New House

Here are a few pictures of the new house. My kitchen still doesn't have doors on the cupboards. And I was making dinner, so please excuse the mess. :) Enjoy!

The Kitchen

The Bathroom

Emily's Room

(And the new baby will go in here as well. This is only half the room but we have boxes on that side right now.)

Our Bedroom

(The wall at the foot of the bed has our dresser and a small closet. Smallest room in the house but it works for us. Easier to keep clean! Plus no doors on any rooms so you can see from the living room right into ours. Great incentive to make sure the floor is clean and the bed made!)

My new collage on the wall in the living room. Not finished yet but I love it. I'm still missing a few photos.

I just put this shelf up and the board I made. I obviously need to add a support to the shelf but that will happen tomorrow! :)

The wonderful lamp that Landon bought for me. He has great taste!

The Living Room

(You can see our new storage ottoman. Emily loves it. She lifts the lid and sits in it with all the blankets that are stored in it. Its cute. She puts her dolls down for naps in it!)

The Playroom

(Its between Emily's room and the t.v. room. You can sort of see the two doors on the left side. Emily runs a circut through the two doors between the kitchen and the playroom. It is hilarious and it keeps her occupied for 15-20 minutes at a time! She is my little cross country runner. You can see the pellet stove which is the way we heat the house. It is awesome! I can't belive how much heat is produced from very few pellets. )

Help

If anyone knows anyone who is looking to buy an adorable, affordable, 3 bedroom home in Pocatello, ID please have them contact my sister. :) I have alternative motives for wanting her house to sell but I also want them to get their beautiful new house! They deserve it!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween! Emily went trick or treating in the afternoon with her cousin Ethan and her friend Rachel at the local mall. They just go store to store. At first she acted shy until she realized they were giving out candy! Then she would walk in the store (actually run) and say, "Treat, please." By the end she was saying, "Trick Treat." She would say "Bye" over her shoulder as she left. It was pretty funny. Emily made a beautiful Tinkerbell. I picked up the costume in the Philippines and she loved it. Especially the wings I bought her. She will wear the wings and say, "Cute". I think that 2 year olds are smaller in the Philippines because the costume barely fit her. By the end of the day it was stretched out at the seams. But she loved being a fairy. Landon got her already and brought her to school to see me. She helped pick out which shoes to wear. I love my daughter. At school, all the teachers picked a different decade to dress as. I really wish that I had gotten some pictures. It was fantastic. (Especially our principal who was dressed like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. With platform, cuban heeled boots.) I was a Leave it to Beaver mom. :) I borrowed Naomi's dress which needless to say barely fit. Since she is already at least 2 dresses sizes smaller than me and I'm pregnant, I am very grateful for elastic waists and elastic belts. I had a great time. We didn't go out that night, we had a family night in. It was fantastic. Enjoy the pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=80649&l=70bbf&id=546590128

Thoughts and Prayers

I just wanted to ask if you would all keep my friends, Keith and Jamie Richards and their family, in your prayers. Jamie gave birth to their third child, a boy named Trig, on October 22. He was diagnosed with a heart condition and flown to Salt Lake City for surgery. Trig successfully had the surgery yesterday but is still at risk for infection, clotting, and a stroke. They have moved their family to Salt Lake for the next month or two to be with Trig. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks!

Wooden Toys

A few friends at work have been asking for my Uncle Mel's website so I thought I would post it on my blog for everyone. He makes the most beautiful wooden toys. They are all handmade with natural materials. The perfect toy if you are worried about the chemicals which may have been used to make your child's toy. They are very well priced as well! (Especially for you Americans with our dollar falling again.) :)

Enjoy!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5766781

21 Weeks

Everywhere I go people have decided that I finally look pregnant. So here is a picture! :) I took this late at night because that is mostly when my belly shows. :)

I am feeling fantastic. I don't pull muscles as easily and my energy has definately come back! I am remembering why I enjoy to be pregnant!

Landon's Daughter

Here are a few clues that Emily is her father's daughter.

(And yes, that is a Nintendo DS she thinks she is playing. She likes Lego Batman and Mario. Mostly she dies but she loves the noises.)

