Cute Nativity for Kids

I found this linked on a blog yesterday and because we don't have a nativity, I figured we could whip it up. Hadley had fun colouring it for the first little while, but it took FOREVER to colour everything. She coloured baby Jesus (notice the brown face). I tried hard to just let her colour it how she wanted......after all, it's for the kids, right?

The instructions call for 13 toilet paper rolls, but I tend to throw those away.....so I didn't have 13 just lying around, so I just printed it out on cardstock and then cut it out and stapled it together instead of using glue. I did use a paper towel roll for the nativity though, because it doesn't work really without something to staple it to.

Anyway, here it is. We may have to make it again next year.....the angel is already missing a wing.....why do kids like to rip paper so much? Or is it just my kids? They rip everything! Books....especially with the lift-a-flaps....and most recently, my piano music that I'm supposed to play in church tomorrow......oh well...luckily someone invented tape.

Hadley's B-day

Hadley's birthday was on the 8th. I was thinking about doing a "real" party for her, but she doesn't really have any little friends yet, besides her cousins. We were at my parent's house because John has been working in Raymond with his brother Dan, so Dan just brought his 2 oldest daughters with him to Raymond and we had a party all day. Hadley wanted it to be a My little pony party and requested a "Toola Roola" pinata, a "Rainbow Dash" cake, and a "Starsong" pin-the-tail on the pony. I put my artistic abilities to work......or lack thereof......and threw this little shin-dig together. They had lots of fun!

 

 

Don't laugh too hard....

 

Santa Lives!

 Make a video from Santa for your kids. Hadley thought this was so cool. Enjoy!

Here's the one I made for Hadley

Or you can make your own here.

5 years

We've been married now for 5 years! Craziness. It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but then when I think of all that's happened since then, I'm surprised that it's ONLY been 5 years.

1. We've moved 11 times....with a bunch of mini moves mixed in there

2. We've lived in 2 provinces and 3 states

3. We've had 3 children

Loads of fun. But, now we're somewhat settled and will probably be staying here for a few more years.

I love John so much and am amazed at how well two people can get along. I love our life.

Extreme Makeover: John edition

 

Want some free Christmas gifts?

I started a review/giveaway blog a few months ago with my "Cute Like Me" business partner (sounds so official....). It is super fun, but lately our number of entries into the giveaways has depleted. This has its benefits though for those who enter.....more chances to win! There is a giveaway ending tonight for your choice of T-shirt from Crazy Dog Tees. Currently there are 24 comments.....not very many..... SO, if you want to win some stuff, go enter. Even if you are my sister.....or mom....you can still win......

Check it out HERE

Christmas List Collage

The other day Hadley wanted to do a "craft". She wanted to do one with me....hmmm. After giving a few suggestions, I came up with the perfect idea. She loves cutting and gluing, and she has been talking A LOT lately about what she wants for her birthday and Christmas. So, naturally, this is what I came up with.

Step 1: Draw a large outline of a Christmas Tree, complete with star.
Step 2: Gather flyers and magazines
Step 3: Cut out what you want for Chrismas

Step 4: Glue to the Tree - or put around the tree if you run out of room (we both did....I guess we're a little greedy....)

Here's mine - I don't really know what I ACTUALLY want for Christmas....but here are some things on my eventual wishlist....or things that I like....not that I would mind getting all these things.....especially the new laptop - ours is dying!

When I showed John my masterpiece, he said "why do you want that ugly green sweater"....

Anyway, it's not the most beautiful craft in the world, but it may keep your child busy and then you can get rid of all the Christmas flyers that have been overtaking your house!

Graduation

Yikes......the boys are in real beds now.... They've been in playpens since they were born but Elijah has been climbing out of his for about a month. Brian climbed out a few times, but I think he stopped because he fell and hurt himself once. In the past few weeks Elijah would climb out of his playpen and then push a little table in their room over to his playpen and climb back in. I figured he was ready for a bed.....and naturally, Brian joined in the fun. Last night wasn't too bad. Brian just fell out once. Today for their nap we just had to put them back in bed about 10 times. They think their beds are super cool, so that helps a bit....

Birthday Boys!

The boys had a birthday today. I can't believe it's only been 2 years. It seems like they were born eons ago.....probably because we've moved 5 times since then.......

Enjoy some pics!

About 2 years ago.....

We filled their room with balloons......

 

I was going to forgo the whole cake decorating thing, but I decided to add some food colouring and make a makeshift road on the cake. It was pretty awesome.....

