Service Week 8

Last week I wanted to make something awesome and try auctioning it for a good cause. I am not sure if what I came up with is fabulous but it was fun and we will just see how it goes. I often look at this lady in Canada's blog. She makes a bag a day and auctions them on her blog. I believe she has been doing it for a year or so. She has raised 12,000 dollars for darfur. It inspires me so much to think that she is just one person doing what she can.

So here goes....

The item-

A nursing wrap (keep reading even if you don't have babies...I am sure most of us know a mother of a baby or someone that is going to have a baby).

It's washable

Charcoal with a pink and white border

Large neck (easy to pull over hair, easy to see baby if you want)

Slit on one side that can go in the back or to the side if you want one arm out

Perfect for those times that you DO NOT want the squirmy 6 month old pulling the blanket off (the airplane, the friends house when the 12 year old son is in the room etc)

Small and lightweight- could easily be stored in a diaper bag

Pull it out and use it as a blanket for baby

My pictures turned out awful (Tyler isn't home to I tried having Garret take the pictures). So that didn't really work out. I will try to get more up later. If you want to see a very similar item go to this website. http://www.obuba.com/index.php?o=products

To bid simply leave a comment and be sure to bid higher than the comment before you. Bid as often as you want until Wednesday 6:00pm Eastern time. It doesn't matter if I know you or if you live far away. I can mail it to you. Bids will start at 1.00 and go up from there.

All proceeds will go to March of Dimes.

My Funny Boys

My boys are awesome (at least I think so)-

-Garret went to his first primary activity day.  He had so much fun.  He came and found me at one point and said "Mom would it be alright if I ran around?".  He gave the prayer and it was so sweet.  I love it when he prays.  I would definitely put it on my list of favorite things.

-Garret has an amazing sense of smell...for example- we were at a mall and he said "wow, there is  a pool here" I said "no there isn't" he was convinced he smelled a pool.  At the back of building there was a little spa.  Sure enough he smelled chlorine.  After my Dad left he went downstairs laid on the bed and said "this pillow smells just like Grandpa Bob".  Yesterday after Tyler cleaned our bathroom he said "this smells so good, just like the hotel".  

- Garret likes to make observations.  Today at church he very loudly said "Mom that guy doesn't have any hair".

-Spencer on the other hand thought it was SO fun playing with the people behind us he didn't have time to look at who was sitting in front of us.

-Spencer has a new love interest.  He is in love with Allison.  She is Garret's age but Spencer has his eye on her.  If he is being stubborn about getting his coat on we just say.  Allison is going to be there and instantly h e complies.

-If you ask Spencer what he is, he says either "Monkey" or "Moo".

-I took the boys to play at the mall sand boxes the other day.  They played really well and really enjoyed it.  When I looked over one time Garret was dumping a whole bucket of sand over Spencer's head.  

My boys are so fun!  

--side note-I am going to do my service post tomorrow because I need the camera to take a picture of what I made!

Little Prince Garret

Garret's friend Megan turned four this week. He was invited to her party. All week he was SO excited. It was a costume party and he debated about he was going to wear. In the end he was a pirate (A little while into the party he put on a cape and was a prince and a pirate). He was the only boy and all the girls were little princesses (Spencer was there but just as a tag a long...he wore the duck costume). Garret painted his fingernails for the first time (I wasn't going to be the one to tell him he couldn't when all his friends were having so much fun painting theirs...plus they had blue...), he made a wand, danced to princess songs and ate princess cake (and candy). He was in heaven. He keeps asking me when Megan is going to have another party so he can go. He even said next time he might dance with the girls! Here are a few pictures of the party-

Service week 7

Last week was very busy.  I didn't get any hats made but I babysat for a friend so she could go the dentist and I took care of my recovering husband.

This weeks service (if it goes as planned) will be a little different.  I am going to try (key word) to make something that will blow all my readers away...then put it up for auction and all the proceeds will go to a charity.  I haven't worked out the details...it might be a flop but check back next week to see if I come up with anything.  If it comes to the end of the week and I haven't managed to whip anything spectacular up.....not too sure what I'll do!

