Serenity Now...

I think our family all breathes a sigh of relief when this little boy makes his way to his room to spend some quality time with his books. This is a new thing for him to spend more than a few minutes with one object. I always sneak very quietly to just gaze and admire him in these quiet little moments he takes for himself. I love to watch him "read" and "babble" away at the stories in his books. You are a priceless gem my boy!

Just your everday garbage....

Just your normal every day garbage can, empty laundry detergent, candy wrappers, a few diapers, carton of eggs, oh and wait what's that a book. Who's the culprit, I will give you a hint it starts with L, ends with Uke, two years old, trouble at every turn and lucky for him a heartbreaking smile.

That's right he threw my book in the garbage, not once but twice. Yesterday morning I noticed him running around with my book, I forgot about it until I went to take the trash out and saw it sitting atop everything. I laughed pulled it back out and forgot about it. So what do I find this afternoon when going to take the trash out again, my book again! This time buried beneath a few items. What does my two year old have against my book? Either he hates it when I read, or he thinks he is in trouble for tearing the cover, not sure which but one thing I know it's a darn good thing he is so cute and lovable, he's TROUBLE!

Sweet Relief

So this week has been hectic, like lately it seems all of my weeks, months, pretty much my whole life is, oh thank goodness this is coming to a close, we only have THREE MONTHS LEFT! Eric will be done in mid May, and life can return to normal. Now I go crazy if I don't give myself a day to clean and get my life organized weekly, I normally hate doing this on a Saturday, but sadly it was my only option this week. So I have been scrubbing, vacuuming, list making, etc, etc. today and as usual about mid day when the boys take a nap, I am in need of a much needed break. What do I do, well get on the Internet of course along with my Pepsi (which is a must have). I have been going through some of my favorite sites always a good pastime. If any of you out there are like me I am always interested to know what other people find interesting and spend there free time looking at. So.....here are a few of my favorites I thought I would share with you all.

http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/

My first site I always look at and most of you may already know about this one. Seriously so blessed gets me laughing every time. It's a fake blog devoted to I guess making fun of us stupid mommy bloggers out there, it's all satire. What kills me about this site is so much of it I find myself doing on pretty much a daily basis, I like to think she is making fun of everyone else but please I so fit this mold majority of the time.

http://busybeelauren.blogspot.com/

http://laurensbite.blogspot.com/

I love this one as well, some people just have such great writing talent. I laugh at laugh at her stories, not to mention I think she has great fashion sense. I love looking at all of her clothes and daydreaming about the day I will have some money to spend on clothes for myself again.

The second site is by the same girl but is purely a twilight blog. There are so many twilight blogs out there, but hers is my favorite. Again I think she is hilarious, but also I like how most of her posts are pretty much just her opinion on the books, movie and most importantly Robert Pattinson. It seems to me most twilight blogs out there only give information about whats new with the coming movie, or Robert Pattinson sightings. That is really not very interesting to me I happen to think he usually looks like he just fell out of bed, and rolled into some clothes he found on the floor. No I only like him as Edward, I am not interested in seeing him at some stupid Hollywood party. Oh and her Pocket Edward kills me, almost makes me want one myself.....

http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/

This blog is by the girl that came up with Project 365, she always gives tips on new ideas for picture taking, or decorating, scrapbooking tips. I love this kind of stuff, she inspires me to think outside the box as far as my family scrapbooking goes.

http://adailyscoop.blogspot.com/

I have mentioned this blog before it is by a mother that lost her daughter in a tragic drowning incident last summer. I love her blog, it is so inspirational and helps me to remember the things that truly matter in life. Mostly being my husband and children, it reminds me to never take them for granted and just cherish being able to hold them in my arms.

http://hotgarlic.blogspot.com/

http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/

http://www.stephanieskitchen.com/

Here are a few of my favorite recipe blogs, I love to cook and I love to try new recipes. They have all had some great ones. In fact those chocolate mini tarts I made a week or so ago, came from one of these blogs, though I can't remember which one.

http://www.shabbyapple.com/

Last but not least this one isn't a blog but I do love their dresses and spend plenty of time browsing through all of their new stuff. They have a great spring line on right now and as a matter of fact I just bought my Easter dress right before starting this post. Very cute, I can't wait for it to come!!! Not to mention I have a very bad case of the winter blues and just looking at the fun, spring colors cheers me right up!



Here is a dress I was debating between it's not the one I got but it was a close call, I loved them both, I can't put the one I got on here mostly because I don't want my sisters seeing it and then stealing it from me (just kidding girls, kinda!).