 

It was a fun day! I love my boys and it is so fun to see how they are growing. They are so different from each other. Elijah LOVES his cars. Brian likes them, but he LOVES hockey more. Whenever he sees a hockey stick, he has to have it, and then goes looking for a ball. So fun.....

I love these cards!

Win a $20 gift card for some super cute christmas cards! I love them.

Halloween

Our kids loved Halloween this year. Hadley was a great trick or treater. Brian kept saying "choo choo" for "trick or treat". Elijah kept getting scared.

Hadley wanted to be a pirate, and Brian and Elijah were Mario and Luigi. All I had to buy was Hadley's hat for $1. Not bad.

Fabulous Friday

I entered the giveaway on Today's Creative Blog today.....how about you?

Halloween Printables

I've been in the mood to decorate for Halloween and picked up a couple things at the dollar store, but it seemed a little sparse once I put it up.....really all I got were the fake cobwebs and spiders and a door hanging....that's probably why it seemed bare.......

So, I found free printables on Skip to my Lou. I love that blog. Hadley and John even helped me out. So now we have some more fun decorations! They may be a little tacky, but we don't ever have visitors, so whatev.....

Here they are:
Candy Corn Garland
Paper Ghost Garland
Skeleton Printable

My favourite is the skeleton. Hadley insisted on us making 5 skeletons because there are 5 people in our family. I strung them up on some twine in front of our living room window. I probably should have taken pictures....but I'm kind of lazy......

Anyway. Enjoy!

Bed Frame Makeover

Hadley was in need of a bigger bed, so I kept an eye out on Freecycle and came across this bed frame. Then I found a boxspring also on Freecycle. I just needed a mattress, so I put a want ad on kijiji and someone gave us one for free! I love free!

Here's the bedframe before:

I sanded it a bit and then painted it antique white. Then I sanded the edges and a few scuffs, and then antiqued it with walnut stain. I just grabbed a rag and put a tiny bit of stain on it and carefully rubbed it on the sanded areas. It's kind of hard to tell the difference in the pictures.

Here's the after:

Hadley LOVES her new bed. Next on the list: paint her dresser and side table the same colour, and make her a duvet cover and bedskirt! Fun, fun!

How to feed a family of 5 for $1

My husband is awesome. He loves a good deal, and loves to share his findings with everyone, so I thought I would share with all of you! If you live in the Lethbridge area you might even be able to benefit. Last week he was at Liquidation World (by the courthouse in Lethbridge), and noticed that they had cases of Heinz vegetable and chicken soup for $7 (for 24 cans). We went there yesterday to get some and they had been reduced to $6, so $.25/can! I went in and got 3 cases. I had to dig 3 rows down to get the "Princess" shaped ones, but it was totally worth it. When I got back to the van with them, we decided to get more and get some for John's brother too. Good for food storage! So, all in all, we came out with 8 cases of soup.

Tonight, John wanted to try some out, so we heated up 4 cans of the "Dora" vegetable variety and all got filled up.....for $1! Take that Hamburger Helper!(says John) I was surprised at the amount of veggies in them. Peas, carrots, potatoes, beans, and corn!

Anyway, if you live around Lethbridge, I would recommend getting some; your kids will love it! And it tastes pretty good. It comes in Dora, SpongeBob, Princess, Winnie the Pooh, Shrek, and Alphagetti. Half are chicken noodle, and half are vegetable.

We're Back

Not only am I back to the blogging world, we are back to Lethbridge! We have been since July, but I've been putting off posting because I didn't like my blog layout and wanted to change it before I posted. I finally took time to change it, so I guess I should write something! Hmmm. I guess a lot has happened since I last wrote, but I don't really feel like writing about absolutely everything, so I'll give you the quick story.....

We live in Lethbridge and John has a temporary job and is looking for something more permanent. He will probably be starting work at a bank in October and will be taking one class at the U of L. He is still trying to figure out what career he wants, but has a few ideas, and just needs to do a little more research.

I am still "working"(it doesn't really feel or pay like work...but whatev) with my friend at Cute Like Me. We recently started a giveaway/review blog, and are loving that. I have started a new hobby, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I love the look of painted old furniture, and I am attempting to paint a few different items, namely, a coffee table, bed frame, and 2 dressers. I will post more about those when they are done.

We are loving the house that we're renting and we are getting to know more people in our ward. We are planning on staying here for a while. At least until we have a definite plan of what John wants to do for school/work and such. Probably 2 years or something.

Well, I think that's all....I'll try updating this more regularly now....I don't know how many people actually read this, but whatev. It's still fun.


Here are some pics that are totally unrelated....besides the fact that they are my children....

Hadley modelling her new haircut by John

Brian with his loot from the Stirling parade.

