Poor Pictures, Cute Kids

Thank you, global warming!  We have had the most incredible winter so far.  Outside without coats, sunshine and rain.  I sent Eddy out in Davy's boots to stomp in some puddles.  I ran inside to grab the camera but before I could fix settings I snapped this one and only of the day.  This may be an unusually warm winter, but the water is still as cold as ice.

We've been quite the busy train station around here.  Davy is constantly building elaborate tracks and performing stories with his engines--some based on the Thomas the Train movies, some of his own creation.  Love it!

I, like many other mom, have things I thought I'd do or be as a mother.  Among the (rather longer than I hoped) list, I always thought I'd be a really crafty, artsy, fun mom.  Alas I am in reality not.  I freak out about the mess too much to make the actual art project fun for anyone.  So that finger paint that I bought in high hopes of being the crafty mom has been sitting unused for over a year.  Then, light bulb!  (Pinterest to the rescue.)  Let them use the washable paint in a place that contains it and is easy to clean.  Brilliant.  So we've been hauling out the finger paint at bath time.  Huge hit.  Happy, creative kids.  Easy clean up.  Successful mom moment.  

  

Switching places.  Little baby big kids, the both of them.  Eddy's incredibly adorable trying to be a big kid.  He's trying to somersault (have a video, but Eddy has carried away the camera battery to some unknown location) with Davy, jump with both feet off the ground, spinning in place, and swagger with the best of them.

The other morning Davy rediscovered his piggy-bank and asked for some money to put in it.  I told him he could earn some and he eagerly earned three pennies washing the windows, cleaning a corner of the floor in the kitchen, and cleaning the floor under a desk.  We have these remarkable micro-fiber clothes that catch the dust and dirt even when the child is smearing it around.  Highly recommend those!

Projects/house tour

Last fall my mind was swarmed with lots of project ideas, most of which I put aside until after the Christmas projects and festivities.  One of those Christmas present projects for the grandmas was this silhouette pillow of the kiddos.  I kept the guinea pig tester for myself.

I wanted to have lots to distract me and the boys during a terribly cooped-up winter.  So far the worst of winter has yet to appear, but I've started in on my projects anyway!  Here are some images of what I've been working on. 

I've made some throw pillows, one out of an old shirt of Collin's that was not fit for wearing to the office anymore, and one out of my old thrift store jackets that I loved in college but no longer wear.  I also painted a trunk for the dress-ups.  I found the trunk at a Goodwill in Pennsylvania when we were visiting Collin last year.  It was the perfect size and price ($5) but super ugly with vapid colors and sappy puppy dogs and umbrellas.  I avoided taking any pictures of it for months, but now I wish I had gotten a before, just to prove how yucky it was.  Not that I'm an artist and made it any better, but the colors and subject matter are much more suitable for the boys now.  And I don't cringe as much when I see it now!
 

In the boys room I have put up some bunting.  This was not on my project "pile", but I had the sewing machine out for the other things and decided spontaneously that the space above their bed needed some life.  I hesitate to hang pictures above where a child sleeps for fear of it falling down in the night and hurting them (or even just waking them up!).  I still need to fill that space somehow (I would paint a mural, but we're in a rental . . .  Maybe a really big and cool wall sticker instead of those cheapy dollar store wall stickers Davy got in his stocking last year?), but for now the bunting is fun and used up lots of scraps I had lying around.  We also found a huge canvas in the church lost and found that was not claimed and was going to be sent to the trash.  I snagged it and we have hung it on the big wall in the boys room.  It is as so perfect, filling up the whole wall and making the temple as large as life for the children.

 

I also wanted to show some of my favorite spots in the house, but I have realized that I have no idea how to stage or practice at capturing those places like in all the design/home decor blogs I follow.  Well, it's a work in progress anyway, so I'll practice again another time.  Plus I forgot about before and after pictures to demonstrate what a stark change and improvement there was!  :)  

I adore this window in our living room.  It is so gorgeous and cheerful.  It provides a place that can be purely decorative.  Only one of those vases means anything to me, the rest were picked up on trash day.

