Halloween Crafts!

These are our cool-io pumpkins...A painted the little ghost one

I learned how to make this at a class over 2 nights...it was hard, but super cute!

I love the little ruffle bum, even though it was super tricky to make, it is my fave part!

This is just scrapbooking paper, with printed letters glued on

This isn't really halloween-y, but something I've been working on for quite a while. I collected a whole bunch of frames and mirrors, and spray-painted them all white...then printed off some new family photos by kelsey!

Love these little window monsters..they are so easy too! You just draw whatever you want your monster to look like onto some black poster-board, make sure to leave room for cut-out pieces. One you cut out some pieces, like the mouth or eyes, you just add tissue paper, then tape it onto your windows! the boys love them:)

This is a halloween printable online I found....don't mind the mess

halloween wreath made out of cupcake liners, also found the how-to for this online

Post-church after-thoughts

Today was a great day. I always love Sunday's...but today we got to practice the primary presentation with all of the kids (ages 3-11), and they just sung SO well! 
Each sunday, week after week, month after month I teach these little kids how to sing, and hope that they are actually getting it, and somehow remembering the words, the tune etc. All so that in the end, for one sunday (the primary presentation) they can sing their little heart outs. 
Well, that's next sunday. As I sat and listened to them today, I realized how well they had learned these songs...and I was amazed! Most of the time they are chatting, or falling off of their chairs, making jokes, looking around the room....everything, but paying attention to learning the songs...at least that's what it feels like some weeks. 
But alas, somehow I was actually able to teach them something...which is pretty amazing to me. I'm sure I'll be nervous the whole hour-long presentation next sunday....but I know they'll do great, and everyone will love it. This is what my calling is all about...the one day a year I get to show off the sweet little kids and all that they've learnt through the year with me. 
On a side note, I really dislike having to stand up in front of everyone....I always feel like people are watching me, even though I'm certain they are watching all of the cute little kids....but it sure doesn't feel that way during the middle of the song when my butt is is right front and center for 200 plus people to view, lol...good times. 
On another note, although FB friends may already know this....we did NOT get the duplex that we have been trying to by since....august, maybe? I think that;'s when we first saw it...man oh man has this been a long time coming. 
Although it is somewhat disappointing to think all of those what if's? Because let me tell you, it would have been a FANTASTIC deal for us....at the same time, I feel so calm about it. 
Over the last few weeks, as I have knelt in prayer and asked the Lord what we should be doing with our lives, specific things...this was one of them. I always prayed that if we weren't supposed to do this, that it wouldn't turn out. As time progressed I felt more and more like it wasn't going to work out...and so when the call came, it was relieving to know that the answer that I had been feeling was indeed the right answer. So, I am grateful...and on life goes...
Who knows what we'll be doing next...but I do know that the more that I seek and pray to see the Heavenly Father's hand in our lives, the easier it becomes to see it. So I know that no matter what happens, as long as keep praying and stay on the right track, that the Lord will open up those doors that need to be opened, and we will find out what and where we need to be. 
I'm EVER so grateful for the gospel...so blessed to have such a great family....such wonderful boys, and especially for my amazing husband, because he truly is amazing. 
What a great day.

the cutest boys ever... :)

Some funny things the boys have said this week:
-I was in the car with the boys the other day, and one of their friends, Mac. We were talking about all of the different restaurants that we were passing, as they were trying to guess where we were headed for lunch. As we passed one, that I mentioned that daddy and I frequent while on date-night, A was sad that he didn't get to go to that one. After a few moments of thought, this s the conversation that I heard between him and his friend:
A: "the first thing that I'm going to do when I grow up is go on a DATE!"
mac: "with a girl right?"
A: "YA! With a girl..."
A: "Did ya know, I already have an adult camera? it's an adult one!"
Mac: "That's cool, I do too!"