Elijah pointing at something (descriptive, I know) at the Stirling parade

A crazy clown

Lucky

Easter Madness.

Well, we live in Edmonton now. You'd think moving would get old or something.....well, it does. Yup. We have most things organized (not really, but the livingroom and kitchen are at least!) I really should be organizing our bedroom, it's pretty crazy, but we don't have curtains up yet and I don't want the whole world looking in as I put our room together. It kind of creeps me out. Anyway. Enough about moving.

I decided to make Hadley a dress for Easter over a month ago. I started making it right away but decided there was no rush. Then we had to go to Saskatoon for a week. By the time we got back I had one week to finish the dress. And I had to practice songs for Easter Sunday (I play the organ and for choir). On Thursday (just before Easter) we found out that we were going to be moving on Tuesday! Craziness! So, I was a little stressed. I stayed up most nights until 1am-ish making Hadley's dress and practicing and packing when I had time. Loads of fun. I did finish her dress in time and if I actually knew what I was doing I would have finished it a lot sooner.

Here's the dress.


Sorry for ranting.

Moving again.

Here's an update:

This summer John is planning on working for Pinnacle still. I'm going to be the office manager (do paperwork and set up installs). We are going to be doing that in Edmonton. We were planning on moving on the 25th because they weren't going to start working up there until the 1st of May, but there's been a change. We are starting on the 16th.....yes in 5 days! Yikes.

We will be moving on Tuesday!


So.....I better get packing!

Family Nester

Check out this site my brother and his wife started. There will be information for families (couponing, gardening, and life).

Also, my sisters have a couponing site

And, my sister has a website for race and training info in Pittsburgh.

My family's so cool.

Crazy House

We are staying at Dan and Nicole's house this week (John's brother). We were supposed to get a hotel, but they couldn't get one until Sunday. Needless to say, all the kids are going crazy! Dan and Nicole have 4 kids (M: 3 years old, G: 2 years old, E & B: 7 months old)....and then our 3 kids.  This morning all the kids were crying because of a rough night. It was awesome.......

We're moving to Edmonton at the end of April. John is going to be selling there and I'm going to be doing the office secretary type stuff. We're going to be living close to West Ed Mall and will be in a townhome, so I'm happy about that. Well, I should go help some screaming kids.

Enter to win a bracelet asap!

Go check out the Cute Like Me blog to enter to win a bracelet made by yours truly. It ends tonight at 9pm, so you better hurry.

I love these

I love these hand-stamped necklaces. Take a look for your chance to win!

Fun and Games

I don't really feel like writing much, so here are some videos that I think are cute. I am a little biased though.

Brian figured out how to press the button on the quad so he decided to take Elijah for a spin. I like how they aren't smiling at all....do they like this even?



John had to go to Edmonton for work on Monday, so the kids and I decided to visit. We went to the mall and had so much fun. Hadley wanted to go on this ride so John took her on it. The lady almost didn't let her on even though Hadley was an inch taller than the line. She didn't really know how to measure I guess, but John made sure Hadley got on. She said it was her favourite ride.


Elijah loved the ball pit. He thought this kid was funny too.

John's awesome

John took the PARE test for the RCMP application process yesterday. It consists of three stations. The first station is an obstacle course that is supposed to simulate a foot chase. He had to jump over things, run up and down stairs, and fall and get up. He had to do it 6 times. Then he had to go to station 2 where he had to push on this machine thing and when he pushed it pulled up a weight and he had to push it 180 degrees back and forth 6 times followed by falling onto his chest and back 6 times. Then he did the same thing but pulled it. Those 2 stations were timed. He had to complete it in 4:45, and he did it in 4:08!!!! So happy. He did station 1 pretty fast, but he had a harder time with the weights section. He did station 1 in 2:39. Then for station 3 he had to carry an 80 lb. bag 15 metres. He did that fine. Soooo, in the end, he passed!

We're not sure what the next step is, but he's still in the running!

Here's a good description. I think John looked exactly like that guy probably.

Valentine Cookies

Hadley had been asking for cookies for just about every meal, so we finally made some last Friday. They were delicious. We used a recipe from my sister. They are the best sugar cookies ever (according to John). I think they're good too, but I'm no sugar cookie connoisseur like he is.

Hadley got so messy. She was a fan of the little red sprinkles....I wasn't.

John did all the fancy white icing.


Here's the recipe:
1 1/4 c butter
2 1/4 c sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp almond extract
5 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and extracts (You can use 3 tsp of vanilla if you don't have lemon or almond available.), beat well. Add dry ingredients, mix. Chill one hour. Roll out on lightly floured surface, and cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 400 for 4-6 min., do not brown.



