Holiday Switch

Yes, it's true that I like me some good old Lifetime movies every once in a while. I mean what's a mommy got to do when she has the house clean and doesn't have any homework to do - ya - that's because I'm totally done. I finished up my bachelors degree in Family and Consumer Sciences. I will walk in May with my husband. I really liked this movie because we are dirt poor college students. A lot of days it's hard because we have hardly a clue of what's going to happen in our future, and it seems like so many have it all mapped out with success. But I got me some good husband that supports and loves me in ways that are undecidable. I also have the sweetest little boy ever. We have lots of love and everyday I strive to make my family happy because really there is nothing else that would make me more happy. Merry Christmas. I can't wait to post pictures of our very first at home!!

Holiday Switch

Hairdresser On Fire

Eh! Not to brag or anything unto that but.. Hairdresser On Fire Giveaway, Reagen is my sister-in-law. I have had the privilege of having her use her incredible skills on myself in the past. She can do an amazing blow-out plus she is absolutely exquisite! So ENTER! I DID  

Once Upon A Time

I LOVE this show!!! I'm devastated when the episode ends each week. It is so GOOD!!

Once Upon A Time

SNOW!

Lol, Lost his shoe! We had to go get new one's from inside.

 So CUTE!!

Ahoy Mateys!

For Halloween we dressed up as... You guessed it pirates!! I made parts of the costums and tried to use things we had all ready. I used this circle skirt tutorial for my pirate custom. I bought some yellow/mustard colored fabric and I'm planning on making another. I really liked the skirt a lot. I used a 99 cent pattern from Joann's for Thomas's ruffle shirt and it had a lot of plumage. I loved it and he looked good! I used this tutorial and pattern frontier vest for Asher's vest. I also used a 99 cent pattern from Joann's  for his pants. I made sashes for our heads and waist's and then we pretty much had everything else. Asher's trick-or-treating bucket is the same one I trick-or-treated with when I was younger. 

We went to a Halloween/birthday party for Russel Thomas's brother the Sunday before. On Monday we put a mustache on Asher and I really wish I would have taken a picture. 

We got to go on a hay ride

Asher in my boots after and he looked so awesome I laughed forever

I'm a big boy now!

Asher is growing up so fast, I can hardly believe it myself. Potty training is coming along. He defiantly understands the concept and feels like a pretty big boy when he goes on his big boy potty. It's a cool Cars convertible potty that you can attach to the big toilet. He really likes going on the toilet. Asher is starting to go more often. I get super excited when he goes and give him good treats. Today he got a bowl of ice cream with his breakfast!! Lol, I know I'm such a great mom ;) He loved that one. I love this next picture because Asher choose this outfit and put it on himself. I was pretty impressed with his fashion style.

 Asher loves to build, fix, and take apart anything. I have a good feeling he is going to be just like his daddy. He loves his blocks!! It's really cute when he builds the blocks into an animal and makes the animal noises and then gives them kisses. I love seeing him imagination come out.

What a stinken cutie! We love him to pieces!!

Our Little Drummer Boy

 

 Our little drummer boy. This isn't the first time he has tried to do things that are in close relationship with drumming. He set this drum set up himself while I was making Zuppa Toscana. Best recipe in the ENTIRE world. It always impresses your guests every time. 

School is going great for both Thomas and I. I'm so excited to be graduating and spending every second doing my mommy thing. I couldn't ask for anything better and I'm so excited. I'm getting pretty excited about being able to go straight to bed without having to stay up until homework is done. 

Thomas and I went down to Gunnison this weekend and applied for an English Teaching Job at a boarding school there. The guy gave him the job after he is done with school but we have to think a lot about it because it's for kids who are not succeeding in public school. We left Asher with Grandma Lyon and we have a fun 2 days just hanging out with each other. It was actually a incredible couple days. You have to have some of that every once in a while. I got's me some good husband!!! 

