mommy's timeout

December In Picutes Part 2

2012-01-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

The kids got some fun new hats!

We had our annual Christmas with some of our Miller cousins. This was our 9th year and I love the tradition.

Aubrey's fun hat!

Mrs. Claus let us take a picture with her. We had already seen Santa earlier in the month.

Our note for Santa.
(Notice the note from Jaren, :( Yes it's our first year with someone in the house who "knows")

Ready for Santa.

We enjoyed some wonderful Christmas Music.

December In Picutes Part 1

2012-01-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful December this year, but I'm glad our life is finally getting back to normal routine. Here is part one of some of our fun during the month.

Lights were hung

Christmas trees were made.

Lukas let Aubrey help him make a Gingerbread house at his class party.

She really loved it!

Opening new ornaments.

Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Rhino (Ryan) and two of their kids, Lilly and Finn came for a visit from Kansas

Fort kits were made.

Someone got a new lunch pail and lunch is now served in it daily!

Fun new books.

Pure joy and filled with princess love.

A surprise visit from Christmas Ninjas!

I'm now a huge fan of North Pole Smoothies. (recipe found off Pinterest)

A new baby joined our house. (Lucy)

A new hunter will be joining his dad this coming Fall.

Someone finally got his DS!

Lukas goes to school...

2011-10-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

It was so so hard for me to let Lukas go to school this year. I was NOT ready for him to leave me. He has been my company and entertainment since Jaren started going to school. I had already learned how fast time went by once Jaren had started school and I was not ready for things to change again. After many, many hours of crying I figured it was time to let go. Thankfully he only had to start off going half day for the first month. Now he just started going full day and I feel like I'm adjusting all over again. He LOVES school and everything he does there. Lukas has already started to advance to much and I love hearing all about his day when he returns home.

Group shot of Lukas's first day

His scratch and sniff shirt :)

A gift for the teacher (cookies)

Lukas, Grandma and Aubrey

Love his bag. It fits his personality!

Lunch stick

The best teacher a boy could ask for. Mrs. Seibert

He quickly made a new best friend.

WANTED!!!

2011-10-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Are you in search for a guitar player for your next event? Need a entertainer for your next party or wedding? Look no further. I have exactly the act you need.

Where else can you find moves like these?

This young, hip and new to the scene would love to play for you. If your budget is low she would gladly play for a new Barbie or even a snack. Leave a comment below if your interested.

Back to routine!

2011-10-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why this never posted so we are going to try again. (Even if it's a little late) I'm always sad to see him go back to school, but I sure love having all of us on a daily routine. He was more than ready to head back and start the new school year. Here are some pictures from the first day of school for Jaren.

My Big 3rd grader...sniff sniff

I always take a group picture on the first day.

It seems like we were just dropping him off at preschool for the first day. NOW he is in 3rd grade. My husband and I both went to the same school as Jaren and I swear when I walked into his classroom it felt as though I had stepped back into time. The classroom still looks the same for the most part AND smells the same. We had a good laugh about it on our way home. I can't wait to see what Jaren learns this year. Luckily he still has a great passion to learn and read. I hope it always stays that way.

Christmas is NEAR...

2011-10-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

Shutterfly is wanting to make your Christmas a little brighter this year! They are offering a chance for bloggers to win 25 FREE Christmas cards. They have such a huge selection to choose from. I'm not sure how I could even choose just 1. Even if your not a blogger you can go here to check out their cards. http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/flat-stationery-cards Not only do they have Christmas cards but really cute options for gifts as well. Go check it out.

If you are a blogger go here to register for your chance to get 25 Free cards! http://www.shutterflycards.com/2011/10/bloggers-25-free-christmas-cards-from-shutterfly/68/

Lonely...

2011-10-19T09:41:00.000-07:00

As you can see, someone really really misses her older brother. We are now on our second week of full day Kindergarten for Lukas. She is still adjusting to having him gone all day. When a alarm goes off on my phone, she starts yelling that it's time to pick up her brothers.

He is so good to her.

Mommy's Little Helper...

2011-10-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

Recently I have the best helper a mom could ask for! Since the boys are both going to school full time now, Aubrey and I have gotten to enjoy a lot of 1on 1 time. It's been great! She loves to cook, and help me clean. When it comes to helping out she is the first one to join in. Here are a few pictures from one of our last cooking sessions.

What a sweet face.

She has been working on her poses for the camera.

OK so she may need to work on them a little more HA!

Enchanted Forest...

2011-09-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to Enchanted Forest last weekend. The kids had so much fun and it was so nice to stay out of the heat. Besides visiting our favorite fairy tales, we watched a short play. (Little Red Riding Hood) The kids also enjoyed some rides and then we finished with a picnic lunch.

Western Town

Watch Out

Jaren, Lukas, Aubrey, Ron, Jan and Sierra.

We visited Alice In The Wonderland

Look who was there!

The kids went sliding out of a Old Shoe

NOT Our Dentist anytime soon!

Jaren and Jan went down the Log Ride

We had a great time and enjoyed some fun before school starts.

Back To School Celebration Dinner...

2011-09-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

We are so excited for the new school year to begin. (OK not ALL of us, meaning me) I put together a little celebration for the kids and they LOVED it. The boys were so surprised. It was a great way to start the year. Enjoy some pictures of our party.

Aubrey's crown and new book

My 3rd grader and Kindergartner

Thankful she will still be home with me!

School theme cookies

Lukas loves Froggy Books

A few decorations

Pizza Casserole

A new chapter book for Jaren

Chair name tags

Time to celebrate the start of a new year!

Summer Camping Trip...

2011-09-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed our family camping trip to Honeyman State Park. It's something our family does every year. It is something we look forward to every summer. The kids LOVE getting to spend the weekend camping with all their cousins. The weather was perfect and we only had a few ticks to deal with.

We learned about fire safety

Enjoyed spraying the hose!

Did a lot of digging in the sand

Found a Great Candy Store

Did a little swimming

Ate great food!

These are all of the cousins that made it this year! We are already looking forward to go back next year.

Summer Fun Part 2...

2011-08-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

One of our funniest summer adventures this year was Jaren's 8th birthday! For his birthday we got him a birthday package to see the Corvallis Knights baseball team. Justin and I put together a BBQ for 25 friends and then we were all off to watch some BASEBALL. What a great game. The kids seemed to have a blast.

We got some autographs

Some of our group waiting for autographs

Jaren and Mack Knight

The kids thought this was hilarious (He was trying to distract the pitcher)

Don't you love the chicken hat?

The world famous San Diego Chicken

The adults couldn't help but laugh at this sign. (Guess who got a game ball? This MOMMY)

Lukas got his very own trophy for finishing T-Ball. Aubrey and her snack buddy Wyatt. They became great friends during T-Ball season.

They grew very fond of each other as you can tell!

The two of them made so many funny faces while I would take their pictures. Between Wyatt's mom and me they were always full of snacks! We can't wait to see him again soon.

We enjoyed some yummy birthday treats Birthday wishes were made

And... we celebrated 4th of July with some great fireworks!

Part 3 of our summer adventures will be coming soon. We hope your enjoying your summer!

Summer Fun...

2011-08-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

What a busy and fun summer we've had. I'm so behind on my blog that I just decided to pick up from our summer break! Now that summer has finally decided to come to Oregon, we have been enjoying Lot's of time outside. I have to admit, I've enjoyed the fact that it hasn't been extremely hot here. I don't think we have even hit 90 this year. Here is a quick glimpse at the first part of our summer. We have checked out Papa's new goats (aka) Rose and Kiki We worked on our silly faces And someone worked on her grumpy faces! Aubrey got her first haircut... and got bangs!
We had baseball 2 nights a week
We discovered a artist lives in our home. (she did not have one drop of paint on her clothes or body! We didn't even know she had painted until we discovered this master piece)
I've gained a new daughter named Kiki (formally know as Aubrey)

We picked a little over 37 pounds of strawberries! (at least some of us did)

Jaren was a great picker

We also had T-Ball 2 nights a week (of course opposite nights of baseball)

The boys did tennis camp for the first time.

2 Weeks of Pure FUN!
We planted flowers
Lukas graduated from Preschool! (Lukas, Dad and their former teacher Linda)

We are so proud of him!