-Little roo put on some cool sunglasses this evening and came up to the rest of us and said: "I'm a decepticon! I'm a decepticon!"...it's amazing the things he catches on to by having an older brother.


-We were putting the boys to bed tonight, and roo wanted to climb up on A's bunk, so we figured we'd let him for a minute or two. He crawled right under the blankies and A and roo started giving each other cuddles....cutest thing ever. Then roo turns to us and says "Good night mommy. Daddy can yo go? Good bye!! Can you guys just go?" ha ha...so we did, only to go back in less than a minute later to them annoying each other. Roo was actually annoying A, who just really wanted to sleep...as I was chastising roo, he said, "can I go in my own bed?". I put him down, he snuggled his blankies and smiled..."I love my bed, it's so comfy. Wanna sleep with me?" ha ha....I guess A's bed just wasn't comfy enough for him. 

Some gospel thoughts...

I have been blessed to be able to listen to this song a lot lately, as I am learning it for a stake musical number. It's beautiful...and inspiring...and full of the spirit. I love it. I love the temple, and the inspiration that we can receive there. 

Lately I have been experimenting, and working on listening to promptings of the spirit, to try and hone my ability to detect when something is a prompting from the Lord, versus my own thoughts. 

It has been a great experience...to listen to those small and quiet little promptings, follow them, and then feel the peaceful and encourage feelings that come when you realize that you have followed them correctly. I am still learning, still growing..and have a lot to learn and grow at...but it's coming. 

I love our church, I love the way that it centers on families, and on Christ. Family is THE most important thing in life...and will bring us the most joy. there is nothing more important than raising children, and I strive daily to spend more quality time with my kids...and to show them this principle. 

I love listening to A answer questions about the gospel...he is so intelligent, and has a strong testimony already. Little roo is just so sensitive, emotional and loving. His love is just so sweet and encompassing...it reminds me of what the saviors love for us feels like. They are 2 amazing children...and I love that I have been able to have this little break between having kids, and going to school, and have been able to have my hubby home a lot too. We have been able to spend a lot of quality time together, and really strengthen our family relationship...and for that I am ever grateful 

I have no idea where we are going to go from here...but I am just so grateful for the time now, and what a fantastic little family I have to live with and bring me joy daily. 

(side note great vid HERE about technology and youth, but I think it counts for us too, any one in this "techno age"...it's a great one :)

Impatiently praying for patience...

Why oh why am I SO impatient? I'm not sure...but I am, it's deeply embedded in my bones. 
I have to try SO hard to get rid of it, on a continual basis...and it's not really working. 
I started yoga a few weeks ago...and don't get me wrong, I LOVE it...but it's so slow and relaxing...I'm just not much of a relaxing person...high-strung much? ha ha
For instance, I can't stand getting massages, because I just think of ALL of the work that I could be doing, things I could be getting done etc...and I just can NOT relax...at all...so I usually opt for either no massage, or a short 1/2 hour one....even at that I feel impatience.
Yoga is the same way....while we are relaxing and cooling down at the end, I find it IMPOSSIBLE to completely relax and/or clear my mind of all thought...that NEVER happens....I'm always thinking!
Usually when I work out, I only make it through MAYBE 20 minutes or a work-out class, then switch to the next thing...and never work out for too long, because I'm always thinking of what comes NEXT!!


That's my issue...I have a hard time living IN the moment...enjoying the MOMENTS...I just keep thinking of how things will/won't turn out, and what I need to be doing next, and all of the things I could possibly be forgetting about....it's a disease I tell ya. 
Well, lately I've been impatiently waiting...surprise, surpirse...for SO many things it seems. Every single trial or tribulation right now revolves around patience. 
Waiting for jobs, or maybe school instead...waiting for this house we're trying to buy...waiting for a baby...EVERYTHING in my life is on HOLD...and it's just not how I like to roll!! ha ha
So....I impatiently pray for patience....with my kids, my hubby, my family, my life in general....everything pretty much...and I hope it comes. 
As you may know, President Monson (the prophet of our church and one pretty smart dude) said this:

"Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family."

