Winter List- #1

I finished one thing on my winter list! It was the easiest but it's a step in the right direction! Shelby and I built a snowman. We haven't put a carrot or anything on him but we will get to that. Here is a picture of our fun.This is what Addie does while we built our snowman. She does this almost anytime we are out in the snow.

View from our window

Yesterday it started snowing as we were walking out of church and it stopped this morning about 9 or 10am. This was the view from our window this morning.

We are snowed in!!!!! Okay, that's not entirely true we did take Jordan to work this morning but we are not going anywhere else today.

Another thing I did today was make a little girl very happy. I went down into the craw space and got some old baby clothes out. My plan was and still it to cut down some of them to make baby clothes for her doll. It turns out that her doll happens to be the same size as a premie baby. Here is a picture of the proud mommy and baby.

I did rotate this picture so i don't know what happened. Anyway, Shelby could not be happier. I also pulled out a burp rag and some socks. If you want to make an almost 4 year old very happy, pull out some baby clothes!

Halloween and other news

This year for Halloween Shelby was Tinkerbell (and I made her costume) and Addie was a flower. Shelby kept telling me that she was going to help Addie grow like Rosetta does. She's really into the Tinkerbell movie. So, here are some pictures of them in their costumes.

In other news, Addie is now a walker! She started about 3 weeks ago. You can't tell in this picture but that little devil is walking around. She knows that she is hot stuff and is pretty proud of herself. We are too, of course. It took her 14 months to do it, which I think was faster than Shelby by a month or two. Anyway, It's been fun having her in our family.

Winter List

Lately I've been talking about my "winter list." I just have a list in my head of all the things I want to do this winter. Sometimes we get kind of bored because we do the same thing everyday and the weather is too cold to go outside.
Addie is getting to a good age now that we can go outside for short periods of time. Last year was kind of a bust because we just waited until she was sleeping.
So, now with my Winter list:
Build a snowman
Go snowmobiling
Go snow shoeing
Camp in a Yurt (thanks for all the good info, Raygon!)
Go on a Sleigh ride (as in horse drawn)


Now that I'm starting to write this down I can't remember everything I want to do. This list is subject to change (and hopefully will).

Next, I'll have to post a Fall list. I should have done that first. I haven't really thought of anything yet.

5 years and counting

Yesterday Jordan and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday that we got married but other times it seems like it was a thousand years ago. But, the best thing is: I still like spending time with him more than anyone else.
I don't think I recognize these people anymore! We look so different now. Anyway, it's been a fun 5 years and I can't wait for the rest of eternity with Jordan!

Pictures of Shelby

It's so cute to see the differences between Addie and Shelby. They have such different personalities but they have a lot of fun together. I think their personalities really comes through when you take their pictures. Here are a few from Shelby's photo shoot.

There are more pictures but they are still getting enhanced. I think that photo shop is amazing! Anyway, I don't know why I was blessed with such cute kids but it makes life really fun! Stay tuned for pictures of the whole family!

Pictures of Addie

Last week my next door neighbor and I took our kids (minus Shelby) up to the gardens on Campus and she took their pictures. Here are some of the pictures of Addie. She is a little ham!

I think she looks like a little angel. Only I know the truth. . .that she is an angel.

This picture was not planned. Addie was giving me kisses but as soon as Raygon turned the camera around she was all smiles for her.


Here she is talking and making faces at Raygon's son. He was really making her laugh.


Her new thing is clapping her hands. So, we had to get her to clap for the camera.

The Wasp

Yesterday around noon I opened the front door and a little wasp like this one flew in. Shelby thinks that even flies are scary so I tried to figure out where this thing went. I didn't find him until I went to close the window a few hours later. He was just hanging out on the screen. So, I shut the window and tried to decide what to do about him.

Later that night I wanted to open the window again and he was still in there, Jordan came and looked and he was hiding in the corners. This is getting to be a very boring post. I'll skip now. . .

Okay, this morning Shelby and I want to open the window but that dang wasp was still there! So, She watched as I went outside, got the hose and a Mustang Monthly ( don't tell Jordan).
That wasp is amazing! It would not die! I would hit him and he would go back down to the bottom, then I would spray him with the hose (I thought he would drowned). He survived! This went on for about 20 minutes. For a three year old this is high class entertainment! She thought it was great! She was like "Hit him again, Mom!" "Spray him! Spray him!" I don't know why I think this is so hilarious but watching Shelby watch me try to get rid of this wasp was pretty funny.

Sometimes, I wonder what the neighbors think of our craziness!

P.S.- I have no idea where that wasp is now. He just disappeared.