Come back soon to see what else we have been up to this summer!!

A New Belly Button...

2010-12-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

So today was the first time in months that I was able to get BLOGGER to work for me. My poor blog has been so neglected. Here is what has been going on with our family. Jaren is doing great in school, played basketball and is doing great in Awanas. Lukas is enjoying preschool and also enjoying Awanas. He really loves the Awana relay games. Miss Aubry has had the most changes! We did potty training, then she turned two and recently she had another surgery. This round they removed a hernia from her belly button. Her are a couple of pictures after we got her home from the hospital. She has been recovering really well and loves to show off her new bellybutton.

She was still pretty drugged up

I hope to get some more pictures to upload to show everyone what we have been up to. We are really enjoying this Wonderful Christmas season and hope your family is.

Lukas Says...

2010-10-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

Lukas- "Mom what does that sign mean on that bathroom door? The on with the girl and a line and then a boy."

Mom- "It means that boys and girls can use that restroom."

Lukas- "Oh good. I thought it meant you have to be the same size so you can go in ther

Cheap Entertainment...

2010-10-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

This box provides hours of entertainment !

Snapping Beans...

2010-10-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

This year my family froze Lot's of different veggies for us to eat this Winter. Lukas and Aubrey LOVED snapping the beans. It was fun having her join in with us this year and she continued to help until our bowl was empty. Lukas kept reminding us that his Papa grows really good green beans. We are so thankful that he shared his crop with us. We will be even more thankful when were eating them this Winter! She got a real kick out of snapping the beans. Snapping beans with Daddy

Look at these great carrot's! My kids love that they were so bright and colorful. We cut up several of these carrots to freeze for the Winter as well. Once they are put together in a bag, it looks like a bag of fruit cocktail =)

A Spooky Wreath...

2010-10-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

Our door was a little empty this month so Lukas and I made this Halloween Wreath to hang up. We used a wreath that I had purchased from the Dollar Tree earlier this year and painted it black. Next we cut strips out of the leftover Halloween fabric we had. Lukas helped me tie the fabric in knots around the wreath. Finally we hot glued some spiders on to make it a little spookier. It's pretty cute and really bright. I love it.

Creepy Spiders!

My 2nd Grader...

2010-10-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

It's hard for a mommy to see her children grow up, but sometimes we really really look forward to the first day back to school!!! Even though I miss Jaren while he is gone at school, I really love having our house back on a routine. My little man has grown so much over the summer and has such a passion to learn. This year he will have the same 2nd grade teacher that my husband and I both had. He is going to love her! Good luck this year Jaren. We are so proud of you!!!

He was so excited to get into the school and start his day!

Our Sleeping Beauty...

2010-10-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little girl is growing up so fast and has moved into a toddler bed. She LOVES it. When Justin and the boys got done putting it together, she came running into the room shrieking with excitement. She loves to climb up on it to lay down with her night night and Binky.

She looks so so sweet all tucked into her bed!

Back To Preschool...

2010-09-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

Lukas has started back to preschool for his second year. He was beyond ready to go back and see his friends and teachers. So on his first day back we took some back to school pictures (which he was NOT happy about) and got his snack made. Since his birthday was right before school started, he got to have his birthday snack on the first day of school. We made a yummy cookie fruit pizza that he took to share. Lukas also got a special birthday book, crown, and the class sang to him. What could be more fun? Yeah he knows how cool he is Every year the kids stand right here on the first day of school. It's so much fun watching them grow! Lukas and my niece, Khylie (they are in preschool together)

Aubrey Says...

2010-09-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

Someone is really really excited to get some time with mommy all to herself. When I ask her what she thinks of her brothers going back to school, this is what she says.
"COOL"

Halloween Canvas

2010-09-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

So I love the smell and feel of Fall and really got inspired to try and make some new decorations for little or no money. Halloween is fun holiday around our house. The colors are so bright and fun. One of my newest craft projects was this cute Halloween canvas's. I bought these at the Dollar Tree and they had these parrots painted on them and they weren't very cute. I have been waiting to use them. I hung it up just to take some pictures and then took it back down. I need to wait to decorate until after my kids start back to school. It just seems to early to start with them home still. Here is what I did. I started out with the 3 canvas's and gave all three two coats of black paint. While they were drying I cute out the Halloween prints using my cricut machine. Next I modge podged them on. Once the prints were dry I gave the whole canvas one coat of modge podge. I then hot glued some ribbon to the backs of them and added a quick bow. Sorry there isn't more pictures, but I had a hard time getting Blogger to let me download some pictures. This is the only one that would. It turned out really cute and was a quick project for just $3.00 =)

I'm linking up this post to

Just Call Her BOX Head..

2010-08-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

One of Aubrey's new pass time is to empty out this box of Lego's and use the box to wear on her head or use it to sit in. It's so much fun to watch her play. She plays by herself so well when the boys are off doing their own thing. Babies and Dora are just some of her other favorite things right now. You will probably notice her HUGE belly button. We are off to meet her surgeon this week so she if surgery number two is in our near future. She put on 1 shoe all by herself and wore it around the house.

One of her favorite spots to read. It's just her size

Her new Dora book. Thanks LoLo

A LEGO Celebration...

2010-08-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

My little man is ALMOST "5". Today we celebrated his birthday with some of his friends. Since Lukas plays with Lego's all day (he comes down to eat and then goes back to his Lego's) we decided to have a LEGO theme party. I always enjoy making my kids birthday cake and really enjoy the whole party planning. This year I tried using fondant for the first time and made all of these great little Lego's. It took over two hours to make them, but I really loved the way they turned out. Lukas LOVED his cake and all the kids couldn't wait to eat the Lego's Isn't this so cute? I had some leftovers so I put them around the side. Mom, Lukas and Dad Five candles on his birthday cake Lukas and his best friend Colton

We had a LEGO tower contest. Whoever built the tallest tower in 5 minutes won the prize.

Cupcakes with the toppers I made using my cricut machine

For the goodie bags everyone got a new box of crayons, some of those rubber bracelets that go back to their original shape when you take them off and... LEGO coloring and connect-the-dot sheets.

Lukas had a wonderful party and can say he has now had a 1 handed birthday.

I linked up to

A Shower For Libby...

2010-08-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

A dear little baby girl will be born soon and we can't wait. I got to throw a baby shower with Jill from Barnes Yard http://barnesfamilylove.blogspot.com/ for her sister and my friend/cousin Lori. Baby Libby will be coming in the beginning of October and we are looking forward to seeing what this little girl will look like and the chance to finally hold her. For the shower we had a "Nesting" theme and it couldn't have been more cute. I wanted to show you some pictures of all the cute things Jill and I put together to welcome Miss Libby into our family. This is the cute invite that got sent out A Yummy lunch was served Something to sip on Pink Lemondae is always better in mason jars A Sweet little sign made for Libby Are you ready for some desserts? Cupcakes with little bird nests, how divine Homemade Oreos with pink filling Big Sister to be Jacie holding up Libby's new Baby Legs Every little DIVA needs a cute diaper cover

Don't forget to take some sweet treats home with you! Thanks for stopping by

I'm linking up to

It's Finally Out...

2010-08-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night life got much much better around our house. Jaren finally lost his first tooth. It's been a long and emotional process. He was the last kid out of both first grade classes to loose a tooth. Even most of his friends in Kindergarten have already lost some. It just couldn't come fast enough. Well this poor tooth has been loose since June so I was so thankful when it came out.
A New Smile

It's so tiny. We brushed it really good before putting it in the tooth fairy pillow.

Here is our tooth fairy pillow. I've been holding onto it for almost 7 years waiting for this moment.

Pay It Forward...

2010-08-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

I got this wonderful package in the mail from Maria at http://bubblegumandducttape.blogspot.com/ A while back she had a Pay It Forward on her blog that I joined in on. SO NOW it's my turn to Pay It Forward to you. I'm looking for 3 people who would like to join in. When you join in, I will have 3 months to make a homemade gift that I will send out to you. Once you have received it, than it will be your turn to Pay It Forward on your blog. I can't tell you how exciting it is to get a package in the mail that is FOR YOU and not someone else in your home. I love the cards she made and have already put some of them to good use! Isn't the case she put them in super cute. I love that she made it out of an old book. What fun. So if your interested in joining in, leave a comment saying you want to join in on the fun. Look what the cards came in I love how she used a old book and the scrapbook paper to decorate it.
Here are all kinds of sayings that can be put into the cards. Love this idea These cards are so fun! Thanks Maria

Girls Weekend...

