Thanksgiving Weekend 2012

Emma enjoying her Turkey!

 Daddy carving the turkey!

 Owen waiting patiently at the table. He's ready!

 Owen tasting an olive. Hilarious!

 Sitting around the table playing the Thankful game before we ate.

 Trying to get a pic of me and the kiddos. :) I was there too ya know. Ha!

How are weekend ended...a concussion.

Gobble Gobble!! Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday! Counting our many many blessings!

This year was so very low key. No traveling, no family visiting. Just us. The first time ever in 13 years! Phil played tag football in the morning with some guys in the ward and we had a traditional homemade feast in the afternoon. In the evening we went to the traditional holiday movie,The Life of Pi. Was pretty good! Owen sat thru the whole thing! Emma cried at the end, my sensitive girl. The rest of us talked about it for 2 days. :)

Friday we put up our tree and decorations. My mom(in town with Phil's kids) came over for a bit to help me with my sewing machine and with a sewing project. Yay! Thank you Mom! We continued to munch on left overs. We also watched Polar Express and had Polar Express Hot Chocolate. Thank you Pinterest! Was delicious! And it was pretty fun to have while we sat thru the Hot Chocolate song. :)

Sunday seemed to arrive earlier than expected, but that's always the case. We were having fun enjoying our extra time together! Our time of fun ended Sunday when Emma slammed her head into the wall that separates two rooms. Gave herself a concussion! Not sure how she managed that! Its was a nasty bruise and bump. Her biggest concern? She didn't want to go to school where the other kids would see her head! Only 6 and already self aware like that?  Wait til you're 15 missy! Ha!

We had a great 4 days together and I wish it could have been longer! We are so blessed to live where we live, to have Emma's school, our ward, and the friends we have! We are so blessed with our family, no matter how far apart! We are very lucky people! Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday and counted their many blessings!

Trick Or Treat 2012!

Happy Halloween 2012!

I LOVE Fall, and Halloween is my favorite holiday, so its always my favorite time of year. I spent the month making spooky treats and meals, I put up our "creepy cute" decorations on the porch and a few around the house,  planned out the kids costumes, and of course carved us up some pumpkins. I have a lot of fun memories from when I was a kid and I hope to pass it on. Afterall, that's what its all about!

This year our costume inspiration came from one of our favorite movies, How To Train Your Dragon.  We were all vikings and Owen was our Dragon. Emma was specifically Astrid from the movie. I think I did a fairly good job hunting down pieces from thrift stores and what was already in our closets. Emma was as close as ever! I found a small satisfaction in the homemade costumes. Not a lot of money spent and it sure was fun to do!

This year was also a first, Owen's first year to Trick Or Treat. We had an absolute blast watching him figure it out.  We went to our ward Trunk Or Treat and had dinner and decorated our trunk. When it was time to trick or treat Owen suddenly became shy and wouldn't approach the person holding out the candy.  But about 5 cars into it they tossed a Dumb Dumb into his pumpkin and its a candy he recognized. At this point it clicked and he went right up with his bucket following Emma from car to car. I totally got a kick out of it! Emma ran around with a few friends and managed twice the amount of candy as Owen(She also had an entire day of Halloween with a big class/school party). When Trunk Or Treat was over, we headed back to our neighborhood with our friends the Normans and their kiddos. We did one lap around and the little ones were a hoot! Then we called it a night and let the kids dump out their stash to inspect their loot. Mom and Dad also inspected the rewards after hours. Wink Wink!

Hope everyone had a fun filled and safe Halloween!

Christmas Card Photos

Can you believe its October?? Gosh, that went by too dang fast! Am I the only one surprised by how fast this year has flown by? I know I say that all the time, but doesn't it seem like we just did Fourth of July? I see the colors changing, feel the temperature cooling, smell the chimneys going, and hear the rustle of leaves churning. Yet, I am still having a hard time accepting it. I LOVE FALL! It's my favorite time of year.  I just can't believe its here already.

With that said, I also LOVE me some Fall family photos! But what once was easy, is now getting harder. Emma has always been easy and carefree, but Owen has never liked sitting still for photos, a dilemma most moms are familiar with! I normally hire a photographer, but this year it wasn't in the budget, so we headed out with my camera. They may not be pro, but I say they are decent enough for Christmas cards. After two attempts at photos, the above 3 are all that turned out. I guess managing even one good photo can be a major feat so I shouldn't complain I have 3 to choose from!

A shout out to my Friend Brooke who got behind the camera for me this time! Thanks a million! I appreciate it very much. Now to decide which photo to use....or to drag my children back out AGAIN! Ha!

If you would be so kind as to leave a comment as to which you like best( I am leaning toward the last). I need some help choosing. Thank you! And a Happy Fall to All!

Owen is 18 months!

Our Owen is already 18 months! Make him stop growing! (hear the desperate tone?)  As most know it took forever to get pregnant and then he decided to show up a month early. Like he had finally decided he had waited long enough. Was a sneak peak into his stubborn, must do it himself personality. In just 6 months Owen has changed and grown so much, its just amazing! Here are a few facts about Owen at 18 months:

He is our serious boy and isn't very affectionate, but when we catch a smile or a love, we eat it up! Recently he has been giving out a lot more loves which is SO fantastic.