Does anyone have any really good bug killing stories? I would love to hear them.

Sewing projects

Lately I've been sewing for my girls. My friend gave me a bag of clothes that were headed to DI (don't ever get rid of clothes). I looked through all of them and picked out some that I wanted to start with. Here are some things that I made.
Here are some shorts that I made for Shelby. Addie is going to get a pair just like them. These were made from a pair of pj pants.


I don't know why these pictures didn't turn but I made this dress out of a man's shirt. It had an interesting pattern to it. I added a little ribbon in the front to make it look cuter. Shelby loves it wear it.


This was a shirt that I cut in half (width wise) and reattached it. I then cut it up the front and sewed it up to make a shrug. Now, if I can keep Shelby from taking the ribbon out every time she wears it that would be great.
I just realized that all of the projects I've been working on have been for Shelby. My next installment will have to be about Addie.
This skirt is something my mom bought at DI. We thought it was so pretty we couldn't pass it up. It will make a really pretty dress for . . .Who? Shelby. Here is what I'm thinking. http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2009/09/tutorial-dress-made-from-skirt.html

Subarus

Photo from marvel.com

This week for Jordan's birthday we took a trip up to Jackson, Wy. On the way we began to notice that there were quite a few Subarus. We began to count in Victor, ID and by the time we got to our hotel we had counted over 70. On the way back we decided to count right from the start of our trip back. We filled up with gas (because it was 10 cents cheaper in Jackson) and then began to count. From Jackson to Tetonia which is about 41.56 miles according to Mapquest we saw a total of 127. That comes out to about 3 a mile. I think that Subaru has taken over that part of the world! What is the appeal for people who live in that area? I am dying to know! I am not a fan of them myself but if there is something extra special about them I would be willing to consider one.

We looked really out of place because we were not driving a Subaru. We were driving this:

Jordan's projects

Jordan has been very busy these days. He loves to come home from work, eat dinner, and then go straight out to the garage to work on one of his projects. Here is his new Mustang. It's a 1968 and it looks like it needs a lot of work but I have been told it's not as bad as his dad's car.
The guy who Jordan bought it from stripped the car, see all of those rubber maids in the car? There are 6 of them and they have all of the parts for the car. Talk about a true basket case!

You should see how diligent Jordan is! He goes out there almost every night and it's almost ready for primer. He is trying to get this car done so that we can sell it and finish part of our basement. I'm just happy right now he doesn't want to keep it. I don't know where we would put another car.

Here is his other project. He is helping his dad on his Mustang and they just painted it last week. Jordan and his dad did all of the prep work (bondo, primer, etc.) and Jordan's friend painted it. The paint is so shiny and pretty. You can almost see yourself in it.Jordan's goal was to get it painted before his dad's birthday and it was done about 2 hours before his birthday. It's all down hill from here. Now, it's just reassembling the car.

Fun Pictures of Addie

Addie is starting to be a little ham. She loves the camera and she is in a really cute stage right now. here are some cute pictures of her.Here she is one Sunday afternoon at Jordan's parents house. She is just starting to like the jumper.


I really wanted to get a picture of her hair. It's starting to grow out and the color is so pretty. I used some gel and made a mohawk. I wanted to get a picture of the side of her head but since she is such a ham she wouldn't quite smiling at the camera long enough for me to get a picture.

She has started sitting up and is almost ready to crawl. She has a blast on the floor now. She has made a great addition to our family. I'm continually amazed that Shelby loves her so much. She hugs her and kisses her and plays with her a lot.

Swimming Lessons

For the past few months Shelby has been taking swimming lessons. She loves it! There is a woman who has a pool attached to her house in Hibbard. She gives swimming lessons to kids from age 6 months to over 4 years old. She is really fun, they play games and sing songs and before the kids know it they are learning to swim! Here are some pictures of Shelby and her friends swimming .Kaleb is blowing bubbles while their teacher counts for himm.

Here, Shelby is floating on her back.

Kaleb and Shelby are waiting for their turn to swim underwater. Can you believe it? Three and four years old and they can hold their breath and swim almost the entire length of the pool underwater! This teacher is amazing!

The end of Eat From Your Pantry

So, I finally went to the store last night and I was worried I would go overboard. I didn't but we really needed some food! I am happy to report that I made it! I spent less than $50 on food last month. In fact the grand total was $46. I really surprised myself. When I made the goal I immediately thought that I should have done at least $75. But, I had already posted it so I decided to stick with my $50. The only things I bought were milk, eggs, butter and a few other things. I even bought ice cream. I have to say coupons helped a lot, one day I went to the store and spent $3 but got two very full bags of groceries. Anyway, this challenge was a success and I am planning on doing it again. . . just not anytime soon.