2010-08-13T22:47:00.001-07:00

Justin took the boys away for the weekend on a "Man Trip" so that means it's a "Girls Trip" at home. =) It has been so great having my little girl all to myself. We have had ton's of fun and I look forward to our future "Girl Trips" When the boys were leaving, Jaren told Aubrey that we would be going to get massages, pedicures and out to McDonalds. HAHA if only it was so simple with a 1year old. Instead we have spent time coloring, playing babies and little people. The two of us also went on a playdate and to our cousin Robin's house. My poor little girl was so tired that she sacked out next to me on the couch. Here are a few pictures of our girl adventures.

Family Reunion...

2010-08-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

My family is so tired and ready for some down time. Between my class reunion and my family reunion we haven't been home. Every year my family on my mom's side gets together either in Oregon, California, or Nevada. This year we lucked out and it was in Oregon. Lucky for us the weather was great and not to hot. Some of them floated the river and we had plenty of potlucks. My kids are always so glad to have a chance to play with some cousins. It's so nice to have several generations gather together. We look forward to the next reunion.

Lukas Says...

2010-08-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

The men in my house are getting ready to leave tomorrow for a "MAN TRIP" YES YES YES!!! Can't you tell I'm excited. Well as I'm trying to get some stuff together for their trip Lukas started making up this song and singing it to Jaren.

Lukas: "Man trip, Man trip. I can't wait to go on our Man trip. It's just boys and the girls stay home. Man trip, Man trip means we get to do whatever we want because it's a Man trip and mom stays home."

Uh yeah this song made me feel really good.

Prayer Update For Annie

2010-08-11T14:27:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, I just wanted to write up a post with a update on Annie. The 11 year old girl who I've been praying for and have asked you to pray as well. If you don't know who she is, go here http://mommystimeout-samantha.blogspot.com/2010/08/reaching-out-for-prayers.html

As of today her mom told everyone that they are planning on getting to bring her home tomorrow. They removed her dialysis catheter yesterday and she is slowing starting to keep down food. Annie will be having another transfusion in the morning. Her kidneys are slowly starting to come around but still have a long ways to go. I'm not sure if her liver is doing better or not. Because of her battle with e-coli she has now developed High Blood Pressure and they fear this maybe long term. Annie is starting to walk around and build her strength back up. I know her family can't wait to be reunited under one roof again. As of now, I'm asking that you continue to pray for Annie and her family. She still has such a long ways to go and could use as many prayers as possible. All things are possible with the power of prayer!

Recovering....

2010-08-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

Well I survived my 10 year class reunion barely or at least the planning of the reunion. Our class had a 3 day event and by day 3 I was more than wore out I'M EXHAUSTED!!! What's sad is a good portion of my friends I haven't seen since our Grad Party. Seeing everyone felt amazing and like it hadn't really been 10 years at all. Friday night we had a cocktail night, the thing is it wasn't just a night. More like I got home a few minutes before 4am Our class closed the place down and then went to a local restaurant for breakfast. I've determined I'm WAY WAY to old to stay out that late.These are friends I've had since grade school. (Hamilton Creekers!) we are missing 3 that had already left early.

Teah Brandon and Matt some of my Best Friends! My friend Vanja Newsome and Malusky
My old gang and our old hangout spot. Yep that's a snuggie =)

Night #2 we had a great dinner at a local Golf Course and brought along a guest. Afterwards we had friends come back to our house for a after party. I did make it to bed a little after 3 this night. Thank goodness because I was up again for round 3 by 7am.

We opened up some time capsules

We also handed out these books made at our Grad Party. They are so funDay #3 was a family BBQ at a local Park. At the same park was the class of 85, 90 and .... 1950 how cool is that. We had a wonderful time and I look forward to seeing everyone again. I have to give a BIG thanks to the HUBS. Thank you Justin for all your help behind the scenes. Your the best!

A Ton To Do...

2010-08-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well is Summer over yet? I've been so busy that I haven't really got to enjoy very much of it. This weekend is my 10 year class reunion (that I planned) It's a 3 day event and I'm just itching for it to BE OVER already. It's consumed way to much of my life and I'm ready to have my life back. My FB account is working in overtime this week with all of the messages I'm getting from people.

SO next week I will have Lot's and Lot's of post ready to share with all of you.
-Our house is on the market
-Reunion update
-Family reunion
-A upcoming baby shower I'm helping plan
-AND Some cute pictures of a wonderful gift I got in the mail for PAY IT FORWARD!! Details to come.

Here are some fun pictures I wanted to share. Have a great weekend

This child loves to play dress up with her brother's hats and shoes haha

Reaching out for Prayers.....

2010-08-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm asking anybody out there who believes in the power of prayer to please help. A dear little girl from our church is very very sick. Annie is 11 years old and was put into the hospital this week and was diagnosed with Ecoli. Yesterday she was transported to a much larger hospital because her kidneys were starting to fail. As of today she went into surgery to have a port put in so they could start dialysis because her kidneys have completely stopped and her liver is now starting to fail. Annie is an amazing child and comes from a wonderful family who is very involved in our church and have a life goal of reaching out to children and teaching them to believe in the Lord. Please keep Annie in your prayers that she is healed quickly and they get her pain under control. I'm also asking that you prayer for her parents Heidi and Doug and there 3 other daughters. I will leave a link to Heidi's blog if you would like to go over and leave a kind thought for her. If you would like to repost this post to your blog, that would be wonderful. The more people we having praying for her the better. http://heidiandherhooligans.blogspot.com/2010/05/our-lady-in-waiting.htmlThank you, Samantha

The Big 7...

2010-07-30T10:44:00.001-07:00

Jaren turned 7 this month and I can't believe that another year has already passed for him. He is such a fun loving child. This year we invited friends over to play in the water, eat lot's of treats and enjoy some water wars. The double slip-in-slide was brought out and large tubs of water for them to refill their own squirt guns. (yeah I know good thinking huh) The hubs and I also filled several hundred water balloons. I even caved this year and bought Kool-aid and Otter Pops for the very first time. My kids loved them a little too much. =) Jaren ended up loving his party and is already planning his birthday for next year. Some of his birthday treats!
He requested Brownie Cupcakes
Homemade Oreos with Lime green filling

Don't you just want to lick them? yummy!
These three are all turning 5 this year (gotta love cousins) Fruit cups =) A little party guest Aubrey and Sierra having fun splashing Water gun wars Aubrey, Aunt Jana and Sierra cooling off

It was a wonderful party and now my 7 year old can't wait to be 8!

Ribalicious....

2010-07-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

I had to share these cute pictures of Aubrey eating ribs for the first time. She really really enjoyed herself. The boys kept laughing at our messy she was getting.

Yummy!

The After Pictures...

2010-07-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to get this post up for a while now. I just couldn't get blogger to download all my pictures. So I decided to just make two posts. Here are some pictures of the final product. We kept the paint color the same because we had leftover paint and we are trying to sale our house and I don't want to spend extra money. We increased the size of the vanity and I love our new flooring. All of the work was done by the two of us. I can now say that I can help lay linoleum flooring. =) Excuse the little head. She was in most of the pictures =)

I love having a bigger vanity too!

Here it is. I'm so glad it's done!!

This has been one BUSY Family...

2010-07-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

So this family has been so busy with little repairs or some BIG repairs around our house. We have been getting ready to put our house up for sale. We wanted to redo our bathroom before we listed the house. This project was much bigger than we thought it would be. Here are a few pictures before we started demo This is during the process. We had a huge mess! The flooring was removed and the Hubs had to dig out several layers.

I wanted all of us to write our names on the walls before we started to cover them back up. Each of us wrote our name and Justin added Aubrey's name.

Here's Jaren. If someone ever has to redo the bathroom they will find our names hidden in the walls. =)

Don't you love the bubble gum pink walls. Can you see the outline of the old sink? The smell of this room was so funny. It smelt so old and musty. It's amazing what sheet rock covers up.

