My Creative Outlet

First of all I am happy to report that Aubrey has been staying out of trouble. There have been no major messes that have caused me to call my daughter names such as beastly or a terror. So I am much happier these days. :)

I have been having so much fun lately with doing the kids' rooms. The boys room is all finished except we have to actually hang the shelves that we got at Ikea last week. When that is finished I will post some pics. I have been on the hunt for a chandelier for the girls' room for quite some time. When I tried to explain to Josh what I wanted he thought I was crazy. I had to show him pictures on the internet to prove that putting a chandelier in a girls room was a good idea. Anyways, I had found a few at a really awesome store here in town that sells antiques but they were more than I wanted to pay and when I looked online all I could find was ones that were too big or ostentatious. But I still wanted to have the crystal look. Well, then I stumbled upon this little beauty... While we were in Utah for the birth of my sister's first baby I took the fam to a cupcake shop that was right by our hotel called "The Sweet Tooth Fairy." The cupcakes were to die for and I found a light fixture that would be perfect for the girls' room. I just loved it so I took a picture so that I could try and find a match to it. The next day I went to Ikea and unexpectedly I found a chandelier that was almost a perfect match. And the best part was that it was half the cost of the ones I had found in Billings. I love ikea!!! So this little sucker is the inspiration for the girls' room. Now I just have to fill in the rest. We are starting with paint and will go from there but I am loving the striped two tone paint look.

I have been lucky enough to have a number of friends and family members having babies recently. I love babies! I just want to hold them and snuggle them and eat them up. You can't get much better than a brand new baby. Anyways, I have been hard at work making some cute things for all of my friends and family. I made some bow ties and used my skinny boys' necks as a guide. I figure that you don't want them too tight for a baby and that if a baby is chubby at all then Ethan's neck will most likely be the same size. We will see. I put lots of velcro on them just in case. My sister had shown me once how she makes bow ties so I just made a few adjustments and tried my best. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Josh's stepsister is having her first baby next month and naming her Aubrey too so I made an initial onesie with the cutest ruffle butt ever! I love making little girly things with ruffles and bows and not using traditional "girl" colors. Oh and just can't over how cute the flowers and headband turned out. I love the fact that the black headband goes so well. I had made this one for Aubrey but she didn't get to wear it very much because she had nothing that really matched.

Too Cute!!!

This bag was a special request made by Julie. It is her diaper bag for her new baby. She was very particular on the fabric but we finally found some that she approved of (long distance fabric shopping is difficult) and it turned out so beautiful. I made a couple of different adjustments to the pattern on this one to make it more of a diaper bag. I added width to it and gave it a bunch more pockets as well as a longer handle. I had taken it down to Utah in pieces so that I could finish it with her there in case she wanted any other adjustments made. Well I had forgotten some pattern pieces so I had to wait for Josh to bring them to me, (he came down a day later for work) and then the next day when I was supposed to finish it he still had my stuff with him in his car when he went out to make his sales visits. So I finished it up at the last minute in the hotel. I even had to go to the front desk and ask to borrow a pair of scissors since I had left mine at Julie's house. So yeah, getting this bad boy finished was quite the feat.

Yup, I took this picture in my hotel room :)

This is my newest favorite baby item. The suspenders are so stinkin cute! And then it allows me to use a coordinating fabric for the ties. I love them!!! I can't wait to make more, so you friends of mine better start poppin out those boys!

Yesterday I spent almost the whole day sewing. It was wonderful, I love sewing because it allows me to clear my mind and just think. I found myself pondering a number of different things in my life right now. It just leaves me feeling refreshed and more focused after I get to spend some time creating. Now if only I could find that kind of joy in cleaning my house.

