window, like it often does in June. I suggested we go out and play. Too excited for shoes, my son ran out of the back door. After several minutes of jumping on the trampoline and running around, he sat down on the newly built picnic bench to rest. I started to feel slightly overwhelmed at how old he was and how fast he grew. It seemed like just months ago when he was a baby in my arms, and now he was running around the backyard and jumping off things. I wanted to document the moment and couldn't think of a better way than to take a picture of what seemed to me like a pair of giant, non-baby, dirty feet.

—Doranda Woestman

Sal and Caitlin

2011-11-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

It turned out to be a beautiful fall day at the Seattle Temple where Sal and Caitlin got married. there were plenty of orange, red, and green trees every way you looked. Caitlin had a hand sown 50's style dress with a bird cage veil on and looked great.

After they came out of the temple we spent just over an hour taking pictures. And wow, did the time go fast. We started out with family and group photos and then I took with the newlyweds around temple grounds for more pictures.

Notice the rings in this shot? I am glad they didn't fall into the little bird bath they are sitting on the edge of.

There was the cute little meadow where you can just see Captain Moroni peaking out through the trees and it made a perfect spot for pictures.

More pictures to come.

5 Strand Braided Headband Tutorial

2011-11-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

This tutorial explains how to do a 5 strand braid and how to make it into a headband. I've seen these on newborns, kids and even adults. They are pretty versatile. The best thing about this project is that it is free. All you need is an old t-shirt to cut up and a hot glue gun.

1) Pick out a t-shirt you want to cut up.
2) Cut 5 strips 1/3" to 2" wide depending on how thick you wan the headband to be. The length should be close to double the length of the head size. My six-month-old measures 17" and my two-year-old is 18" around. I would suggest a couple inches smaller for a newborn.
3) Lay all the strips flat on top of each other and glue or sew them there. I used a hot glue gun.
4) Braid it. This is the hardest step. You might want to make the below picture bigger to understand how to do the braid.

I numbered the strands to make things clearer. In The first picture I just separated all the strands out. Then Take strand 1 (most left strand) and cross it over strand 2. Then take strand 3 (middle strand) and cross it over strand 1. The you do the same thing but opposite on the other side. Take strand 5 and cross it over strand 4. Then take strand 1 (the new middle strand) and cross it over strand 5. Start the sequence again with the first picture and continue until you reach the desired length.

5) Cut out a 1" by 2" piece of fabric from the shirt.
6) Glue the edges in on itslef.
7) Glue the end of the braid and cut off the strands.
8) Glue or sew the two ends of the braid together.
9) Glue or sew one end of the fabric to the back of the headband.
10) Glue or sew the other end onto the back. Make sure not to glue the front so there is a place to put a clip. And you are done.

Above is the thinner one I made for Penelope.

Here I made a thicker one for Scarlett. As you can see this can be worn with or without a bow clipped onto it.

Temple Trip

2011-11-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

Since I was photographing a wedding on Saturday we just drove out with the whole family. I couldn't leave Scarlett long enough to go by myself so we made a family day trip out of it. It worked out nicely because Tucker has wanted to go for a while and we haven't taken him yet because it is an hour and a half drive to get there. If Bob and I are going to make the drive out we want to actually go into the temple. It was so cute because he was singing "I love to see the Temple" on the drive over. Then he asked me if he could go inside someday like the song.

I tried to dress him nicely but you couldn't tell once he put his coat and boots on. There is a funny story about the picture above. Right when we got out of the car Tucker ran to this tree hugged it and wanted me to take a picture. I did it and then noticed that the car right behind the tree looked like it was moving. A couple seconds later it started to pick up speed and was defiantly rolling backwards with no one in it. I hollard for bob and he ran over and stopped it. I thought we were going to need to get a rock to put behind the wheel and write a note when Bob just opened the door and jumped in. He put the parking break on and also noticed that the car was still in drive. The funny part is that we saw an old man about 50 feet away and we are pretty sure it was his car. He was oblivious. Bob said it was a good thing I noticed when I did because if it had been a couple of seconds later the car would have picked up too much speed to stop and it would have crashed into the Lexus behind it. The whole thing was pretty funny.

We walked around the temple grounds for a little bit. I scoped out picture places and the kids got to look around.

While I did the wedding Bob took the kids to a nearby bike shop for an hour.

On Wednesday I will post up some of the wedding pictures. There are definitely things I could have done better on but for my first time I think it went well. I would really like to watch a professional photographer shoot a wedding. I could go as their assistant or something and I think I could learn a lot.

