I Had to...

This story began last Sunday when my husband wanted to start a puzzle we had gotten for Christmas. Mike loves doing puzzles and takes it very serious.

So, he worked hard on it all afternoon and when he was done for the day he had gotten a lot done in the middle. Mike kept telling John, our three year old, to not touch the pieces and not throw them on the floor. John did very well not touching them and getting the pieces.

Monday came around and the puzzle was still not completed. I was busy doing my Monday morning work and not watching John to closely with the puzzle. When I finally noticed the puzzle it looked like this:

I told John that he would have to show Dad what he did to Dad's puzzle.

Kayci came home from school that day and noticed the puzzle. Kayci said, "Oh no John you ruined the puzzle" John then said to Kayci, "I HAD TO". I had to laugh it was so cute.

I'm sure he stayed away from that puzzle as long as he could. I love boys, they are a lot of fun!!

Red Envelope Project

I was looking at the blog It's Good to Be Queen and enjoyed a post she had today.

I am posting this idea so that you can check it out and see if this will be something you are interested in doing. I am for sure going to do this and excited to pass this on.

Take a look and I hope you make it happen!!

Some of my Favorite Things...

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when your feeling sad, just simply remember your favorite things and then it won't feel sooooo bad... (Can you hear Ms. Andrews singing?) Here are a few of my favorite things I picked up while shopping with my sister at Hobby Lobby. I had so much fun and excited to enjoy what I got.

I know this jar has a name but I can't remember what it is. I liked it and got it for $2.00. It should be fun changing the items inside every once in a while.

I also bought this sign at Hobby Lobby. I have been wanting to spice up my laundry room to help make it a more exciting spot for me. When I saw this I had to get it. This is the first and only thing I have placed for fun in my laundry room. I think it is a good start. Anyone ever feel this way!! Help Needed...I know I have felt this way in the past.

Anyone have ideas for a fun laundry room. I would love to see them. Have a nice day!!

Titus 2 Tuesday... Whom will you serve?

I have enjoyed visiting the blog A Teachable Heart. Shanda has given a challenge to use Tuesdays to give tribute to a woman that has influenced my life. I have thought about who I would tribute today and I wanted to give my love and appreciation to Denise. I wish I had a picture of her.

I met Denise when I first moved to Arizona. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and in our church we are given callings to serve the people of our congregation. I was asked to be her Secretary in the Relief Society Organization for women. I will forever be grateful for this opportunity. This experience gave me the opportunity to grow spiritually, and learn how not to judge others. Denise taught me how to serve the women in our area. She was so good at doing what ever was needed to be done and had so much love for the women. Denise would call on me often to go do visits with her. In the Relief Society many visits are given to those in need. I have much love for Denise because she is a true daughter of God and taught me many things. I will always have a love for her in my heart. Thank you Denise for giving me the chance to know you and be part of a wonderful experience. I love the power of womanhood and the love that woman can give each other if we can not judge each other and just be there for one another. Have a wonderful day!! Something to think about: We are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction.

This was amazing!!

Saturday my husband and I took a trip into town to take a big load of our things to the local thrift store. Of course, since I was there I had to go in and look around, but I didn't find anything worth getting this time.

We then had to go to Walmart to get some pictures printed. I wanted to look at the lamps because I am in need of a lamp for my bedroom and a tall lamp for my front room. We were pricing and seeing what we would want. We were looking at the clearanced lamps, my husband took one to price it when he came back he told me it scanned for $1.00. Yep, you saw it right $1.00!!! There were two lamps left and so we bought them both. Now I have two lamps for my room. I got two lamps and unfortunately they only had one lamp shade left. My one lamp with the shade cost $6.00. That was a fun trip to Walmart!! and I don't even like shopping at Walmart.

Cosmic Bowling, Anyone?

I did two posts today so I could get caught up on my blogging.

Last year we signed up for a cosmic bowling night and we had a blast.

This year I saw that it was happening again and we wanted to join in the fun again.

So, I must confess, I am a terrible bowler. Seriously, all three of my kids beat my score (even my three year old boy). Sad!!

Needless to say, I had a lot of fun anyway just being there. Here are some pictures of our night.

Cosmic bowling is done in the dark with disco lights and loud music. Our local rec-center provides this activity with bowling alley. We were able to bowl for 2 hours as many games as you can and it was only $15.00 which includes our shoes also.

The food is the real reason my kids love cosmic bowling night. This place has the best french fries. This year we let the kids get their own drinks and a sandwich with french fries. They had a lot of fun.

It was a great night and we will definitely do it again next year!!

Do You Need a Good Book?

I recently decided to join our library book club. I don't get out enough and recently had felt a slight depressed because of not getting out for activities. I had my kids taking a break from sports and other activities and now I am feeling the desire to get back out to socialize and get my kids outside. So, with my spirits ready to soar and do things, I signed my daughter up for indoor soccer and I am joining a book club. For the month of February we read the cutest book I had read in the longest time. It's title is Miss Potter by Richard Maltby. This is a story of Beatrix Potter who wrote the Peter Rabbit story and other children's books. This was such a fun book for me to read. After I finish this post I will be watching the movie. I recommend this book because it is a clean, fun story about an amazing independent women. If I had only had her independence when I was growing up. Read the book and let me know how you enjoyed it.

A Blessed Life...

I went out of town to visit some of my family this President's Day weekend and to my surprise I was given a challenge at Quilted Simple.

Kris at Quilted Simple passed this challenge on to me a few days ago. I have been out of town having fun with my kids, sisters and my parents. I enjoyed my weekend and really glad that everything turned out to be a good trip.

I am supposed to write five things that make my life grand. Here I go!