Getting ready for tape and texture

Well Blogger won't let me download any more pictures on this post. (I've tried several times) So I'm going to make another quick post with the final pictures.

Outside fun

2010-07-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Since Aubrey is getting bigger she has really started enjoying her time outside. We have been eating dinner outside almost every night. After dinner the kids run around the yard, swing, or play on their fort . Now that we have flowers and blooming plants everywhere she has been smelling and touching everything. She is one little chick who won't be afraid to be outside. Aubrey loves eating outside

We have been eating Lot's of green food =) Avocado, Santa Claus Melon and Zucchini

I Love this picture

She loves the way the lavender smells
It feels funny too

A Day To Celebrate Freedom (and enjoy yummy food)

2010-07-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

The fourth is now over and I'm finally getting my pictures posted. We had a wonderful day. After church we went and had a BBQ with family. The kids had so much fun running around and playing with their cousins. Later we went to my Sister-In-Laws house for some dessert and fireworks. Aubrey LOVED the fireworks. I couldn't believe that she wasn't even scared of them. Small little hands clapped after each one was done. Next year will be even better. We then wrapped up our day by heading home and setting off the rest of our fireworks with our neighbors. By the end of our day we were all wiped out. I hope you all enjoyed a great 4th with your families too. Jaren and Henry

Porter, Jacie and Lukas
Enjoying some yummy food

Aubrey LOVED the food
Justin and his Dad
Aubrey and Sierra

Jaren and his crazy pose
She loved the sparklers So did Sierra
The kids played hard and played
Brothers

The boys picked ton's of blueberries

Strawberry Goodness...

2010-07-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I took the boys out to the strawberry field to pick berries for our freezer jam. They were so excited to pick the berries that I thought I just may get a ton picked. HAHA Well Lukas started off doing good until he realized he could eat them. After that he was great company as he switched between the rows of berries finding the "perfect strawberry" to eat. Jaren and I did have to tell him several times to quit eating the berries we had already picked and to pick his own. Jaren on the otherhand gave me about 20 mintues of picking. I thought he did pretty good. He then did a GREAT job telling ME where there were good strawberries to pick. We ended up picking 15.5 pounds in a little less than a hour. I was then informed that it was lunch time and we needed to go home. Both of them took turns helping me get the berries ready and turning them into jam. We ended up with 18 pints so I think we should be more than set for winter. =) Some of our yummy strawberries Jaren helping me mash the berries Lukas was a excellent "musher" Doesn't this just make you want a PB&J sandwich?

Daddy's Cowkids...

2010-07-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

The kids have been pulling out all of their dress up clothes and playing different characters this summer. You never know what person or thing will come walking down the stairs. Now they have got their sister involved and she Love's ALMOST every minute of it. Giddy Up

Daddy's cowgirl armed with her toothbrush!

She has great oral hygiene!

Saying goodbye...

2010-07-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

This week we had our friends the Campbell's over for dinner and some fun in the sprinklers. They are moving to another town a couple of hours away. We have been friends with them for over three years so it's hard to see them go. Our friendship started when I did daycare for them and has just grown since then. When Olivia was just a baby she started coming to my house and so she has always felt like another one of my kids. It will take some adjusting to not having her over every week. My family is excited for the new adventures that will becoming their way and we know it won't be the end of our friendship. Planning their attack

He got a little cold!

Madisen and Jaren

Miss Olivia

More Mail...

2010-07-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our National Postcard Swap is going great! Here are some of the new ones we have gotten in the mail. Did you know that Connecticut is the home to the very first Hamburger? (1895) It's also the home to the first Polaroid camera (1934), helicopter (1939) and color television (1948) Also the first lollipop making machine opened for business in (1908)

The Popsicle began in Oakland in (1905) and the Frisbee was invented there.

Home of the largest Sand Dune in America. Colorado also has 52 mountains over 14,000 feet.

A Fun Playdate...

2010-07-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week my friend Jackie and her son Tommy came over for a play date. Jackie and her family live in New York and had came to Oregon for a visit. This was the first time I got to see Tommy and he is just adorable. I think Aubrey loved having someone her size to play with and kept calling him baby. He will be 2 tomorrow. Our blown up air mattress became a fort while Jackie and I got to catch up. I've really missed having Jackie around and hope we will see more of them during their next visit to the West coast. We tried several pictures, but they were Not in the mood ;)

The kids all played in our little house

Aubrey was ringing the doorbell to come in.

The Start of Summer...

2010-07-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

What have we been up to this summer? Well we started off our summer by welcoming the arrival of the SUN! The sun is finally starting to show it's face around her and we are loving it! The annual Strawberry Festival came and my kids enjoyed watching the parade and loved all the dinosaurs we seen on all the floats. This year the theme was Stone Age and there were some great costumes and floats. We didn't make it out to the fair for a piece of the strawberry shortcake this year, but we have enjoyed plenty of it at our house. Aubrey looked so cute wearing her Strawberry Festival Shirt!

This was the float the princesses rode on.

They had some great floats this year

The World's Largest Shortcake

Garrett and Aubrey

Lukas, Jaren and Hunter were all ready to catch the candy that would be thrown out!

More posts to come with the great things we have done this summer.

The Season Is Over...

2010-06-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Lukas with his shiny new medal

Lukas and Porter

Team Tritons

Refueling, it's tough out there

Jaren and his new medal
Team Great Whites

Isn't he cute?
Check me out

Our soccer season is over and I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures. The boys both improved so much this year and look forward to playing again this Fall. Justin coached both of their teams and is really welcoming the break. Jaren's team got Justin this really great sweatshirt to thank him for coaching. The picture was really cute and they all enjoyed looking at their own picture once he put it on. When the games where over every kid was given a medal and it took several days for Lukas to quit wearing his. It's now hung up on his skateboard shelf.

School Is Out...

2010-06-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

School is out and now we are waiting for summer to start. Sun sun come out wherever you are. As of June sixth we had already gotten 1 1/4 inches of rain this month. Crazy I know! Well my son's school really lucked out and we were blessed with a day of overcast as we enjoyed field day. The kids had a blast. Each class got to go around to all kinds of stations to compete in different challenges. The school also had a HUGE bounce slide and a even bigger bounce obstacle course. Jaren loved it. Towards the end of the day the kids were given snow cones. What a great way to finish up the day. With the school year over, my son is all ready for second grade! The end of the obstacle course

Getting ready to slide down the huge slide

GO Jaren GO!

Snow cone anyone?

A couple of classes enjoying their treats

Rain Rain Go Away...

2010-06-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the start to the Strawberry Festival in our small little town. We have a small kiddie parade on Friday and a larger parade on Saturday. I know that the committee spends so much time putting everything together and this year rain is really putting a damper on it. As I'm writing this, it's pouring out and I can already tell that my kids and I won't be going to the parade today. I've always looked forward to this event ever since I was a little kid. It was always the start of summer, school was out and it was my best friends birthday. We would go out to the fair and I would pass on riding anything in fear of getting sick. Meanwhile she could ride everything over and over. I always admired the courage she had. =) So ran if you could just go away at least for the weekend if not until Fall, that would be GREAT!!!

Our New Adventure...

2010-06-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our family is involved with the Great American Postcard Swap. Aimee over at http://adventuresandpursuits.blogspot.com/ has set this up. We were set up with a family from each state and put on a schedule of when we will send out our postcards representing Oregon. The postcard swap works like this, starting in alphabetical order each state will send out a postcard to all the other families. The way it works out we will be getting a postcard each week from a different state. My kids LOVE getting mail, so this has been really fun so far. I'm looking for a some type of book for us to store all of our postcards in. Here are the first two cards we have gotten. Both have had great info about each state. It's a lot of fun and I will make sure to post our new cards when we get more. This card had a great little drawing of the state and a Eagle on the back along with state info.
This card from Alabama had so much state info and a list of famous people who have came from this state.

A Chair Redo...

