Sunday, December 05, 2010

What we've been up to...

Hey Everyone!  Wondering what we've been up to lately?  Check out http://operationcompassiondonations.blogspot.com for photos and more! :)  Thanks and Merry Christmas Season!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving Project!

After being inspired by blogs like Impress Your Kids and so many Thanksgiving Ideas, including those at Craftily Ever After, I thought my daughter and I would try making a Thanksgiving sign to help us get in the mood and make our home a bit more festive for the big day!
So today (yes, the day before Thanksgiving) I pulled out the canvas and paint and we went to work!
To begin, I gave Priya a paint brush, some orange paint and let her go to town on the canvas!
Notice the intensity! :D  Please ignore the 'bareness' of it all - we were in a hurry and that seemed to be the easiest way to keep paint off her clothes for the moment - I know, I'm a nut.
While that dried, I hit the computer and, with a little design advice from Joe (a shocker, I know ;) we came up with this baby!  Unfortunately, the first time around, I miss calculated and we make it a little too big - but with a quick adjustment, Joe had it ready to go and had the vinyl printed!  I quickly weeded it (probably the easiest I've ever weeded! Most of the time I hate that part!) and attempted to stick it to the canvas - no luck!  After MUCH impatient patience, I finally got it down!  This is how it looked:
This might be ok... IF you are a Denver Broncos fan, which I am CERTAINLY NOT (sorry Wend, but nothing new in that statement! ;)  So we moved on to the next phase:
Originally the plan was for me to paint around the edges of the letters and let it dry so Priya wouldn't accidentally peal up the letters as she painted, but after I started I realized letting the paint dry completely without pulling up the letters could pose a problem!  So, I made Joe get my rouse my recently put to bed Non-sleeping Beauty and I put her to work!
We finally put the princess to bed after she did a thorough paint job!  About 30 minutes later I carefully removed the vinyl and WALA!  It's not perfect, but it's a new Thanksgiving treasure!  Hopefully someday we'll add some ribbon to the edges, and I wish I'd thought to put the kids hand prints on it or something, but there's always tomorrow (and if not then, next year! :)
Here's wishing YOU a HAPPY THANKS Giving! :D

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

a picture for you

My big 7 month old :)

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Sunday, October 17, 2010

It's True...

My Baby is a CRAWLER!!!  HOORAY!  And (in the words of Joe) oh Crap! :)  We're in for it now!  He did his first official forward moving crawl last night at 11:30, 30 minutes before he turned 7 months old!  What a big boy!!  And thank you to Grandpa H. for suggesting the plastic chicken as motivation - haha!  Who would have thought - but it worked!  I just can't believe how he's gone from needing us to sit him up 2 weeks ago, to totally able to move wherever/however he wants!  It may not be pretty, but that boy can get just about anywhere he wants to go!

Also, he cut a tooth back on Oct 6th, I think!  Late birthday present to me I guess :) 

What a big, smiley, happy boy!  I love you tons, my little man!  And I'm so glad Grandma & Grandpa Heaton, Jon & Rainah, Robert & Beth were all there too!  Now I have witnesses ;)

PS - what a great few days with family!  We just feel so blessed to have spent so much time the last few days with so many of Joe's siblings, their spouses and his parents - really, what a great group!  My heart is just so full right now with gratitude for each of you, not to mention all of the fabulous family and friends that we didn't see this weekend... We truly are rich - thank you!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The 6 Month Old :)

While doing a family photo shoot for my friend Wendy (her 'unrefined' favs (meaning I have yet to really put my hands on them :) can be seen on her blog here) I took advantage of the moment and snapped a few of my little guy! I don't know why I love this top one so much, but I do :) Here are a few favorites and some messing around I did with them :)




There are others, but I think this will suffice :)  The one that's in the group of 4 is my favorite, I think.. though I'm never really very sure :)  Last Friday on the big day we were horrible parents and bought Krispy Kreme which we shared with him, much to his delight!  Priya made him a card and we sang "Happy 1/2 birthday!"
I cannot express the joy this little guy brings to my heart!  He smiles, often at the drop of a hat and those eyes could melt the coldest heart - Truly, little man, you are a Gift from God!
Here's to many a birthday ... 1/2 birthday more! :D (and keep smiling when your mom tries to take pictures - it makes her happy! See Wo's of a Mom Photographer :)
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Bread Maddness!