• My healthy family. I have 3 children that are healthy and have the ability to learn, play, argue, run, learn, smile, scream, whine, love animals, and love their friends and family. I also have a husband that I have learned to appreciate through trials of faith. I have learned that I enjoy being around him, I learned that he is a fun person and will do anything to live a better life for me and himself, I also have learned to appreciate who he is and allow him to be himself.
• My husband's job. My husband still has a job!! This is a blessing that keeps us going in being able to buy the things that we need to live.
• My faith in a living God. My life is grand because I know that I have a Heavenly Father that loves me. I know my life is better when I know that He is real and that he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to live and die for me. My life is grand because of the Savior. He has blessed my life with everything that I need. One lesson that I have learned is that I need the Lord because he can give me more, by following him, than I could ever give myself.
• My trials. Because of my trials and weaknesses I have been able to grow and become who I am today. I have a grand life because of my trials. My trials have built me up to be who I am. I know that I am beautiful, fun, happy, filled with peace, and I have been able to discover that I can do anything, I can be creative and I can make things happen for me and my family.
• My single wide trailer. Yes, I live in a single wide trailer. My husband and I had the opportunity to purchase 9 acres with this single wide trailer. My life is grand because I have a roof over my head and can have shelter for my family. Thanks to the owner's before us they fixed it up and now I have been able to make our trailer our home and fill it with love, fun and I think even cute things to enjoy. My life is grand because we have land to enjoy and I can even say we own a mountain. I'm glad to live where we do.

I am truly blessed and have a lot to be thankful for. This may seem crazy but my heart feels soft right now and is filled with emotion.

Thanks Kris for passing on the challenge to let me look at what makes my life GRAND!!

Now I get to pass this on to five people. I promised a certain someone I wouldn't pass this on to them so I want to pass this on to: Janae, Diane, Winona, Dahlene, and Leona.

Two Sisters sharing one heart

My family used to live in Arizona where we met some wonderful people. At our church that we attended we had a family that had conjoined twins. These little girls share one heart. They are two years old now and it is a complete miracle that they are still alive. I wanted to pass on the information of a fundraiser the friends and family are doing this weekend. You can click on the link and learn more about these cute girls. http://emmaandtaylorbailey.blogspot.com/

It's Valentine's week

HAPPY VALENTINE'S WEEK!! I like celebrating Valentine's Day. I usually prepare a nice dinner and have candles and a fun gift for everyone at the table, but this year I will be in Salt Lake City with my kids. So, we are having a Valentine's breakfast. I plan on making heart shaped pancakes with strawberries and maybe red eggs. I will have a fun gift for everyone when they come for breakfast. Then after breakfast I will be on my way to SLC. I'm excited to go visit my family.

I bought this heart basket a couple weeks ago at the DI for $1.00. I placed this bow on it and the bear I already had. I thought it turned out cute. It's fun when I think I do something cute. Have a great week and Happy Valentine's Day!!

Something to think about: Love One Another!

"Fancy Nancy"...tea party

Kayci and I had such a fun day today. We were able to dress up and go to a "Fancy Nancy" tea party at our local library. Our library is amazing, they have such fun activities that we can be involved in. I had a lot of fun spending time one on one with kayci. She is a fun girl and loves to be a girl. This is her kind of day!! Thanks Kayci for coming with me.

Don't you love my hat. I couldn't find a fancy hat for me at the thrift store, but I was able to find Kayci's hat this week. I was so excited when I

found it for $1.00.

The ladies at the library went to a lot of work to give these girls a fun tea party they will never forget. We had yummy refreshments and the girls got to have their finger nails painted and each girl took home a cute purse with lip gloss, a pen and more.

Something to think about: "No matter what our individual circumstances are, we all have the opportunity to edify and nurture others"

Silvia H. Allred

Yea...It's Fun Friday!!!

I love Friday nights. I love hanging out with my family and watching movies with junk food and A&W Root Beer. I know technically one can not be addicted to A&W, but I think I am. We buy a 2 liter every Friday and drink it all.

We like to play board games, once in a while. One game I recommend getting is Sorry Sliders. This is has been fun for my kids. It is a really good game for my first grader that is learning to add numbers together. It has been fun for us to play.

Last Friday night My little boy wanted to pose for some pictures. Here are a few of what he was doing. He is so funny.

Something to think about: What is a functional family? One in which family members work together to improve relationships as they face challenges. Dr. MacArthur, BYU, Feb. Ensign 2009

Kreative...ME?

A famous blogger, at Small House, has passed on this award to me. It has something to do with having a creative blog. I would never say that I have a creative blog, I just do the blog because a certain person pursuaded my mind to give it a try and I have enjoyed doing it for me. I enjoy looking at other blogs that are on my blog list too. I would give all these ladies this award and hope that they accept this award for themselves too.

http://inthissmallhouse.blogspot.com

Thanks for thinking of me!!

Click on the link above and you will see how fun this blog is. I enjoy visiting it often and have been able to get to know a wonderful lady. She could uplift anyones day. Enjoy!!

It's February...What to do?

I can't believe it is February and time for me to find a project for this month. What shoud I do?

Last night while watching the Super Bowl, which I was hoping Arizona would win. We were cheering for them. Yes, I even screamed out loud when a touch down was made. I LOVE FOOTBALL!! Ask my family they will tell you the same thing.

While watching the game I looked through my bag of embroidery and cross stitch projects I had worked on. I noticed that I had a table runner that I completed quite a while ago. Before blogging I wouldn't had tried to do anything with it, but now I see all that can be done and I know that I can make something out of this table runner.

This month I will work on this table runner and make it into something nice to use.

Something to think about: Knowing the truth takes the chance out of decision making. Only when the truth is known is one actually making a choice; otherwise, he may be simply guessing at the course he should follow.

A Parent's Guide