What was he thinking?!!!

Imagine:

You are cuddled up with your eight month old trying to finish your Sunday nap, when all of a sudden you hear pounding on your front door.  You send your husband to the front door to investigate; upon opening the door, he is greeted by a police officer and firefighters (cop car and firetruck parked in front of our house). 

Sound like something out of a movie, 

a Dennis the Menace movie perhaps?

No, today it was not a movie, it was our reality. 

It seems, that this little boy of mine

decided it would be a good idea to call 911 and tell them that our house was on fire and his parents were sleeping. 

Upon hearing this, a firetruck and police car were dispatched to our home, both arriving at breakneck speed.  They rushed to the door, pounding loudly enough to wake the dead.  I still wonder if we would have a front door, if it weren't for Rich getting to the door in a very timely manner.

Once the culprit was located, and all was deemed to be well, the cop let Braden have it, and we let her; little did Braden know, that was only the beginning of many lectures that were to come. 

I, with full confidence in his abilities, turned over the discipline reigns to Rich, still trying to understand what possibly could have been going through Braden's head; I still don't understand what could have made that seem like a good idea, but I know he doesn't think it is funny now!

Braden is grounded for a week: no friends over, no television, no movies, and no fun, just jobs, jobs, and more jobs.  Braden also had to write a letter of apology, and make cookies, delivering both in person. 

I think he will have definitely learned his lesson after this week, and I'm sure one day I will look back and laugh about this.  For now though, I can only wonder,

What was he thinking?!!!!!!!

I can't imagine....

I can't imagine life without this bundle of cuteness in it!

Colton brings so much joy to all of us!  I mean, look at him, can you blame us for loving him?!!!  We can't help but to adore him!

 

Predictions

Last night this little girl

informed me that I have a baby in my tummy, a girl baby, and today she told me there were two babies, a girl and a boy.  It was a good thing, it wasn't this little boy

who made the prediction, because we all know what happened last time he predicted something; he was right, on all accounts!   Braden very nonchalantly, during supper one night about 17 to 18 months ago,  informed Rich and I that I had a baby in my tummy, and it was a boy.  Well, I did in fact have a baby in my tummy that time (which I discovered after taking a pregnancy test the next day), an adorable little baby boy who we now lovingly call Colton.

I guess Braden's predictions aren't too bad!  I just hope he hasn't taught his predicting skills to his little sister, not yet anyway!

A Girl, A Comforter, and Ebates

This is a story of a girl, a comforter, and ebates.  It all started when this girl

fell in love with this beautiful comforter; she just knew she had to have it!

(picture courtesy of JCPenney)

Considering that she was getting ready to get paid to take this boy's senior pictures,

she thought, 'I'm going to get it!  It would look awesome in our bedroom! I'm sure Rich will love it too, or learn to love it!'  Just to make sure, she scoured the internet, seeing if there was a better deal, perhaps another comforter that caught her eye, but she returned again and again to this gorgeous, have to have it comforter.

The comforter that was on sale I might add, the comforter that came with pillow shams and a bedskirt, a comforter that is reversible (of course I don't particularly care for the other side, too boyish), the comforter that even Rich says he liked (which probably translates to, can live with it or, it could be worse). 

Still, she debated back and forth, get it now or wait, and then she thought, 'The last time I got paid to take pictures, I spent the money on the kids and Christmas; I'm going to buy something for myself this time.' 

To lessen the guilt factor (mothers almost always feel guilty spending on themselves), she decided to first go to ebates. 

What is ebates?, the narrator pauses to ask.  Well, ebates is a fantastic site; you sign in, select the store you are planning to purchase from, follow the link, make your purchase, and you receive a % of your purchase back, which is then mailed to you in the form of a check.  Did I mention that ebates also has a list of codes for each store to help you save more?  Did I mention that ebates is free, easy to join, and a great way to get some mad money, or more if you do a lot of shopping?  If you want to join and see what all the fuss is about, check it out here.  For now, I must get back to the telling of my story. 