Last Saturday I decided to take a bread making class from our new downstairs tenant, Adrian!  Well, it seemed so easy I got the necessary ingredients and Sunday made THESE top 2!  Italian bread and STUFFED CRUST PIZZA!  Actually, the pizza was a team effort, but I made the bread - SOO good!  And start to finish, the bread is done in 1 HOUR! (10 min prep folks, that's it!)

Well, it went so well, I decided to do another half batch (this is a 4 loaf recipe mind you), however this time things did not go so well - flour stuck to the bottom of the bowl, runny beyond imagination... I couldn't figure it out!  I managed to salvage a couple lame loafs, but a work of art it was not!
Yesterday, however, we were having an end of summer BBQ and I was DETERMINED I was at least going to make a loaf of Italian bread to share, if not some rolls but AGAIN things were not going right - I couldn't figure it out!  I'd add flour, and it would look like it was going to work, but then it would turn back into a bowl of soupy mess!!  Gross!  I worked it and worked it in the bowl, adding more and more flour.  After probably 20 minutes (this stuff is supposed to only mix for 5 mind you) I realized my mistake!  While I halved the recipe, I FORGOT to half the WATER!  No WONDER I had a mess! I quickly added more ingredients and below are some of the results!  Beautiful, if I do so say myself!



 


Some were lighter and fluffier than others, but after all of that I'm just happy I came out with anything edible!  Thanks Adrian and I can't wait for the next class! YUMM-O!

Post Script: Adrian is an instructor for Pantry Secrets and if you'd like to take her next class, I'm sure she'd love to have you!  You can find info on her classes here:
http://www.pantrysecrets.net/classes-instructors/adrian-selle/

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Swapping Beauties-Frozen Dinners & Recipes, Oh My!

Some of you may be aware that I am part of a frozen dinner exchange group!  Well, we started a blog outlining how we do things and since I've spent some (ok a lot :) time on it, I thought I'd share it with you!  You can find it at www.swappingbeauties.blogspot.com.  We've also started posting favorite recipes and while so far I'm the only poster I have assurances my co-collaborators will be joining me soon (nudge nudge :).
It's still a work in progress, so let me know whatcha think!  In the mean time, Go Swap something - it'll make you feel good!

Broken Crayons? No problem!

While I have several adventures to post about, I just couldn't help share this next 'day off'' project - and it's so easy we shouldn't even have to wait for a day off!  Here a link: http://cookienut.blogspot.com/2010/08/coloring-shapes.html All it is is turning old crayons into new fun shapes!  Awesome!

Coming up next - adventures in the photo and baking world and 'the perfect play-date' - Excited?

Thursday, September 09, 2010

What would you do with 2 hours and a box of band-aids?

Poor Peewee - she went to the doctor today because I found a few little bumps on her skin - turns out they were molescum and they were EVERYWHERE!  From her head to her toe (or shoulder to foot - close enough), she was covered!  And worse, the only way to get rid of them is to dig out the center - GROSS!  THANKFULLY, the doctor covered her with numbing cream that sat on her skin for 45 minutes before they went to work on her little body and while I don't think it was very comfortable, she hung in there and didn't even complain once!  I think her daddy and her BoBo may have helped a bit with that too :)  Either way, after 2 hours, a gagillion band-aids and lots of pokes and prods, Baby P has proven herself quite the trooper!!

When they were done, she had over a DOZEN new band aids (including 1 for the scrap she got while we were waiting and she stepped on a pack of BBQ sauce and I tried to clean it and she fell over, skinning her knee, but that's another story), many covering more than one of the spots she had removed :(  Tough day!  The nurse was laughing though because she had 2 little band aids on her bum - one on each cheek!  HaHa - I know, TMI but it was so funny!  I wish I had pictures - not of her bum, you freaks, but of her covered in band aids - it was a toddlers dream come true!

