I Hate It When That Happens!

Just one piece and the border would be complete!

Time to hunt through all 55 million other pieces to find the 1...grrrr....

As a Follow-Up

A follow up to our end of 2014 post, when we received notice that our new tv was ready for pick up, it was all we could do to contain ourselves before we headed out to get it. Dan was concerned about getting it home from the store, however, it fit perfectly in the back seat of our car:

It didn't take us long to get it all set up! We have both enjoyed this new toy!!!

So Much to Say...

...no time to say it!

We're busy packing for our move across the US to Pennsylvania. As a result I'm having to prioritize and again blogging falls to the bottom of the list. Now if I were an octopus I'd be able to blog & pack at the same time, but then I'd be slimy, have to live in the ocean, and creep along...maybe that's not such a good idea after all.

Here's what I will have to catch up on sometime in the coming weeks:

• Uncle Harold's Funeral
• Trip to PA-O'Hare layover
• Updo
• New Job interview process
• Packing
• On the road again
• Next adventures in our new home & new job
• Anything else that comes to mind

Best guess is it will be a couple weeks before the time can be found. I will shoot for find time sooner, rather than later.

Spring & Easter

While strolling through a store we'd not been in before, I kept smelling and hearing chirping. Eventually we discovered the source:

They had two big water troughs with chicks for sale. It was fun to watch them interact, sleep and climb on top of each other. We opted to leave them all at the store even though we found them fairly cute. If you are interested, I'm sure they are a better deal now that Easter is over.

For Christmas, Amanda gave me cute homemade serving plates/dishes for a couple holidays. I "patiently" waited for Easter to arrive so I could pull this one out and fill it with goodies:

It was a fun addition to the few other decorations I have.

A while ago, I saw this picture and the tutorial and thought, that looks easy enough:

Originally found here



 

I blew up balloons, purchased some yarn, and got the other supplies to make these. I thought I would start with three of them to figure it out first and see if I needed to do any adjustments. Two were with yarn and one with embroidery floss. I made sure to let them dry for a couple days so that I wouldn't have that problem, however, when I popped the balloons something didn't seem to work quite right:

 

They just shrivelled up and lost their egg shape.

 

 

At least I had one work...but those aren't very good odds...and they look nothing like the tutorial. Whoops. Maybe next year I'll try again but this time I suppose I'd better do it exactly how they suggest rather than using what I have and following the suggestions of others.

 

 

Can you Feel the Love Tonight?

A few days before Valentines I was visiting a sister from Church and she gave me some flowers to float in a bowl. Well, I had more flowers than bowls so I used anything that might work (I have them in 5 different containers around the house). I liked the look of the white-on-white but decided to add a little color to the decor:

Even thought it doesn't look it in the picture, the water's pink. Feeling a little cleaver and creative with this super easy "project."

Our finances are so tight right now it's insane. Thankfully we are meeting all of our obligations and not falling behind on anything but there just isn't room for anything extra. As Valentine's approached I'll admit, I was completely bummed and bothered by our situation.

Regardless, we still had a nice Valentine's Day and managed to spoil each other a little and keeping our financial belts tight and secure.

A personalized CD with some of Dan's favorite showtunes and a card from me.

Some yummy chocolate & toffee candy and a letter from Dan.

To the Redbox for a free 1-night movie rental.

(P.S. We both really liked this movie.)

We redeemed our most current 2-for-1 Blizzard coupon.

Not really good for us, but oh, such a tasty way to send Dan off to work.

Last year our ward did a Family Valentine's dance that was a huge success. The Bishop said he's had several 5-6 year-olds ask if we'd do another dance. Well, we made it a new tradition! On Friday the 15th the Timber Creek ward held the 2nd Annual Valentine's Dance. Dan and I made sure to not to miss it this year and we had a BLAST!!!!! (Last year we were out of town for this event.)

Like last year, they had Just Dance for the Wii  projected onto a large screen and drew names from a basket to get to use the controllers. Then everyone who wanted to would stand in front or back of those being scored and dance along. Well looking around I realized that we had 4 of 5 members of the Bishopric there...Soooooo...guess who was called to perform? Yep, the Bishopric! Of course I made sure to grab my camera to record the moment for future posterity and ward history:

 

Can you see the facial expressions, especially, Dan's? He wasn't hamming it up any either, wink, wink.

 

Their rhythm was so amazing they are talking about taking their show on the road, NOT! I do have a short video of them dancing but Blogger isn't being super video-download-friendly at present so it will have to wait. Trust me, you will want to be sure to enjoy that epic piece of entertainment as soon as I can get it up.

Even if it wasn't like previous years or all we would have wished, it was still enjoyable and we had a memorable Valentine's weekend.

Houston...I think we have a problem...

This is how our washing machine has looked for the last couple days.

I realized, after trying to spin a load three times, that the drum wasn't spinning at all...kind of a problem...So we took the cover off (thank you YouTube for the video instructions) to see if we could see anything stuck and blocking the drum. No luck and the end of our fix-it ability. A call to a friend from church and we still don't have it fixed (beyond his skill set too).

Thankfully I just received a call from the place we purchased the washer & dryer and they are on their way to work their magic--they predict it's the coupler or clutch that needs to be replaced--they guarantee they will fix any repair for $50. YAY! I have at least four loads of laundry waiting to be washed, including the wet batch I was washing when I discovered the problem.

An answer, FINALLY!

