It's Been One Week Since You Looked At Me

I have been really busy this last week, so I haven't done any posting. Sorry. I have been trying to work extra hours, because my benefits-eligible hours aren't up to full-time. They are counting the average over the past year, but they are starting before I came back from maternity leave last year. It's a big pain, and I don't know if it will even be worth the effort. Allen and I are talking about my going down to part-time anyway . . . we'll have to figure out what we are doing sooner than later. Allen and I will be meeting with our Stake President in the next week or two. Apparently he's getting some calling, but we don't know what. I don't even know who our Stake President is! We have only been here for two months, and between blessings and birthdays and being sick, we haven't even been to the ward for half of those. If it is a calling that will take up a lot of time, I won't be able to work in the evenings. On verra! Honestly, I thought I was more popular than this; I guess that's what I get for thinking people actually read my blog! I stole an idea/post from Peggy and set up a deal I called Five For Fighting, where I have offered my valuable and creative services to any who wanted to pay it forward. Only three people (including my mother) wanted to do it. So if there is anyone reading, I'll change the rules too. If you would like me to make you something, please comment here. If you want to do five, that's awesome. If not, I only ask that you do something nice for someone else. It doesn't need to be huge, just a good deed. That's all for now. More to come.

Love Is A Battlefield

I never liked Valen-death day, until my little man was born. Now, I have a built-in theme for all his birthdays! Sure, it will be pretty embarrassing when he's a teenager, but for now--it's super fun. Here are some of the results. The family all got together and Benji got some great presents. Benji made a pretty big mess . . . he's the only cousin so far to eat like the little piggies! We broke out the party hats a little later--Ella liked them! Can you believe how big he's getting? Crazy! Lily actually wore hers for quite a while. Noah wasn't such a fan. And here's the birthday boy with his daddy. Auntie Mach had a fun activity for the kiddos. Who doesn't love rice crispy treats? And here's Beck with Mia. It was a fun time, and I'm glad everyone could come (except for Lancy-cakes). I love our family!

Five For Fighting

Here's how it works: The first five people to leave me a comment get something made by me just for them. It can be anything I want, I get to choose. It can be silly or serious, edible or not, but don't plan on anything alive. There are a few rules involved (aren't there always?) 1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! 2- What I create will be just for you. 3- It will be done sometime this year (Don't expect grand things if it takes a long time. I'm just lazy!). 4- You have no clue what it's going to be. (The choice is mine! --insert evil laugh here--) 5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange and/or silly. The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they've posted on their blog win a hand made, super creative, possibly lovely whatever in the heck I decide! Be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

I Love Him, I Love Him, I Love Him

I have been trying to get more out of my camera lately. It does have a lot of features, and it was definitely a good purchase. Of course, that doesn't mean I don't want a Nikon D90! So anyway, I set up a little background and the old tripod, and I tried to get the little man to sit still. He didn't for very long, but I got a couple of good ones! This one looks like one of those businessman mugshots (or a future general authority picture . . .)

 

I love his little face in this one. He's such a sweetheart!

 

And here he is with his daddy. So cute!

 

His birthday is on Saturday! Aaaahhh! Wish me luck!

You Oughta Know

This is a pretty random post of things on my mind. I have sent in a picture of the little guy to Good Things Utah for his first birthday. Aaah! Watch for him on that super-lucky day Friday February 13th. I could really use a pain au chocolat and a Diet Coke about now. Looks good, doesn't it? I took over for Lexy when they went to find out what gender their baby would be (it's a girl! Yay!). I only babysat for a couple of hours--it was hard! I honestly don't know how she does it, especially when they all melt down at the same time. There was a bit of wrestling . . . A few mischevous moments . . . More than a little drama . . . And lots of cute babies! Thanks for all you do, Lex. You're awesome. As many of you know, I'm a fan of the Bare Minerals makeup. I tried the cheap Avon version, and it's not nearly as nice. I don't recommend purchasing mineral makeup made in China. Anyway, I like it because it's easy to put on and it really evens out my complexion. I don't like that it looks so powdery close up. In clearing out all my old makeup and unused hair stuff in an attempt to organize my life, I found some mousse foundation (also from Avon, incidentally) that actually looks really good close up. Unfortunately, it takes more than two minutes to do, so I probably won't do it very often. And that's most likely the reason why I stopped wearing foundation for so long. Ever since I realized how much better I look and feel when I do wear makeup, I have been doing it a lot more often. Does anyone know of a good balance between the two? I'd like something that goes on fast, but looks really natural close up. Suggestions? These are the pictures of the dressers I purchased. Here's the before shot: Pretty ugly, eh? That's what you get for $10/each at the D.I. So I painted them a lovely brown called "Sasparilla." It looked exactly like fondue au chocolat when I poured it out, but it looked more like cheap american chocolate when it dried. Even so, I have decided that I like it. I debated on "distressing" them, because I liked how they turned out after painting. I asked Allen's opinion, and he said that distressing it celebrated what it was. So I did it. I threw a little contact paper in the drawers, et voila. They are now in the bedroom, doing a lovely job of holding our pants. Yes, I'm still organizing, and no, you can't see any real pictures yet. But, here are a couple of bonus baby pics for you. The boy has been pretty grumpy lately, like he's teething again. Lexy thinks it might be a growth spurt. I've gotten a few happy pictures lately, but not too many. Thanks for sticking it out to the end of this loong post. Don't expect another one for a while!