As for me, I've been working on a secret project that you will NEVER persuade me to tell you about!  Oh, ok, it's another blog, but that's all I can tell you!  Well, it's for our frozen dinner swap group - there - exciting I know :)  But it's been fun to prep and I'm excited to roll it out soon!  Oh, my exciting life! ;)

I've got a few more projects in mind for my next 'day off' but ... I'll save that for next time - until then!  Oh, and if you're having a rough day, just grab a band-aid - the 'experts' say they help ;)

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

A Day Off!! (Kind of :)

For once Joe got to stay home on a holiday (Yay!) No, he doesn't have some pressing carrer that requires him to work holidays - he just has a silly employer that thinks it's better to give a couple 'floating' holidays than actually give the guys the day off when normal people stay home! (not that I have an opinion ;)  Oh, I guess I like the floating holidays too... let's just give 'em both and call it good - Deal?  Well, it was worth a shot!  Who am I kidding?  Today I'm just glad he has a job and he likes it and the future looks decent- 3 things to be grateful for - but enough of my tangent!

We had a great weekend complete with a trip to TGP (Thanksgiving Point) and a lot of family time (yay for siblings and kids!) and then on Monday decided to take on our yard a bit!  In case you don't remember what it looked like at the beginning of the summer, check out Joe & Pee wee here :)

After months of work and care, we finally have GREEN!  We've been slow often times to cut it because it's still just baby grass (and, well, we forget :) but yesterday it was CUT and EDGED! AND we added red lava rock to the front along the sidewalk - doesn't that sounds cool? LAVA rock...lava lava lava...ROCK (easily entertained :)

And here are the results!  Ok, again just taken with my cell, but at least you get the idea!  You can even see the construction going on across the street -wild!  It's taking lest time to build those houses than it took for us to get grass!

So THAT'S what we did with a day off... well, sort of :)  We still were parents and still had to, ya know, take care of them and all, but still!!

Next day off... repaint THIS!

Vids of my Kids :)

1st off, my baby is WAY too big!  What in the world?!  He's going to be 6 MONTHS in just over a week - madness :)   (every mom sounds like this, doesn't she?oh well - might as well embrace it) He's also decided he's ready to be a 'sitter' so way to go him!  So to kick of our vids of the kids here are 2 of him - one from Monday sitting on a ... whatever you wanna call the thinger, which Joe for some reason feels the need to push - the kid can hardly sit and he's trying to take him for a joy ride! Boys! :)
 
This next one is of him tonight- I know, the quality on both of these  is horrid, shot on my cell phone, but I think his personality outshines the video quality, especially on the first one! ;)
Kids - they grow up so fast ;)

Our last kid vid is of P. yesterday recording a video for her uncle in Iraq - it's nothin fancy, but it's cute to see her little face :D



Well, that's it for this episode of 'Vids of my Kids - tune in next time for Priya starting high school!  Or...not ;)

PS - bubble painting!

Bubble Painting!
Doesn't this look fun?!  We've got to give it a try!  Find it here at WhiMsy Girl or Love or something like that :)
THIS I might actually be able to do without a day off! :D

Monday, September 06, 2010

The Masterpiece!

Remember that 'Crafty Bug' that bit a few weeks ago?  Well, that day Priya and I went outside, I pulled out a canvas and paint and I set her up and let her go to town!  Below is the result:

Notice the cutie hand and feet prints?  I think she did great!  I really didn't help, except to steady her feet a few times and help get her paint set up!  After painting the base coat in the morning she couldn't wait to do more, so in the afternoon she finished it off!

After we had our little painting party I stumbled across this blog with a great idea for spicing up toddler painting in a fun and creative way - check it out! It's called "Impress your Kids" and it even starts out with a nice tutorial about how to cut out paper letters really quickly and easily - but that's for my next 'day off'!

We actually attempted a few 'crafty' things today with a little modge podge, some scrapbook paper and
some block letters, but I'm not sure how they'll turn out yet so we'll save that for another day :)  It's truly my first real project attempting to decoupage so we'll see how we do! (Priya is always my little helper, hence the 'we' - could you imagine Joe attempting to use Modge Podge! HA!)  So hopefully you'll hear a success story someday soon!  If not, I'm sure the letters will end up back in my closet where I found them this morning, awaiting future enlightenment and rescue.  Till then!

Sunday, September 05, 2010

It's time to celebrate!

Finally I have a functioning blog again!  I've been so bad about posting I'm sure I've lost most of my audience, but maybe we can work on that :).  While I'm trying to catch up on posts I'm hoping to start sharing some projects I'm saving for the day I finally get some 'time off' - haha, HAHA er, I mean, when I work it out that I can try out a few new things :)  I have to be careful not to give away any secrets though!  Who knows - if I EVER get to any of these things, they might be a present for YOU! :D

To kick off my list of things to do on my 'day off', there is this great photo book I'd love to try out!