Wedding!

2011-11-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

I am taking pictures at my first wedding today and I am so nervous! I have never done a wedding before and I am worried it is above my skill set. The only way to get better is to practice right? I was up all night worried about it. Hopefully it goes well. Pray it isn't too cold to stay outside and take pics.

Little Miss Muffet Sat on a Tuffet

2011-11-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

Ok it is more like, little miss Scarlett sat on the carpet.

This really was her first attempt and I think she did a good job. She was holding it for a few seconds before I got the camera out. I couldn't really catch her and video tape her sitting up. I suspect she could do it for a while now but I haven't really been encouraging it. I probably should but I do have a small fear that if she learns to sit she will be content and not try to crawl.

Good job Scarlett. You will be a proficient sitter in no time.

Halloween part II

2011-11-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

Scarlett had another costume she wore in the morning.

I was a bee to go with the flower. I don't have my wings on in the picture though.

The kids went to a little toddler Halloween party. It was so cute! As you can see Penelope didn't wear her Penny costume. I thought this might be a little more fun for her. She didn't seem to care either way.

They had festive food. Played hot potato and pin the nose on the pumpkin. It is funny because Penelope refused to wear the blindfold and somehow she still didn't get the nose in the right spot.

Here is a picture of them at the trunk-or-treat. Gadgets hat was a little messed up at the time.

Costumes

2011-11-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

Halloween was so much fun for the kids. Now I just need to figure out what to do with all the candy. Here they are in their homemade costumes. We have Inspector Gadget, Penny, and the Brain. (ok, we didn't really make the Brain costume)

And below is what we were going for.

I think they look pretty good! It was Tucker's idea to be Inspector Gadget and I thought it was a pretty good idea. He did have several ideas but this was the only one that worked with the dog costume we already had for Scarlett.

First we went to trunk-or-treat and the kids loved it. I only wish I brought more candy. We ran out. I purposely kept some candy at home to pass out to door to door trick-or-treaters but by the time we got home we missed them all because we didn't get a single one. I wish they would do trunk-or-treat the Friday before so I could do both.

I did add a big name tag right in the center of Penelope's shirt that said "Penny, Inspector Gadgets Niece" I think a lot more people got it with the name tag. And Scarlett was nice and warm in her dog/Brain costume.

Tucker even had a cool Go Go Gadget hand. I was pretty happy that it stayed together and didn't fall off his head the whole night.

Here is Bob next to the car decorations he set up. It looked cooler in the dark because he had a bright flashing light going and we turned the car speakers on to 'Thriller' the whole time.

After Trunk-or-Treak I took the kids to just a couple of our neighbors houses because Tucker really wanted to. It takes a lot longer to go house to house than it does car to car. Penelope wouldn't say anything she just had no problem walking right into the houses and reaching into the candy bowl herself. Tucker would then follow her in. It was a little weird and we had to have a talk about not going in the houses. I don't think Penelope had any idea what was going on. She just knew there was candy and she wanted it. It was a fun night and I already have ideas about what to be next year.

How to Can Apples

2011-11-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

For my first time canning anything I would say it went pretty well. I made a couple mistakes one being the baby was awake. But all in all I think it went well. My kitchen was a sticky disaster afterward but Bob and I got it all cleaned up. There might be better ways to can but here are simple step by step directions on how to can apples in a light syrup. Perfect for pies, cobblers, or just eating plain.

Materials needed:
Jars and lids
giant pot or canner
apple slicer
jar lifter
lid tightener
funnel
air bubble getter/lid lifter
Bob wanted me to say that the first step in canning is to get your mother/mother-in-law to buy all supplies like we did :-).

1) Sanitize and heat up your jars and lids. I boiled mine but the dishwasher would have been a much easier way. It is important that you keep them warm right up until you use them or they might break.

2) Cut and peel your apples. I borrowed an apple peeler corer slicer and it save me tons of time. I did about 15# of apples and it filled 6 jars.

3) Blanch apples. Boil them in a light syrup for one minute. I used water and sugar. I think I did six cups water for every one cup of sugar.

4) Use a funnel to put the apples into hot jars.

5) Fill the jars with the same syrup the apples boiled in. Get the air bubbles out with this tool. Then fill them up again with the syrup. Make sure you fill it up within a half inch of the top.

6) Tighten the lids on.

7) Boil the jars in large pot for 20 minutes. It took a long time for us to get the water to boil in the giant pot.