Lipstick and a Quilt

I have been a little stir-crazy. I am not going to school during the day and I have been needing a little something to keep me busy (ok, not really I am already busy enough) But I got an idea in my head and couldn't get it out. I had an idea for decorating the boys' room. I had seen Camille Roskelley's (Simplify) boys bedroom and loved it. So I thought I would get to work and spruce up the room and it definitely needed a little attention. So we painted it a light gray and I have been adding bright greens, dark gray, black, and turquoise to it. I am not quite done but I did order the cutest "I hope they call me on a mission print" from here that I can't wait to get. I also need to take a trip to ikea for some bright green shelves. We did finally get the wire hung that we had gotten at ikea last october, and I found the perfect dark gray curtains at target. I wanted to make a quilt for their room but haven't decided if it is going to go on Ethan or Preston's bed. They have trundle beds but in all honesty Preston's is rarely pushed in. The slipcover on Ethan's bed is perfect for their room already and I had picked it up at ikea also (I had this idea brewing for quite some time.) Anyways here is a picture of the quilt before it was all put together. It was also missing quite a few blocks so it has a different feel to it now. I was still waiting on two fabrics in black and white so what I added helped give it a little less color. I LOVED the way that it turned out. This is the first quilt that I have made where I picked out all of my own fabrics and it was tons of fun. I do a lot of my fabric shopping over the internet, which can be difficult when it comes to color. I am pretty familiar with all of the major designers and know their fabrics and colors but there were a few that I bought for this project that didn't quite work in the end. Oh well, I can always add to my stash right? Finding boy prints was also difficult. Fabric tends to be floral.... which wasn't going to work for this projects so we ended up with lots of strips and polka dots but in the end there is no hint of girl. I am going to quilt in with just vertical quilting to help even more in the masculine department.

Here is a stack of MOST of the fabric before I started cutting.

The finished quilt on Ethan's bed. Ethan found a picture of art class to hang on the wire RIGHT away. I am planning something with modge podge, fabric, scrapbook paper, and the word "brothers" to hang on this, we will see how long that takes me :) I will post some finished pictures when I get everything done, but don't hold your breath, it may take awhile.

Aubrey is such a little mess maker. I cannot even begin to describe the amount of or magnitude of her messes. She is unlike any of my other children in this department. Yes all of my kids have gotten into things and made messes but this little princess is in a league of her own.

Here she had gotten into my purse and found my favorite estee lauder lipstick. It was a fun and trendy red and I had really been enjoying wearing it. I also loved that it was a nice quality lipstick, which I don't get too often. Well she used her little fist to grab pretty much all of the lipstick out of the tube and then proceeded to use rub it in her hands like lotion, coating EVERY crevice and surface with my lipstick. But she also proceeded to get it on the carpet, her face and pajamas, and Preston. She was so coated in the stuff I had to take a picture. I am going to try and be better at taking pictures of her masterpieces (messes) so that she will understand just how destructive she was. And it gives me proof that I am not joking when I tell Josh that his daughter is CRAZY!

A Few Christmas Pictures

I just had to add a few pictures from Christmas since it was at our house this year. And these ones of Aubrey just melt my heart. She cracks me up. She is so full of personality. She had just opened up her purse and sunglasses from Josh and I and then she got this doll from Grandma and Grandpa Wynia. She LOVES baby dolls and is such a little mommy to them.

Just this morning as we were headed out the door to take Kendra and Ethan to School she spotted her purse and would go no further until she had it on her shoulder.

Here we are getting ready to rip into some presents.

Before present time they were watching Despicable Me downstairs and I just had to take this picture. Uncle Devin is so amazing! He is going to be the best daddy someday. My kids adore him.

Thursday before Christmas we had Kendra and Preston's birthday party since everyone was in town. Amy and Wayne had literally just walked in the door when the party was getting ready to start. I ended up having MUCH less time than anticipated and so my plans for their cake got way scaled down but still turned out fun. I did a layer for each of them and put butterflies on Kendra's and dinosaurs on Preston's. They loved it so I was happy.

Just a quick picture from Ethan's Christmas program. At their old school they didn't do a Christmas program each year so we were excited to be able to go to their school and watch them perform.