The mantle has already changed in the few days since I took this picture.  The big canvas fell in the night, taking the plant with it for a big mess.  That made me look again at the arrangement and realize that there were too many canvases there anyway.  So the lady and her lambs has been removed to the entry and a blue mosaic mirror takes her place.  The TV is in our fireplace, since we'll never have a fire.  I love that we can hid it so easily, but access it in the blink of an eye when we want.

My computer desk.  This, and the blue IKEA desk swivel chair, were yet more free curb-side finds.  The drawer is perfect for my laptop and I can tuck it away when necessary, too. 

We've made a little library in our entry.  It's arrangement is slightly awkward, but there is the reality of apartment living!  The piano and reading chair will be shown another time, after my picture shelves have been installed and decorated.  

I take great pleasure and pride in creating a home.  It is one of my favorite responsibilities.  I also love that I can do this work while being an attentive mom.  I find those days when we are rearranging furniture, cleaning corners, and pinning projects together so much smoother and pleasant than days where I spend too much time on the computer, trying to push aside the children to get one last email written, or fill the day with too many errands. 

Happy Being Three

It's been a long and winding road to this point.  The past month has been rough as Davy has refused to be three.  He was so excited in the weeks leading up to his birthday, but when the morning after dawned he decided that three was too scary.  He insisted he was two, a baby, too little--anything opposite of three, big boy, so big.  We still have rough patches through the day where he protests he is a little baby, but slowly slowly Davy is deciding that three is pretty great after all.  Here are the things we are learning to be happy about being three:

- Spitting toothpaste
- Cartoon underwear
- Hopping on one foot
- Putting on own socks and shoes
- Making train track bridges
- Putting on own seat belt
- Spreading own jam on bread

Completely Without Permission

I'm waxing slightly homesick today.  Not for my childhood home, necessarily (spending a month over the holidays was plenty to get me through for a while!).  However, I do miss those people that make home so wonderful.  I was looking through the pictures we took near my Dad's office at BYU.  I started remembering all the fun we had--not just last month, but my whole life.  Those inside jokes that only family get.  The shared joys and sadness.  The way they see the best and the very worst of you and still love you.  I really hope that Davy and Eddy (and any other kids that come along) continue to be as good friends as I feel my sibling and I are.  So here are some pics (a little bragging here--I took these ones!) of some of my favorite people:

 

Erica--Gorgeous, huh?  And so funny and down-to-earth.

 

Camilla--Just got home from an awesome mission.  So sensitive and caring.

 

Kathryn--An incredible cook and needleworker and full of random, smarty facts.

 Spencer--Musical, debonair, and so sweet.

Jonathan--Athletic, funny, and way too talkative ;)

  

 Luke--Devours books, great at games, and kind.

 

I was telling Collin just the other day that I hope someday our kids will be glad that we were their parents.  We sure have a lot to learn and a long way to go before we are "goodly parents!"  Parents are not perfect, but mine are pretty close--patient, learned, with an intact sense of humor and testimonies.

Weekend Wit

A couple of our funny-ish moments:

Davy wanted to jump from the desk over my legs while I was sitting on the couch.  I told him that I didn't like the sound of that "game." Davy replied in his best Dr. Seuss sing-song voice, "You may like it, you will see!"

Collin said, "How are you doing, my love?"  I started to reply when Collin interrupted, "No, sorry, I was talking to my iPhone."  This came after several discussions about my preference about him not checking Facebook right before falling asleep.

We got a smidgeon, kid-friendly-amount of snow this week.  I was unloading groceries from the trunk into the house and was inside when I heard Eddy start to wail.  I ran outside expecting to see him soaking from a fall in the slush, but instead just his face was wet.  I asked Davy, who was all the way across the driveway, what had happened.  He answered, "I just threw a snowball at him and he didn't like it."  I was partially impressed with Davy's aim, but told him faces were off limits as targets.