2010-06-01T10:39:00.001-07:00

Over the Memorial weekend, the hubs and I got ton's of projects finished. By the end of each day we were exhausted. This was a little project that I have wanted to tackle for awhile. My poor dining room chairs were crying out to me to recover them. Between my own kids and all the daycare kids that i watch, the chairs have been destroyed. I've tried all types of cleaners to remove the stains. It worked for awhile, but I think the fabric had it's fill and wasn't going to release any more stains. After I found some fabric I liked, I convinced Justin to let my use his staple gun and got to work. I recovered all six chairs with the new fabric and then took four chairs and covered the seats in plastic. I know, plastic will not be getting me into any fashion magazine anytime soon. That plastic will save my new covers for a very long time. My husband kept giving me all kinds of complements. I told him I want a staple gun of my own now =) Do they come in pink or purple?
I'm showing you one of the nicest chairs. I wanted to spare all of you the pictures of the really nasty ones.) The husband has been warned. If he spills on his seat, it's getting a plastic cover!As you can see the plastic is not super pretty, but do you see all the crumbs on the chair from breakfast. Um yeah, the plastic has already came in handy.

A Spring Show...

2010-05-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

Last night we attended the my son's Spring concert. The school did a great job and I was one proud mommy. According to Jaren, he had major stage fright. =) You couldn't tell from the way he was singing. All of the classes sang different patriotic songs and all the kids wore some type of red, white or blue. They sure put on a great show.

Do you notice the kid waving to him Mom and Dad? =) Jaren was getting tired and started to yawn.
Don't you love her cheese smile?

She was one very tired little girl. Aubrey almost passed out on the ride home. Did you notice her two little piggies on top of her head? Okay, maybe they are little horns, but they are still cute.

Toes In The Sand....

2010-05-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Our little family rented a beach house over Mother's Day weekend. We brought our friends, the Beachy's with us. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. Missy and I went shopping, the guys took the kids fishing and we had some fun on the beach. I'm looking forward to going back soon! We did some serious digging!

Lukas pretending to be a old man with a cane. My friend Missy and her daughter Alli Alli and Lukas built their own sand castle.

Jaren giving out orders on their sand castle.

I love Lukas's chubby little toes!

We had a visitor in our backyard.

Aubrey LOVES the sand!

Jaren had such a hard time picking out his treat to bring home

He was making fresh Taffy

We visited Devil's Lake. The playground is awesome
Justin and the kids. Justin use to come to this place when he was a kid.

One Of My New Favorite Things....

2010-05-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I made this wonderful plaque at my MOPS group this year. A local artist came and we were able to make imprints of our hands with a child's hand or just our kid's hands. I love how it turned out! The pictures don't even show all the details . These prints show every line in our hands. Once Aubrey is older and out on her own, I will always have this to look back on and remember how little she use to be.

Time For Some More Crafts...

2010-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

So I've been trying to get some projects done around the house. I can't wait to show you what we are doing with the house! I'm sure everyone has seen the Family Rules that are being made around blog land. I got my first taste of one over at Tatertots and Jello http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2009/09/mod-podge-mania-family-rules-canvas.html I loved how she used all the different prints of paper and fonts. For now here is one of my latest projects. Our new Family Rules Canvas. I used my cricut machine to cut out all the letters and applied them with Modge Podge. It took sometime to get it done, but I'm happy with it. I'm making some vinyl letters to apply to the wall above it that will say Family Rules.

"

What Brother's Have To Say....

2010-05-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

OK some of you may start to laugh when you see these pictures, but this truly brought me so much JOY! After I gave Aubrey a bath I thought I would just try to pull her hair up into a pony. Well this is what I ended up with. I know it's small, but it's enough. The back is really starting to grow and she is getting curls in the back. Once I took it out she still had standing hair and this is what her brother's had to say.
Lukas- "Aubrey I love your Mohawk. You look so cute."
Jaren- "Mom please DO NOT take Aubrey to my school looking like that." (the kid is in 1st grade and already embarrassed by his siblings.)

She has No idea that the pony is even in. =)

Aubrey was in no mood to take any pictures. What can I say it was bedtime!

Go Team Go!

2010-05-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend both of the boys had soccer games at the same time, but in two different towns. Since my husband coaches both teams, he had to have the assistant coach fill in for Lukas's team. Of course this meant I had to miss Jaren's games and he scored his first goal of the season. It crushed me knowing I missed it. So I have no pictures or anything =( This weekend I will make sure to take pictures of his game. As far as Lukas's team, they were awesome. Lukas scored another goal and it totally made his day. Not only did he score, but his cousin scored his first goal as well. The two of them are the smallest kids on the team and Lukas is the youngest. By the way these two played you would have no clue they were so young. There is no fear when it comes to the bigger and older boys. Overall it was a great weekend with two scoring kids under the same roof!! My cute player. #4 This was right before he kicked it into his goal. I didn't take pictures of the big event because I was screaming to hard =) Celebrating his goal. He adores Coach Seibert! Good Game
Yeah Tritons!!!

Morning Fix

2010-05-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Aubrey is usually in a really good mood when she wakes up. She will stand up when she sees you and says, "Hi" When we carry in her into the kitchen she gets upset if I put her down, unless I tell her I'm getting her some milk. It's like she needs her morning cup of joe except it's milk just to function. As soon as I get a cup down for her she gets so excited and has a smile from ear to ear. She even starts dancing, it's so cute. Once you give her that cup she is off and ready to start her day. I took some pictures of her sitting in her little house drinking her morning fix.

eave me alone mom.

Once she is done she is ready to talk!

The Perfect Finger Vase...

2010-05-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

On Thursday last week, I was given a wonderful surprise. While picking up Lukas from preschool, the kids all presented us with wonderful homemade mother's day presents. Each child made a little vase that held a purple flower. (It's perfect) The little vase started out as clay was molded around his finger. After the vases dried they were fired and painted with acrylic paints. I thought he painted it with his finger, but I was informed by Lukas that they used "...those thingies that you use to clean ear wax out mommy." Along with my gift was my card he made. Inside says, Happy Mother's Day and a quote from Lukas. My mom "She does the dishwasher and she hangs up the clothes." Oh I love him. I will cherish this gift forever!

2010-05-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful night this week at the Awanas Derby Car Race. Everyone who wanted to enter got a wooden car that they could take home and cut out and paint into their own race car. Our boys both got help from Dad cutting them out. I'm not sure why but both of them wanted them painted white. After the white paint dried they customized them with stickers, markers and crayons. They were very cute. We learned that next year they need to be a lot heavier. Both of the cars were very low in weight. Once we got to the church they had to weigh in their cars and register them. (this was a very hi-tech race) The cars had to be under 5oz to race. We then grabbed dinner at the Derby Car Cafe and waited for for the race to start. We opened with a prayer

Every car was raced 4 times, once in each lane. All races were set up by computer and were timed by the computers on this track. Results were then placed up on a large screen. Prizes were handed out in 3 different groups and every kid was given a ribbon for racing.

Lukas was in Lane Red

He finished in 2nd that race

Here Jaren was in lane yellow and also finished 2nd this race!

This was one hi-tech track!

Here are my racers with their cars and ribbons they got.

Our friends son won 1st prize in his group! Look at the great trophies!!

Even though we didn't walk away with trophies this year, the boys had a blast and can't wait for next year. As Jaren put it to me, "Next year it's on like Donkey Kong!"

It's Time...

2010-05-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is what I witnessed this morning. Yep she unlocked the door. She still can't open it but, it's time for a spare key!

Teacher Gifts...

2010-05-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

We were so busy this week that I didn't get to all of the teacher gift ideas that I wanted to try so I ended up making paper covered chocolate bars. What teachers don't like chocolate? So all I did was buy some giant size Hersey bars and pulled out some school days scrapbook paper. Wrapped each one with some paper and used glue dots to hold everything in place. I forgot to take a picture of the one I sent with Jaren for his picture, but it turned out really cute. Thanks to all the teachers out there who help enrich our children's life's.
The paper has really cute saying that use to be sang during jump roping on the playground. All ready for preschool

Lock Your Doors...