South Dakota

Well we never got the laptop fixed and instead had to get a whole new computer. Apparently the motherboard went out and that was going to cost a pretty penny to fix so we just got a new one instead. But it is working great so no complaints here!

So we made it to Mount Rushmore on Thursday I believe. It was one of the warmest days that we were there, but by the time Josh got done working for the day and we got up there it wasn't warm anymore. If you didn't notice Ethan is crying in this picture. He did not want to sit up on the ledge. He has a HUGE fear of heights. When he was about three his uncle Devin was playing with him and threw him high into the air. So high that it totally freaked him out and for a while he would get scared when I picked him up. Anyways, the ledge we set him on was a good two feet wide and on the other side was another level about 7-8 feet down is all, but that didn't matter apparently. I think that pure exhaustion played a role in his meltdown because he was being just a tad ridiculous about the whole thing.When we were parking the car and getting out Josh realized that he hadn't brought his coat with him. He normally never wears a coat but definitely regretted it. It got cold up there.This was just a few minutes after the ledge incident and see how happy he is? Oh and yes, Ethan lost his first tooth. It took Ethan forever to get his teeth. I remember being at his one year check up and asking the doctor if something was wrong because he didn't have any teeth. The doctor told me that all kids get their teeth at different times. Well it also took him forever to loose his first tooth. He was 7 and a half when he finally lost it and since then he has lost one more. He was super excited to finally have lost his first tooth, too bad he swallowed it.Josh took us to this place called Culvers that serves frozen custard. I was really skeptical but it was YUMMY!Here we are all dressed up for dinner, (I think.) This is what happens when I wait forever to blog, I forget! But I love this picture because it shows both of my curly haired kiddos.The waterpark! Oh man, we spent so much time here. When we left my legs and stomach were all red and burned. I think it was from spending HOURS everyday in the water. The kids loved it though and there was plenty of fun places to play. Preston called the lazy river the "bumpy ride" because at one part they have jets on the floor that shoot up so it makes it kind of like rapids. This is Kendra lying on the ground as the huge bucket droped water all over this kids play area. Kendra was the only one that would willingly wait for the water to drop. Ethan did it sometimes, but only if Kendra was with him

Preston LOVED the "Bumpy Ride"
Aubrey and I did a lot of just hanging out the first couple of days until she got a little more used to the water and all the noise.
Josh made Preston stand under the bucket once. He giggled and laughed but wasn't willing to do it again.

This slide was the family favorite! In the middle of the slide it opened up into this big bowl and you would go around and around until you got to the middle and would drop down to the rest of the slide. I tried to get some good pictures but they go so fast! Kendra is the one waving.

Preston loved the big slides but could only go on them when Josh as around because someone had to stay with Aubrey (she didn't like the big slides) So as soon as Josh got of work and came down to the waterpark Preston would drag him up the stairs over and over again. He loves the water. He is going to grow up to be a beach bum and just surf all day long with his crazy blond hair. I can already see it.

Where to Even Begin

Today was my first day of nothingness. No school, no birthdays, no company, no holidays, no trip, NOTHING. I had even done most of my catching up on laundry and cleaning yesterday (yes on the sabbath, Josh had to pack again for this week.) I didn't quite know what to do. I let Preston and Aubrey destroy what little order the house was in and I caught up on a few things concerning my New Years resolutions and other things on the computer. I don't think I have spent as much time on the computer in months as I did today. It was wonderful. I did a little sewing and a bunch of eating (I made really yummy cookies yesterday.) It was a good day!

This is Josh's last week in Rapid City. It is a bittersweet thing to come to the end. There were times when I was perfectly fine with him being away every Monday through Thursday in exchange for me not having to work and spending all weekend together. Then there were the times (usually at bedtime) when I was willing to PAY for him to be home. I have to head back to work a week from tomorrow and although I have some new resolutions to help give me extra motivation I am not overly excited. With the holidays and all the business that comes with them I didn't really apply for too many jobs. I still go back and forth about me working full time during the day. I figure I have five more months of not seeing my older kids much until summer break. It is hard. In fact, when Kendra rolled over this morning and told me that she didn't want to go to school today I almost told her ok and climbed into bed with her to cuddle for a little while.