Let me back up-

The other day I found this blog "We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ" . This month this site is celebrating the family, and is doing so by focusing on an AMAZING document called The Proclamation on the Family, put out in 1995 by the Prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley as well as the Twelve modern-day Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Anywho, this blog is having guest bloggers all month and the one for today came up with this great idea for a photo book celebrating the Family and this incredible Proclamation!  Check it out here!
I might tweak it a bit... if I ever get to it!  :)  But there you go!  For you, for me!  And if you'd like to learn more about the sacred importance of the family and what we can do to help strengthen ours, check out their Celebration - who knows, we might just learn something, and, well, celebrate ;)

PS - I'd love feedback on anything really, but especially about my header - is it too much?!  I love playing with stuff, but I'm afraid I might have gone a little over-board!  HAHA well, at least you can see 2 of my favorite Silly & Precious Things!  And, let's be honest, they're probably what you're here for! ;)

Friday, August 27, 2010

the cookie is crumbling... :/

Dang it - my blog is falling apart!  Sorry for the glitches in the scenery - hopefully I'll have it beautified again soon - pics of priya's master piece (part of our 'crafty bug') coming soon!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Gettin Crafty!

Ok, so the crafting bug has been working on me for years, but it's kind of hit or miss in the virus manifesting it's self.  However, I think it's really got a hold this time!  By proclaiming this here, I'm hoping to actually have something happen!  THEREFORE I am proclaiming the new Priya/Mommy crafting hour!  Perhaps we'll call it Peanut Butter time or something silly like that :)  Anyhow, I think one of our first projects will either be her paining a canvas for her room (her idea :) or us mod podging a canvas of bath time photos for the bathroom - either way hopefully you'll see updates about that and much more coming up soon on SLT (Silly Little Things) Stay tuned!
:D

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Wos of a Mom Photographer

Why are your own children always the most difficult to get a good photo of? ;)
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Sunday, June 27, 2010

YW Values handout :)



The bottom one we printed as 5x7s and gave to the YW as a hand out @ our recognition night - if you'd like a copy, please just leave a comment and I'll get it to you. We use the theme of "A call to Virtue" as a theme for the night and had a board where we pinned up statements the girls made about what they would do to live more virtously - it was really neat :D
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Whew!


No, I don't have the promised ballet photos yet - whoops!  It's been quite a few weeks! First off, we were sprinting to get things ready for a big YW recognition night on June 16th and then on Father's Day my parents came in town for a week to hang out and celebrate Alysse's graduation from 'beauty school'!  She'll start in on the Skin Academy and become a master esthetision  (sp?) starting in the fall - she's amazing and I'm sure will do big things!  Then next week we'll take a little trip to Wisconsin for a while and leave Joe here while we hang with the Lemke, and hopefully some of the Heaton clans!
This last week has really been a ton of fun, with my mom helping me organize and clean out the kids clothes, my dad cutting down trees and mile high weeds and just playing, having fun with all of the cousins with movie nights, swimming, jump on it, boodocks and lots of other fun adventures!  I think one of the neatest things is that P. was finally big enough to do more of the fun things and the second neatest thing is that I wasn't so big, so I could do some of the things as well! :D  It's been a blast being able to do things with her and just have fun without worrying about a big ol' belly... well, at least not quite as big!! :D
In another note, Brayden has got to be the smiley-est kid ever!!  That baby is always flashing a smile and mom, dad and even strangers!  Its so funny because almost every time you ask him a question, he replies with a grin - we are just so blessed by our crazy and happy kiddos!  We'll see if we can post Alysse's grad. invite and some of the YW stuff I've worked on lately - have a beautiful day!
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Monday, June 14, 2010

Dancing Queen!

AH! I just realized I never blogged about Priya's first day at dance class!! Well, here's a teaser with more to come :)

 
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Thursday, June 10, 2010

It's been a year...

So, I guess I'm waxing a bit nostalgic tonight. It's been a year since we've moved into our house today and I can't help but reflect on all of the fun, amazing, sad & tragic things that have happened in that year. I can't help thinking about the Grandmas and Uncle we lost, some with more warning than others, and how much I ache, missing them here on earth with me. I am sad none of those who have gone got to meet my baby in the flesh, though I'm sure many were with him before. I miss their laughs, I miss their love and I miss having them here in my life.