2010-05-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to write this post to remind everyone to LOCK their car doors when they are driving. Yesterday while I was driving home with my two youngest kids we had a problem with a pedestrian. I was coming upon a sidewalk when I seen a lady waiting to cross the street. So I slowed down the car and came to a stop well before the crosswalk line. The lady waved at me acting like she was making sure I was stopping so she could cross. I raised my hand and waved my hand to signal her to cross. As she was walking across the street, she started to come out of the crosswalk and came directly towards my car. Her body was positioned in the middle of my car and as she walked around my car she had her body brush up along the car. (So I couldn't move the car forward without hitting her) I quickly looked over to make sure my door was locked. Luckily I have automatic locks that lock when I start to drive. Next she started jerking the door handle and banging on the window to get in. I just started yelling at her, "No! You need to get away from my car now!" She backed up just enough for me to take off without running over her feet. As I looked in my mirror I seen that she started to go for the car behind me as well. The next several drivers all speed up and quickly passed around her. Of course I didn't have my cell phone with me and I should have drove straight to the police department, but I didn't. I was trying my hardest to stay calm and comfort my 4 year old in the backseat who was really upset. Thankfully my doors were locked! Do you drive with your doors locked?

Lukas Says...

2010-05-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Lukas and I were outside picking some flowers to bring into the house. Once we picked out a vase and placed the flowers inside this is what he thought of them.
Lukas: "Now that is what I call a Boday. They are so pretty right mom?"

What's Cooking In Our House...

2010-05-02T20:28:00.001-07:00

This weekend we had some friends over for dinner and had a great time. I made this super easy and yummy Salad recipe that I got from my friend Liz. Everyone seemed to enjoy it especially Aubrey. Here is was you need

Pretzel Salad

1 container of cool whip

1 pkg. cream cheese

1/2 c. sugar

1 20oz. can crushed pineapple drained

For the Pretzels

1 c. pretzels

1/4c butter melted

1/4c sugar

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Break up your pretzels a little bit. Place in a plastic bag with melted butter and sugar. Coat the pretzels well and place on a pan. Baked for 7 minutes. Next beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add in the cool whip and pineapple. Once the pretzels are cool mix them into the salad and enjoy. Sorry I didn't take a picture because it's not the prettiest salad, but you will love the flavor. Hope you had a great weekend. Happy cooking!

A Little Surprise

2010-04-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

This last week has been a rough week for me. Lot's of things going on. To my surprise, I found this in my boy's room when I walked in. I couldn't help but laugh. It was staring directly at me when I opened their door. Needless to say it made my day so much better.

Hola Chicka Don't you love the tag hanging between his eyes

The Big 30....

2010-04-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

Today is my hubby's birthday! Yep it's a big one to. Today marks the start of a new decade. That's right he is now in his...30's I love this man. Happy Birthday Justin. I sill love him more everyday!

We always have fun

He's not afraid to act silly

He's a good digger

A good story teller

&

A WONDERFUL father

Hope you have a great day!

Wire Hair Bow Holder...

2010-04-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

I have been needing something to hang Aubrey's bows on. The little storage box wasn't working and was getting to full. I always had to dig through it to find a bows match. So I came up with this great little idea to use some chicken wire and a wooden frame.This is the wooden frame my hubby built. He built two frames and then stapled the wire between them. We built the two frames so it would keep the wire from rubbing against the wall and it made it easier to remove the bows.I tapped off the wire and applied 3 coats of white paint. The back isn't painted except for the trim against the wire. I love how the white looks against her purple stripes!We added these porcelain knobs that I had off a old desk. They are perfect for hanging her headbands on them. It turned out so cute! We now have a nice place to find what we are looking for!

"

What's Cooking In Our House...

2010-04-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend I decided to try and play a trick on the boys. I made them, Toad in the hole. When I told them what they would be eating for breakfast they were grossed out at first but ended up loving it. Lukas told me it tasted just like Chinese food and Jaren quickly agreed. I couldn't help but laugh because Lukas can't eat Chinese food because of his food allergies. So I have no idea where that came from. Here is what you need to make it.

Toad In The Hole
*Sliced sandwich bread.
*Butter
*Eggs
*Bowl with a lid

First you want to butter both sides of the bread and then cut a circle out of the center of the bread. Next place the bread in a pan and crack a egg into each hole. You want to make sure you have the stove on medium because the bread will cook so fast. After you flip your bread/egg you can place the piece of bread in the pan that you had cut out. Once the egg is cooked all the way your ready to eat. After placing the bread on your plate, place the cut out bread on top of the egg. The bowl with a lid is something I just set out that I pretend to have used to store my toads. Happy Cooking!

Could this day get any worse????

2010-04-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

So far this day has started out terrible! I'm still suffering from food poisoning that I got last night. (No I'm not the one who cooked. We ate out) My first daycare child of the day pooped in her pants after only being her 40 minutes. My four year old has had 3 melt downs already. The baby spit up her whole breakfast because she ate to fast. My house smells like burnt plastic. My favorite cutting board fell onto the bottom of the dishwasher and is now ruined. Luckily Lukas told me that it was okay because it was just a accident. Right now I just hope that the worst has already happened for the day and it can only get better from here on out.

One Happy Little Face..

2010-04-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

This is the happy face I get to see every morning. She is always in such a good mood when she wakes up. When I took these pictures she was stumbling around trying to wake up. It was so cute. Now I just hope this great mood continues as she gets older. Her brothers are not always happy campers!

Don't you just love footed PJ's

She was checking out her brothers. Aubrey always waves and says, "Hi" to Lukas and "Hi Jaren" to her older brother. It just melts our hearts.

Spaghetti Anyone?

2010-04-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Spaghetti Anyone? I know of someone who would love to share.

Skateboard Shelf's

2010-04-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

My two boys share a room and were in need of some more shelf's to store all their "TREASURES". We wanted to come up with something different so I went to the store and bought two skateboards. My husband spray painted some shelf brackets black. Once they were dry and hung them on the wall. Next we connected the skateboards to the brackets with some screws. I didn't want to take off the wheels because I like the look of them. I think they turned out pretty cute. I mean COOL. Here are some pictures. Our new skateboardsI
I'm sure they will put up their own treasures soon!

What's Cooking In Our House...

2010-04-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

I always try to do something creative with food for my kids. So when it comes to snack time at preschool I can't help but try to make something fun! Here is a quick and easy snack I made for my son's preschool class and for a snack today. Butterfly celery sticks.

Ingredients:
Celery stalks
Cream cheese
Craisins or Raisins
Large pretzels
Pretzel sticks

Start by cutting your celery sticks in half or thirds. Next spread each stick with cream cheese and then add craisins on top. (for the body) Next place two pretzel sticks on top for the antennas. Last you can spread some cream cheese on the back of the celery stick to attach your large pretzels. Who knew those large pretzels made such good butterfly wings. The combination of cream cheese, craisins and salty pretzels is wonderful. Give them a try. Your kids will love them. Happy Cooking

Dishing It...

2010-04-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

Today I'm joining in with Serenity Now's Dishing It Party.http://serenitynow4amanda.blogspot.com/2010/04/dont-you-want-to-be-dishing-it-with-me.html It's just a quick and easy party that allows readers to get to know you a little better and learn a little bit more about your blog. Plus you can go and check out all the other blogs of people who have linked up to.

So my name is Samantha and I'm a Stay at home mom of three adorable kids. They keep me very busy! I've been married to my hubby Justin for 8 years this July. What you may or may not know is Justin and I have know each other since we were little kids. We went to Elementary and High School together.

I started blogging in January of 2008 so I could have some place to record some of my thoughts and daily adventures of motherhood. So Mommy's Timeout is exactly that, a place for me to take a few mintues to stop and reflect my life and share what we have going on.

Scrapbooking and crafts are a passion of mine and I wish I could devote some time everyday to. If I can do something at least once a week I'm happy! I love to blog about my latest craft project or failed projected =)

One of the questions at the party was what famous person would you love to follow your blog. Well I would have to pick Kenny Chesney. Oh the man is HOT. Yes my husband does know I have a major crush on him. =) Can't you imagine him sitting on his tour bus checking my blog? AHHH. Ok back to reality. If you are wanting to check out some great blogs go over and check out the party.

Bingo For Books...