That's where I'm trying to get. I constantly am stopping and reminding myself to relish the small moments, enjoy my kids at this age, enjoy only having two kids, enjoy not having to worry about a house, or baby, work or school...just ENJOY this "middle phase" of our lives. 

Some more bits of precious knowledge from Pres. Monson:

"My brothers and sisters, there is no tomorrow to remember if we don’t do something today."
"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."

Is this not so true? We need to stop and look at our children, get down on the ground and play with them...enjoy them, love them...and tell them we love them.

We will all have trials and tribulations...some great, some small...but we need to treasure these times... treasure the beautiful moments spent with our kids and treasure the testimony-strengthening trials that we have been BLESSED and TRUSTED to go through.

"Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they mustknow how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”

I'll end on this little note of treasure, from our beloved prophet:

"Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows."

more pics of re-decorating my home..

This is a super cute wall art thingy that I snagged from Walmart, I really love how it turned out!!

Up close...it was a little tricky to put on, but looks nice all done I think

It's right behind the love seat in our living room. I'm not a fan of the print of the love seat, and I plan on either buying a cutesy cover for it, or spray painting our leather couch white (I know, sounds cray, right? but I saw it on a blog, so it MUST be true! ha ha) and putting it here

Not quite sure of I like that picture there...it's a little small for the wall...I'm still thinking about it though

This is a great picture that we inherited from my in-laws...isn't it stinking cute? It's the only thing on that biog living room wall now...not sure how I feel about that, but I don't have anything cute left to put up there, so it'll do for now.

This is in our dining-room, right over the table. The painting was made by little A...didn't he do a great job? The center is a modge-podge of some fave pics of ours.

This is another great vinyl from walmart, much to my hubby's chagrin...he thinks we have too much vinyl....but I love it!

We do not doubt our mothers knew it...and other tales

One of my favorite stories from the Book of Mormon is that of the stripling warriors...specifically their mothers. I love that it says:        
          (alma chapter 53)
 "20 And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for ^acourage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.

 21 Yea, they were men of truth and ^asoberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to ^bwalk uprightly before him.

                                                    (alma chapter 56)

47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the ^aliberty of their ^bfathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their ^cmothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their ^amothers, saying: We ^bdo not doubt our mothers knew it.

That last line is my absloute favorite....it is what continues to make me want to strive to be like those mothers. If I am full of faith, my children will know it....and therefore be strengthened by and through my testimony of my Savior. 
As A and I were reading "My First Book of Mormon Stories" this morning...and I was amazed at the wealth of knowledge that he already has. I wish that I could take credit for it...but I think it has a lot to do with his amazing primary teachers, whom I am forever grateful for. 
As we read about the prophet Abinadi, A said: "I know that guy....there was a man who was listening to him, and he believed what he was saying, so he got up and ran away. The bad guys tried to follow him, but they couldn't catch him...and he ran and wrote down all of the things that he had heard."
Wow! He completely re-told me the story...and this happened throughout the stories that we read...he knows so much, and has such a sweet spirit about him. 
I am continually grateful that I get to raise such precious and sweet children...they teach me so much, and I love them for it. 
Sometimes I wonder if they should be the ones teaching me....
well...until something like this happens(thanks to little roo-roo):

Yup...my make-up is totaled....oh well, I guess there are a few things I can still teach them yet! :)

My cake-pan organizer and finished front hall!

A loves taking pictures...so the first few of these are ones he took. I think I'm still gluing together the pieces here

In case your interested in how I did this. I bought 2 candlesticks at 50 cents a piece...I put them in a box and rolled them around while spray painting them white, so I could get even coverage. I picked out 3 cake pans I found at a thrift store. One was $1.00 and the other two were 5o cents.