Okay there is my list for now I am always finding more sights that I love but these are my current favorites, that just get my little heart going every time I see a new post pop up on my google reader (come on I know you all have some blogs that get your little hearts fluttering, if you know of one that I did not list and think I would love it, please share)!

Elder Smith

My brother in law left for his mission yesterday, he is going to the Tennessee, Knoxville mission. It was such a great day, Lance I went along to the MTC to drop him off and say goodbye. I would have brought Luke but I kinda just wanted to enjoy the day and not spend all my time bouncing Luke around and trying to entertain him for the long drive to Provo, so my sweet sister volunteered to watch him for me. Lance is getting old enough now that Greg's mission will have an impact on Lance's little life. I wanted him to come along and witness his uncle answering the lord's call to serve a mission and devote two years of his life to teaching and bringing others into the gospel. This picture is precious to me, Lance has such a sweet relationship with Greg, he adores him and will miss him so much, just look at the love between them, it warms my heart.

Lot's of family pictures here is Greg with Josh and Julia, Gaby and Spencer's kids. I think I officially have the cutest nieces and nephews on both sides of our family. I love these two, they are the sweetest, happiest little kids you will ever meet.

Another one of Spencer, Gaby and the kids with Greg, Grandma and Grandpa Smith.

Greg with his parents


Here is all the brothers, SIGH, minus Eric of course......


Getting his badge....Elder Smith

Greg, Lance and I

I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go send Greg off. I love that I have now been able to go to the MTC with both Matt and Greg. Having only sisters I have never experienced sending a sibling off on a mission, but I truly do think of Greg as a brother, he is a wonderful uncle to the boys and just such a good guy all around. We love you so much Greg and we are so proud of you for the decision you have made to serve a mission, it will be such a huge blessing for us all. It's such a neat feeling being in that room surrounded by all those missionaries answering the call to serve, it's sad in a way knowing we won't see him for two years but the spirit is so strong there, it was an incredible feeling!

Lance is so cute, I don't think he quite gets where Greg is going. He keeps telling me Greg went on a plane like daddy but also like daddy we will see him in just two weeks. Hmm....two weeks, two years I guess it's all the same!

Good luck Greg, we love you!

Littlest Lovebugs!!

I am so grateful for my two littlest lovebugs, it was hard not being sad and lonely for Eric yesterday, I know Valentines isn't the biggest of holidays but I have always loved it. It's a sad day to be apart from each other, but at least I had my two babies, I know it was ten times harder for Eric being all alone (lucky for him he doesn't have QUITE the same feelings I do about Valentines), it was pretty much just another lonely day for him.

Excuse my many pictures of really nothing but my smiling kids, they just looked so stinkin cute yesterday, I just kept snapping away with the camera. We did end up having a good day, even if it was kinda lonely. We had made plans to be with Ter and Thiago but the snowstorm kept us home bound for the day. We made German pancakes for breakfast, rented movies, played about 50 rounds of Memory and my mom and Dean came up that night to take us out to dinner. So kinda quiet, but relaxing and enjoyable.

Their balloons were their favorite, I went to great lengths to keep them hidden from the boys. They are both balloon fanatics, so I really wanted them to be a surprise. So on Friday my Grandma watched the boys while I went to get them from Walmart, dropped them back at my house, hid them in my closet, picked up the boys and then yesterday after I gave them their Valentines about a minute of playing with them and rough housing of course POP, they were both gonners. So much for my planning.....I didn't take into consideration my boys are both bulls in China shops and have a way of destroying pretty much everything they touch.

......precious few minutes with the balloons!! (I am not sure what they are looking at here)

This was my gift from Eric, we both love Cheers. I remember loving it as a kid when my parents watched it, every time I would hear the song I would come running in to watch it with them. Then a few years ago when I was in the hospital on bed rest with Luke a friend of mine gave me her entire seasons collection to borrow while I was there. I watched every single episode (it was a loooooong ten weeks), so since then we have been wanting to start our own collection. Can't wait for this to arrive sometime this coming week!

Valentine Day of Fun

As is tradition on holidays my sisters and I had our holiday day of fun this time featuring of course Valentines Day. It is usually pretty chaotic and exhausting by the end of the day, but we have so much fun and more importantly the kids love it. As usual they never cooperate at the same time for a pre-fun cousin picture, but here it is nonetheless.