2010-04-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my son's school held a great family night. For two hours families were able to go out to the school and play Bingo to win books from the Book Fair. Every person was able to play and you could win TWO books! If you won a third time you had to give your book to somebody else. Our family did great. Between the four of us we won 6 times. Check out our loot below. Isn't this great?
This morning I was getting out of the shower when I heard my son tell me, "Mom don't worry it's just me out here. I didn't want to scare you." Which he would have since nobody is ever up that early. Jaren had gotten up to read one of his new books before school. I couldn't be more happy with the fact that he is turning in to such a reader. The kid is still in first grade and just whipping through chapter books. Somebody in the house is thrilled that we have a reader in the house too.

Moments like these make me proud to be their mommy even more

Burlap Sping Wreath With Fabric Flowers...

2010-04-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

In order to try and brighten up the outside of our house I decided to make a Spring wreath. I had learned how to make fabric flowers from Jill over at http://barnesfamilylove.blogspot.com/ So I thought I would give them a try. Luckily I already had all these supplies in my craft drawers so I was ready to go. Here are some of the supplies needed Burlap, floral wreath and glue gun. I cut some strips of Burlap and started to wrap them around the wreath and hot gluing as I went. I love how Burlap unravels so you get all the strings that hang off. It just adds to the charm.
This is what it looks like when you are done wrapping
Next I cut some long strips so I could start making my flowers
Start by tying a not at one end. This will be the center of your flower.
Next you want to star twisting the fabric or burlap and then start slowly wrapping it around your knot.
Put small dots of hot glue as your are twisting.
Keep twisting around the knot forming a rose or flower shape
You can make it as small or as large as you want. When you are done with one color you can twist the fabric to the back of the flower and hot glue it to the back.
Next you can use any type of fabric you have. Start by cutting a small cut at the top of the fabric and tear off a long strip.
Start by gluing it on the back of your flower and begin twisting it around the outside of your center.
You can repeat this process as many times as you want or just do one color. It's up to you!
Next I just started gluing the flowers on my wreath.
Here it is

A Positive Post...

2010-04-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention that I don't have anything positive to say on my blog. So I decided to try and make a positive post. Here is a list of what I'm most thankful for!
1. I'm thankful for my faith in God and everything he does in my life.
2. My children are the greatest gift I have.
3. I'm thankful for my wonderful husband and that he is such a hard worker providing me the opportunity to stay home with our three children.
4. I'm very thankful for my husbands job and that we are all safe and healthy with a roof over our heads!
5. Our troops who are all sacrificing their own life's to keep us safe and allow us our freedom.
6. My family and friends
7. Thankful that even when I sin, I'm forgiven by the one who matters most.
8. Last I'm thankful for the grace God has given me to forgive and forget the rude anonymous comment left on my blog.
What are you thankful for?

Dear Outback...

2010-04-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Outback,
On April 10, 2010 my husband and I went to your Salem location for a nice dinner. To our surprise we got nothing but a terrible night out! Upon arriving at your restaurant, we were told we would have a 30 minute wait. We had no problem waiting and were told we could go shopping if we liked since there are several stores right next door. So we had no problem waiting the 30 minutes and quickly returned 25 minute's later. After returning we were told it would be at least another 10-15 minute wait. Already starving and getting a little frustrated we decided to have a drink up at your bar while we waited. Fifteen minutes had passed and our table was finally ready, so my husband paid our bill for our drinks and we went to our table. Our waitress was friendly and took our order. Forty-five minutes later we were still waiting for our dinner and had had our fill. My husband was waiting to see our waitress to ask for the rest of our bill and forget the dinner because we were sick of waiting. Fifteen more minutes passed and our dinner was brought to us. As if the night couldn't get any worse we were left with the worst looking and tasting food we have ever ate. My husband food was cold and overcooked and my plate looked like it arrived off the children's menu and was burnt. Don't get me started on how the people next to us discovered hair in their food. Once we had enough of your establishment we asked for our bill and got out of that place. With a bill over $50.00 and have waited for close to 2 hours we expected a great meal! As far as we are concerned we will NEVER RETURN to your restaurant again. I hope your KITCHEN STAFF LEARNS HOW TO COOK or is sent to some type of cooking school and someone is taught TIME MANAGEMENT. Good luck with your failing restaurant.
Signed,
I would rather eat at McDonald's any day!

Spring Fling Giveaway At Tip Junkie..

2010-04-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

Starting tomorrow Tip Junkie will be starting their Spring Fling Giveaway. They will be having a new giveaway every hour. They are giving away $6000.00 worth of prizes all in one day! Every prize is worth at least $50.00 Go over and check them out. You never know when it will be your lucky day.

What's Cooking In Our House...

2010-04-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

Well it's already Saturday again and I had planned on making my favorite dinner tonight, but something better is going on in our house!! It's date night! Whoop Whoop!! My hubs and I are going out for dinner WITHOUT KIDS. So I decided to go ahead and share my recipe with you anyways. Chicken Gumbo! It's such an easy recipe and only takes 4-5 ingredients. How can you beat that. It freezes well and taste even better the next day. The recipe below does not call for black beans, but I always add a can. Happy Cooking!

Chicken Gumbo
3 tbs. vegetable oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 smoked sausage, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 bag (16oz) Birds Eye frozen Farm Fresh Mixtures Broccoli, Corn and Red Peppers
1 can (14 1/2oz) Stewed Tomatoes (I like the ones with diced green chilies)
1 1/2 cups water

*Heat oil in large saucepan over high heat. Add chicken and sausage; cook until browned, about 8 minutes.
*Add vegetables, tomatoes and water, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium cover and cook 3 minutes.

Makes 4-6 servings

Make New Friends Friday...

2010-04-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I'm linking up again this week with http://barnesfamilylove.blogspot.com/2010/04/make-new-friends-friday.html for another Make New Friends Friday. It's just a fun way for all of us to learn about new blogs out there that have great ideas without all the hard searching =) SO my spotlight of the week goes to...blue cricket designs. Becca has such great crafty ideas. Plus right now she is even having a giveaway for a $50.00 GC for vintage pearl. Oh la la. People go over and check her out and let her know I sent you her way.http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2010/04/show-and-tell-with-vintage-pearl.html Also don't forget to visit barnes yard to join in on the fun. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Check back tomorrow to see what's cooking in our house.

Happy Easter From The Millers...

2010-04-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a great Easter. We sure did. Our day started really early when the boys discovered the bunny trail of Dinosaur eggs. Every year the Easter Bunny leaves a trail of something from the boy's beds, down the stairs and through the house to their baskets. It's so much fun so hear their excitement when they see the trail. After hunting for the hidden eggs in the house we got ready for church. Next we were off to Lolo's and Jason for our annual egg hunt. We always love this event and the kids look forward to it every year. Later we headed over to my in-laws for our last egg hunt and dinner. Everyone was so tired by the end of the day. We look forward to doing it all over next year! Let's rejoice, for we have been given new life in Him. Can you spot the Dinosaur eggs? The boys even let her help pick up the trail this year Our bowl of Dinosaur eggs from our trail Jaren got his first chapter books and a strawberry plant kit Aubrey was checking out her brother's treat Can you spot two eggs here? Can you spot the egg here? She did before both of her brothers haha She loved hunting for eggs! I LOVE this picture A group shot from our egg hunt Lukas eating some of his goodies Aubrey and my niece Sierra
Happy Easter! With Love, The Millers

What's Cooking In Our House...

2010-04-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

I decided to start making a post every Saturday so I can share a little recipe. I wanted to start off with something really easy and quick. My husband goes to play poker on Saturday nights and has to bring some type of food with him for the potluck. So this is a easy cookie recipe with ingredients I always have in stock.
CAKE MIX COOKIES
1 Boxed cake mix any flavor
1/3c oil
2 eggs
Powder sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Next mix all the ingredients well. I then roll the dough into small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Usually I roll the balls in powder sugar and then bake, but today I passed this step. (Powder sugar doesn't go over very well at a poker table =) Bake the cookies 9-10 mins. These cookies freeze very well. My favorite flavor is the Lemon cake mix! It's great with white chocolate chips added and rolled in powder sugar.
This recipe will make 24 cookies or if you roll them into smaller balls like I do, you can usually get 40. Happy Cooking

Dear Easter Bunny...