I used that weird glue on nails stuff, shown in the second picture. I think my father-in-law picked it up at home depot. I then attached the dried candle-holders to the bake pans, making sure I found the very center first.

A also likes getting his picture taken...

here is the finished product! Not fully dry though....I'm letting mine dry for  several days because of the amount of glue I used.

I love how it turned out so far. I let a bit of the gold show through, I thought it was nice and gave it a more shiny feel. I'll post pictures once I actually have it all cute and organized. It's STILL drying...I used a LOT of that glue.

Here is our front hall...just showing off the sweet door  and new paint

I put 2 of the leather ottomans back in it, but only temporarily until I find a cute white bench that will fit there.

This is my favorite section....I tried minimizing the amount of coats and shoes/boots in the front hall....I put more in our rooms, in the closet and in the ottomans.

This frame used to be in the front hall, but it was black. I just recently spray-painted it white, which I like here WAY better. I made little Roo paint that picture for me...didn't he do a GREAT job? He's so talented, and only 2 1/2! lol. I bought the side dishes 2 for 50 cents...they work great for key-holders....and the shelf I bought for $10 at winners....perfect together I think!!

I had the water picture in our room, but I like it better here...I just think it might need to be  shifted I tiny bit higher? what do you think??

The finished product....for now

I'm planning on putting up one more thing...if I can find it...so it ma y be a while.

Just thought I'd take another pic of the front door...my hubby did SUCH a great job on it...it's my favorite part of the front hall...so much nicer than before!

If it aint broke...

The hubby and I started a marriage class last weekend...it's called something like "strengthening marriages", and it's at the church every sunday. 
Before it started, we had heard about it and were trying to convince several of our couple-friends to come to it with us. I'm pretty sure I had the wives on board, but their husbands were a little wary to join a marriage class. Their reasoning behind this was kind of like "if it aint broke don't fix it"...they felt like if you go to marriage classes/counselling etc...that issues come up that you feel weren't issues..and then it just makes more issues, and more tension that wasn't there in the first place.
Although this may be true in the men's opinion, the wives thought the issues were there first, the husband just didn't realize it. i thought this was fairly amusing, and we all laughed about how true it was, and how boys are silly.
Well, apparently I shouldn't have been laughing with them, because later on at marriage class...this is what happened:
The couple in charge asks us to write down a question/problem that we have that we would like them, through the course of the class, to answer. 
I'm sitting there, twiddling my thumbs trying to think of what I could put down...I got nothing. The lady comes around to give me some helpful hints and ideas, and my friend M, who I did convince to come with me says: "oh, her marriage is perfect, that's why she cant write anything down...they just came for moral support for me and my husband!" ha ha....well...we look over at MY hubby....he has 5 questions written down!! 5!!
Um, 5, hunny? really? He tells me he was just trying to be participatory....that seems overly participatory to me, ha ha. 
Well...moral of the story is that I was like the husbands who didn't want to come....although I was super into coming, I didn't really think there was anything we needed to work on....lo and behold, there is. 
Even funnier, later on...one of the things my hubby had written down was "how do you talk to your wife about something without getting her upset?". As we talked about this later, and I told him how ridiculous it was that he thought that (I know, great communication skills I have) and how he could always talk to me about anything...I realized that I was getting upset talking to him about how I wouldn't get upset if he really wanted to talk about anything....ha ha....oh, I'm bad, LOL. 
A few of the other "funny" questions he wrote down (which he claims were more for the benefit of the entire class, and not specific to us) were:
-how do you get your wife to clean when she doesn't want to, and you want her too? (ha ha, like this EVER happens at our house....ha ha)
-how do you get your wife to go to bed when you're tired and she wants to stay up and watch tv? (this may or may not happen every night of our marriage, LOL)...


Well, we are enjoying the class, and we have learned some great communication-type skills that we are putting into practice this week...so maybe I'll try and go to be earlier, or clean up a teensie bit more...we'll see...ha ha.