The resemblance continues...

When Ryan was little, he was obsessed with trains.  He had this train sweater that he loved, and we had his pictures taken in it.  Well, as luck would have it, I actually found that old train sweater a couple months ago, and put Jake in it to take some pictures.  Here are the side-by-sides.  Jake saw the pictures of Ryan on the counter and said, "Look, it's me!"  He was a little sad when I told him, "No, that's Ryan."  They continue to look so similar!  We apparently have 2 molds--the Brandon mold and the Ryan mold, repeated in Sydney and Jake, respectively.  What's crazy is that their personalities are so similar as well.  Jake is so much like Ryan is/was, and the same can be said for Brandon and Sydney.  Weird.

Jake is staying blonde longer than Ryan did.  They are almost exactly the same age in these pictures, and Ryan's hair is slightly darker.  Other than that slight difference, they are basically twins separated by 8 years.  So glad I kept that sweater!

Recent craftiness

Last summer I stopped by a neighbor's yard sale (which I rarely do...) and found 2 old, 70's-style lamps for $3 each.  I just knew some spray paint would do wonders for them.  Enter some oil-rubbed-bronze spray paint.  And some clearance shades from Target (that are literally screaming for some burlap or fabric ruffles or something along those lines...).

 I also needed some tables to put my awesome new lamps on.  And being the cheapskate I am, I asked my mother-in-law if I could have some old 70's-style (in keeping w/ the theme, haha...) tables that were collecting dust in their shed and do whatever I felt like to them.  She said o.k. so I got out the sander and paint and gave them (well, technically only one, so far) a makeover as well.  I think it came a long way as well.  And for pretty cheap!

I think the before and afters are pretty impressive!

I'm not sure yet if I love the parts where I distressed it...I may eventually go back over some spots w/ the black paint and un-distress it just a tad.  Sometimes I go a little too crazy w/ the sandpaper...  And now that I see the oil-rubbed-bronze lamp on the black table I think it's too dark and boring, and maybe the lamp should be some fun color like red or aqua...good thing it's easy to change! 

 

Here is the after of the lamp on its new home.  You can also see that I FINALLY painted the piano room.  One less white wall in the house...hooray.  I also got slipcovers for the green and magenta couches (what was I thinking 14 years ago???) and new drapes.  I just couldn't find those pictures on my computer and I'm too lazy to take them again...  Maybe once the new carpet (Hip, hip, hooray!!!) is installed in 2 weeks, I'll take some more pictures.

Pinterest is my new favorite thing.  It's awesome.  But I have decided I need to make sure I'm DOING, not just pinning.  So last week a few friends and I got together to DO one of our pins.  We made paper roses and glued them onto twigs, then put the twigs in vases.  It's much cuter than it sounds as I'm trying to describe it!  Ours all turned out a little different based on our vases, but they all look awesome!  I found some perfect little vases from Target (seriously, that store is the best) that already had the little I LOVE YOU on it.  They look great along w/ my other little V-Day decor on my shelves in the entry.

I'm hoping we can get together once or twice a month for our "Pinterest Parties."  Not much makes me happier than spending time w/ great friends while using a glue gun. :)

Resolving to Do Better

So it's a new year...I always like to look back at the last year and see if I improved in any way...and check back on my previous resolutions and see if I actually accomplished any of them.  The verdict: some--yes; most--no.  I decided that's better than all no!

Here's some accountability from my 2011 goals:

"Scrapbook at least 1 page"--epic fail...I just hate it and I still haven't done any...
"Buy my last package of diapers"--success!!! (of course, I'm still buying Pull-Ups for bedtime and we're not accident-free yet, but no more diapers!!!)
"Write 50 journal entries"--success!!!  I just went and counted, and I had 51 in 2011.
"100 % Visiting Teaching"--fail--I hate to admit that...
"Visit the temple 2X a month"--fail--but in my defense, they closed the Boise Temple this summer, and Twin Falls is a long drive!
"Lose the baby weight--finally"--pass/fail--I technically lost it, then when we found out Tim was losing his job, I consoled myself with food (big surprise) and gained most of it back...but I still ended the year down 5 pounds.
"Wake up at 5am to work out"--fail--I'm just too freaking old for that now.
"Keep track of what I eat"--so-so--I did really well while on Weight Watchers, then not-so-well once I quit.
"No calories after 7pm"--fail--most of the time.
"Paint all white walls still in my house"--fail--but I came really close!
"Organize my recipe drawer"--fail--it's still pretty bad.
"Organize my bathroom cupboards"--success!!!--and they're still looking pretty good several months later!!!
"Go to bed at night w/ a clean kitchen and family room"--fail--I just really like hanging out w/ Tim once the kids are in bed instead of doing dishes which can always wait, in my opinion.
"See Brandon get his Eagle"--pass/fail--He didn't get his Eagle yet, but he got all of his Merit Badges.
"Only grocery shop every 2 weeks to cut down on grocery budget"--pass/fail--I still go every week, but I am doing much better at menu planning, so I have cut down on the grocery bill.
"Install crown molding in master"--fail--but it's still on my to-do list--and getting closer to the top!

