slow down.

There are too many things going on at once and time just needs to pause so I can breathe...just a minute (or day) will do!

Seriously, anyone else scratching their heads that it's almost March?!  Jake will be 4 months!  I'm also hoping that Spring will grace us with her presence.

I'm getting a little overwhelmed right now.  Like I said, things just keep going and I seem to be grasping to not miss anything.  My kids keep growing and learning.  I hate that I can't give each one of them my 100% attention at the same time.  I need 6 of me at once.  One for each of the kids, one for hubs and then me.  Wouldn't that be nice?

So until I get a grip with reality and hop on the time wagon, I will just keep relishing in the now, take lots of pictures of it and just pray that things will slow down a bit.  Because we all know that once school is out, Summer just flies by!

Luke the hammer.

This kid seems to be a little accident prone.

I took the 3 eldest to Reptile man at the elementary school.  During the event, Luke was playing around in back with another boy.  Next thing I know, both are crying hysterically with the other boy on the ground.  They are both holding their heads.  I see Luke and he has an immediate bruise and bump under his right eye.

Next was yesterday, the day after that incident.

We were at the church setting things up for an activity that night.  He was playing in the halls and from what I gather, they were playing and running around and he ran/tripped? into the wall.  It has that wooden divider in the middle of it.  He hit his eyebrow into that.  He comes screaming at me with blood dripping down his face.

Not something you want to see.

Went to make sure he didn't need stitches.  Luckily he didn't.  But even today, it's still slowly filling up his 4th band-aid.  I'm really surprised he hasn't broken something yet.

Printcopia canvas

After Jake was born, i've been on a photo-taking binge.  I have SO MANY of this kid.  The other kids have nothing on him.  

With the thousands I have, I want to print off my favs to hang them or scrap them (and I have time do that?  who knows...)

But where to go?  There are so many print companies now a days.  

Cue Printcopia!

I wanted to make my favorite prints into Canvas Prints and Printopia did an amazing job!

How could I not make that print onto canvas?!  I love that one.  And I love it on my wall!  I am not sure where to put it yet.  There are so many possibilities.  But I am definitely impressed with the quality of the canvas itself and how well the image looks.

I dug a bit deeper on Printcopia and found they do much more than just prints.  They are connected to sister sites where they do things like Vinyl Banners,  Car Magnets, and Lawn Signs. (those would have been nice around election time, huh?)  That time of advertising is great for any business.  We have a car magnet for Joe's practice on our van.  It's definitely a good investment.

I'll be working with Printcopia again.  The site was user-friendly & simple.  It took me all of five minutes and my order was complete.

face painting.

There is a fun store in Wenatchee called Academic Toolbox that sells high quality toys, school supplies and everything else in between. Kids can sign up their birthdays and you get a $10 postcard in the mail to spend in their store.  It's a pretty sweet deal.  Emma finally cashed in her $10.

She bought a Face Painting Kit. She knew she wanted it right when she saw it.  I tried to entice her with other fun things we found but she was adamant about getting the face painting kit.  Okay, let's get it then :)

Multiple times she's tried to come down in the morning with shapes or pictures on her face and go to school. I first made her clean it off.  I then said she had to be sure it would be  okay with her teacher.  Tonight, she told me that it was okay.  So we'll see what she does tomorrow.

Yesterday, as I was getting Jake up from a nap, I spied these two in the bathroom.  It was the cutest thing.  I had to take pictures of it.  Of course Kate was ever so willing to be the experiment.  They both were having fun and giggling at the outcome. 

I think my favorite thing about this is how natural and "in her element" Emma was as she was applying the face paint.  We might have a Carni on our hands...

A Valentine.

Our Valentine's Day was pretty eventful for everyone.  The girls had fun activities and parties in their classes. Me and the boys went to MOPS that morning, had yummy food and made red earrings.  That night, Joe and I went out for dessert at McGlinn's.  We ended up ordering soup, salad and beer bread first since we ate terribly at home as we were trying to get everything ready to leave.  We ended the night when walking around Target. ( I wish all nights ended like that....)

Emma wanted to make a special Valentine for a boy in her class.  She told me that he's not that nice and always teases her but she wanted to be nice to him anyways and make him a special one.  She found  this idea from that book behind it.  It's from the 1950's.  It's a vintage craft book for kids.  There are some crazy ideas in there.  And she happened to find this one and was sold.  She cut out the hearts and I hot glued the lace on the edges.  She loved how it turned out. I thought it was pretty sweet too.  She even told me to call his mom to have her tell him not to show anyone as to not hurt anyone's feeling for not getting a special Valentine.  She's so funny.  I'm becoming aware of how big she's getting this year.  It's fun but also a little scary.  Before I know it, we'll be going bra shopping and she'll hate every one that I pick out for her to try on...

