Puddle Jumping!!!

As I looked out the window at the pouring down rain, I thought to myself "what am I going to do to keep the kids busy today with all this rain falling from the sky???"...Then it hit me! PUDDLE JUMPING!! Puddle jumping was one of my all time favorite things to do as a kid and to this day is still amongst my finest memories. I'm so glad that I'm not afraid to let my kids get dirty, wet or fall down. They had more fun than I could have imagined! If you've never puddled jump before, it's definitely worth it! There's no dress code, rules or regulations, except to go out, explore the world around you and most of all HAVE FUN!! When we came back I had the kids PJ's in the dryer so they were nice and warm for them, it was the icing on the cake!

Busy Days Around the House

FUN PROJECTS!
As of the last couple of weeks we have been thrift shopping and found some killer deals! Not only are we saving some serious moola but we are also having a wonderful time together finding new treasures. Who knew that after 13 years JT and I would find a new way to bond and enjoy our time together!

Our most expensive buy yet, but I have wanted a trunk for so long that it was worth it!


The inside of the trunk is definitely worn, but it gives it great character!


This room is slowly coming together. Eventually the couch will be different and there will definitely be things added to the room, but for now it's a good start.



This amazing chair was at Value Village for just $6.99!! It originally had a very ugly brown plaid fabric on it and the green was poking through, so after we took the brown fabric off this is what we got!


Here it is after a little shampooing. Eventually we will reupholster it, but this will do for now!



Here is the ultra cool drawer I found that I'm going to make into a night stand as soon as I can find some cheap legs.... Drum roll for the price please! Just $1.99 from the Goodwill!! What a steal!


This is a lamp that I bought for $4.99 also from Value Village


Here is my little neighbor/helper, helping me to give it a good scrubbing.. Don't mind the lady in the mirror with a serious case of the quadruple chin!


Here is the new and improved lamp with some black paint and a new shade.. Ending price for this lamp $13, not too bad, but it was definitely fun!


Sneak preview of what the lamp will look at on the table I'm going to make (minus the legs of course):



Catching a Leprechaun!!
This is the first year we have done this, and we had so much fun!! We didn't catch a little green man this year but he did leave the kids some goodies including some "gold" dollar coins!

Home Projects

Lately Jonathan and I have been trying to make our house "our own" and we are slowly but surely showing progress!! I posted a picture of our bathroom awhile ago, but I recently bought a new mirror and I feel like it completely changes the look of the room so I wanted to share it with you! The 2nd, and latest, room we have completed is the laundry room!! What girl doesn't love a great space to do laundry in??? I got some ideas from theidearoom.net and one of Amy's friends blogs, and it turned out really nice. I LOVE IT!! A big thanks to my husband who worked so very hard to help me make this room how I wanted it and for all of his patience. There are still a few little things to do to the laundry room but I was so excited I couldn't wait to share! Enjoy the photos!.



The bathroom with the new mirror!

The "Before" picture of the laundry room

The "After" picture of the laundry room


The shelving unit

My cute vintage basket (from Marshall's), clothes pin (dollar tree), cool triangular jar (goodwill) and old window (mom's house)

Soap container (Ross) and basket for dryer sheets (grocery outlet)

Old washboard (mom's house), matching hampers (grocery outlet)

Another fun idea!

This craft was so fun and easy! I have been wanting to make one of these for quite some time now, but have not found the right frame for my decor yet.... kind of bummed about that, but was super excited to find a frame for my mom and make her a decorative chalkboard for Christmas! This project is cheap, easy and quick not to mention that when you are finished with it there are so many things you can do! I am going to use ours for a "Honey Do List", grocery items, upcoming events. But you could make one and put it in a kids room, a play room, a bathroom, use it as a menu for dinner, and you can make it as big or as small as you want. If you needed to you could even take it with you! Sorry the picture is a little blurry, it was taken with a phone camera, but I think you get the idea :)

18 months has come and gone!!