Lance hates this vest, but sticking true to wearing the right colors on holidays or days we are celebrating the holidays, I made him wear it. I told him Carsy had one like it and perhaps he might wear it today too, well he didn't but Brevy did. He still wasn't thrilled to be wearing the vest but it was at least tolerable because Brevy was wearing his as well.


We spent the day making envelopes for the kids to stick their Valentines they received in them and my sister Teri came up with this darling idea to make a frame out of cheerios and file folders, sounds weird but they were really cute. The thought that kept crossing my mind all day was that it may sound silly to do these little activities with our kids but I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a stay at home mom and spend my days making silly cheerio frames with my babies. These are the kinds of activities that stick with you as you grow into adulthood. I remember my mom making puppets, dolls and watching my sisters and I play dress up as a kid. I loved that she loved doing these things with us girls and I hope that my boys will remember a mom that took the time to play and do activities with them and not the hours I spent cleaning, or doing who knows what else.

Lancey way proud of his Valentine!

The whole gang hard at work, well Lance and Carsy were, we pretty much had to hog tie Brev and Luke to do theirs, and actually I am pretty sure I ended up doing all of Luke's

because......here is what Luke spent his time doing, raiding Ashley's pantry, I am beginning to wonder if this kid will ever have any interest other than food, at the moment he sure doesn't seem to.

Boys will be boys, their daddies would be proud to see some of the wrestling moves these boys were throwing at each other.

You can't really see the frame all that good but Lance is holding it in this picture, Eric Happy Valentines from the boys, it's their gift to you!

Thanks girls for the fun day!

SISTERS SPOILER ALERT!!

(Sisters if you don't want to see the treat I made for tomorrow, don't read this post!!!)

Mini Chocolate Tarts


Look at these things I am so proud of my domestic side here, they are just screaming HAPPY VALENTINES to me anyway! Tomorrow my sisters and I are having our traditional holiday day of fun, with Valentines being this Saturday. My job was to bring a treat, I am way happy with the way these little cuties turned out!

1 box chocolate cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup melted butter
1 3.4 oz box instant chocolate pudding
1 cup half and half
1 8 oz container cool whip

1. In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, egg and butter until smooth. Scoop batter 2/3rds full into a mini muffin tin sprayed with non stick spray. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the edges are set. Immediately press down the centers of the cups using a tart shaper or a plastic lid of a soda bottle. Cool completely.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the pudding with the half and half until smooth. Fold in the cool whip. Spoon or pipe into the cups and top with a fresh strawberry or raspberry.


And what did my darling boys do while I was busy baking away, their valentines of course!


Lance takes his jobs very seriously, it took him forever and a day to decide who got what Valentine. He got Kung Fu panda this year, his favorite character on their is the scary cat? I am really not sure what that thing is, Tai Long I think that's his name. Anyway he wouldn't give any of the girls that one because it was too scary for them, but Tanner you bet he was getting that one, he's brave enough to handle Tai Long! The girls all got either Po or the Tigress, according to Lance they are the least scary of them all.... (you know us girls are major scaredy cats!)

There was a few tears when he realized he was giving them all away, but after quick thinking on my part we made one out from Lance to Lance, that solved all problems, we are good to go again!

Luke had no interest whatsoever in doing Valentines he was more interested in licking the beaters, therefore Lance had double duty and did Luke's Winnie the Pooh valentines as well.


Later on my mom came bye with her Valentine treats for the boys, they were beyond thrilled. Unfortunately she arrived right before dinner time, after a rice crispy, cup cakes, and candy, the boys would only eat a banana for dinner. Oh well that's what the holidays are for, eat lots of treats!

Baby Elle

Yesterday was my little niece's blessing day, I wasn't going to do a post about it, because well she is not my daughter, but then I was looking at the pictures from yesterday and they are just too cute not to blog about. I mean seriously look at this girl, can she be any cuter? Oh baby Elle I just want to kiss those chubby little cheeks, and snuggle you all day, the little darling!

Crazy kids being just that crazy, I had a grand time with only Lance along with me. Eric was here for the weekend it was his brother's farewell yesterday he leaves on his mission on the 18th of this month, so yesterday was his turn to speak in church. Kind of bad luck that both of these fun events landed on the same day. We ended up going to listen to Greg speak and then darting over to Ash's ward for her sacrament. Then each family was having a get together with grandparents, cousins, etc. So Eric and Luke went to his family's and Lance and I went to Ash's. I think I got the better end of that deal, Lance is pretty self reliant, Luke is most definitely not.

