Washington Trip

Ben's work sent him to Washington this week and the plan was for the whole family to go along. We began by stopping at Kaylee's house first where she asked to keep the girls for the whole week! We were thinking that we totally scored! Ben and I in Tacoma and Seattle with just Blake? How fun would that be? I was going to read, nap, and swim with Blake in the hotel pool. Well turns out we got the bum end of the deal. It's funny because when it comes to watching the kids it's always "if you could just take Blake..." He is difficult and this week is just another example of it. We has cried the WHOLE TIME. He isn't falling asleep until well after to ten (forgot the portacrib!) and we are suffering with his crying through out the day. He has been so good lately but this week he has reverted back to a terror. We thought we would have fun spoiling him and instead we can't really stand dealing with him. But at least the girls are having fun with their Aunt Kaylee. And tomorrow is Ben's last day and then we head back to Kennewick and then mack home and then down to Oroville. Tons of driving.

Boots and Panties

What is it about kids wearing boots and underwear that looks so cute. Daisy recently got some new boots with daisy's on them (of course) and she wears them everywhere. Things have been a bit crazy around here. Last week I sliced my toe on some glass and it is taking forever for it to heal! It has really reduced what I can do because too much walking irritates it so we've been just hanging out however we have still been busy. The girls are perfecting their wipeout wii skills. Kaylee is by far the best and can even win on the extreme level. Daisy is still not potty trained? Remember when I posted about it at Christmas?? Yes, eight months later we are still working on it. Ben thinks it is because she's not very smart so I have to start working on that as well. Blake is so happy now that we are settled in our own place. I love how he stands at the top of the stairs and yells "MA" for me. It's just funny. And Heidi can't wait for school to start. She has been reading nonstop and it's kind of weird how quickly she goes through books. Unfortunately she has already read through all the little kid books I can think of and now I need to find more that are her age. I'm trying to get her to start Harry Potter but she refuses.

Blake as superman

Blake loves wearing this cape and loves the superman song! He will play to other songs as well but when the superman song comes back on he gets all excited and runs and runs.

Superman

We put Blake in a superman cape today for the first time. We then turned on the Superman music and it was the cutest thing ever! He ran through the rooms singing along and being superman. I got an cute video of it that might make it on the blog one day but for now just know it was super cute. Of course he was wearing Daisy's cape, she went and got Kaylee's cape, Heidi grabbed her own and Kaylee was left with no cape and pouting in the corner. Nothing new but all the same it started her day off bad which in turn made my day bad. And right now I can hear her screaming at the girls over littlest pet shops and they are about done playing with her, which means she will be crying and screaming about how no one likes her even though she began the whole mess with screaming at them. At least Blake is cute through it all.

My birthday crafts

Since we moved here I've made a strict rule of only decorating with things I buy and fix up from yard sales. So I've been looking for things that might improve our house for as cheap as possible. I also looked around my house and realized that if a stranger walked in there would be nothing to suggest that I believe in Christ or that I am a mormon. All I had were family pictures. Wanting to make my house a little more christian-looking, and following Spencer W. Kimball's advice to have a picture of the temple in every room I ordered some thing off of LDS.org. The distribution is about the cheapest way to decorate your house but I didn't want it to look like a bunch of cheap posters hung up everywhere. So I took a picture of the Savior that I like, put it with the Living Christ statement made by the first presidency and added scrapbook paper that matched my color scheme and this is what I came up with!

I really, really like how it turned out! It was super cheap to put together since the frame was $2 at a yard sale. I just like it. May not suit everyone's taste (I can picture Kaylee cringing) but it is pretty good for me. So this is what my front room wall looks like. My plan is to get another big picture frame, paint it red, and put in the Family Proclamation along with some family pictures. I also got that way cute clock for my birthday too! That wasn't a yard sale find. That was an actual store purchase and I love the pendulum.

The other craft I completed was adding some temple pictures. I got a few 5x7's for cheap. I also got some canvas boards that were half off. I painted the boards, glued the pictures on, added the ribbon (they are taped onto the back) and now we have the temple right in our front room in a pretty cute way. I also wanted another Christ picture and the red one is just my favorite of him. I know there are newer, cooler ones out but that has always been my favorite since I was little. I also added the first vision so that the girls now what is most important to us: The Savior, the temples, and the restoration.

This last thing is another cheap yard sale item. The frame cost me a dollar. I painted it and just put up some pictures. I'm having fun decorating this way. Every week I wonder what I will find at a yard sale and what project I will work on.

three more days before I'm old

So We are halfway through the birthday week and so far it has been fun! Each morning I've gotten to open a little gift and the girls are always excited about what is inside, even when it was a box of graham crackers. We've also been going here and there with Ben's parents. We headed to Jacksonville and found the sprinkler park, a way cool but too expensive decor shop, and a house I think would be so fun to live in. We have also been riding bikes, scooters and running along the creek by our house. Today's adventure will take us to Ashland...another spot Ben would love to live in and I have to admit it is a very pretty place.