Wow, I just wrote the word "FAIL" way too many times.  So for this year, I'm not making nearly as many resolutions so I don't have the possibility of failing so many times.  :)  Good solution, I know.

This year, I only have a few goals.  And they are pretty simple.

1. Learn how to better use my camera.
2. Learn a little bit about Photo Shop and how to use it.
3. Move more and eat less.  And re-lose that baby weight.
4. Craft more.
5. Paint more white walls. I hate them.

That's a maximum of 5 fails this time next year.  That sounds much better!

Christmas Letter 2011

I can't believe I didn't make a single post last month...time to play catch-up.  I also didn't send out Christmas cards until New Years...so hopefully most of the family has gotten theirs by now.  For the rest of you or those that I just plain forgot, here is the body of our Christmas letter, with the news of the year:


Merry Christmas, everyone! This has been a busy year for our family, as usual. We love to play catch-up and reflect on the ups, downs and blessings we've been given at this time of year. Some things we'd like to forget are our first car accident only a few months after we bought our new van, Cathy losing her camera at DFW airport, and being faced with unemployment. Some awesome family memories from this year are camping trips to Grandjean, BSU football games, our dog Molly having adorable little puppies, and Tim finding a new job. The good has definitely outweighed the bad. We have seen the Lord's hand in our lives and are ever-grateful for His guidance, family and friends.

Tim is now the corporate audit manager for Micron, a technology company in Boise. It has been a big adjustment after almost 12 years at SuperValu, but we are so grateful the Lord has provided a way for him to provide for our family. He still serves on the High Council for our Stake and of course, spends as much time as he can hunting. He, his dad and brothers went to Wyoming again in September for an antelope hunt. He also enjoys gardening (good thing, since Cathy does not) and added raspberries to our crop this year.


Cathy started teaching piano lessons in September. She has 8 students, counting her own, and has really enjoyed teaching, much to her surprise and delight. Her first recital is next month. She got to go see her family in Texas in June and has had fun repainting much of the house this year and redecorating. She is the Primary chorister for about 130 children in our ward.


Brandon is in 8th grade and just turned 14, so he is now old enough to attend Stake dances (which means his parents have to wait up for him now…uggh). This year he has played basketball and football and ran track. He is in choir at school and loves the guitar. He got an electric one for his birthday (that thankfully has headphones). He shot his first buck this fall. He has earned all of his merit badges for Eagle Scout and just needs to do his project now.

Ryan is 11 and in 6th grade. He started band this year, playing the clarinet, which he loves. He tried something else new and ran cross country this fall and wants to run track in the Spring. He earned his Arrow of Light award and graduated from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts this summer. He takes piano lessons from Mom and is doing awesome! He shot his first turkey last Spring.


Sydney is 7 going on 16 and in 2nd grade, but she goes to 3rd grade for a couple hours each day since she's such a smarty-pants. She is also taking piano lessons, played T-ball this Spring, and is starting basketball next month. A highlight of her year was getting her ears pierced a few months ago. She is still quite crafty like her mom and is always creating something.


Jake is 3 years old and is still the light of our lives. His smile is infectious and he is at that age where he just says funny things all the time. At Ryan's last band concert, he said (with really big eyes), "They have cymbals. Cymbals are loud. I love them." He makes us laugh all the time! His favorite thing right now is Dad's iPad, especially Angry Birds. He starts Primary next week. He has also been learning to use the potty this year and is getting way too big way too fast.

Kid Pics

Today I took some shots of the kiddos.  I figured what's the point of having a nice camera if I can't save a little money and take my own pictures of them.  I haven't had much time to edit them yet, but these are some of my favorite shots after just a little bit of work on them in Picasa.  This first one of Brandon and Ryan reminds me of 2 elders...not long til they'll be that old!

I just love Jakey's lips in this one!

My girly-girl.  :)

Brandon wanted to bring his guitar and take some cool guitar shots.  He looks way too old in this one!