Owen is too smart for his own good and has already figured out how to get Emma's toys while she is at school and can't stop him. Its a hoot! And when she does, he is already running.

He has a love of cars.  Not the movie, car toys like Hot Wheels etc. He loves to roll them along and watch the wheels move. And if they can roll forward on their own or make noises, then he can sit there and play forever!

Owen also loves Elmo, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Baby Einstein. He won't sit through more than 10 minutes, but for him that's holding still for too long. He is always on the go!

He is a blanky boy and has several soft ones he drags around the house and to bed. He snuggles them and it just melts the heart!

Owen is very independent and wants to feed himself, dress himself(not quite successfully), brush his teeth himself, etc.

Owen is our little man of a thousand faces! He makes all sorts of faces for all sorts of reasons and it is a crack up! He loves to make a "surprised" inhale and he loves to use "uh oh" for about a thousand things(yes that's a slight exaggeration. lol).

He is talking more everyday and it surprises me how much he is picking up. Right now he likes to play peek a boo and when he opens his eyes he says, "There he is!" He also says, " I Love you" and "That's mine." Wonder where he got that last one from?  :)  He says so many single words I am losing track and is mimicking more all the time.

He now has 8 teeth. All four front teeth on top and bottom. His hair is wispy blond silk! But we have been using trimmers to keep it from getting too crazy since some areas need to catch up to others.  His eyes are no longer blue. In just 6 months they have turned to mud just as Emma's did, but his are still very light compared. I'd say we are going to stay somewhere in the green shade.

He is tall! His check up is next week and I can't wait to see what his numbers are.

Owen adores Emma, thinks Daddy is the greatest, and is still a Mommas boy.

I cannot imagine life with out Owen! He is our special little man! Cannot fathom how much you will learn and grow in the next 6 months. I know it will just breeze by and I am trying so hard to hold onto the present moment and enjoy all that you are! We love you Owen! And I will snuggle you to infinity and beyond(even when you protest!) ha!  :)

It's been 13 years!

Thirteen years? How on earth did that happen?! Time flies when you're having fun! It seems impossible its been 13 years, but as I reflect I can recall so much that has happened, changed, and grown.  We have traveled all over, finished school, lived in 3 different cities, and had two beautiful children.  I feel so lucky to have had a great 13 years regardless of the hardships we have faced. We have SO much and are SO blessed.    As I sit with Owen in my lap or walk Emma to school, I am reminded of the many things in my life that would not be complete had I not found the man to share it with. We are best friends who are silly, ridiculous, and enjoy each others company even after 13 years. Ha! I have no idea what the future holds, but I know who I will hold it with. Here's to the next 13 years of our adventure! I love you Philip Fleming!

(On a side note, we got to go on a real date for our anniversary! Was awesome! ha! And a thank you to my Mom for taking the above photos with my camera for us!)

Emma's first day of school!

I cannot believe Emma is in First Grade! How unfair that time has gone by so quickly! Emma got up as soon as she heard the alarm go off ( I suspect she was already awake!) and literally bounced around with enthusiasm getting dressed, eating breakfast, and getting her hair done. We went out and took a few pictures and headed basically 2 houses down to the bus stop where the other kids on our street impatiently waited. When the bus arrived Emma got on with out looking back and waived to me from the window as the bus pulled away. My heart slightly sank. My baby girl was going to be gone all day away from me for the next nine months. Boo!  But I knew she'd love it and enjoy her new friends and teacher.  When the bus arrived in the afternoon she again bounced off and happily told me all about her first day experiences. She loves her teacher and school and I couldn't be happier about that! Here's to a great school year! Cheers!

Table Make Over!

Before:

The Best invention ever! Primer for any surface and no roller required!

The base of the table getting is major coating.

         Distressing the edges of the base and top and on the chairs was pretty easy. Fine grit sandpaper.

After all the painting and clear top coating!

A chalk board top!

We got rid of our old glass top table when we moved to Spokane and I have been looking for a year for something that I could make over and love, or just fall in love with at first sight.  Never happened. I was starting to just give up and accept the fact we would be sitting on the floor forever, until one day I was perusing Craigslist and saw this cute solid Maple set. Looked in fairly good sturdy condition and had nice basic shape and style. Even better was the price tag! Less than $100! So I called em up and the table was ours by dinner time!

It was so easy to update. I took the advice of a pinner on Pinterest and got the Rustoleum Universal Primer. It was awesome! Went on easy and I didn't have to sand which saved major time and elbow grease. After I let the primer dry and I repeated a coat and then took a fine grit sandpaper block and distressed the edges on all the pieces. For the top I used Martha Stewart brand Chalkboard paint from Michael's in a brownish grey color. I had this idea that it would be fun to be able to write on the table like at Macaroni Grill. With the original brown showing through the distressed areas, it looked great!  I used Min Wax water based clear coat to top coat and preserve the paint from the hardships of being used on a daily basis(except the chalkboard top). Ta da! Took about 3 days from beginning to end with the coats and time drying. Now its a ton of fun and I remember why we eat at the table! Ha!