Temple sketches

Nick's Mom asked if I would do a couple of sketches of some Temples for a lesson she was teaching. I found pictures online that I liked and drew what I saw. I really stressed over these because I knew other people would see them and that made me really nervous. I think overall I'm happy with the outcome. Of course I see all the imperfections but I'm really trying to just let it go. I actually had a lot of fun doing these. I think I might try to do some more.

This year's garden post

It's seriously fall already? I have so many summer pics to post. Everyone else is on to Halloween, not me. I'm going to play catch up as much as I can.

Our garden had some hits and misses this year. We started a little late and it just seemed like it was taking forever for anything to grow. Most of it grew eventually. Some things grew a little too much. Like our spinach as you'll see. I have more pics of things from the fall like tomatoes that actually turned red and the crazy amount of beans and blueberries we had. I just don't want to wait for the camera battery to charge or I may never finish this post. So anyway, this was our garden at the biginning... Sorry for the dark pictures, I took them when the kids were in bed.

This tree isn't really a vegetable (believe it or not), it's not even a fruit tree but it's one of my favorite trees EVER! It's a Cercidiphyllum Japonicum. Don't quote me on the spelling. I love the shape and the best part is when the leaves start to turn colors they smell like burnt sugar. Seriously, it's heavenly to walk by this tree. It's not the best location and I'm surprised it lived but there it is.

This is our Broccoli and Cauliflower. We were pretty good at weeding in the beginning. Not so much later.

This is the Spinach. This is what spinach is supposed to look like. As you scroll down you will see what it's not supposed to look like. There are tomatoe plants in the back there. They stayed at that size for like 3 months. It was very sad. I thought they'd never grow.

Landon and I were so proud of ourselves because we planted seeds and plants actually came up... for the most part. This is a squash

This is the other Sqaush that did much better than the other until it mysteriously died about a month ago. It sat there with one flower and than it turned a funny color. Not really sure what that was about.

Okay, these next pictures are the later pictures like maybe august. I must have snuck out during naptime to get pictures during the day.

Yay! the tomatoes finally grew and produced quite a bit of fruit. The only problem was that some disgusting looking wormy things got to them and I wouldn't touch them. So, I was proud of my beautiful red fruit but I didn't get to eat very many. The ones I did have were very yummy. More tomatoe pics. I was so happy when they finally needed cages.

Okay the little scraggly things in front between the weeds, those are carrots. They were delicious but there weren't very many. In the back you can see what spinach is NOT supposed to look like. We obviously let it go and it grew like crazy. I stopped watering because I was mad at it and it still lived on.

We got a got a few good broccoli and I think one good cauliflower. The slugs REALLY like them. The pretty yellow flower is what broccoli looks like when you let it go to seed.

Yum! We loved the strawberries. We didn't get as many as I thought we would. I wonder if it 's because there were to many dandelions in there.

That's the strawberry and weed patch.

Here's the whole side garden spot. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. I'm not sure that it was worth it economically but I'm glad we did it. If anything it was a learning experience.

A googly eye kind of day...

The other day we just really needed a reason to play with googley eyes.

He loves gluing!

He's really consentrating!

These were the pictures we did. We love painting especially with hands.

This crab is Landon's. As you can see he had a REALLY hard time not finger painting. It took everything in him not to swirl it all over the page.

This crab is Grant baby's. It's his first crafty project with us. Usually he's napping while we're doing crafty things. I know I need to get him involved too. It's so hard when he just wants to eat everything he touches (like this paint). Landon decided to help him with his picture. That's his hand on the side. Goofball!

Squid... or jelly fish... you decide!

This is Mr. Chicken! He's actually staring at me right now with those big googly eyes... I like him. He sits right next to the monitor. He makes me giggle.

This is what Landon was working on while I was taking the pics. I love that there's way more glue than necessary and the 5 eyes at the bottom are pretty amazing. Oh and we can't forget the cutting with the really cool scissors.

