Say what??

I imagine I had a similar look on my face when the bishop called me to be the primary president.  After all, I was only there in his office for tithing settlement.

WWE Superstars

They can't get enough wrestling with Dad.  If Stephen and Dad start, Boston wants in on the action too!

Song Birds

I found these adorable ornaments on a cute crafting blog Little Birdie Secrets http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/12/little-birdie-ornaments.html.  I usually just glance at blogs like this and wonder who has time to make all of that stuff?  But when I saw these birdies I fell in love with them and knew I HAD to make them for my favorite song birdies - my mom and sisters who are all so musically talented.  I am so sad that the pictures didn't turn out better -they are so pretty in person!  (My garland also looks yucky in these pictures - those beads are supposed to be bright red and the lights were turned on but you can't tell.)

The gold wing is glitter, the brown wing felt with buttons, and the red wing is felt with crystals. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today was my birthday.  I like my birthdays...every one...each brings a greater joy to me...but I can't wait 'til I'm 28...Oh, wait I am 28! 

We celebrated with family and I was spoiled on all sides!  Presents always help to soften the sting of getting older....

From Scott:

My hubby has good taste - no "old lady" watch here!

And from my parents:

I am already dreaming of all the fun things I can use these for!

And from my In-laws:

$$ - New clothes are coming up!

Thanks everyone!

The best part is that we get to spread my birthday out and have another party tomorrow when my brother and sister come home from BYU.  We are going to have molten lava cakes!

Boston Rollin'

Last night Boston went to bed a stationary baby (for the most part - only a little rolling here and there).  Today he became mobile!  He is now army-crawling all over the place - totally unstoppable.  He has already made a beeline for the Christmas tree, knocked over our decorative tree and pulled out all the moss, and ended up underneath chairs in the kitchen.   

As you can see, he is absolutely delighted by his newfound skills.

I know, I know, that onesie is rather revealing.  Why am I always taking pictures on laundry day?

Stephen wanted in on the rolling and crawling action. He is very good at it too!

Shhhhh, don't tell...

Stephen and Boston are getting these for Christmas:

 There is a free tutorial on pukingpastilles.com.  I didn't love the shape so I modified it a little and they turned out pretty cute!

I went through a phase about a month ago where I became obsessed with Fisher Price Peek-a-Blocks.  I spent many hours on Craigslist searching out deals on these adorable toys.  I bought two different sets.  Boston will receive this train from Santa for Christmas: 

I will save this set for his birthday...

For the most part I had fun searching for deals on these adorable blocks.  The giraffe with seven blocks I got for only $3! The train kinda ticks me off because the lady I bought it from seemed shady. It wasn't until I got home that I realized that part of the train was missing.  It was a minor thing - the back platform that holds and extra block but she should have pointed that out to me (I would have done that for someone else!) If I had noticed while I was still at her house I am sure I could have talked her down on the price or just said "no thanks."  Oh well.

I still want this alphabet set.  At one point in my seach I found it listed for $5 - all 26 blocks!!!  This retails for around $30 new.  I would have bought it in a second but the person who listed it lived clear over in Phoenix (at least a 50 minute drive one way) in a bad part of town.  I probably still would have gone for it if I could have convinced Scott to drive me but he was against it.

Steve-a-reno

Stephen, leaning close to me, said, "You smell good mommy!"  Then two seconds later, "Your breath smells like a skunk!"

While drinking a cup of hot chocolate today Stephen said, "This hot co co coa is yummy to my tummy!"

Ha ha!  This boy makes me LAUGH!

Not Drowned!

Imagine my great joy when after a few hours of charging my poor, lifeless, drowned phone I turned it on and saw the beautiful Verizon welcome video and heard that blessed chime loud and clear!!  It has been working perfectly with no apparent damage ever since.  Apparently, the dryer trick worked after all.  Really, I think Heavenly Father was mindful us with our poor college student budget. 

BTW if you ever have a need to revitalize a drowned phone in the dryer, the point is to knock the water out, not dry it out.  DO NOT use heat.  Throw the phone (battery seperate) into a sock or two and put it in the dryer with a bunch of towels for about 15 minutes on air dry.  I figure, hey the phone is already dead, this can't damage it any more than it is already damaged, and in BOTH of my experiences with phone drowning the dryer seems to save the day! 