Christmas was wonderful, as always. It was strange to have the Christmas Eve festivities at our house since we have the big house now. I LOVED having both Josh's family and my family there and even more I loved not having to load up the kids or presents and being gone all night. Josh's dad and step mom got to see a new side of my family as about 12 of us all played Mafia. The accusations were made and the cousins got loud, as always. There were helicopters flying and wrapping paper everywhere. Kids were playing and everyone was eating. What is Christmas Eve without a whole bunch of Chaos? We were even blessed to have company stay with us as my sister decided at the last minute to come with her hubby and kids. I loved being able to stay up late Christmas Eve with them while the finishing touches were put on the front room.

On the Monday after Christmas we packed up and headed to Rapid City to stay the week with Josh. The hotel that he has been staying at has a huge indoor water park attached to it so we decided to make a vacation out of it. We had a lot of fun and swam A TON. The highlight of the trip might just be when we went out for dinner after a long day of swimming and Preston threw up all over the seat, then Aubrey spilled water all over and then to finish off the dinner Preston threw up again. This time Josh was prepared with the huge empty water glass and kept it contained. Preston was just utterly exhausted, poor guy, it was even his birthday! We made it up to Mount Rushmore, but then missed Reptile Gardens because they closed a day early for the season because of a snow storm. That same snow storm kept us there an extra day but when we did make the trek home the roads were fine. It was a nice and much needed trip but it made the week go by WAY too fast.

I am hoping to get our laptop fixed next week. I will be glad to download my pictures and get caught up on a few other things. Until then...more babbling :)

An Intervention

Well I guess someone read my last post because we have definitely seen some changes around here. The week of Thanksgiving Josh's company was awarded a new contract. Being awarded this contract meant that the company was going to have to open a new branch in Rapid City. There was talk of us moving there so that Josh could be the operations manager. Not where we had in mind to live, but it would pay well enough for me to stay home so we were ok with it. Not to mention it would be great experience for Josh. Well his boss's (he has a few) decided he was more valuable to the company in his current position and would rather hire a new local guy to be the manager in Rapid City than have to hire someone for Josh's position, (to me I think that means they should pay Josh more if he is so valuable, but that is just me.) So we did avert a move to Rapid City but they did decide to send Josh over there for the six to eight weeks to open the branch, find the shop, hire drivers, contact and obtain vendors, and all that fun stuff. GREAT EXPERIENCE! Josh was excited to have the opportunity and he drives a company car and everything is paid for and he comes home on the weekend. It isn't fun to have him gone all week but that just means that we have to enjoy our weekends as much as possible. Since him being gone all week means that I can't work his company is paying him an additional per diem so that we don't have to worry about me working for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Hallelujah!

He started working over there the week after thanksgiving. Since he is gone and not taking care of the kids at night he actually gets more of his homework done so it works out in many ways. It couldn't have come at a better time. Kendra has been struggling. She needs me home. She is growing up and maturing into a young woman much faster than should be allowed. She had been asking me every night for about a week if I had to work. That is the number one sign that I am working too much. It has been nice to be home and to enjoy the weekend with my family. I know that prayers are answered in strange ways sometimes and that this is an answer to a prayer right now. This also gives me six to eight weeks to find a job :) I didn't get the one that I had first applied for but there are a few others out there that drew my attention so we are playing the waiting game. In the meantime I get to finish out my semester without worrying about work. I also got to go to Kendra's holiday program at school last night and I won't have to miss any other holiday parties. It is WONDERFUL!