Enjoy! I haven't eaten any of the apples we canned yet but I am pretty sure they are going to be good.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I think dressing up is so fun and I love the decorations too. Check out my Frankenstein nails.

I also made some spooky treats. These fingers are from Annie eats. They are just green sugar cookies with almond nails. I tried one and they taste pretty plain. But they do look like fingers.

These witch hats are my favorite. They were so so easy. Penelope even did some.

I am excited to get everyone all dressed up again. We already did it one time and went to the library. I couldn't get pics because Penelope was being really grumpy. Hopefully she will be in a better mood today. Honestly i don't know if she will. She doesn't really seem to be into the dressing up. When we told her who she looks like and showed her a picture she would yell, "no I not." and get mad.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

We carved our second pumpkin last night. It was easy and simple, we didn't use a pattern and it was much more fun than the more difficult one we did a few days ago.

We tried cutting the hole in the bottom instead of the top. This way it is much easier to light the candle. Tucker liked grabbing the stuff out of the inside. Penelope wouldn't touch it. Like my shirt? You can't read it but it says I heart my Kids. I got it at the dollar store and I like it.

We drew on a simple happy pumpkin face.

Here is our other pumpkin that took forever to carve. Tucker insisted we do a lion. It is Scar from the Lion King. It is funny because he wanted it but Bob and I were the ones who did all the work.

Date Night

2011-10-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

It has been a little while since Bob and I went out on a date so we got our favorite sitter last night and went out. First we went to the new Sushi place called Trapper Sushi, it is right by the Safeway in the old Burger me Now spot. We have been to one of their other locations in Bonney Lake and really liked it. It was good until I realized that the salmon was not as cooked as I like it and even though I already ate a ton of them I couldn't eat anymore without feeling sick.

Next stop was Ross. It can be hard to try on cloths with the kids so we made a date of it. I got these and Bob got a pair of jeans.

Lastly we went to my new favorite place in Silverdale. Blu Berry, is a delicious frozen yogurt place where you get to fill up your bowl with whatever kind of frozen yogurt you want and top it with any topping imaginable. Then you pay by weight. I lost my punch card and they even gave me a new one and re punched it for the last time I went there. This time I went with Vanilla with all the chocolaty toppings they had. It was better than my creation last time which was basically trying a little of everything. Bob got vanilla with strawberries on top, or it was really more like strawberries with a little vanilla frozen yogurt on the side. Oh and you will never guess who we ran into there. It was the sitters parents.

I love date night!

Kids

2011-10-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Bob and I were talking to Tucker the other day and I told him that not everyone goes to church. You have to understand that this is a new concept for him because everyone we know does go to church and not just any church but the same church. It was hilarious because we could tell that he really was shocked. He says, "What!! Why?!! Do they just punch their faces and be bad?!!" Not quite sure where that came from but it is exactly the kind of thing Tucker would say.

On another note, I had a new experience as a mom. This was one I could have done without. When the kids came to wake me up like usual at 7:30ish I noticed a horrible smell. It reeked like throw up. I started looking around to see where the smell was coming from when I noticed Penelope had brown stuff all over the front of her shirt. Yep. It was dried throw up. It also covered the blanket she was holding. I went into her room and saw it was all over her bed and the floor. I have no idea what happened. It was not fresh so she must have thrown up sometime in the middle of the night. the weird thing is that she didn't cry or anything. We would have heard her. Then she didn't act sick at all in the morning. I tried to ask her what happened and she said she burped.

I quickly cleaned up the room, did laundry, and threw the kids in the bath tub. A couple hours after I got things under control Scarlett pooped all over herself and me. I was visiting teaching and we had to borrow cloths for Scarlett to wear. Good thing they had kids.

Sometimes being a mom is just messy!

Fall Colors

2011-10-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

In have two deciduous trees on my property and they both turn beautiful colors two different times of the year. One turns a pinkish purple in the spring and this one turns read orange in the fall.

I love how one tree can have so many different colors.

Our evergreen trees are great but I really do love the color that leaf trees give even though it is only short lived.

Understairs Storage

2011-10-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

We finally finished the hole in the wall project! It took us way longer to paint it than it should have. It started when Bob realized that there was probably nothing under the stairs and then we got serious about it when I bought a crock pot. I actually held off buying one for a long time because we didn't have a place to keep it. Now we do.

Tucker and Bob had fun hiding under the stairs.

Here you can see the hole is all cut out.

This picture was taken several hours later if not the next day.