And YES, I santized the phone thouroughly with a clorox wipe.  It smells like oranges now....

they don't mix.

+

=

Never. Ever. Take your cell phone into the bathroom.  Even if you are just in there to help your son go potty and take a bath.  And yes, to answer your unspoken question, there was pee in the toilet.  The phone is DEAD DEAD DEAD.  Sigh.  I am so mad at myself I can't even process it!

* As an interesting side note I will tell you that I have dropped my cell phone (different one) in a toilet before.  We threw it in the dryer for awhile to knock the water out of it, charged it up and it worked like a charm for another year and a half.  This phone is not so lucky.  The drier trick didn't work.  I have only had the phone for 8 months so I am nowhere close to qualifying for a new one.  I hope our warranty covers "dropped in toilet" though it will still cost us at least $50.  GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

More Elf Magic

Note the two chompers on the bottom.  I have experienced their sharpness in a very personal and painful way...

"I have been really good this year." (Side note - the onesie Boston is wearing is size 6 month.  He normally wears 18 month clothes!)

I hope this is not Boston's future!

You shoulda' put a sling on 'em

I saw this on a friend's blog and it made me laugh!  It is so silly!  I never carried my boys in a "sling" because they are so stinking heavy but after watching this I want to try out a sling again just so I can do the little "flippy" hand movement in this video....




It is also funny to me because Stephen somehow picked up the tune and part of the lyrics to the original song and I will catch him going around the house singing "all the single ladies!"

* I just showed Scott this video and his response was, "I have never been embarrassed of our blog until now."

Santa's Little Helpers

Stephen decorating our sad little four foot tree.  We inherited this tree from my mom.  It has to be at least 16 years old! 

The great part is that Stephen is too young to notice or care about things like that - he thinks the ornaments and lights are just perfect!

*about an hour after I posted this Stephen told me that we needed to get a bigger tree!!  I stand corrected.

Ryker, Boston, and Bentley getting into the Christmas season at the Smith's house.

I have many more pics from this photo shoot.

We were laughing so hard when we took them.  I think this might be my favorite.

Poor little Ryker.  I don't think he was having much fun.  Bentley was tolerating it ok.  Boston was pretty much a ham.  He likes to have his picture taken.  For now. 

Turkey, turkey, and a hike

We stayed in town for Thanksgiving because my brother and sister were coming home from BYU and one of my cousins and her family were in town.  We were busy and ate A LOT of excellent food!

As you can see Boston loved his adoring audience that was willing to spoil and play with him at his every whim.  My sisters Chery and Celsea were very sweet to him.

  The day after Thanksgiving we went on a little hike in Usery Pass Park in an effort to burn off some of those extra calories.  FYI - it doesn't seem to have done much good, at least for me....  Stephen was so excited to go on top of a real mountain.  (It was really a small hill - maybe a mile or two round trip).  He went the whole way up and down on his own power and only asked to be carried on our way back to the car.  The hard part was that Stephen was absolutely convinced that he was going to see Jesus on the top of the mountain.  I was rather concerned how I was going to explain that one to him but he never actually asked about it when we got to the top.  He still talks about Jesus being on the mountain though....

Truckin' along.

Taking a break at the top - the red socks were in honor of the coming Christmas season...really they were the only clean ones left when getting dressed.

Triumphant!

Boston had the easy gig - riding in a pack on daddy's back.  (We found the pack on Craigslist for $10 Thanksgiving night and bought it at 7:30 the next morning just in time for the hike.  Not the most fancy model but it was in excellent condition and will be great for the few hiking adventures we go on!)

How do you get them to Always Remember?

Today over lunch Stephen was chattering away about different things and somehow we got on the topic of him going to Sunbeams next year instead of Nursery.  I was trying to describe the differences and similarities in a positive way so he could get excited about going.  I pointed out that he would still get to learn about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  He became very excited and said, "Yes!  Heavenly Father and Jesus love me!  They are my friends!"  He then listed off all the people who love him.  It struck me at this moment how he already knows that he is loved by his Heavenly Father and family.  He has such innocent faith and confidence in that fact.  I want him to always remember that he is loved, unlike so many other people who forget this as they face life's challenges.  Children are so believing and easily taught - it is no wonder that we are admonished to be like them.  Stephen is a good example to me and I need to try and be more like him.