In other news. Last Friday (the same day we made these cookies, so at least this is somewhat related), I decided we needed to change how the boys went to sleep. I had been rocking them to sleep separately one after the other, and it was taking too long. I'd heard about other people with twins just putting them both down at the same time and letting them cry it out. I don't like the idea of letting them cry to sleep (hence the rocking), but we decided we would just use "The Baby Whisperer" method and just lay them back down when they cry and stand up until they fell asleep. John and I took the boys to bed, laid them down with sippy cups and let them drink for a bit, put in their soothers, and then the fun began. It didn't take too long. Elijah was just being a goof and laughing and Brian was crying like crazy. I think it took 20 minutes. For their nap on Saturday, John was gone. I put the boys in their beds with sippy cups and soothers and just left. I went in a couple times because one was crying (I just laid him back down and gave him his soother). It worked wonderfully. Saturday night I was gone to the adult session of Stake Conference (with Elder Perry!) so John put them to sleep. He said it was simp! We've been doing the same thing since, and it is amazing how well it's working. I just lay them down and leave now and they are fine! Weird. Who knew it would be so easy! .....sorry for the long post...I'm just so excited about this new development, you have no idea how much stress it relieves!

Sharing

Brian is happily playing the recorder
Yikes
All is well again.

Unfortunately this happens all too often. There's a fine line between, "ok, I'm done with it so it's ok that you just ripped it out of my hands" and "wahhhh, what are you thinking?? I wasn't finished with that!" It's all good.

Macaroni Taste Test

I have always been interested in food. I love eating it, and like getting the best for my buck. Sometimes I'm too chicken to try the cheaper brands, so I just never have. I've always wondered though if they're just as good, or maybe even better than the "brand name" foods. A while ago we needed some more Kraft Dinner (mac & cheese for you americans), I decided to try out a few varieties of the store brand counterpart at Superstore. Here's the rundown in order of preference. (This was a while ago, so it's based a lot on memory....so it may not be completely accurate...also, I didn't use exact amounts of milk/butter, so it's not completely scientific...but you'll get the idea)

1. Kraft Dinner
Price: I think it was around $1.10
Taste: Superb. I don't add as much milk as it asks for because it's always too "soupy" when I do.







2. PC Deluxe Cheddar
Price: Around $0.90-ish I think
Taste: Good. Not as good as Kraft Dinner, but good enough to enjoy eating it.


I might buy this kind again if it is on sale.







3. PC Mini Chefs cha-cha-cheesy mac & cheese
Price: I think it was around $0.90....I really should have documented this!
Taste: Pretty good, the kids liked it.

I wouldn't buy this kind again







4. No Name Macaroni & Cheese (from Superstore)
I couldn't find a picture...sorry...
Price: I think it was $0.69
Taste: Super gross. I was surprised how gross it was .It tasted like cardboard...gross! I couldn't even finish it...the kids still ate most of their portion though.

I was really hoping that this one would taste good just cause it's so cheap, but alas.....


Conclusion: In this test, price and brand definitely was the determiner of what was the best. Too bad. I think I'll just stick with Kraft Dinner, but buy a box of it from Costco to save money.

Cute Like Me Giveaway!

Hey Everyone!

Go check out the Cute Like Me blog for a chance to win 1 0f 2 super cute scrabble tile necklaces. Be sure to spread the word for more chances to win! You have until Friday the 13th to enter. Good luck!

Yeah, John Passed the first test!!

So we finally heard back yesterday from the RCMP. John wrote the first test in December and we were anxious to hear back, we were pretty sure he passed, but we wanted to know so that we could start the next step. We really want this to work out, and want to get in as soon as possible!

Well, we got the letter and they referred him to a weblink with all the forms that he has to complete. Holy cow, there is a lot of info that they want! He needs a whole bunch of references, job info, past addresses. Basically a history of everything for the past 10 years. And since we've moved around a tonne, it may take a while to complete, but they set a deadline. It has to be done in 21 days! Yikes! He also has to get ready for the PARE. It's the physical test - it's basically an obstacle course that he has to complete in a certain time. He's doing that on February 26th. Fun, fun.

Anywho. We decided that that was reason enough to not make supper. We got Joey's Only because we had a 2 for 1 coupon. It wasn't as good as it normally is, but it still hit the spot...and no making supper!

Well, I should go feed some kids breakfast.

If you didn't notice, I'm getting a little addicted to this whole blogging thing, so I'll probably be posting more often now. Sorry....just kidding....hopefully it's not too boring!