And this one is about a month later. For some reason it took forever to get the finishing touches done.

Now I have room for all the appliances I want! I think this is where I will put a sewing machine if I get one for Christmas.

DIY Ruler Child Growth Chart

2011-10-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

I always wanted something to measure the kids height on as the grew up but was hesitant to write on a door frame because we aren't going to be living her forever. That is why once I saw this ruler growth chart I knew I had to make one for my family. I went out and bought the wood that very same day then I stained it and finished everything else while watching tv the next day. The kids love it and have spent time measuring how tall their stuffed animals are. This is one thing that I think I will keep for a really really long time!

Materials needed:
A 1" by 8" by 6' board ($7 lowes)
Stain (already had it)
Sharpie (already had it)
Sawtooth picture hanger hook ($.99 walmart)
Krylon Clear Glaze ($3 walmart)

1) Stain your wood. I first used a light stain but didn't like it so I went over it with a darker stain purposely making streaks so it looked more aged how I wanted it.

2) The next step is to measure out each inch. It was my husbands idea to tape the tape measure onto it and then go down with a pencil and mark each inch quickly and efficiently. I also started at 6" because I wanted it to hang and be off the ground.

3) Now go over each mark with a sharpie varying the lengths so it looks like a ruler. I used a square tool to make sure my lines were straight. I think I did every foot line 2" long then just under that for the half way and then an inch and a half midway between there and just one inch for the rest.

4) I printed the numbers 1-6 using century font size 200. I colored with chalk on the back then placed it where I wanted on the board and outlined over the paper with a pen causing the calk to rub off onto my board. Then I drew over the chalk with the same black sharpie.

4) Lastly I went over the whole think with a clear top coat spray paint. Although I don't know if that was necessary. Then I put my sawtooth hook on the back and nailed it up on the wall making sure that the bottom would be exactly 6" off the floor.

(I took it back down so I could get a pic)

I really love how this turned out! I already marked the kids heights and mine and bob's as well. I am also using a different color to mark the kids heights. That way years down the road Tucker can look for all the orange ones and easily pick out his marks. Like usual I am really happy with this weeks project.

Primary Program

2011-10-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the primary program. Tucker had his part memorized and he did such a good job. I was really nervous for him but he didn't seem too nervous. He did have me write up his part in picture form just in case he forgot it. I tried to tell him that he didn't need it but he really wanted me to so I did and gave it to the teacher helping him. When the time came he didn't use it. Tucker also loves singing the songs and he knows them pretty well especially for a sunbeam.

I on the other hand totally messed up my part. It is kind funny because my part was the fourth article of faith. Who doesn't know that? I have had that one memorized since I was 8. My nerves just got to me and I said it wrong when I got to the podium. Oh well.

The program on a whole was really great. My mom even came. There were a few times when I felt the spirit really strongly. Most of them during the songs. After the program all the teachers taught second hour and then had a little 'party' third hour. The YM and YW watch the kids for that hour. I love that idea! The primary program has got to be my favorite Sunday out of the year!

He says, "Mommy and Daddy read the scriptures everyday with me. We sit on the bed. I learned about Captian Moroni, he is really brave."

P.S. If you are wondering how to make the monster in the potty from yesterday I just cut a piece of black construction paper, added eyes, and taped it on.

Halloween Stuff

2011-10-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

On Friday we went to a ward Halloween activity. We carved pumpkins, I'll spare you the picture since we did not finish and still haven't, and had a chili cook off. Our chili won the 'most flavorful' prize. Then yesterday we had our primary practice. Tucker has his part memorized and he did a really good job. I hope he isn't nervous for the program today. I don't know why but I am plenty nervous for him. I will also be sitting up front with the primary so I will only get to see him from behind. I know it is going to be hard for me not to jump up and help him if he needs it. It sound so silly but I was so proud of him and just in awe at how big he was getting I almost started crying when he did his part yesterday. I never thought I would be one of 'those' moms. But I guess I am. Wish him luck for the program today!

We also added a few new Halloween decorations around the house this year. Of course we weren't going to pay the rip off prices for little decorations that break so we made our own.

Penelope was scared of the monster in the potty for a few days. Oh well, it is not like she actually uses the potty anyway.

Apples!