Dance Extravaganza

Emma's first grade have been preparing for their Dance Extravaganza for a while now.  Tuesday was the performance.  Sadly, I had to miss it due to a pukey little boy in our house so Karlye took these pictures for me (Thank you!)
Emma has been excited for this and been practicing at home.  I was really looking forward to it.  I'm still sad I missed it.  But she seems to have had a lot of fun!

smiles & giggles

Please enjoy this video of my darling 3 month old.  I'm definitely biased...

On a sad note, my other darling son woke up with a high fever and then around 11 am, he threw up.  So he's been couch-bound all day.  Poor kid :(

But that doesn't phase this kid.

But it does phase him...multitasking and all.

72 Hour Food Kits

 Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

Doctrine & Covenants 109:8

Emergency Preparedness is something our Relief Society is focusing on this year.  This month, we are doing a 72 Hour Food Kit Night.  We'll be getting together and assembling our kits.  I'm on the Activity Committee so I've been able to plan for it.  I started searching online for ideas.  Most were helpful but not exactly what I was looking for. 

Here's what I was looking for:

-Food that wasn't dependant on water to prepare.

-Pop tops for cans so to not need a can opener.

-Something that totaled less than $15.

-Something my family and I would actually eat.

-Items that expired in a year.

-Something compact and easy to grab in an emergency.

So with that in mind, I took my calculator aka phone and my 2 boys and headed to Costco, Freddies & *gasp* Walmart to see if this could be done.  

So after my research, I was able to find items that fit my criteria.  All this below for $11:

Here's the Cost Breakdown:  I added gas in there for compensation since i'll be driving all over town to pick up supplies.  Plus, it helps round things up nicely.  I have to add that i've lucked out this month for cost.  Lot of items that I got at Costco are on sale right now, like the Snack Pak's, Fruit Snacks etc.  So if you catch this in time, you'll get a great deal like me.  Otherwise, it'll be a tad more once they're gone.

Here's the Daily Menu for each day:  You can get a download copy of this menu HERE :)

Most would say this is not enough water.  I agree.  But I also know that there should be another source of water in your Emergency items.  This is purely for quick escapes and you don't want to be hauling gallons of water per person!

Day 1:

 Day 2:

 Day 3:

As far as packing them, I attempted to fit them all in a 1 gallon ziploc bag....ya there was no way they were all fitting in it.  I will be heading to Walmart today and getting 2 gallon ziploc bags instead, which should fit it all in there.  Then you can add it to the rest of your 72 hour kits.  Remember to check back in about a year and rotate your items!

Just have to say, i'm thankful for the "push" from my calling to research and purchase these items so that I will be prepared in case of an emergency!

Jake at 3 months

Another month, another update from the mom with the growing boy.
The months seem to fly by.  I'm not sure how I feel about that!  I definitely enjoy your better sleeping habits these days.  Not to mention the constant smiling and giggles I get from you.  But it just means another month away from being a baby.

Things you are doing this month:

-You know me and Daddy.  You love to see our faces.
-Much more apt to smiling.
- You are ticklish on your toes, feet and tummy.  You do an adorable breathing in laugh.
-You are starting to wiggle all around!
-You are sleeping ALL night, (bless you child) going down at 7 pm and waking up around 6:30-7:00 am
-You love your play gym and have started to warm up to the jungle gym you sit in.
-You are getting comfortable on your tummy and love to see in a new view!
-You fall asleep on your own like a champ.  I don't think i'm going to have to "cry it out" with you.  (bless you child)
-You have mastered rolling from tummy to back, but not quite there the other way around.
-You give great eye contact.
-You get excited when you see me in the mornings.  It absolutely makes my day.
-You love when I sing to you.
-You open open your mouth and give me kisses back.

I just love each month as you grow and develop more and more.   You are a angel baby!  You are the happiest little thing ever.

xoxo Jake.

Time keeps slipping past me and this little guy.
I'll post stats and more pictures tomorrow.  I feel like I JUST had him but at the same time, he's always been here.  XOXOXO Jake.

you've got me hooked

My creative itch needed to be scratched!  I've been brainstorming about Valentine's for weeks now, trying to figure out what to do for the girls.  I think swedish fish have been on my mind lately since it's my favorite and I have been trying to cut out sugar.

So I came up with this: 

I then put it in a small treat bag with some fish.

I used some Washi Tape to close it up in the back.

I love how it turned out.  It's really simple & it has my favorite treat.  Could life get any better?  I submit that it can not.

You can get your copy of this Valentine HERE :)