Still wondering about my project I mentioned here? Everything was for Girl's Camp prep. Here are some of the pictures of the finished projects and how they looked at camp:

 

Some of the fun that week: (And, yes, amazingly, I'm saying fun.)

Packing up the borrowed truck to head off with the girls for a week.

Learning to kayak

(yep, I did this)

Learning to fly fish

(yep did this too)

"Chipmunk" fires to teach the required fire stuff.

Art basics

(Yep, did one too.)

 

One of the biggest hits all week...feeding the chipmunks!

(Yep, just watched the girls do that one.)

And of course, you can't forget the skits!

 

 

We all survived the drive (even after spilling Dr. Pepper in my lap), the food (prepped by the girls & cooked by a caterer), the rodents (all the cabins had mice, not fun), and the week away in the magical world called Girl's Camp.

Guess the Project...

What have I been up to lately and why?

I will say that I've been enjoying it. :)

Why Didn't I Think of That?

I was introduced to this blog today:

http://emilyweaverbrownphoto.com/blog/

Check out her black light bath, bentos, and light table. I didn't look closely at experimenting with color but at first glance, that looks pretty cool too! For those who try her ideas with your little ones (heck, or big ones, I'm thinking I might have to try some myself) have fun with the creativity and photos that I'm sure will follow.

Return of the Prodigal Blogger-Part 2

My goal is to get to sleep early tonight so I'll see how much I get posted before it's time to call it a night.

December began with our ward Christmas party. Dan and I were asked to be the chairs of the committee so the ideas began. As we contemplated what to do and how to do it I felt very strongly that our ward needed to be together celebrating and not some of us serving while others were celebrating. We contacted another ward to see if they would serve at our dinner in return for us serving at theirs. After several people commented on how nice it was to all be together and I was pleased that the inspiration came together as it did.

Each of the auxiliaries were in charge of part of the night. The YW helped with Santa and took pictures. The YM helped usher and set up the tables and chairs. The Relief Society decorated, the Primary worked with the Bishopric on a gift to the families, the Elder Quorum picked up the food, and the High Priests gave a presentation. Everyone helped with the clean up.

Santa came at the beginning of the event and he was in a room other than where we served dinner. We had everyone sing the 12 Days of Christmas and broke up the group by days. Each group selected a person or two to go to the front and read part of "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The High Priests took the book I Believe in Santa Claus by Diane G. Adamson and shared its message with those in attendance.

The whole evening went well and we came away very pleased with the end result and how it all came together.

I've often passed The Pastry Perfection when running errands or driving various places around town. It's only a few miles from our place and every time I drive by I think I'll stop in someday. Well, someday finally came. As we headed home from work I decided that I'd splurge some of my allowance money for Home Evening treats at Pastry Perfection. A smart and yet dangerous decision at the same time.

A good portion of the month was spent getting Christmas ready; purchasing gifts, wrapping, shipping, decorating the house, etc.

  

There much more to come but I'd better stop here before I don't get it posted and I'm more months behind...

Muchas Thankas

Did you know there's a National Volunteer Week? I didn't, which I suppose is not a good thing, but now I do. It's in April, which is also National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Because Safe Harbor had so many other things going on in April, we delayed doing any celebrating and thanking for our volunteers.

I had the idea that I'd like to do a gathering/party for our classroom volunteers I'd been working with. They all stayed much longer than their required 15-50 service hours and became such good friends that it seemed that we needed to do something a bit bigger for them. So a BBQ was planned right before we moved so I could be there too, not to thank me but for me to to be there to help thank them.

The crisis nursery had been given some small, portable grills which Dan and Bryce put together. After that was finished we loaded it with charcoal, the only problem is that there wasn't any lighter fluid in the charcoal and I didn't buy any. We used come paper to try to start the grill but with the winds whipping around us, all we lit was the paper. So much for a traditional summer BBQ.

We moved inside to finish prepping the food. There was plenty so if anyone walked away hungry, it was their own fault.

The party wasn't a surprise. So as part of the fun we drew names and gave that person a $5.00 white elephant gift. The ideas started popping and everyone did a great job coming up with some super creative ideas.

Marta was so creative with her gift. She hunted thrift stores for just the right items. Her person (Karson) wasn't able to attend but Marta show us Karson's gift anyway:

Marta determined (correctly I might add) that Karson is one who would suddenly break into song while strolling through the forest in a Snow White kind of way. So Marta hunted for all the little figures and hot glued the figures and flowers onto the hat for Karson to wear when that urge strikes.

Nick received a package of mustaches similar to these:

Found the picture here.

It didn't take long before everyone was sporting a different mustache while we played games:

Abby

Nick

Marta

Sarah & Bryce

I don't understand why everyone laughed hardest at my mustache. It got so that no one could look at me without cracking up. And Dan wouldn't give me a kiss either. So much for building my self-confidence.

This is where I received our little one. Definitely another creative white elephant gift.

We played games together and just laughed and laughed. Karson, Kourtnee, and Hannah were all missed. We tried to schedule it so everyone could be there but life has a way of altering the best laid plans.

Those I worked with at Safe Harbor are as much apart of me as the children we helped. Each of teens at the party graduated from high school this year, as did Karson and Hannah. I wish them all the best as they move forward with college, work, and all else their futures have in store for them. I truly miss each one of them and hope we will continue to stay in contact. Everyone I worked with at Safe Harbor have left hand prints on my heart.