Ryan the stud. :)

All four of them...lovin' the older boys' dressed-down ties look!

This next one is probably my favorite of all of them together.  Jake was just not in the mood for pictures this time around, so this is as good as we got!

This one here makes me laugh because of Syd's face.  She was cold and not very happy that I suggested they take their shoes and socks off for a couple shots.  Such a mean mommy I am...

I still have some work to do before I'll get any printed, but I'm pretty happy with the results.  Now I just need to find a time when Tim can join us and we can do the whole family...kinda hard when it's getting dark at 5pm.

Halloween!!!

 Dear Blogger,

Sometimes I really hate you.  This week I have wanted to try and catch up on blogging, but I don't really have all day to wait for my photos to upload...so now my family will only get to see these 3 pictures that would actually load...sorry family.

Moving on...Halloween was Monday, and the kids had so much fun dressing up.  These pictures are actually from Saturday when we had our ward Trunk-or-Treat.  I'm always too busy on Halloween to really take pictures...

This year, after quite a metamorphosis, Sydney finally settled on a cowgirl costume.  (For those who care, she initially wanted to be a wolf, but not just a wolf costume--she wanted Tim to shoot a wolf, then skin it for her to wear over her head like a cape...not my daughter...  Then she decided she wanted to be Captain Jack Sparrow, but I steered her away...I'm not a fan of my children cross-dressing.  Then she settled on Ninja, but after looking through the Halloween costume bucket she found Brandon's old chaps and vest (which were both too small, but what do I care??)).  We just bought a hat and bedazzled it to girlify it a little.

Jake recycled Ryan's Buzz Lightyear costume that I made 8 years ago.  I was glad to get another use out of that one, seeing as I spent more time on it than I'll be confessing here on my little blog...

Ryan recycled his Grim Reaper costume from last year...no cost yet again...perfect!

And Brandon decided to be "Up Dog."  What is Up Dog, you might ask?  When you find out, let me know!  Apparently it's a phrase that middle schoolers use..."That's really up-dog."  Whatever...  The best part was that his costume was also free...he used my Silhouette to cut out a dog shape w/ vinyl and stuck it on a black arrow and taped it on a t-shirt.

I was really pleased w/ my Halloween costume budget this year....$5 for a cowgirl hat.  They had fun and got plenty of candy.  And on Halloween night when I was watching Jake trick-or-treating w/ Sydney and Ryan and his little shoes would light up and he was just so excited, I took a mental picture and just smiled.  He's the perfect age this year.  He understands how it all works, but he's not yet snotty like my older ones, thinking, "Just give me the candy."  He's truly overjoyed w/ each little piece.  And it's sure made him want to do better w/ potty training since there's once again candy in the house that he can get as a reward.  Bonus.

Labor Day 2011

So I know I'm behind on blogging and you're all hoping for Halloween pictures, but I just realized that I never blogged about Labor Day, so let's get that out of the way first.

This year we were, as usual, up at our trailer for Labor Day weekend.  Which would have been perfect except for one thing...the opening game of the BSU football season.  We really didn't want to miss it, and thanks to my stud of a husband, no worries...he just rigged up an old dish to work out in the middle of nowhere...and he was pretty proud of himself, to say the least. :)  So was I.  He's pretty much amazing.

We made a lot of instant friends the night of the game.  Tim's brother and his wife, Tim's parents, my niece and her family, our family, and 2 other families that were camping there all sat around the t.v. and watched.  It was pretty fun!  And it was really great that BSU spanked Georgia!!  Go Broncos!

Jake was an awesome fan!  He cheered and cheered.  I had just gotten him this cool new BSU hat, which he wouldn't take off.  And every time someone said "Go...," he would reply, "Broncos."  And if you said, "Boise," he would say, "State."  Everyone was pretty impressed!  He's just so stinkin' cute!

Here's Jake trying out his cousin Hunter's pop gun.  He LOVED it!  He was pretty excited to get one for his birthday a few weeks later!

Our family went with my niece, Brittney's family and Tim's parents up to Dagger Falls.  I had never been before.  It was really pretty.  We all took picnics with us and spent a few hours there.

We found a place to walk down to the river, and let Molly fetch sticks.  She got worked really hard!  There was one time the stick went pretty far and she had to swim back against the current, and I think Tim was a little scared that she might not make it back, but I think she could have done that all day.

The kids had fun just being in nature--especially climbing up the steep hill.  Sydney was determined to make it back up the hard way, and she did.  Jake kept his sunglasses on pretty much the whole day. :)