Valentine's day 2009

Friday night we had planned to get dressed up, go to dinner and the church dance. I was actually pretty excited to go. I heard it was fun last year and thought it would be fun to dance with friends and have an excuse to get dressed up....but alas Tyler was still not feeling up to dancing (he was sent home early that day from his oral surgery rotation because he was about to pass out). So Friday night we spent a cozy evening at home.

Saturday I made my famous (OK they are not famous but they are tradition) heart shaped biscuits for breakfast. We all helped clean up- Spencer helped with dishes for the first time! Then we opened our "mailboxes". All week the kids had been putting things in them. It was fun seeing what they came up with. Their favorite was the "love bug" they made for Tyler. I helped them make it and they loved it. They were so excited to give it to him. I think Tyler loved it as well!

The kids mailboxes had the lovely cards Tyler and I made them as well a little coupon for a date with Mom. Garret wanted to use his right away. When I asked him what he wanted to do he said "go to the park". So I took Garret to play at the park. It was 24 degrees so we didn't play for to long. Then I let him pick out a doughnut. He said "can I get one for Spence" I said "no this is just your date, Ill take him out some other time". He ate half his doughnut then said "Mom, I really want to take the rest home for Spencer, I love him and I think he will like it". Who could say no to that!

Then we took the boys to the zoo for a little while. This was the first time Spencer has been that he has been old enough to just walk holding our hand and that he really appreciated it. It was so fun watching him react to every animal. Garret deemed himself the tour guide, held Spencer's hand and told him what the animals were. I love it when they are sweet to each other. (side story- Spencer has been getting his two year mollers in and sometimes he will cry or whimper at night. the other night I heard Garret say "It's OK little buddy, I'm here").

Later that night Tyler cooked us dinner and we watched a good romantic movie. I can't say it was the most eventful Valentine's day ever but it was nice. I like Valentine's day, it's a good excuse to say "I Love you" but I like all the Valentine's stuff better on a different day, when it is not so much of an obligation. I like waking up knowing that Valentine's day will be fun but I love the days when Tyler just randomly does something sweet even better (he is very thoughtful and spoils me!). Tyler is a great husband, I loved spending Valentine's day with him, he is my love and will be forever. I feel so blessed to have him in my life. I am so glad we found each other and have the life we have together.

Upgrade

This is the stove we got when we bought the house. It was a little older (I don't actually know how old but judging from the color it was a 60's or 70's stove). It had some nice features; a warming shelf (I always liked the idea of that but never really used it...Tyler accidentally turned it on a few times...but that just melted whatever junk was sitting up there), it had four working burners and an interesting color. The big problem was the oven itself. It worked great at first then it started blowing little fireballs whenever it was turned on...it caught the dish cloth on fire once. It never really worried me though because even though it didn't work well I knew what to expect. The other problem was it would randomly turn off while cooking- this made cooking rather difficult. There was not pop it in and wait for the timer. Every five minutes you had to check and make sure it was still on. If it had turned off you had to turn the ignite switch over and over until it lit. (Why am I writing all of this? well....my Mom was here visiting and she was not a fan of the stove so this post is for her.)

Today we gave the old stove to a scrapper and got this new used stove off craigslist! It is two years old and only used for six months. Nothing fancy about it but maybe I'll be able to make a frozen pizza without the oven shutting off. I hope I didn't just jinx it!!! ( I will miss the yellow)

Update

Tyler is home now. He came home Saturday evening. The doctors said that his appendix was one of the largest he had seen. They cut it open and tried to find out how it got so large without rupturing. Tyler doesn't feel to great and is moving around pretty slow. The boys were so excited to have him home (as was I). Hopefully he will feel better everyday.

I was super embarrassed at church today when one of my nursery kids pulled the fire alarm. It was one of the things you see happening right before it happens but before you can stop it. Nursery is totally wearing me out!

Tyler is no longer going to Africa.  He was suppose to go during spring break and do dental work.  However too many students were accepted for the accommodations so names were drawn and four (maybe five) students were asked to wait til next year.  