Is there anything better than watching your spouse play with your children and have the air filled with love and laughter? I think not! The picture above, is my life. They are my everything... It amazes me every day that this is what my life consists of. I am so very lucky! Not a whole lot has been going on lately, besides the hustle and bustle of the holidays. We did take Jake in for his 18 month check up yesterday and everything went very well. He is now 27lbs, 33 1/2 inches and is developmentally doing things that a 23 month old is expected to do. None of this really surprised us much, as we are well aware that he is gaining weight with all of the food he eats at each meal and the fact that my arms are becoming more and more sore as the months go on from lifting him. His pants are getting shorter so we knew he was growing and he is constantly trying to keep up with his big sister making his verbal, social and emotional level higher than an average 18 month old. What did surprise us though is how fast this year has just flown by! We have accomplished so much as a family. And while sometimes it feels like life is in slow motion and I can't wait for the day to be over, just so I can relax, I look back and think where did all that slow motion time go? It is a constant reminder to me to slow down when life is slowing down and ENJOY what God has given to me. This is much easier said than done, but in the new year it will be a goal of mine. Hailey will be turning 3 in 6 months and it feels like it was just yesterday that Jonathan and I welcomed her into this crazy world of ours. Now she's an inquisitive, stubborn, loving, soft spirited, big-hearted little, excuse me, BIG girl. Or as Hailey would tell you herself "I not a baby, I a big gurl". As much as I love watching them grow, learn new things and watching how they help me to grow, I wish they could stay this age for just a little while longer. If it is this hard watching them grow up now, I can't imagine what I'm going to feel like when they're 16! But I know God has great plans for them and they will do many wonderful things, so for that I am excited! May you have a very merry Christmas and a blessed 2011!

Winter Projects/Crafts

I have been feeling very crafty and as a result have come up with some fun stuff to keep me occupied! Check out my new projects :)

This is our powder room.. our now, very blue powder room. But I love it! We are going to change the mirror out eventually, but for now, this one will do.




This is my paper wreath! I made it using a styrofoam floral wreath, hot glue gun and old book pages. Super fun and easy! And I think the end product looks pretty good too.




I recently started crocheting again, and learned how to make these flowers... My first project with them was to make headbands for Hailey. They have since been modified a little bit, but this was the original.




And last but not least, my hat! I LOVE this hat and was so proud that I made it all by my lonesome! Now all of my nieces are getting hats for Christmas :)

Things To Be Thankful For

Sometimes I look at my life and wonder why things happen the way they do. I wonder why every time something goes wrong, my husband is not able to be with me. Why seems to be a big question in my daily life these days and I have come to the conclusion that the reason we have a big wind storm, a tree falls on our fence, our power goes out, my son wakes up in the middle of the night and I go into to comfort him by sitting with him in his rocking chair, but completely miss the chair while sitting down, then we have a small earthquake that scares me because my first thought is my children, my dog of 5 years (who is house broken) poops on my white carpet and I have to replace it, just to go into the other room and unknowingly step in a second pile of poo, then to have my daughter poop her pants, it falls out of her pants onto the floor and I drag my foot through it and then step in a pile of puke on my way to clean up all the poo and all while my husband is gone for a week and two of my very best friends have moved to other states, as well as most of my family, is because I don't let go of things the way I should. I know God is stripping me of some of my biggest support systems so I will lean on Him more. This is something that is so hard for me, but I am determined to continue every day to look at the life He has blessed me with, recognize all the good things and wonderful people I am surrounded with and be thankful. Even when I step in a pile of poo (barefoot). I know some of these things sound trivial, but one after another leads to a very trying day. But I know life is good. I have two beautiful children, amazing friends and family and the opportunity to go to school and fulfill my dream to become a nurse. Thank you to all of you who have always been there for Jonathan, our children and myself. Thank you for never judging, but being supportive, loving and selfless. Thank you for showing me how to have faith in God no matter what happens in life and reminding me that even when it feels like the world is crumbling down around us it's really just new doors opening and providing us with new opportunities, memories and the ability to take something difficult or troubling and turn it into something good. I am thankful to have you in our lives!