My new projects

Just over a month ago, my husband let me know that I seemed to be unhappy and stressed all the time. And he was right. At first I wanted to blame work, etc. But then I realized that I was spending all my spare time reading books. Those who know me well, know that when I start a book I read it cover to cover, not often putting it down. Its kind of an addiction to me. At the end of every book I would feel guilty for not spending my time doing something useful but at the same time justifying my use of time thinking it made me feel better. I decided to try an experiment. Instead of picking up a book when I had some spare time, I wrote a list of projects I would like to complete instead. The first one on the list was a new quilt for the twin bed Emily will get when we move. I had purchased the material months ago but hadn't cut it out or sewn it together. What I thought was going to be a quick project ended up lasting me a good three weeks. I had it cut, pieced and sewn together within two days. It was beautiful, but because of the animal pictures on it, I would have to hand sew the details to keep the quilt together. I was going to post a picture but I still have a couple of hours of sewing to do on it. :) But Emily loves it, I am happy to have completed something and it will look great in Emily's room. I will post a picture as soon as I am finished. Its my first quilt. I have made a couple of wall hangings but nothing ever this size. It won't win prizes but I have something to give my daughter and a memory. But the project that I really enthusiastic about it the entertainment center I built on the weekend and finished last night. I designed it in June but kept putting off building it. I built our last one but it is too big for our current tv and it will be my future bookcase/reading alcove. Everyone who looked at my design thought I was biting off more than I could chew. They just couldn't see the simplicity. My dad helped me refine the design after I found a similar one in the Sears catalogue and liked how they finished it off. So Friday night, at Rona, my dad helped me cut out all the pieces. And my angelic mother helped me put it together on Saturday. (Forsaking her garden for my sake. Thanks mom!) There are some down sides of being pregnant and not being as flexible and not carrying heavy things is are two of them. Last night my dad helped me with some mitered edges and all the small details. He then sanded it for me because he didn't want me breathing in sawdust. He did a fantastic job. I stayed up to 10pm conditioning the pine, and staining it. I couldn't belive the final product. I won't be able to put the final varnish coats on until tomorrow. Plus two small shelves have to go in with brackets but I wanted to post a couple of pictures. The glass doors won't be ready for a couple of weeks but we move this weekend so I wanted the basic part done. Enjoy!

Emily's First Haunted House

One of the local elementary schools, Henderson Elementary, hosted a haunted house (in their gym) this last Thursday and Friday. Ashley called and invited us to go with their family (Matt, Ashley and Ethan) and our friend Lisa and her daughter Rachel. Landon came saying that he couldn't believe he was going to an elementary haunted house. I figured it would be fun for Emily. She dressed up as a winter fairy, that way I just added her wings over her vest and she could stay warm. :) Rachel was a beautiful ladybug and Ethan was an adorable dinosaur. We had to stand in a line up (inside the school) for almost 45 minutes. They had music playing so the kids took turns dancing and then running through the hallways. (With four of the five adults being teachers you would think we wouldn't allow that!) As we came up to the door Emily spotted a popcorn machine and so I went over and bought a bag for the kids to share. Ethan and Emily were enthralled with watching the popcorn pop! They allowed us to all go in together. Let me tell you, it was an excellent haunted house. Thankfully, in the first room they noticed we had toddlers so they didn't jump out and yell. But just from the creepy decorations and the music, both Emily and Rachel were a little unsure of what was going on. Ethan didn't make a peep the whole time. He just stared, what a man! (Matt was holding Ethan, Landon held Emily, and Lisa held Rachel.) As we left the stage and went down the stairs, loud banging came from the other side of the wall. Emily started clinging to her dad but didn't get upset till someone grabbed my foot as I took the last step and I yelled out. (I wasn't expecting it, and let's face it I'm a wimp who doesn't like to be in the dark!) She wasn't happy but soon quieted down. The noise got louder until Ashley yelled out, "We've got babies, take it easy." (The first part is definately what she said, the second part I'm a bit hazy on....) I started to giggle, then we all started giggling. Then a deep voice called out, "Babies, we LIKE babies." Then I started to laugh! It was hilarious. As we turned the corner I couldn't belive the decorations! It was awesome. Matt and Landon were being cynics until they realized it wasn't a hanging branch that was touching their hair and cheeks. One of the parents was laying across some boards above us and was touching them. They both thought that was cool. The rest of the walk through was uneventful thanks to Ashley reminding them every so often that small children were with us. By the end, Rachel was asking to go to "mommy's house" and Emily was saying "home" and "out" while pointing to the door. But no tears. Some older children (grades3-5) left crying so I'm glad they were good to us. Emily loved being with her friends but I think she will think twice about going to a haunted house again. I guess she is her mother's daughter!

My Birthday

Thank-you to all the many well wishes I received on my birthday. I had a great night. I had planned a surprise birthday party for my sister in law Ashley. (I hate planning my own birthday party so it helps sharing my birthday with so many wonderful people.) But everyone either knew or found out it was my birthday so it ended up a surprise for both Ashley and I. We were spoiled. I wasn't able to invite everyone so I'm sorry if you are local and I didn't invite you. We had to fit in her living room. :) My friend Lisa and her daughter brought party hats for the kids which just made it so much more festive!

Ethan, Emily, Rachel (Plus Landon and Lisa)

The birthday party people. (I'm taking the photo)

Ashley, Darlene, Landon, Emily, Lisa, Jim, Pat, Kristina, Margaret

Matt, Ethan, Mom, Steve, Rachel, Diego (Matt's exchange student)

Same group plus me (Diego took the picture)

The birthday girls! (Rita you were in our thoughts, you were the invisible one next to me!)