We are starting to get ready for Valentines day. It is not a holiday we have done much for in the past. I usually make heart shaped biscuits or something like that. This year we made valentine mailboxes and the kids are excited to make pictures for each other to put in them. I don't know if Tyler will be up to doing much this Valentine's day or not so we haven't made any solid plans yet.

Service Week Six

Last week we put on the dinner at the Ronald McDonald house with three other families.

Due to the fact that this past week has not gone how I thought it would and I don't know how much time I will have to get something done, I plan to crochet hats for The Dulaan project (It is an organization in Arizona that helps provide warm clothing for poverty stricken Mongolia). I am not sure when I am going to work on this but if anyone wants to get together to make hats or drop them by just let me know.

Unpredictable

Life is unpredictable. I thought my week would go something like this-

-Ronald McDonald house dinner (yep, that happened...it was fun and I am so glad that a couple other families went with us).
-Pottery barn story hour (Check)
-Clean (kinda)
-Get packed and ready for a weekend away (Nope)
-Take Garret to his class (Nope)

My list wasn't really that long, this week was suppose to be pretty chiller then REALLY fun. I was all set to go visit my sister in DC for the weekend (with NO kids) and then things took a turn for the worse.

Monday night after Ronald McDonald house Tyler said "I didn't really eat that much and my stomach feels bloated".

Tuesday Tyler said he still felt like he had gas.

Wednesday same story only a little worse. I was beginning to wonder if it was something more than that or if he was super wimpy (come on it was just gas right?)

Then Thursday he went to school and called me at 10:30 and said he needed to go the hospital. We came and got him as quick as we could. After a day of waiting and a few test they said it was his appendix. The doctor gave us a very stern talking too about waiting so long to come in and then did the surgery. The doctor did not think it would have lasted more than another hour, so it's good we went when we did. It went well (all things considered) Tyler is still at the hospital (hopefully he will come home tomorrow). He feels awful still and the Doctor said that it would be a two to three week recovery getting better all along. Tyler was such a good sport all along and even when he was in so much pain he was still asking how the kids were and saying he was sorry I didn't get to go this weekend (as if he needs to be sorry about that...it's not like he gave himself the appendicitis. He is just so wonderful!

I was totally sad to miss my weekend away (my relaxing weekend turned into chaos weekend- is it even the weekend yet? I can't keep it all straight), not that I would ever want to leave Tyler when he feels like this- it just stinks that he had to get sick (for everyone....mostly for him). The hospital won't let the kids go see Tyler so if I go see him someone has to watch the kids. Mostly though I just feel so bad for Tyler. I feel bad that he hurts and that he is stuck there and I can't be with him all the time. I snuck the kids in for a minute today (the nurse kicked them out but at least they got to see him) and Garret said "Daddy doesn't look very good". They boys have missed him and are a little confused and starting to get worn out from being shuffled around.

I am so thankful for all our friends. They have been so great; Watching our kids, visiting Tyler, calling, emailing. Thanks everyone! Tyler is thankful too!

Like I said---Unpredictable!!!

Service Week 5

Last week I made a baby quilt and delivered it to Project Linus. They have collected over 2 million blankets and distributed them to people suffering from illness, new babies, victims of natural disasters...etc. They are all over the country and even have quilting days and conventions so if you like to sew you should check them out.

This week we are making dinner for the Ronald McDonald house. All of the meals are donated so if you ever have a chance look them up online and you can select a day to make the meal. It's a good activity for youth groups, FHE or just because...


“Start where you are. Distant fields always look greener, but opportunity lies right where you are. Take advantage of every opportunity of service.”
Robert Collier

I like this thought because one of the reasons I have often justified not doing service was because I couldn't do anything big yet. I would say to myself that someday Tyler and I would go serve in another country or have money to donate. All of those things will be great and I am not downplaying how great it is to have money to give and the means to serve in distant lands but I used it as an excuse to do nothing now.

Otto the second

Does anyone know anything about Betta fish? Our second little Otto died today. Pretty sure we only had him for about 10 days as well. Maybe something we are doing is killing them. Any ideas?