hazel's first real ponytail

at first she didn't love it

but...i think it grew on her

project: alphabet

i saw this cool idea on this blog

for a border around your children's room made out of

scrapbook paper

it's EXACTLY what we wanted to do but we hadn't thought of a cheap/free way to do it

i'll probably change it around when we move and have it as more of a border than rows 

but...for now we like it

and in other alphabet news 

i recovered all of our melissa and doug refrigerator magnets

noah had chewed

 (i know, he shouldn't be chewing paper but he loves to...maybe he has a deficiency)

the primary colors off so i modge podged scrapbook paper

and gave these letters a new more glamorous life 

i did this with some of these for Christmas 

i gave some of my nieces and nephews their names

so we have the leftovers

scrapbooking paper is amazingly easy to use in projects

which is fabulous because i have a lot of it

and not much desire to scrapbook

project: knit

today was my first ever knitting class

i'm a natural

compared to the one other girl in my class

but don't worry, i'm not getting cocky

i'll have to do a few more rows first

project: teach noah about Jesus

it is really important to us to teach our children about Jesus and Heavenly Father

and teach them faith

noah has recenly become really interested in Jesus

who he calls "heesus"

here are a few of his thoughts and our responses

"Jesus got two owies" ---Sure, he got two owies. He got lots of owies.

"Jesus got two bandaids"---Uh huh..

"Jesus got big owies"---Yes he did.

"Jesus gave me firetruck" --- Yeah...Well, Heavenly Father gave us everything we have.

"Jesus is God" ---No, Heavenly Father is God. Jesus is His Son.

"Jesus died"---Yes, Jesus died but he is alive again so he is ok.

then he occasionally gets carried away and says

"Uncle Ben died"---No, Uncle Ben didn't die. He just moved to Texas. 

this whole topic is obviously going to be an on-going project

project: free chair

this is a cute free chair we got at a garage sale

it was broken

had duct tape on it

and lots of potential

i used it to try reupholstering

it went pretty well but it needed a new pad, we just used the old one

still cute enough and....free! 

other than $2 on fabric

i like projects

as you can see

and change

sooooooo here's my newest blog header

i like it because i like projects

and i like it because life is a project

and i am my own project, right?

i hope you all loooooooooove it!

makeover

our rocking chair recently found by the dumpster got a makeover

why, did you think i was getting a makeover?

sorry to disappoint, if so

....

anyway

here it is before

during

after

it's a nice grayish blue i got from mixing a couple colors we had

yay for free stuff

oh yeah

speaking of free stuff

we went to a couple of garage sales and got some cool free furniture and contact paper, and a tool box for michael

we only spent 25 cents on a toy for noah

i'll show you all our treasures as soon as i transform

free into awesome

random home decor

this is our new rocking chair found outside the dumpster

it's really big and cool

we're going to sand it down and paint it but i haven't decided on a color

oh and yes that's a little caesars pizza on top of an air hockey table....

i made the kids a bird mobile

the pattern for the birds can be found here if you want to give it a try

here's another picture of it

oh and i rearranged our room

sorry there's no "before" pics

but i'm especially proud because i moved our bed, desk, bookshelf

and everything by myself

and surprised michael with a new room

do you like my new chair? i got it at st. vinnies for $5

PS the one in kent is open now and either today or tomorrow everything is 50% off

i just can't remember which day

our big crawler

here are a couple videos i took of hazel crawling today

she's still getting the hang of it..

and is quite easily distracted by random cheerios on the floor

an earth day miracle

you see, hazel likes to do things on holidays

despite all of my contractions and labor on may 25th last year

she was officially here on the 26th, Memorial day

then she rolled for the first time on Thanksgiving

she missed Christmas, New Years, Valentines and Easter

in protest against crawling or teething

her dad started joking she would go straight to a wheel chair

luckily there has been no joking of dentures, yet

we no longer have an immobile almost eleven month old

we have a crawling (still no teeth) almost eleven month old

it's an Earth Day Miracle

i'll post pictures later

i just couldn't wait to share the news

dear low-life who stole our car radio,

I've been thinking about how you broke into our "old" car. A few things I thought you should know about the radio you stole:

1. It looks a lot cooler than it is.

2. It won't play burned cd's unless it feels like it. 

3. In fact it won't play any cd if it doesn't feel like it.

4. A few of the buttons don't work.

5. Oh, and you forgot the remote.

Enjoy,

the car owner

look what else i made

a little pillow

my mom happened to give me these two scraps of the brown floral print

i love them

i think this is a good use for them

plus a little practice quilting

isn't it darling?

and another bag

i used it for church today

it worked pretty well

it's nice and big

sewing is fun

maybe one day i'll venture out and use a pattern

for now though, i like freehanding

look what i made

my friend kelsey has been on a sewing kick 

which has inspired me

so this is what i've made

another pillowcase dress for hazel

i based it on a little 18 month old navy dress

so hopefully that's when it fits her

and......

my new favorite bag

 i'm happy it was free

and proud that i made it

i have been looking for a replacement bag

ever since i sold this one

who knew i could make it

without a pattern

and with old fabric my mom gave me

noah's birthday fun

noah's birthday was a total blast

it was an all day event

i decorated the night before

we started with a little breakie from mcdonalds

here's noah all ready for his day

balloons and all

we spent most of the day at the seattle children's museum

with my sister monica and her family

her son parker & noah share the same birthday so we like to celebrate together

here's hazel going down the slide

noah's grocery shoppin'

two handed painting

a family pic

we made it home just in time for noah's party

it was so fun

michael's grandma shirley came

one last pic of noah

happy birthday big guy

thank you for all of your comments and birthday wishes

tea anyone? updated: with pictures

olympia here we come...

man, i'm a supportive wife

my noah's growing up

he is 3 years old today

the day he was born

the beach in PA with EE (andre`a) and me

matching grandpa kelly

the day noah was sealed to us

halloween as a chicken when he was 1

lovin' mom's rain boots

asleep eating lunch

a family pic during our engagment shoot

having fun at ben and tawn's 

a day at the beach eating ice cream

easter sunday

We have had a really nice day.

We had a little egg hunt.

I mean really little. 

One m & m in each egg for Noah

and one little gerber puff in each egg for Hazel.

Michael made us omelets.

We got things ready for Easter dinner with my sister's family.

Then we went to church.

Late.

We're never late.

But today we were. Easter Sunday of all days.

Getting there late meant we didn't get our normal seat which meant Noah was way "off".

So it was one of the most unspiritual Sacrament meetings for me. 

Too bad, too.

He kept screaming.

Nothing was wrong.

Except our seats, I guess.

Noah and Hazel's easter baskets. 

Is it really worth moving them again

and hanging on to them for their

once a year use?

Yes.

I'm not sure why but Michael thought this flower was a little excessive.

So I toned it down a little.

This is not quite how I thought we'd spend our one evening a week together.

8:30 and he's completely asleep.

And using my pillow...