Make - a - Flake

This site is awesome. I'm a little bit addicted, it took some getting used to but I really like to see the designs I made.

Thanks Mirien and kids!

Disco

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Riverton High School

I heard about this story while visiting another ward this last Sunday. During Relief Society one of the women shared her thoughts on Riverton High School raising over $83,000 for a charity. This woman is a lunch lady at the school so I believe that she had her facts straight when she made these comments. One morning the school asked the students to give whatever they could just that day (I imagine it was sort of an off hand collection), right then and there. In one day the STUDENTS alone contributed $9,000. Apparently last year the school had raised around $80,000. This year they weren't expecting to hit that number considering the current economic standing, so they were beyong surprised when they exceeded the previous year's amount.

You can see the story that KSL news did on it here. I've also posted the video below. It's only a couple of minutes long but I think it's so incredible.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Did I Ever?

DISCLAIMER: I do not feel bad for posting the following pictures of some home improvement. This room happens to be mainly finished. I just have to do some touch ups on the paint and hang some stuff. After reading my first comment (thank you Amber) I feel the need to clear one major thing up. Privacy is so NOT an issue in that room. Between the 10 ft. fence in our backyard and two big campers bordering us on the east and west, I was fairly certain no one was looking in.

I'm thinking that I never posting about the blinds that were finally put up in our family room. Thanks to a couple of, now, expert pair of hands I have the ability to make it shaded or brighter than the sun in our family room. This is a huge improvement from the constant state of brighter than the sun option. I assure you, I love these blinds!

Brothers don't shake hands, brothers hug. Alright, they put up blinds together... I'm not sure I've ever seen Matt hug any of his brothers. And I'm fairly certain I've only seen my own brothers hug when it involved something mission related. MTC, airport, you get it?
And here's the finished product. Ah, four sets of ridiculously heavy blinds all installed and ready for my enjoyment. And now I don't have to feel bad every time Leah goes into the room when it is bright. She used to say, "Mommy it's too bright," while covering her eyes.

What was that? You wanted a slightly closer look at those awesome blinds? Okay, I happen to have just the picture...

Oh and here are the icicles that are lining the room of my house right outside these nicely blinded windows. Because of the blinds I didn't even notice the icicles until today. And I do love a good icicle.

Favorite Things

Some of my favorite things Leah is saying lately:

"Fairy Poppins" : Mary Poppins - this originally was Fairy Foppins, but has evolved somewhat
"I'm so proud of you!"
"Santa says, Ho ho."
"(Gasp) You're so beautiful!"
"Daddy's at work."
"Lucy wears princess panties but Claire wears diapers. She's too little."
As soon as she wakes up from her nap, "Who do we see today?"
"Sleeping Duty"
"Cinderelly"
"Fancy Fancy" : Fancy Nancy
"I hurt me-self."
"I'm so happy," or "You make me so happy."

Pulling My Hair Out

The Little Mermaid DVD case is missing and it is driving me C R A Z Y! Obviously, the best thing to do is to blog about it instead of looking for it.

Forget It

Remember that list that I had previously posted? Well, I've decided to throw it out the window. Very little has been crossed off the list and it was stressing me out too much. I've decided to put down the paintbrush (the one that I hadn't picked up since before I wrote the list) and enjoy this week. I don't want to rush into Christmas all stressed out. I want to enjoy the upcoming days after all this season only comes around once a year. So I've decided to get done what NEEDS to get done. This consists of finishing up the bathroom (not my job), tidying up the 3rd bedroom, cleaning and organizing here and there, and finally wrapping some presents.

Some fun things have been happening lately. Leah has seen Santa twice and although I wasn't there for the second time, I understand it went something like the first. The first incident involved lots of screaming and clawing and finally a refusal (yes, we'll say refusal to put it lightly) to be anywhere near the jolly man.

This picture was taken after Matt took Leah out of her carseat one evening. She had some sidewalk chalk in the pocket of her jacket, found it, and proceeded to put 'makeup' on.

I've really been enjoying my calling in the young women's program. We've had some great activities and I feel that I'm finally starting to get to know the girls. We really have a great group of girls. This next picture is from one of our more recent activities. I post it because my family will be S H O C K E D! This isn't a pile of rubble! I don't remember the last time I made a gingerbread house that continued to stand for more than 15 seconds. I made a trailer home once that did, but not an actual house without wheels. And it's even sort of cute. I accredit this win to the awesome cement/frosting that was made that night. Seriously, I have never used such STRONG frosting.

Well, it's snowing peacefully outside and there's a shovel calling my name. I love shoveling. I thank my mom for this. I don't know if she actually enjoys shoveling, but she always made us think she did. It really is nice to be outside in the quiet that only snow can bring. Ahhh, and then to come inside to some nice hot chocolate. I hope everyone can enjoy shoveling as much as I do today.

Wish Me Luck!

I really do have things to blog about and it's sort of killing me to not post some of the adorable pictures I've taken of Leah lately. But the motivation factor is still in play, and it's working! Since the last post about the new light fixture (which I refuse to put a picture up of until the painting is done) I've painted 4-ish walls - only 3-ish left!

I've decided to make a list of things I need to have DONE DONE DONE by December 22. It probably would be a bad idea if Matt looked at this too.

Paint Downstairs:
Family Room (check)
Fireplace Room - I still hate the name by the way - (check)
Hallway (check)
Kitchen NOT CHECK
Living Room *North Wall (check), East Wall NOT CHECK, West Wall NOT CHECK
Dining Room *South Wall (check), East Wall NOT CHECK, West Wall (check)
Upstairs Bathroom:
Finish putting the shower back together NOT CHECK (trust me Tyler, you'll want this done)
Main Entry:
Replace light fixture (check)
Living Room:
Install blinds (check - thanks David)
2nd Bedroom:
Install blinds (check - thanks David)
Paint - I'm not sure if it can get done by the 22nd but we'll see -
3rd Bedroom:
Install blinds (check - Tyler, you'll also thank me for this)

*Hopefully I'll be able to convince Tracy to come over and help me hang some things on the walls before this deadline as well. Tracy: no pressure, but you do bring new meaning to the word AWESOME*

Uh oh, I just looked at the calendar... December 22 is just over a week away. I better get moving.

Progression and Digression

I'm still leaving up these pictures as motivation for us to finish. I refuse to blog about anything else until the painting is DONE (at least in these two rooms)! We've made some progress; you'll notice I took the picture of the ugly light fixture down. We replace that just last night, woo hoo. It's definitely a victory. I also refuse to post a picture of the beautiful fixture until the paint job is done. I know, you're all DYING to see it. And we've also painted one of the walls.

Although, now that we have the light done and I can mark off one thing on the list, our main upstairs bathroom is in complete disarray. The shower up there wasn't terribly functional. I made it work for Leah but it won't work for adults who want to be immersed completely while showering. I thought it would be a quick fix, but after some ripping out of walls I was proven wrong. The project is mostly done, Matt just has to finish it up. You can see why I'm wary of this, as we've been in the house for 2 1/2 months and have yet to finish our painting project. MATT PLEASE FINISH THE BATHROOM, if not for my sake then for Tyler and Katy's.