Something's Gotta Give

Each day I get up at 7:20 am and hope that Kendra and Ethan are already dressed for school. I make sure that they get breakfast, gather up their school things, and get them to school. I come home and bathe Preston and Aubrey, do the dishes or laundry, get homework done, shower and get ready for the day, I occasionally sew, and try to spend some time just being with Preston and Aubrey. By the afternoon I have class. I take the kids to Staci's house (a friend in our ward that has been so wonderful) and I head to class. I pick up the little ones, head out to pick up the big kids, and then finally come home. I have anywhere from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours before I have to be to work. Sometimes I have to meet Josh at the Roadhouse and trade off the kids (and yes people in the parking lot always look at us funny). Wednesdays I squeeze in Piano for Kendra and a quick run to Sam's Club while she is having her lesson before work. I come home somewhere between 9 pm and 11 pm (later on the weekends) and sometimes squeeze in more studying or homework. Then I get to do it all over again the next day.

Not a whole lot of fun!

I am supposed to be applying for the nursing program for next semester. If I get in then my school load goes from part of my day to my entire day. This would mean that my younger two would have to be in full time daycare and I would have to work even more in order to pay for it, while going to school. Let's just say that I don't have much of a desire to continue school right now. With that being said I have no intention on turning in my application for the program. I am excited to not have to worry about the added stress that brings into my life. When I finally made the decision not to continue it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could breathe again.
Since I won't be going to school in the spring that frees up my day. I had been contemplating what to do when I came across a job listing for my dream job. It was a job that I had decided I wanted to do a long time ago. I prayed about it and pondered it and it just felt right. I hadn't planned on getting a day job but it was just too perfect. So I applied. I have had my first phone interview but so far that is it. As I started thinking about it more I realized how wonderful it would be to have a real job again, to build a career and to see my school age children and husband again. I am excited. I don't know what the future holds for my family but I do know that no matter what I have to work. Sadly that is the consequence for the poor financial choices that Josh and I made in the first 7 years of our marriage. And if I have to work then I want to be working towards something and doing something that I love and am passionate about. I want to be able to see my children and not just get them to school in the mornings and then pick them up in the afternoon just to leave them shortly after.
I hadn't planned on taking this turn in life but it seems to be where I am headed and I am okay with that. I am now seriously looking for a day job again and there are many more positions now than when I was initially laid off so that definitely helps. Sorry if you came by the blog to read updates on my kiddos or see pictures. This blog has become more of an outlet for me recently. It helps me to clear my head and so if my posts are long and boring then I am sorry. Maybe when my life doesn't feel so overwhelming I will go back to the light hearted stuff. In the meantime you can learn intimate details of my life, who doesn't love that? :)

I Heart Etsy

Our laptop is officially ill and needs to see the doctor, so I am having a hard time getting anything done on our ancient computer. I apologize for the lack of posts and also the lack of pictures but it will most likely be awhile. Anyways, the semester is rapidly drawing to a close and I couldn't be more excited. I am ready for a break! It is much different this semester due to the fact that I am working four to five nights a week on top of my school load, (which was only seven credits this semester.) In the meantime I have also been keeping up with my Etsy shop. So many people that I run into have never heard of Etsy.com and it amazes me since I am pretty obsessed with it. Some of you may know that I have a shop at www.runiqueboutique.etsy.com I love to sew and be crafty so when I discovered etsy I knew it was for me. Etsy is a website that sells nothing but handcrafted or vintage items. The site it full of thousands of crafters that have awesome and fun things to share. I do plenty of shopping on etsy now and love being able to find things that are trendy, cute, and UNIQUE. For example, for our anniversary I got Josh a hand stamped keychain that had our initials and wedding date on it along with a cute saying. It was personal, thoughtful and inexpensive.... PERFECT! So along with the craziness of my semester I have been trying to fill my shop up for the holidays. I pretty much have every bag that I wanted to get finished all done and listed in the shop. I call that my own little miracle. I also recently made a whole bunch of fabric flower headbands but due to the malfunctioning of the laptop those might not make it on the site for a few weeks. So if you haven't already, go and check out Etsy.com you can get a jump start on your christmas shopping, (with two December birthdays and four children I started about four months ago)