Yes, Eddy got a hair cut. And yes, that is a serious gash on his forehead.  Oh, and yes, he is still in his PJs, though this was at lunch time.  Captured seconds before he dropped his fork but stayed asleep. The irony is that I had just mentioned to Collin the day before that neither of our kids had yet fallen asleep at a meal, and I was disappointed because those pictures are so cute when the kid has totally wiped out face down in their plate. So here is our first mealtime nap. I probably would have caught him and put him properly to bed before he fell asleep if I had been an attentive mom, but I was so absorbed in the newspaper that I didn't turn around until I heard silence.

Finishing up Utah

The ladder was out several times during our visit, to get Christmas decoration boxes from the attic, put them away, change several light bulbs.  Eddy was always quick to hop on and slow to want to get off. 

One of my best friends from growing up let us visit her at the farm where I used to keep Abu and Tess.  She gave me the best present ever by letting me ride.  She was so sweet to get out her daughter's mini horse for the boys to ride, as well.  Both actually preferred to ride with me in a rather precarious manner.  Davy refused to wear the helmet and it was too big for Eddy, so I suppose it was rather dangerous as well.  But the day was gorgeous and no one got hurt.  I sure miss riding.  I have yet to find an exercise that I love to replace it, or a better way to relax and unwind.  For me, nothing beats horse and dirt and sweat for de-stressing a body and mind. 

I posted on the eve of our 5 year anniversary about how great Collin and our marriage is.  Our actual anniversary day was great too, if in a slightly unconventional way.  We started by doing some sealings in the Mt Timpanogas temple with my parents and sister.  The names were some family names from a genealogy-mad neighbor.  We were fortunate enough to get the same room that we were sealed in.  Cool!

Then we visited a friend, drove to Salt Lake City but didn't get reservations for the Rooftop Restaurant and ate at the college-hangout  Red Iguana Mexican place instead (though it was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and had horchata to die for).  While we were sitting in the car after dinner looking up directions--in a very sketchy part of SLC, I might add--we were approached by a lady in a wheelchair who asked us to buy her some medicine.  Hoping we weren't helping a habit, we bought her some alcohol-free store brand NyQuil.  Then we walked through Temple Square to see the lights with another friend (he lives a block away and let us use his parking place).  It was quite a nice day after all, but perhaps not the textbook definition of "how to spend your anniversary." :)

Grandma Lambourne sent Davy a stomp rocket for Christmas.  We were so grateful to have it as the weather there (as all around the country, apparently) was balmy and very un-winter-like.  My brothers also got into the stomp rocket and much fun was had by all.

I dare you not to smile.

We had a very small, just-the-right-size Christmas, with just one or two presents each to open Christmas morning.  Then my family concentrated on fun experiences together--going to our favorite restaurants, getting lots of treats, and trying out the wave rider surfing at Provo Resort.  I wish I had pictures of the end of the hour session, because Collin and my brothers actually got pretty good.  All I have are the wipe outs and one second success of the beginning. 

Collin's mom and sisters drove up to visit us for a few days at the end of our trip.  It was so fun to have them there.  They went through several mishaps to get to us and we were very grateful that we (the boys) were worth the trip! 

Another fun and rather crazy adventure (of my Mom's planning) was a hike to Bridal Veil Falls and a bike ride down the canyon.  It was freezing cold on the walk to the waterfall as the trail is on the north side of the mountain and never sees the sun in the winter.  There were lots of frozen "lakes" on the asphalt trail and Davy loved "ice skating."  By the time we returned to the car, though, we were all like popsicles.  So the older guys got layered up in hats and gloves to ride the 4 miles down the mountain.  But as the bike trail is on the other side and in the sun it was scorching hot for the bikers.