Grampa's big helper

Grampa needed some help vaccuming. Well maybe he didn't need help but when Landon volunteered to help he didn't turn him down. he loves going out and helping Grampa with his "work". He feels so proud of himself for being such a big kid. He always walks a little taller after doing something so manly. Earlier today while cleaning Mommy and Daddy's room he put daddies tie on the best he could and started talking in the deepest voice he could. He wants to be so grown up. I want him to stay little forever!

Fun things I found today...

Fun things I found today:

LOVE this! It's done by Ork Posters. I would love to see this or something like it hanging on our wall. They have different colors as well. They do different cities like boston and Manhattan. They have one that's done with a brain and one with a heart. I thought that would be fun for Nick since he's going into the medical field. On the wish list.

I have been trying to find fun things to do with Landon and I think he would get a kick out of these. There an easy lunch too! The sheep is from here. The only thing I would change is the nose. In the pic it's a jelly bean and I'd probably use an olive (or five, I'm sure Landon would eat 4 before one made it to the bread). The flower is from here.

And fianlly this bed. Actually the plans to make this bed. It is from the site, Knock Off Wood by Anna White. She is amazing! She makes plans for furniture inspired by the big name stores like Pottery Barn and then posts them for $FREE.99. Is that amazing or what? I'm working on something for the boys room right now and than we want to build a bench for a bay window in the near future. I would also love to build bunk beds for the boys but it'll be a little while before I can get started. Anyway, This is one of my favorite blogs, you should check it out. You'd be suprised at how easy the plans are. There are a ton of photos of what some people have made with the plans.

Little Baby Grant is ONE!

I really cannot believe how fast time flies! Has it really been a year? Wasn't I holding an infant in my arms just last week? That's how it feels. He has been such a wonderful addition to our family. He really fits right in. Just as stubborn as the rest of us. :) He's also a load of fun! We started his Birthday the right way, which means we all went in his room once we could hear him calling us from his crib/play pen (yes he sleeps in a pack n'play) and sang him Happy Birthday. He thought he was something really special, which he is. He was all smiles. Then I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast because pancakes are aparently how we celebrate things.

P.S. Landon even joined in the singing which is rare. He's a very shy singer. Not sure why. It can't be normal to be self-conscious about ones voice at such a young age. But who said we have to be normal so I won't worry too much about it.

Random things I love about Grant:

He is quite obsessed with DVD cases and if we're not looking and they weren't packed tight enough together he pulls them ALL out and throws them every which way. He has even learned how to open the case and pull out the Disc. Yikes!

He loves his brother but is learning quickly how to *evade him. Thank heavens he hasn't figured out how to defend himself yet. Things to come I'm sure.

*I don't know if i used evade right but I like the way it sounds. It's my blog and can write how i want! ;)

(Landon was so antsy to get his hands on that cake.)

When Grant smiles it just lights up the whole room! His little cheeks puff up and his eyes are so bright.

He loves to clap and looks for every opportunity to do so. If he hears anyone say "yay" it warrants lots of clapping. I think he's just so proud of himself for figuring it out.

It cracks me up when he's about to get into something he's not supposed (usually heading for the bathroom when someone left the door open, how he knows I'll never know but he always does) and once I start walking towards him he'll do this crawl run and make a b-line for trouble.

His snuggles are enough to warm the heart right up! When we first started asking for snuggles he had an automatic response to adamantly shake his head "no". Luckily he always followed the head shaking with the snuggling. Thank goodness too, I need snuggles from my babies.

His face just wasn't messy enough so Dad had to show him how to take a REAL bite out of his cake. He got the hang of it real quick!

He's walking now, can you believe it? Me either! He is so proud of himself when he goes for a really long stretch. I love how he concentrates so hard on balancing. The wobble stage is my favorite!

Look at that face! Isn't it precious? I could just squeeze him. But since he's tucked snuggly away in his bed I won't. Maybe I'll just go take a peek at that precious face and than I'll go take a peak at the other precious face and count my blessing that I have such wonderful little boys!