10 Years the Full Story

Ten years ago today I got married. WOW! I remember thinking about this day, how it seemed so far away. I remember thinking that if we could make it to our ten year anniversary then we would be just fine. We were married in the LDS church and Bishop Homer married us. I didn't wear a fancy dress and it was super small, just close friends and family were there. We always talked about how we would have a real party when we went through the temple. About 22 months later we were sealed in the temple and had no celebration aside from a cake at my parents' house. Then we always talked about how at our 10 year anniversary we would have a reception. At the start of the year we contemplated it, but it just didn't work out. So here we are with big plans for tonight. Go to the temple, come home, eat some homemade Cafe Rio burritos and then do some homework :) Fun huh? I am just happy to have a night off, eat some yummy food and go to the temple with my best friend.

We didn't get married under ideal circumstances. I was pregnant. I got pregnant at my senior prom. Almost makes you laugh right? When it finally came out that I was pregnant I had already been accepted to BYU and was devastated. I went to California to live with my Aunt and the plan was to put the baby up for adoption. I quit talking to Josh and got a job and picked out a family to adopt the baby. On my 18th birthday Josh sent me an e-mail. That changed everything. We began to talk and my feelings towards Josh started to change from anger back to the love that I had felt for him. We talked for another five weeks and we decided that we wanted to get married. It was important for me to know that I wanted to be with him because I loved him and not just because I was going to have a baby. Those times were crazy and my emotions and thoughts were overwhelming. As I look back on our first couple of years I am still amazed. I know that we were led through some strenuous times by our Heavenly Father. I remember hearing things in those first few months about how friends and acquaintances were talking about us and giving us 6-12 months before we split. That made me so mad!

We kept moving forward, I was in school and Josh got a decent job. Things were going pretty well. We were sealed in the temple in August of 2002 and that gave me some confidence in our relationship and a little peace of mind. We had set the goal of going through the temple within 2 years and we made it. A few months later we were excited to find out that baby number 2 was on it's way (we had been trying for a couple of months). Ethan joined our family the following summer. He was such a mellow baby and child. It was a much needed difference in our home. When Ethan was a year we bought our first house. It was a wonderful house that we had built and it gave us room to grow. A few years later I planned on going back to school and about a week after initially contacting the school we had a surprise when we found out that Preston was on his way. Although he wasn't planned I knew that he was supposed to be coming to our family at that time.

As our family changed and we went through career changes and sold our home and went back to school we were growing up. We were just kids when we started out but we were determined to make it work. We had similar goals in life and were willing to sacrifice for one another. As I get to know other teenagers and young adults in my life the more I realize how lucky we were to make it through those hard times stronger and more dedicated to one another. Last night as we lied in bed I told Josh that I would love to know what our moms were thinking about us on our wedding day and now what they think 10 years later. I hope that my children never make the choices that we made but I pray that if they do that they have the maturity to deal with them and grow from them.

These 10 years haven't been flawless and we haven't made the best choices every step of the way but we know that we aren't perfect. Over the last couple of years we have had a number of friends struggle in their marriages and have seen some of those marriages end in divorce. It has given me a wake-up call. I know that every day I have to work on my marriage. It isn't something that can be taken for granted. I have also learned that you have to be willing to share your thoughts and feelings. Even if your spouse doesn't agree with them or it makes them upset. I have found that if Josh knows where I am coming from and knows my thought process then it helps him have a better understanding. Everyone is different but I know that what we have works for us and I love my husband and I still look forward to the moments that we get to spend together.