Well, to make a long story short, our sweet comforter obsessesd girl bought the comforter from JC Penney, through ebates, has a check for $8.90 headed her way, has a beautiful comforter in her bedroom, and numerous paint samples from Lowes on her wall.

Next time we will be telling the beautiful, yet fraught with olive hues, or perhaps pumpkin spice toned danger (decisions, decisions), tale of The Girl, Some Exquisite, Carefully Selected Paint, and Her Hubba Hubba Handyman Husband (try saying that ten times real fast).  Until then, our girl will be staring lovingly at her new comforter.

It came, it came, it finally came!

Here is the free, well, almost free Shutterfly book I ordered; I did have to pay shipping. 

If you want to see how to get your own, check here; after you finally follow the instructions, go here to collect your little, wonderful, treat!

Adorable!

Do you see this little boy,

and this little boy?

(same boy)

This my friends, is Gavin, sweet, adorable Gavin.  It seems Gavin has taken quite a liking to Brooke. 

On Sunday, during Sacrament meeting at church, the following conversation took place (as relayed to me by Gavin's mom Kim).

Gavin (said to his older sister Kylie):  "Brooke is adorable."

Gavin (said to Kim): "Mom, Brooke is so pretty!  Do you know why she is pretty?"

Kim: "No, why?"

Gavin: "Because she is a pretty princess."

Well, Gavin I concur; I think she is a pretty princess, a beautiful, loving princess, who even in the early morning,  still looks beautiful. 

And like all true princesses, she is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

A Quick and Easy Halloween Decoration

I continue to see sooooooooo many projects I want to do, things I want to try, things I want to sew!  Alas, if I ran out and bought the supplies for everything I want to do, it would definitely break the budget!  To protect the innocent, I have tried to avoid Michael's, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby (good thing we don't have one close), and JoAnn's Crafts like the plague; I'm not sure how long I can do this though, because I must make the cute Halloween pillow idea I found, and I must make the adorable and simple Mod Podged Boo sign idea I found.  I really should stop looking at all of those adorable craft blogs I keep finding; they are addictive!  But enough about my addiction, in order to stay in the budget and still decorate, we decided to make window cling bats.  I thought if you can make snowflakes, why not bats using the same concept.  It is easy, cheap (only had to purchase one thing), and the cuties would have fun helping. 

For this project you will need the following:

(template is from familyfun.com)

First you want to take a sheet of wax paper and place it over the pattern; sorry I was so anxious to start, I did a couple before stopping to take a picture.

Second, you start tracing the pattern using your slick dimensional fabric paint.

Third, once you have made all the bats you need, let them dry for several hours; if you do this at night, they will usually be dry by the morning.  We made our bats this morning, so we hope to use them by late afternoon. 

Fourth, once dry (still waiting), slowly pull the bats off the wax paper and decorate like crazy.  You can put them on your french doors, your bathroom mirrors, your children's mirrors; have fun!  The best things about this craft idea are one, your cuties can be part of the fun,

and two, it lends itself to so many other ideas: make pumpkins, make ghosts, make snowflakes for Winter, hearts for Valentine's Day, shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day, and whatever else your little heart desires!  Oh, I almost forgot, this craft is also cheap inexpensive.

Riverbank Zoo

Last Saturday, we went to the zoo on a field trip; it was Brooke's second field trip for preschool, but this time the entire family got to enjoy the fun, including my mama.  It was wonderful spending time together as a family, and I think because of recent events, I enjoyed it even more than I usually would have.  I caught myself staring more intently at their faces, soaking in all the moments, and taking as many pictures as I could (okay, that part is not new).  I've realized that tragedy also makes you want to hold on tighter to what you have, makes you more patient and more loving towards your children, and it helps you to overlook the things that really don't matter.  Having said that, here are some of the pictures from our family fun filled day.