The most amazing husband

My husband is amazing. I had to have a special post just for him because he can do anything, just ask Shelby. He will work on something until it is just to his liking. Lately, he picked up a car that ran but not great and he fixed it and actually made a profit! It's a VW squareback, just like the one that he drives but older. Here is a picture of the beast.
It might not look like anything to you but to us, it looks like a good investment. I am so blessed to have a husband that can look at something like this and see potential. I know that we will never be on the street or go hungry because he has this amazing gift. And, he is blessed with patience (something I don't have very much of).

His next project was something that truly amazed me. He picked up this snowmobile (broken) for $35. His friend gave him another snowmobile with a bad motor and he put the two together to make one great machine. The coolest thing about this was: He did it in less than a week. It was a lot of hours of work but he started it on Saturday and finished it in time to go riding on Thursday night. The best part was he didn't breakdown!
I can't express how much I love this man. How could I not? He's amazing!

Brussels Sprouts and Baked potato soup

The other night I broke down and finally cooked some Brussels Sprouts. I got this reaction from Jordan, "This is Soooo Good!" That was sarcastic of course. The reaction I got from Shelby was, "This stinks!" Then she didn't eat any of them. I thought they looked good and I thought they tasted okay but they hadn't been touched since then. Here is a picture of them.
The recipe I used was really simple. I just melted some butter and added garlic then I put the sprouts in with cut side down and added some pine nuts and salt and pepper. Today I was reading a recipe that blended up the sprouts and put them in baked potato soup. I have a great recipe from one of my old roommates, Kristina, so I decided to break it out. We used to call this soup Heart attack soup. I'm afraid we can't call it that anymore.

Here is the recipe:
3 baked potatoes
1 pound of Bacon
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 flour
3 cups of 1/2 and 1/2
1 cup of milk
1 Tb. Chicken bullion (not cubed)
1/2-1 cup shredded cheese
1 small onion
1 cup of sour cream

Instructions:
Bake potatoes at 350 degrees for 1 hour, allow to cool. Cook bacon and crumble. Saute onions in butter. Add flour bring to boil. Gradually add 1/2 and 1/2, milk, and bullion. Stir until thickened, add cheese and sour cream, cut potatoes in bit size pieces and add to pot. Add bacon and potatoes, add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on stove until thoroughly combined.

This serves 6 people.

Now for the picture of it. I know it looks gross in the picture but that's just because I can't take good pictures.Okay, the variation is: I didn't put sour cream in it (because I didn't have any), I didn't put 1/2 and 1/2 (once again because I didn't have any), I only put in 2 TB. of butter. Instead I put a can of evaporated milk, the brussels sprouts puree, and more milk.

I think it tasted great. According to Jordan he could still taste the brussels sprouts. I was so excited about how it tasted I had to run right next door and have my neighbor taste it. She also got Bountiful Baskets so she and her family had to endure eating the sprouts. She said that she couldn't taste the brussels sprouts so I think I will have to blend some up and freeze them for the next time I have a soup to hide them in. Anyway, this post is for her. She asked for the recipe.

Anyway, if you're wondering about my eat from your pantry challenge you will just have to wait a little longer. Just know that I am still under budget but getting worried. I'm keeping a log of all of my grocery purchases. Using coupons really helps. If anyone is contimplating using them, I say go for it, you have nothing to lose!

Update on "eat from your pantry"

Well, so far so good. Of course it is only the second day of the month. I just had to share this really cool thing called Bountiful Baskets. My sister first emailed me about it and then my next door neighbor did it two weeks ago and said it was great. So, I decided since I'm trying to eat healthy and with less month I thought we would try it. The first time it costs $18 plus $1.50 handling. But, after that it costs $15. You get about $50 worth of fruits and vegetables. I filled my laundry basket full of the stuff that I got. Luckily a man who was helping there offered to carry my basket to my car. I don't think I would have been able to make it to my car that was parked about 1/2 mile away. Anyway, here is a picture of all the stuff I got today.You don't get to choose what goes in your basket so if your family isn't adventurous I don't know if I would chance it. Most of the stuff is normal but I don't know if I've ever fed my family brussel sprouts or a radish. Oh well, we're going to start eating them.

Here is a picture of one of my helpers. She sits on the counter a lot, especially when I cook. She likes to be where the action is and she is happy to be where she can see me.


Here is my other helper. They both like to be in the kitchen. Can you see Shelby is holding a cookbook? She likes to hold something. It doesn't matter what it is.