General Conference Weekend

Conference was amazing,

and as usual,

we were all looking forward to it!

Big family breakfasts...

pj's all the live long day...

snugging on the couch...

But most importantly,

listening to living prophets and apostles!

It's a miracle,

and I'm blessed to share this with my family.

Check out the highlights here!

You won't regret it!



Graceful Ballerinas?

My sister, Julia,

is in an advanced ballet class

and recently learned how to

be lifted gracefully as part of her routine.

The kiddos, of course,

went crazy trying to do the same thing,

and Samuel,

the unfortunate counterpart,

nearly keeled over after hefting them

time and time again.

The worst, by far,

was Isabella!

Who crumpled the moment he

touched her waist!

The best?

Gabriel!

He was a natural!

All my money is on that guy!

Maybe we'll see him in Swan Lake someday...

Though that would be a bit awkward since

he'd be the one being lifted...

Anyway,

great fun!

Tons of good pictures and

many, many laughs!

A Little Piece of Heaven on Earth

love...

Owen-Boy...

OWEN

My runner, jumper,

dinosaur monster...

who loves legos, toast, and

all things under my cake dome!

He is never more my Owen

than when running around in jammies,

with a new affinity for socks,

and that wonderful bed hair!

Owen,

I love you!

Thank you for taking some photos for your mum

so I can capture what intrigues you,

makes you happy,

and makes you

YOU!

You are a good boy

and I love that you are my son!

Have a happy day!

xoxomom

Before & After: My New Baking Station

The holidays always give me the project bug,

and this year is no exeption!

I've been obsessed with baking stations of late...

an area of your kitchen designated for...

well, baking!

And found this gorgeous piece on Craigslist

-complete with a marble-top-

and set to work!

Ta-da!

H A P P Y  B A K I N G  T O  M E !

{note}

Shortly after this post,

the wall anchors from the top shelf pulled out

and everything

-and I mean, EVERYTHING-

came shattering onto the floor!

Samuel came away with a nasty cut on the head,

and I suffered a garbage can full of my pretties!

Lesson learned:

75 lb. Wall Anchors

Buy them!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

Official Christmas decorating

began somewhat unconventionally

with a sink bath for Gabriel.

True,

he's too big for the sink,

but he needed a bath,

and what can I say,

I was feeling nostaligic...

so in he went!

Then...

the real fun began!

*

Peeps

Nativities

Paper Chains

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Merry

Christmas!

Our Mini Post-Thanksgiving

Since we missed Thanksgiving at home

we had a mini

post-Thanksgiving on Friday,

complete with not only

the turkey and all the trimmings,

but the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade too!

Now it's feeling like the holidays!

The Christmas Tree,

out of it's slumber in the garage,

and ready to get dressed in all it's glory! 

It was feeling very Norman Rockwell-y,

which is funny because we're anything but!

But all I can say is,

it's good to be home for the holidays!

And dare we say it?

M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S !

Randomness

Courtesy of Iris

Mama Wars

And so it begins...

What is this?!?

I don't know but it's disturbing and fascinating all at once...

{he he}

Aughh!

A counter-attack!

Retreat!

...

Ahh.

A mama's victory is sweet...

What's So Exciting?

A notorious toy in our household is the

big blue bouncy ball.

You know what kind of ball that is.

The one that's in every toy section of every story.

Seemingly millions of balls stuffed into a sky-high bin just

waiting, asking, and begging

for little kids to come and free them

so they can bounce them with abandon

throughout the store.

Yes,

one of those kinds of balls...

Anyway,

the kids LOVE to bounce it but it's off limits inside-

UNLESS they're down the hall.

In which case they go crazy launching it

from one end to the other at lightening speed,

and all under the watchful gaze of the Savior, who,

by some miracle,

has not been hit once.

The boys LOVE this game.

And THAT is what is so exciting!

One of my favorite days...

G A R A G E  C L E A N - U P  D A Y !





Complete with a picnic!

...

This is heaven.

Being at home...

together!



Our Private Art Show

The kids went into art overdrive

and within minutes created enough pieces for a small museum!

Within minutes,

that small museum was born

out of our kitchen!

Complete with a bench they dragged in for Samuel and I

to sit on and ponder each piece!

Artist are notorious for being drama-mamma's,

and these guys were no different.

There was some heated squabbling over who

got the best real estate.

Apparently the oven door is a hot spot...

My kitchen was beautiful for all of two days before

the clutter drove me crazy and the artwork

went into everyone's personal collection!

...

T H A N K S  B A B I E S !

What a little white paint can do...

Going through the blogosphere

in search of how to make a zipper-less pillow cover,

I hit upon a great sight,

Vintage Revivals,

and fell in love with this mural tree tutorial!

I had a total

"I can do that!" moment,

and yes...

...within minutes I was on a ladder!

Check out the blog for details,

including how to project the image on the wall to

get the tree just right.

As for myself,

I'm a wing-it kind of gal

and chose to tackle the project free-hand style.

Either way,

the finished project is spectactular!

We added a few simple touches to personalize her space,

{ Don't you LOVE printers? }

and...

Ta-da!

Not bad for a few hours of work!

...

Now back to those pillow covers...

{ Smile }

In-house Sleepover

Sweet dreams!



Laundry Baskets + Boxes = Peaceful Playtime

Improvisation...