We visited Morgan in Ephraim and just loved remembering all of our youthful moments in that fun little town. It was way cute to watch Morgan and his roommates talking about girls and stuff. They asked me if marriage is all it's cracked up to be. I'm like, " It's way more.!!"  "You just gotta be as incredible as Thomas." Lol, they have big shoes to fill.

I am a member of the Chuch of Jesus Chirst of Latter-day Saints

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! I have had experiences in life when I was personally attacked. At the age of 14 I was verbally attacked by a lady who felt like it was her obligation to save me. It was scary and it hurt a whole bunch, but I stayed calm and got myself out of the situation respectfully. I have heard the saying before, 

"He never said it was going to be easy, he only said it was going to be worth it."

I think it's an anonymous quote. 

I kind of put it into my own words...

He never said it was going to be easy, but I do believe it will all be worth it :D

I was reading this article on KSL http://www.ksl.com/?sid=17611129&nid=576

and I really liked Ogukuo's comment:  

Eh, these people are welcome to criticize me all they want. I've never been promised that being LDS would be a cake walk. Quite the contrary. Even Christ Himself was beaten, scourged, and rejected. If we're His followers, why should we expect any different?

I do believe in Christ. Christ was beaten, scourged, rejected and criticized his whole life, then he died for my sins after living a perfect life.

  i have always really liked this quote:

 "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others"

I believe that we have the responsibility to stand up for our beliefs

I also believe it's important to respect others beliefs, especially when they are different from our own. 

http://mormon.org/

 

To the Day!

To the big truck that cut me off and almost hit me - at least you didn't hit me
To the lunch that spilt all over the floor - at least I still have other food to eat
To my kid that can't sit through a hour in the craft store - I love you like mad crazy and I'll still keep trying
To the husband that lost his car keys - at least I have a spare
To the broken window - at least I have a landlord that is happy to come fix you.
To the bloody cramps that make me not want to do anything - at least my body is working
To the little boy that wont take a nap - at least your in your room quietly playing
To all the bills we have to pay - at least we have money to pay you.
To the day that kinda felt crappy - I love you even though you were kinda crappy

Hey It's only 2:00! I still have half of a day to be happy about !!

Two Years Old

My little guy turned two years old over the summer. He had a wonderful birthday at his grandma's house with his cousins and just loved every second of it. It's so amazing how much he has grown in just one year. I just love ever second I get to spend with my precious little guy. We took him to the doctor in August and it went great.

One Year Ago :D 

 Two Years Old :D

Stats:
55% for weight
90% height
93% for head.

I guess you could say he is tall and had a big head. It would be so funny if he outgrew his parents pretty quietly because frankly we are both pretty short human beings.

I wrote a letter to him. My goal is to write him a letter every year and if he chooses to serve a mission or maybe if he chooses to get married I'm going to retype them all up and give them to him for a present. I wrote the letter in my journal and on this blog just in case something happens  I can have a back  up.

Dear Asher
You just turned two. You have grown so much this year. I love your personality so much. You know how to pray and use your manners very well. You get pretty scared when I put you in time out, so for a large majority of the time you do exactly what I ask of you. Your dad taught you the sad face and it gets me every time. You already know how to get your mommy. You just got a big boy bed and love it like mad crazy. I thought you were going to have a hard time adjusting but it was like you had been sleeping in it for weeks. I made you cartoon curtains for you window and you really like those to. Your vocabulary is getting gigantic and your amazing at repeating anything you hear. You know how to blow your nose and I'm so thankful during the runny nose season. You are crazy smart and amaze me everyday. You already love to build, take apart and fix things. You are always trying to put things in the microwave and toaster over and it drives me nuts. You have enormous amounts of energy and I can never get enough of it. Your really tall and have beautiful blue eyes just like your daddy. You are always sticking  your hands in you pants and that drives me insane. You better grow out of that one, or else!! I love you so much little man. Those first few months were really hard for me and you pay if off a million to one. You love your daddy and love to fish and watch movies with him. You call nemo, elmo and wont let anybody tell you different. haha. You make everyday wonderful. You are going to grow up to be a wonderful young man and someday an incredible big brother. I can just tell you are going to be sweet and gentle by the way you treat other little kids. I will always try my best to be an incredible mother because you deserve the absolute best. You have a strong testimony and I can already see it though you heart and actions. I love you baby Asher!! Love, Mommy

Craft/ Wedding Present

I made this wedding present today and I think it turned out super cute :D

I miss this Girl

This is Kira. I watched for over the summer and she was the cutest little girl ever. Today I was missing and and decided to look through some pictures.