This story is kinda funny so I had to throw it in here. Last night I drove home with the boys from Layton and Eric stayed at his parents because his flight left early this morning. Well it was kinda rainy in Layton but the further north I went the worse it got. By the time I reached the canyon it was snowing pretty good. Well I hate driving at night particularly in bad weather, so you can imagine I was not a good mood, by the time I had reached Logan. Then (and I'm sorry if you feel like I talk a lot about my kids throwing up all the time, but they really do all the time, so...) they were both sound asleep, Luke woke up about five minutes from home and started coughing too hard which of course ended up with him a yucky mess. I get home to find someone parked in my spot, ANNOYING! I now have to drag both sleepy heads in pajamas two buildings away from ours inside, throw Luke in the bath tub again, get them both to bed. Then walk back to my car, collect all of my stuff and it is now about 11:00 pm. So you can imagine my joy finding this taped to the little pill who parked in my spots car this morning with a boot restricting them from leaving. I feel an ounce sad for this person, that they got their car towed, but not really, it was annoying last night!

Project 365

I had to do a post on my current favorite past time, as I mentioned in my last post Project 365 is my obsession at the moment. I am so beyond grateful to my aunt Tammy for introducing me to this fun and easy hobby. Creative Keepsakes for all of you scrapbookers out there who know who that company is came up with this idea. What it is, is a kit that comes with the binder, page protectors, paper, journaling cards, filler papers, stamp, ribbon, and more. The idea is to take random daily pictures, just one a day showing what your daily life is truly like. My focus for the project is taking a picture of something daily that made me smile. What I have discovered from this, is that there are thousands of daily moments that please me and it truly is the little things in life that mean the most.

I love this because it is so simple and easy, I used to be huge into scrapbooking but since I have become a "single mother" for the time being, I have found I have absolutely no time to keep up on it. Some days I am just lucky if I get a half an hour to myself to do something just for me. This was the perfect way to keep my scrapbooking hobby but simplified. I basically have done a months worth of pictures in just two short hours and I absolutely love the end result. I am hoping once life settles down some that I will be able to pick up where I left off with my normal scrapbooking but this is a good way to scrapbook for the time being.


Here is a sample of what a finished page looks like, I love it because it helps me take pictures of things that I would normally not consider picture worthy. Turns out these are quickly becoming some of my all time favorite photos.

Here are a few of my pictures I have taken in the last few weeks. I have started a blog for these pictures as well, mostly because my aunt Tam and I love to see each other's daily photo and this was a way to share our joy with each other. I did make this blog private, just because it is more personal to me than our family blog, however I will be posting some of my favorites occasionally on our family blog, but if you do want an invite I don't mind family and friends viewing it so just let me know.

January 13, 2009 Tuesday

this picture was taken at 12:02 am, so technically it is on the 13th even though it was late last night)
I think I am probably the only mother in the world who thinks it's music to her ears when I hear one of my children crying in the middle of the night, because it means my bed will not be empty that night. Lancey you are welcome in my bed anytime, he snuggles and cuddles and sticks his warm little hand in mine and we sleep soundly for the rest of the night.

January 19, 2009 Monday

"Playing" on Martin Luther King Day, Brevy has a toy that sings a real catchy song every time it plays multiple children and adults always start dancing along to it. Here we are shaking our groove things!!

January 29, 2009 Thursday

Twice a month a therapist from Utah School for Deaf and Blind comes as part of the program Up to 3, to give a little bit of extra help to Luke. I really love her, she's so open and let's Luke lead the way. Her philosophy is bring toys and let Luke show what interests him and then let the talking begin, she's my favorite. Luke always responds so well to her, I wish his other therapists got the same results as she does.

February 2, 2009 Monday

I love this picture!!! First off I love how Lance is standing, that's a classic Lance pose, and I am so glad to be able to capture it on film. Second of all look at that face, he's so excited, I promised him a special prize for being such a big boy yesterday in primary. It was a hard choice but he finally went with a remote control Lightening McQueen.

February 4, 2009 Wednesday

I love my drive from Logan to Layton, crazy I know but it's true. The boys usually fall asleep, I turn up my music, take time to think, plan or whatever. Not to mention when I am making the drive it's usually because I am going down to do something fun and have been looking forward to. So relaxing.....even if kids are up and fighting, not a thing I can do about it from the front seat, I welcome the chance to just let them fight it out amongst themselves!!

February 6, 2009 Friday

Date night we went to the Perry theater and saw Taken, it was great, we both really loved it. The Perry Theater was right up my alley so quaint and cute, my favorite thing about it was their cinnamon popcorn, delicious. I now have a new favorite movie theater!