Bussling About

These last 4 months have been very busy for us! This summer was full of weddings, softball tournaments, family reunions, birthdays, the puyallup fair and mommy being at school and getting her hunter's safety course done. This means I get to go hunting with the hubster! I'm so stoked and can't wait for some one on one time with him. He's super excited too; even got me shotgun for my birthday! I had three weeks off in August and just started back the end of Sept. for my 3rd quarter. The time is flying by and it seems like I will be done with this program in no time! I can't wait! This is the quarter I have been most looking forward to. I am in clinicals for the majority of the time and as of yet I am still in my first rotation at Western State Hospital. If you're not familiar with this hospital, it for the mentally ill and to put it lightly, there really aren't very many dull moments there. The kids and Jonathan are still adjusting to my school schedule (because it changes all the time) and to me being gone all too often. And I'm trying to adjust to not seeing my family as much as I'd like to. It seems as though everytime I'm home my husband is gone making money to support us. But together, we are working well as a team and we are so luck to have him. He's a good man. He's been staying home on his days off to take care of the kids when I go to school. It's a lot of hard work for him, but I can see his bond with the kids grow stronger everyday from it, and he can too. He's a wonderful daddy, and they love him so much! Below I posted some pictures from the puyallup fair, but hopefully I will have updated pictures of the kids that Melanie took for us soon :)





Jake and Hailey loved petting all the animals!




On the carousel... the only ride Jake could go on.

This was Hailey's favorite ride. She couldn't go on many either because she's so short, so we did some serious searching, but this one was worth all the hard work just to see her smile like she did. She rode this ride twice in a row.

Having a snack with Mimi

Jake loved this contraption with all sorts of fun stuff to bang on. He loves music!

Hailey was having a blast riding in this boat... it's funny the only rides she was allowed on were ones that went up in the air, and on water. But she could ride strapped down in a little car that went in a circle on a track, go figure.

How time flies....

Wow! I can't believe it's almost been a year since my last post. A lot has happened in the last year, but to sum it up Jonathan has been working hard, as usual, and occassionally getting some time to play, Hailey is as busy as ever and just celebrated her 2nd birthday, Jake is walking, talking, running and today started twirling and is getting ready to celebrate his 1st birthday, Porter is loving having the kids to play with and throw his toy for him, and I will be starting my second quarter of nursing school in a week! We found a new home church in DuPont that we absolutely LOVE! The Pastor and congregation are incredible. We have a bible study we attend on Tues nights that is on building healthy marriages/relationships so if you're in the area and would like to join us it's at 6pm and we'd love to have you :) Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on. I am planning on keeping you updated much more often and hoping to share some new things I've learned too!

I will post pictures as soon as I can so all of you can see the munchkins!

The last of the summer days

Well the weather has really taken a change, but luckily Melanie took some pictures of the kids while it was still sunny and warm out :) We are so lucky to have Mels around. Not only is she a wonderful sister and auntie, but she is always willing and excited to take pictures of the family whenever we need her to! She's such a talented photographer and I'm so grateful to have her capture the memories of my children that otherwise may have just gone by the way side. I hope you enjoy her work and our kiddos as much as we do!

Below are just A FEW of my favorites...


Hailey loves giving her brother kisses!!


Relaxin in the summer sun


Something smells funny!


Life is good :)


When Jake's awake, he's all smiles


There just aren't words to describe this one.

Jake's Two Month Check-Up

It completely amazes me how different Hailey and Jake are in size. I took Jake in for his two month check-up yesterday and the doctor said he looks great, which is always good news! But to me Jake is H-U-G-E! He weighed in yesterday at 14lbs. 10oz. (90%) and was 24 1/2 inches (90%) in length with a head circumference of 15.5 inches (25%). What this means is that Jake is only 3 1/2 pounds and 4 1/2 inches behind Hailey and is pretty much wearing 3-6 month and 6month clothes! Absolutely amazing.... I'm at a loss for words.

Melanie took some pictures of the kids the other day. When I get a CD of them I will post some new pictures!

The Ocean

Last weekend, Jonathan, the kids and I went down to Oregon to visit my family. We only got to spend an afternoon and evening with Grandpa & Nona and some other family, but were able to spend a couple of days with Auntie Anna at the beach house! It was really nice to get to see everybody! We miss you all very much!

This was Hailey's second trip and Jake's first trip to the ocean. Hailey had a blast at the beach. She loved the ocean and kept pulling Jonathan and I further into the water with her! Jake just kinda hung out with us on the shore, but looked as though he was enjoying himself. Best of all, the weather was amazing. It was about 75-80 degrees and beautiful.

I love my sister!

Daddy & Hailey playing in the ocean!

Building a sand castle

Little Jacob was so good!

Grandpa K and the kids :) This visit was way overdue.

Jonathan's showing Anna how to practice safe driving ;)