My Wall Art!

In May when we moved to our new place I was at a Relief Society Activity and it was about crafts. One of the ladys raised her hand and said she had some old windows left from when she replaced them in her home. I jumped all over this one. I've looked at them and they are always to expensive. I got right to work and made me a cute wall art. I made the wreath from Joanne's for about $8.00. So this whole piece cost me $8.00 becasue my wonderful husband had all the little things to hang it on the wall. I love it so much. A few weeks ago I took it to one of my classes to show and on the way home the glass broke in my car. I was way super bummed but it still looks really pretty on my wall and the wreath pretty much hides the crack. 

Relic Light Yellow Bag

I got this beauty for $17.00!! I love the bag so much! I could have got it for $7.00 if I was subscribed to Deseret News but I'm not, and I don't know anybody personality who gets it daily. But anyways, that besides the fact that it's a super cute bag for a pretty good price. I got it at kohls. It was originally $54.00 and it was 45% off at the store. Then I used a $10.00 gift that came in the mail and a 15% off discount I got in my e-mail. That made it $17.00. I read on freebies to deals that the Desert Newspaper had a discount attached in it that was for 10 dollars off of 30 dollar purchase. That would have made it 7.00 O well. It's super adorable and keeping me company next to me in bed because Thomas is still in Perry fixing stuff :(

Obsessions

My Current Playlist of Favorite Songs

Never Grow Up - Taylor Swift 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MggNFU0_4Fs

Innocent - Taylor Swift
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVZ1Qf32NA0

Pia Toscano - This Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcVoBSYC5uE&ob=av2e

Nicki Minaj - Moment For Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5rqBA2xxTI
 
Demi Lovato - Skyscraper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_8ydghbGSg&ob=av2e
Avril Lavign - I love You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b4CxM7agOY

Falling - Secrets in Stereo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcxWA63YYCE

My Favorite Hulu Shows 

Switched at Birth

So You Think You Can Dance

New Laptop 

I got a new laptop for super dupper cheap off of KSL! And let me just say I LOVE it. If you knew our laptop situation you would totally understand! OK so the laptop screen was out so we had it connected to the T.V. screen. Our apartment is like 90 degrees and the chair we have in our living room is uncomfortable. So all those put together for the past 6 months was getting kinda old. I'm so grateful for our new one :D 

Favorite Boys and Family 

My boys are doing great. Asher defiantly turned two!! His vocabulary is super cute. He is actually a very picky dresser. If it doesn't have cars, trains or monsters on it, no bueno!! on his part. He is trying to resit nap time but you better believe he will and not for a very long time get out of those!! He has accomplished some major temper tantrums and boy it's drives he up the wall, but we get through them together. The little boy is the sweetest thing you ever did meet. I have so many sweet and precious stories about him. 

We went to Lake Powell and it was fabulous. We just had the time of our lives out there. Asher and Thomas were just grins from ear to ear the whole time. Russel my brother is law got married on Friday and it was just incredible. I love all my brother in laws with a fiery passion and I'm so grateful for them  :D Thomas and I are going to adventure a week road trip to Louisiana to visit his awesome aunt. I'm super excited and hope gas doesn't raise like a buck when he leave!! 

Thoughtful Thoughts

It's as good... As YOU make it! - Complaints and self pity will get you know where. Confidence and optimism will take you any where you wanna go! So bring it on BABY!

When all is said and done... It's whats inside that really counts - No matter how beautiful your face, your hair, you cloths it's whats inside that really counts!!