Frumpy Dump

Alright, this post has been nagging at me for quite some time. A couple of weeks ago I had a bad day. Nothing looked right and I was just frustrated with myself, I was standing in the bathroom looking in the mirror and almost had tears in my eyes. Josh walked in and we talked a little bit. I told him I felt like a frumpy dump. He laughed at my word choice and of course assured me that I am not a frumpy dump. It wasn't too many days later that I was getting ready to walk out the door for work. My hair was done, my make-up on, and I put my super cool new aviator sunglasses on (Old Navy $2.99.) Josh just looked at me and told me I looked like I was trying to be 21. I told him that I was just trying to be the age I AM and that my new sunglasses were super cool and I walked out the door. When I got to work I walked in and took off my sunglasses. One of my male co-workers said, "look at you miss Heather Locklear with your new hair (I recently got my hair done and it is pretty blond) and shades taking them off all cool like that." This particular co-worker of mine is strange and loud by I will take the compliment anyways. Thank you Jarvis.

So I have been thinking about these events quite a bit lately. I hate feeling frumpy! I take pride in the way I look. I am not skinny, nor am I overweight. I am not comfortable wearing super trendy clothes or clothes that are too tight or revealing. I leave the super trendy to my skinny younger sisters :) I have a personal style that works for me, I understand that I am not 21 but I am still only 28. Yes, I am the mother to four children. But that doesn't mean that I have to dress like I am 40 or 50 years old or that I just got done working out when we both know that I didn't.

One morning when Kendra was in 1st grade I was getting ready to take her to school. I was wearing workout pants and a sweatshirt just like every morning. She kindly looked at me and asked me if I was going to get dressed today. I knew exactly what she was trying to say by the look on her face and her tone. So I asked her if she would like it if mommy got ready before I took her to school and picked her up. She politely said yes. That moment changed me forever.

Looking like I take care of myself and dressing stylish doesn't cost me a ton of money or take me forever either. I enjoy hunting for the best deals and I am an avid "couponer." I like to splurge on my jeans and only do that every few years. And I am talking like 70-100 dollars, it could be much worse. Good jeans are the basis for everything so I willing to pay more and sometimes I find good ones for 20-40 bucks. But seriously, good jeans make me feel like a million dollars.f I shop online a lot and use coupon codes and almost ALWAYS get free shipping. I can sew. I make things and I am able to alter things that don't fit quite right. I buy all my makeup at target. I use the Internet as a huge resource. For instance, I was having issues with my make-up. It just never looked really good. I wanted Amy to teach me her tricks when we met up in Park City last spring but we never had time. So when I got home I googled make-up tips. I found an awesome website with video tutorials and everything. I learned SO much! Anyways, I guess the point I am trying to make with this paragraph is that it has taken me a little bit of effort but not a ton of time or very much money. After my incident with Kendra years ago I knew that there was no excuse good enough for letting myself go. I owe it to my children and my husband to look good for them and myself.

I love Dr. Laura's book, "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands." Her views are similar to mine and I read chapters from her book pretty regularly. It helps me to stay focused on being a good wife. Anyways one of the reasons I try to take care of myself, besides doing it for myself, is for my husband. Ten years ago, (almost to the day) Josh married a pretty cute 18 year old. Even though we have both gotten older and put on a little weight I still want to be my cutest self for him. Impressing my husband is important to me. No he isn't always going to think I am the hottest girl around and he has seen me at my absolute WORST. But he needs to know that young cute girl is still in there and that she still likes to get dolled up for him.

Do I look good all of the time? NO WAY! Do I still take the kids to school in pajamas? YUP! But I come home and get ready for the day and I make sure that I don't look out of date and that I am dressing appropriately. I may only get my hair done twice a year but I know how to style it and am not afraid to try new things. Despite all of my efforts I sometimes still have days where I feel like a frump. But I guess the important thing is that I try my best not to give in to my inner Frumpy Dump.