Till next time, PEACE!

Sunny days and Sidewalk chalk!

When you live in the Northwest and the Sun decides to shine you run outside and spend as much time playing as possible before it rains.

Well, that's what we do anyway.

In fact the other day we were out driving and it was so sunny! We decided as soon as we got home we would have lunch and then spend some time outside. Of course, as soon as lunch was done we got our shoes on and as we headed for the door the rain started. No joke! We sat staring out the window as it sprinkled, then poured, than hailed...

Luckily on this particular day the Sun didn't stop shining. And look, no shoes. You know it's a good day when you don't have to wear shoes!

FEBRUARY

February is probably the best and busiest months around here. Mostly because of Birthdays. Which I love! I do. I love birthdays. So sue me. No don't, I have no money. I know I'm not supposed to enjoy getting older but I do. I can't wait for the grey hair to come. I've got a few silver in there. 3 to be exact. Hmmm... I wonder if the 3 adorable boys in my life could have had anything to do with that? But this blog isn't about my hair so we'll save that for another post.

We have so many birthdays in both our families this month it's crazy. Let's see... I have to count... okay, it's only 5. It seems like so many with all in one month . Maybe it's because both Nick's and mine are this month. That just makes it seem like a lot is going on. My birthday is a week before Nick's so I really try to play up the respect your elder bit. He just shakes his head at me. He does that a lot. Hmm...

Valentines day was pretty funny this year, not the day itself but what we did for each other. We never spend time with each other so we decided to go to the store together and pick out a couple of things to show we care. Well, when we got there we decided we wanted to make it a suprise and were trying to hide from each other all night. We even had to do a sneaky debit card exchange and a quick conversation over an isle display. Very romantic if you ask me. My sister Karina's birthday is the 14th which I always envied a little. We spent the day at her house with her family and my parents. It was so great to see them again. We don't get to see them nearly enough.

This last week we have all been really Sick! Yuck! I hate being sick but I think I hate it even more when my babies don't feel good.

On a good note, I played in the dirt. Spring has come early for us here in the Northwest and I was so excited to get out and start getting a bed ready. The ground was still a little cold but it was worth it. I can't wait to garden. I've got big plans this year. Later on that.

Nick is home and I've missed him so I'm off to hear all about Chemistry, Biology, and Medical terminology with a side of video confrencing. Mmmm, makes my heart melt just thinking about it... Ta-ta for now!

P.S. Other things i love about February: the spelling, Feb-RUUUUU-ary is how it should be pronounced. Also, there are only 28 days, most of the time. It keeps you on your toes. It's just a little more exciting than the other months. Don't you think?

Stepping out of my comfort zone one blog tip at a time

I found this really great site for putting a signiture at the end of your post. It was incredibly easy, which I'm all about. I found it at this site as well as how to apply a link to a word on my post and add a picture from the web the easy way.

I get so nervous when it comes to this technical blog stuff. I know that seems silly but it's way out of my comfort zone. So, I've decided I am going to take a step out of my comfort zone now and again and see what i can learn.

I think I've filled my quota for the month, wouldn't you say?

Just kidding! I still have so much to learn... sigh...

My most recent read was this book, THE HUNGER GAMES. I loved it! It was AMAZING! Here is what's on the from flap:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before -- and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Yeah, it's good. A little violent for kids maybe but good!

You can read the first chapter by downloading the pdf from the official website http://www.thehungergames.co.uk/about_the_book . Just be careful becuase you may get hooked just like I did. It took me a couple of months on a waiting list to get this book from the library. It was totally worth the wait.

Found these and just had to post them!

Landon LOVES Grant. Yes, they're starting to fight over toys but he definately loves him. I just love that he loved him from the start. These pictures just melted my heart. They may be more for me than anyone else but i always want to remember the way Landon held him that first time.

Okay, i can't stop there, here are a few others.

Oh my hugeness...