2011-10-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

Apples Apples Apples! I feel like I'm up to my ears in apples and I love it! On Saturday I bought a 25# box of apples from "The fruit Lady". I used quotes because I'm not sure who she is. The whole thing could be a little shady (j/k). I never saw her face or learned her name and only had contact with her through email and one short phone call. I dropped my money in a box and went around back to pick up my large cardboard box of apples. I didn't see a soul. These must be some kind of delicious black market apples or something. ;-)

Seriously though, I dehydrated apples, canned apples (which I might do a tutorial on), made and apple crisp and just plain ate the apples. We still have a few left. This all seems very fall-esk.

Just talking about it makes me want to get some more apple crisp! Yum!

Scary FHE

2011-10-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

On Monday we had a Halloween inspired FHE. It started when we got out the Halloween decorations because tucker kept asking questions about what the grave was and who is that bones guy. So I did a lesson using a glove and explained that our spirit is like our hand and our bodies are like the glove. When we came to earth got our bodies. I then put the glove on. Then when we die our spirits go to a place with other spirits and our bodies stay here. That is when I took the glove off and showed that the glove cannot move by itself. Then we told him that when people's spirits leave their body something has to happen to the body so a lot of the time they get buried. And that people get buried in graves that are in cemeteries.

For the activity we went to a cemetery but before we got there Tucker said, "maybe we can dunk our heads in the dirt and see some dead people." It was funny and at least we know that he understands what graves are. We brought our flashlight and only had to drive about a mile and a half to get to the nearest cemetery. We walked around a bit and read the names and dates.

Once home we had our treats. Penelope and I seemed to be the only ones who really liked them.

Happy Halloween!

Derr Family Pictures

2011-10-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

Kari and her family came over to my favorite (most convenient) photography spot, my backyard, for pictures. She wanted to get some family pictures to send to her husband who is out on a sub. We had a good time taking these, even the kids seemed to enjoy it.

Anyone else want to come over for pictures?

How to Make Toddler Leg Warmers

2011-10-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

For this Tuesday Tutorial I am going to make toddler or baby leg warmers out of women's knee high or tall socks. It is the perfect time of year to get out the thick tights and leg warmers. Sometimes tights can be a hassle because the have to come off when the diaper does but not leg warmers. I put these on my sixth month old baby and my two-year-old and they fit fine. I even think they would work for baby boys if you have boy colored socks. Usually you can buy socks cheaper than leg warmers but I am having a hard time finding ones I like so for this I just used my own socks that I never wear. This can also be perfect for if you have holes in your socks.

Materials needed:
Womens or Large girl knee high socks.
Sewing machine or the ability to sew by hand.

1) Cut the foot off of the socks.

2) Turn the sock inside out fold the end under about half and inch to an inch and sew. I used my mom's machine and had a hard time not sewing the top of the sock to the other side but it wasn't too much of a problem.

3) Flip them back and you are done! These are really easy to make!

I put the girl size on my baby and 2-year-old and they fit both girls fine. The women's ones fit better on my 2-year-old. I am really happy with how fun and easy these leg warmers are. If I see more cute socks for cheap I am definitely snatching them up to make more leg warmers.

Pumkin Patch fun

2011-10-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

The pumpkin patch had a lot of activities for the kids. They had a tricycle riding area, a hay pile to climb, hay to jump in, animals and a hale bale maze.

This maze was the perfect size for Tucker and Penelope.

I think this is my favorite family picture if only Scarlett was looking.

Tucker found a pumpkin he liked.

We even did a corn maze shaped like a dragon. We let tucker pick which way to go and he took us to the first 5 stops without getting lost. He did pretty good. After 5 we went to 8 and and had to go back and find 6 and 7. They also had a cute thing for the kids to find and trace the animal tracks and then at the end identify which animal they belonged to.

Tucker like usual asked if we can go back. I told him we can in a year!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch and corn maze up in Kingston. I debated weather we should go to that one or go to a much closer one. Now that it is all said and done I am glad we drove the 30 minutes. This farm was way better. They had tons of kids activities and even some animals. We had a good time and could have stayed much longer if it was just a little bit warmer.

People probably thought it was a little weird that I was setting up a tripod. But I thought the farm would make some great family pictures and I even made sure we were all wearing similar colors. Of course I could take family pictures all day but the kids only lasted for about 5 shots.

I feel like yesterday was a perfect fall day. It was cold but sunny and it even warmed up a little bit in the afternoon. I raked up the pine cones (that's right we have to rake pine cones instead of leaves) in the backyard and bob even had time to clean out the garage. I bought a 25# box of apples that I need to figure out how to can and the kids were able to play outside. Yesterday was a great day and I have several more pictures I will post when I have some more time. Now I need to help get the kids ready for baths.