My Baby

Aubrey is full of spunk! She is busy and sweet and trying and wonderful all at once. She is really starting to grow up. I think communicating does that to little ones. Once they start communicating they are no longer babies. She is using new words every day. At night when we kneel down to say prayers with her she has finally started trying to repeat what we say. It seems like this has taken her a long time since she has been folding her arms and "praying" every night for months now. You can't understand a single word that she is saying but she still tries her hardest to repeat what Josh or I say to her.She has curly hair! I can't even believe it but Aubrey has curly hair! I was glad when Preston's hair came in curly and I still just adore his sweet little blond curls but now I have a little girl with curls too! Aubrey has been pretty good about letting my put ponytails in her hair and just smiles and giggles at herself when I stand her on the counter to look in the mirror when I am done. She still has her big blue eyes and we still get comments on them everywhere we go. All four of our kids have blue eyes but something about Aubrey's eyes gets people to stop us where ever we are to tell us what beautiful eyes she has. It is strange.

Yup, this is her playing peek-a-boo with us. She is extremely playful. She loves to laugh and play. The older kids are pretty good about letting her tag along and Aubrey almost always has a baby doll AND doll blanket in her hands.
I took Aubrey to Old Navy to do some shopping for her as it started to get colder around here. She found some boots. Well, I found the boots first and showed them to her and asked her if she liked them. That was a huge mistake! Those pink patent leather boots were on her feet before we left the store and she carried them around and wore them for weeks. She even slept with them! She loves her boots! She gets really excited to put them on and they can take her mood from frustrated and upset to perfectly happy. I am almost in love with the boots as much as she is!

Red Lodge 2010

I think that our trip to Red Lodge is turning into a yearly event, which I don't mind at all! It is a great way to welcome fall and have a good time. We had to stop at the candy store and fill up our bags. We have learned that in order to avoid kicking and screaming we have to cave and let each of the kids fill their own bag. We just have to monitor what is going in and take them as soon as we can get away with it.Aubrey's bag was also known as Daddy's bag. And I helped Kendra fill hers with some of my very favorites. I LOVE salt water taffy and they have just about every flavor imaginable. I am such a sucker for candy that this is the highlight of my day in Red Lodge.

Preston didn't quite know what to do with himself in the candy store. We made it out of the store alive and the candy only lasted a couple of days thanks mostly to me!
We headed up to Wild Bill Lake with the fishing rods that Gma and Gpa Black got for the kiddos after our last trip fishing. Josh hadn't caught a fish all day until he was holding Aubrey so that I could gather up our things to leave and what would you know, he finally caught one. I am giving the credit to Aubrey on this one.
A close up of Ethan's fish!
He was so proud of himself! I reeled in a couple for Grandpa and caught one all on his own too. The fact that he stayed dry is a miracle. Grandpa Beau helped Ethan, but he got the casting down pretty quickly.
Uncle Justin was Preston's helper for the day and they caught quite a few fishies. Preston was brave and held them so that I could take his picture, but he never took his eye off of them.
This was their first catch of the day and I think that Justin was more excited than Preston was!
Kendra was a pro and did a great job casting. What a difference it made this year with Kendra and Ethan being able to cast their own lines. Kendra was the first on to catch a fish in the family and she did great, although holding it her hand was not something that she was willing to do quite yet. Kendra had worn her big ol rainboots so that she could wade out into the water, and it was raining when we left Billings. Well.... she waded out a little too far and her boots filled with icy cold water. It wasn't too long after that we headed out for dinner. He feet were FREEZING!

While the kiddos were busy catching fish Aubrey and I had fun with the camera. She was a trooper and it was pretty cold out but she stayed pretty happy and I got some GREAT PICTURES! The one above just totally captures her personality. She is really playful lately and has a great temperment. She can get a little worked up when she doesn't get what she wants but is communicating really well lately. She will nod her head yes or no, but you can usually tell by her reaction. And when you ask her to say "I love you" she just makes a kissie face and pretends to kiss you.


The kids found this crazy catepillar and so the guys of course put it on a hook. I don't think it stayed more than a few casts before it was lost in the water but it was a nice try.
We had so much fun and then Grandma Black cooked us some amazing french dip sandwiches back in their camper. It was a great way to relax and enjoy the outdoors.