I can't help also thinking of this crazy house we have and all that has come with it, for good or for... less good :) I think of our neighbors, our church responsibilities and all of the other things that have changed just because we moved a few miles south. Just over a year ago we had tenants that were some of our best friends, not to mention family and now, we have wonderful tenants in a totally different place, yet it's just not the same. At least Robert and Beth moved too, so its not like it's our 'fault' that one changed :D

I can't help also thinking of all of the beauty and growth of this year. Another pregnancy, this time with a toddler in tow! A beautiful boy that is healthy and oh so VERY very happy! A joyful, dancing, singing, performing, dirt-playing, every-day dress wearing 2 year old that offers a new reason to laugh (or cry :) about every 20 minutes. I also can't believe she finally has hair! And it's oh so cute too! (even if it is out-of-control nap hair! :D)

Mostly, I can't stop thinking of how grateful I am... grateful for my family...near and far, immediate and less so...grateful for my children and husband that I love more every day... grateful for my brother getting ready to deploy, even though I'm scared... grateful for new friends, new responsibilities.... new chances to honor and remember and reflect on the lives of those who have passed - to remember stories they told, try recipes they made, learn more about the lives they lived and hopefully live to be with them again someday.

Believe it or not... it's only been a year.

Hangin with Dru part 2

So as promised, here are a few more photos from when we were all hanging out the other night, along with comments :D feel free to add your own (hint hint-ooo I'm so subtle, I know!)
We had a lot of fun and are just happy we'll get to hang out for another day or two in WI before he heads off for a year. PLEASE be safe, little bro! <3 Enjoy!

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Hangin with Dru...

Dru deploys soon, but before he does, we spent a little time hanging out at his place with a few friends and family. We had a fun time and look! We even got Dru to hold a baby! (don't you love the face :) More photos to come - I know, you can't hardly wait, can you ;)
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1st trip to TGP - take 2!


Ok, I'm trying something new... I THINK this will link to an online album, but who really knows :D Here are a few more photos from last Thurs. trip to TGP (no Dad Heaton, not 2 Girl Party- nice try though!) They're not edited or anything, but I'm hoping to make a few edits if I get the chance... especially of my monkey girl and hopefully one of this cutie boy too :) What a cute group of kids, huh?

Saturday, June 05, 2010

TGP round 1!

Ok, I was going to wait to post these till I had the rest from our Thanksgiving Point trip ready, but I couldn't wait any longer :D  I was just so happy with the way these turned out!  Last Thurs. we went to TGP Farm with my good friend Wendy and her 2 kids and had a great time!  Ok, more honestly, we survived dealing with 2 2 year olds and 2 2 month olds and even got some time hanging out with another adult so I would count that as a super success and a smashingly good time :D  Oh, and I think the kids had a good time too :D

These two girls have been friends since birth!  Here's to hoping they'll be friends for life! :D  Love you guys!




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Wednesday, June 02, 2010

300!!

No, not 300 hot guys killing people.... my 300th Post!!!  And it's only taken 4 little years to do it in ;)
Happy 300 to you, Silly Little Things!  With all the catching up I should do, we'll be at 400 in no time! haha :D

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

More of Grandma's Visit!

I was so sad when I realized I didn't take any photos of our Wii playing and all the other fun thing we did with the fam while Grandma Heaton was here!  We had a great time with the 'ray ray', 'ry'?, 'jon-o' and 'rainy' but apparently that's all only documented in video :)  Maybe we post that another day - Mom beating Joe at Wii sword fighting was pretty intense! :D  And Jon and Joe jamming was definitely over too soon!  So much talent it's out of control!  Hopefully Jon will get a chance to share some of the tracks he and his brother in law are recording someday soon!
What I DO have is a few photos from after church Sunday- first my Peewee again :)  Then here are my 2 dapper dudes :)  Joe had to go get his suit-coat.  You'd think now that he's kind of a leader at church (EQP) he'd wear a coat with his suit pants more often, but no :)  Still the same Joe!
Below that is Grandma, then me - notice my photographer didn't have quite the same skill level as in the other shots ;)
At the bottom is a picture Mom got from Grandma Ella's house - it was Grandpa Garth's and I believe his dad is in the photo... is that right Mom?
Well, that's us for now!  Enjoy your day and my cutie fam!



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