FCS Summer Practicum

So this summer I have been completing my FCS Practicum. I have been teaching 7 weekly classes and it's been a lot of hard work (25-30 hours/ week) but one of the funnest things I have ever done.  All classes I taught were on campus and free to students and their families. The most time consuming and most rewarding class I taught was PLAY which stands for Physical development in the Learning environment with Active involvement for Your kids (the children were ages 4-8 years). We taught it for two hours Monday, Wednesday and Friday. My great friend Stephanie and I organized and did everything for the class. The last day was Friday. I can't even express in words how much I learned to love the children that were in our class. One of the most amazing things was almost all of them were children from different countries.We had one cute little student that didn't even speak English and it was really amazing to learn so much from him.

There was defiantly some big challenges like budget, kids acting out, attitudes, breaking rules and time consumption but it was crazy fun and I just absolutely loved ever minute of it.  We had 20 kids between Stephanie and I and some days it was crazy. It was also crazy how Stephanie and I worked together, it was almost like we were sisters just being able to work together so well. I will miss seeing her often and I'm so grateful I got to spend the time with her. We also teach two classes Tuesday called Better Homes and Families, one Wednesday that is sewing and on Friday that is cooking. It's nice because Asher can come to all of them and plays in the playroom next to the classroom with all of the other kids. He is usually a very big sweetheart and impresses everybody. I will still be teaching some of those classes throughout August but I have got a lot of my hours in so far. This week I'm tending a little girl for a friend and will be able to use the hours that are used doing developmentally appropriate activity's towards my practicum which is SO incredible! Plus the little girl is the cutest/sweetest thing that I ever did meet.

(pictures by Stephanie Hyde)

http://stephanie-hyde-photography.blogspot.com/

Summer Fishing

 Wikipedia - Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. 

The definition couldn't be more accurate. My boys LOVE to fish. When I say love, I mean love! 

Asher's first word was "mom," and his second was "fish"!!  He is defiantly his daddy's little boy

For family night a couple weeks ago we went to Mantua and went fishing/camping. It was really fun and I loved spending the time with my boys.

So Thomas put together this fishing activity for Perry City's 100 year anniversary.  Thomas was so creative and worked so many hours putting together everything. The crowds were expected to be big but they were not. The guy who we bought the fish from was also a couple hours late, so we also lost some time. It just broke my heart into a million pieces when everything pretty much went into the toilet and we ended up losing money. I was to sad to be mad and just tried to comfort my sad husband. We will recover and yes money is very important in life but I think the biggest lesson I learned is that it's NOT the most important thing and I'm proud of us for being so adventurous. 

That night while everybody was cleaning the many left over fish, 500 to be exact!  Asher and I where at Thomas parents house going to bed. Asher and I were  saying good night prayers when in the middle Asher says all by himself.....

"Grandpa," So I then said, "please bless grandpa,

then he said "Grandma" and I said "yes please bless Grandma"

then he said "Aunt maggie" Then I said " yes please bless Maggie.

He then went on to say "daddy and last mommy." I almost burst into tears. He could tell we were all in need of some extra prayers and he blessed us all. Sometimes I'm just overwhelmed with how incredible my little boy is!!!!!

 Asher caught this little fish and yes I did let him kiss it. I'm such a great mom. All the other mom's thought so to when I let him take it onto the park to slide down the slide. (haha)

Asher is also turning into a big boy and can go "pee pee" on the big boy potty. He loves the freedom and I don't even need to use treats by the sink. It's really nice because the kid doesn't need any sugar!!!!!  It just blows my mind that he can do it. I guess it's one of those "Ogosh my kid's growing up moment"

This cute little man caught the biggest fish in the pool and got goldfish crackers as a prize. Thank you so much Kurt and family. Your support was amazing. We also had some of Thomas neighbors show us lots of love and support as well. Thanks!

To Complain or not to Complain!

GOSH! I want to COMPLAIN about so many THINGS right know!! But...... I wont because LIFE is the BOMB! Bring it ON !!

In Church on Sunday we talked about how letting go of the little things that dont really matter and throwing them in the trash. Amen 

Plus, how could I possible be anything but happy with this little boy running around my house