Monsters Inc.

2011-10-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

Tucker asked if he could play a game on my ipod a couple of days ago. I was busy so I told him yes. After that I heard him go into the coat closet and turn on the one movie I have on there "Monsters Inc." The amount of tv he can watch around here is limited so that is why he was hiding. I then asked him what he was doing and he said "hiding so you don't see me watching a movie." Penelope snuck in there with him and they kept themselves busy sitting on a pile of shoes in the closet for a good hour. I let it slide because they were cute, and like I said earlier I was busy.

Notice Penelope's sticker on her forehead? Every time she gets one it goes right smack dab in the middle of her forehead!

Fall and Woombie

2011-10-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

After fighting it for the past couple of weeks I am finally coming to terms that it is no longer summer. It is freezing outside and I am ready to break out the sweaters. I really like fall and winter cloths. There is something so nice about snuggling up in boots and scarves leg warmers and longs sleeves. I bought a new pair of shoes yesterday at kohls but I still want to get a nice pair of black boots. My old ones are worn out. I am now looking forward to making things with pumpkin and drinking hot chocolate. Not to mention going to the pumpkin patch with the kids.

We got a Woombie for Scarlett a few months ago and I really like it. It is the easiest way to wrap up a baby that I have ever tried. Forget multiple blankets and velcro. This is just a tight sleeper with no arms. She can move in it but it is tight enough that when if she startles and jerks it doesn't really wake her up. She has never gotten out of it which seemed to be a problem with other things we have tried. I bought it online and wanted to recommend it for anyone who is looking for something like this.

5 Months

2011-10-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

This is coming a little late but Scarlett Turned 5 months last week! She can roll over in both directions and she even does pretty well during tummy time. Tucker has been great with her these past couple of weeks. He will get down and play with her when she is crying and she really loves it. I have heard her go from crying to laughing because of Tucker a couple of times.

Scarlett loves to stand up! We have to balance her %100 but she likes to be on her feet and her legs are strong enough to hold the weight and have been for a while. I tried getting her to sit up but she has a ways to go still. Maybe next month. Oh, and she does move backwards and turns while on her tummy.

Here feet have been supper interesting for her lately. She always grabs them and plays with them.

Scarlett has also started to try to stick everything in her mouth. Originally I thought all babies did this but Penelope never did so it is kinda fun to see Scarlett doing it. And Tucker thinks it is hilarious when she puts something like my phone or the remote in her mouth. Penelope is always taking Scarlett's hands out of her mouth and telling her no. I can't blame her because we tell Penelope not to suck her thumb. I can see how it is confusing.

Scarlett is growing nicely and we are going for another appointment on Friday to see if her head is less flat or if she is going to need a helmet. I think it has gotten better since last month.

How to Make a Popsicle Stick Puzzle

2011-10-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

These are really easy to make and fun for kids to play with. One great thing about these puzzles is that you can customize them however you want. Just print a picture of your child's favorite tv character and it is sure to entertain them for a while. I have even seen it done where the kids draw their own picture onto the sticks.

Materials needed:
8 Popsicle sticks
Tape
Glue
Picture of choice
Xacto knife

1) Tape your Popsicle sticks together.

2) Glue the picture on the not taped side of the sticks. I used Mod Podge and I think I used too much because the sticks warped a little while drying.

3) Cut between the sticks. This is the hardest step because I had a difficult time getting my cuts to be straight and to line up with the Popsicle sticks. Then take the tape off.

You are done! It really is that easy!

Here is another one I made.

Sick

2011-10-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

I woke up around 2 or 3 last night feeling sick to my stomach. I'm not sure what happened, it was probably something I ate. It is a little funny because the days I get sick always happen to be days that Bob has off of work. Now it's time for me to get back to bed.

1000+ miles

2011-10-09T09:39:00.001-07:00

This is Bob. So, we all know Doranda loves to post on her blog. But I am taking over the post for today to let everyone know that I hit the 1000+ mile mark on my bike.
I have had my bike since February, and ave been riding it the 6+ mile to work, and the 6+ miles back. I really enjoy riding my bike to and from work. It helps me wind down before I get home, and wakes me up on my ride in. I would recommend that everyone who lives within a couple miles of work should consider riding there bike. It is fun and invigorating, good for the environment, and for your own health. You can burn from 700 to 1000 calories.

Here is a new picture of my bike. I have a spot for it on wall in the garage, with all my tools. :-)