2010-04-02T16:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Easter Bunny,
You looked so cute today with your fluffy grey fur sitting on your white bench. The last time we were in the mall to see you my little baby was in a very deep sleep so we decided to try it again today. I packed up my 3 kids in the terrible weather, HAIL to be exact and drove to see you again. Once inside the Mall my daughter's face Lite up when she seen you. She even started waving and jumping up and down in my arms. When it was our turn we walked up and my son's sat down beside you and I was placing my still very EXCITED daughter on your knee for our photo op. That's when you decided to open your BIG FAT FURRY MOUTH and complain to the photographer about some kids standing in line. Of course my daughter burst into tears screaming. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. WHAT BUNNY SCHOOL DID YOU GO TO? I only know of 1 yes 1 bunny who talks and his name is THUMPER and is a cartoon character. Didn't they teach you that the EASTER BUNNY does NOT TALK! You even upset my 4 year old and he no longer wanted anything to do with you. THANK YOU. We had to walk away empty handed again. HOPE YOUR HAPPY. SIGNED, ONE ANGRY MOMMY!

PS. YOU REALLY SUCK!h

Make New Friends Friday...

2010-04-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I'm linking up this week with my friend Jill over at http://barnesfamilylove.blogspot.com/2010/04/something-new.html. Barnes Yard. She is starting a new fun post for the month of April so everyone can give a shout out to a blog they really enjoy reading. This way we can all find great new blogs without all the searching. So if your interested in joining head on over to her blog and link up. This will be a great new way to make new bloggie friends =)
So on to my post... I want to give a shout out to a new blog that I love called, LarsenLoves. Jen is a very crafty stay-at-home mommy. I love that she not only shows decorating tips, craft tutorials but also a Jen Glam Girl Post once a week. I knew I would love to be her friend in real life if I got to meet her! Go over to http://larsenloves.blogspot.com/ and check her out. You will also find a link to her great craft blog. Don't forget to check out Jill's blog if you want to join in the fun, or just check out everyone's shout outs. Thanks Jill

A Not So Funny Box...

2010-04-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen a box like this? Well when you slide over the red dot, you are in for a real surprise... This little creature will jump out at you and touch your finger!

Here is my little jokester. Lukas tried this over and over and over on myself his baby sister and a 3 year old kid I was watching. Every time he did it to me I had to act like I was scared and let out a little scream. Aubrey laughed every time he tried it on her and the little girl just would look at him and say nothing. After the joke was getting a little old, the joke was on Lukas!

He had the little box facing him and he slide open the door, when out popped the snake and a real bug. The bug went flying out right onto his hand. He screamed so loud!! The box went flying through the air and he started crying so hard. I could not help but burst into laughter. That little bug that had been hiding inside really got him. I'm pretty sure this joke is over for awhile. =)

The TOASTER BANDIT STRIKES AGAIN!!!

2010-03-26T13:21:00.001-07:00

Our poor family has became victims of the toaster bandit for the second time. Action must be taken to keep our toaster and family safe from burning toxins and fumes. Last month was the Bandits first attempt to ruin our beloved toaster. She had been with us for 11 years and had provided us with great toast and bagels for years. It was early morning when I went to pull the toaster out of the lower cabinet and went to plug it in. After popping in one slice of bread I went into our dinning room to put Aubrey into her highchair for breakfast. The fumes quickly filled the house and I ran into the kitchen to find, (Inserting sound.. dun dun duh) a burning plastic baby spoon in the other side of the toaster. Needless to say we had to say farewell to our beloved toaster. May you RIP in whatever landfill you ended up. Her is a picture of our beloved new toaster.
The POOR Victim
This morning our family was attacked again! (again insert music..dun dun duh)I plugged in the toaster and went to put the bread in when I spotted this. At the scene of the crime

The evidence collected

These are the possible suspects. Take a close look and let me know which one do you think is the guilty bandit. I'm having a hard time deciding!

Suspect #1

Suspect #2
Or

Suspect #3

Until this mystery is solved in our home, keep a close eye on your toaster! Always look inside your toaster to make sure the Bandit has not hit your home.

A Jar Full Of LOVE...

2010-03-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

While my oldest was in school and the baby was sleeping, Lukas and I snuck outside to play for awhile. It was so nice to spend some alone time with him. After a few games of basketball, he started picking me flowers. I had so grab my camera to take some pictures. My jar of love sits in my kitchen window sill right now. It sure brings a smile to my face when I look at it. My little flower picker

This was his flower basket

It's not a bunch of weeds needing to be pulled people... It's his flower garden They are so pretty He was so proud of himself

Here is MY JAR FULL OF LOVE!!

Easter Napkin Letters...

2010-03-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

A while back I found this great post on using Napkins to decorate wooden letters over at Craft~o~maniac http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/2010/03/decoupaged-easter-letter-e-for.html . So I had some wooden letters that I bought last year to make a sign and hadn't used yet. I went to the local Dollar Tree and got a package of napkins and got to work. I didn't trace my letters like she had and instead just layered a napkin on each letter and and adhered with several layers of Modge Podge. I made sure each layer was good and dry before I added the next one. Once everything was dry I just trimmed of the rest of the napkin by following the lines of the wood. It was very easy! They turned out really cute. I'm looking forward to doing this for more holidays. Wooden letters, Easter Napkins and Modge Podge

I ended up applying 2 coats of Modge Podge to each letter Starting to get stuff out for Easter

Close up of my letters

I'm linking up with..

A EGGstra Special Wreath...

2010-03-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

I wanted an Easter Egg wreath this year but couldn't find one that I liked. So I decided to make my own. I gathered materials from the Dollar Tree
Wrapped this ribbon around the ring while hot gluing it.
My fingers were burned many times during this process.
Hot glued each egg one by one and then added some ribbon. I wish you could see how the eggs sparkle. It turned out very cute and my fingers will heal soon =)

Happy Green Day!

2010-03-17T11:22:00.001-07:00

It's here. Our family LOVES St. Patty's Day. Everyone is wearing green today so no pinching will be taking place here. When I took my son to school today I couldn't help but laugh as the kids in his class watched every person walk through the door to make sure they were wearing green. My boys even wore green pj's last night so they wouldn't get pinched n their sleep. =) For dinner tonight we will be eating some yummy green pancakes. We hope you all have a wonderful GREEN day too.

What Happens When You Pee In A Cup...

2010-03-11T11:53:00.000-08:00

It's hard enough to pee in a cup at the doctors office, but even worse when you are six. We had to take our son to see his doctor because he has been having bladder problems. When asked to go in and pee in the cup he refused. I told him that he had to and that he would be fine. I wasn't even thinking that he had never done it before. I guess I just assumed he would know what to do. After a few minutes had passed the nurse told me she would hold my baby if I wanted to go in and help him. To my surprise he was trying to pee into the cup in the MIDDLE of the bathroom floor. The cup had to be cutting off circulation on his Manley parts. Then he wasn't even trying to pee over the toilet and had barely pulled down his pants. THANKFULLY he had a hard time going and he didn't pee all over their floor and his clothes. Now I know to stop and think through every unusual task my kids are asked to do. That way we won't have anymore episodes.

Playing house...

2010-03-06T06:22:00.000-08:00

I love these pictures. I walked into the living room this week and found Aubrey sitting and playing with her Little People House all by herself. She looked so sweet just sitting there. All of the people kept getting stacked on the roof and then she would pull all them down and line them up on the ground. One by one they would all make their way back up to the roof. I just love having girl toys around the house now!

2010-03-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

Check out this great giveaway over at http://larsenloves.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-555th-post-so-giveawayyyyyyyyy.html. Such a fun blog with great ideas. You will love the great goodies she is giving away so go over and check her out. It ends On tuesday.

Burlap-Clover Door Hanging...

2010-02-27T14:21:00.000-08:00

I wanted to come up with something for St. Patricks day for our door. Around our little town there isn't a lot of places to go for decorations for small holidays. So I dug out my Reynolds foil hearts (from the local Dollar Tree) and started by spray painting them green. NOT a good idea. The paint just ran right off of them. Then I got out some green paint I already had and painted each one. I used some hot glue to connect them together and did a great job burning myself. Next I strung ribbon or twine from them and connected them to the large Burlap ribbon I made. To give it a little more color I added another smaller ribbon with some clover ribbon. I think it turned out pretty cute.

These are the foils I used

Here it is!

Enjoying A Play Date...

2010-02-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

Porter getting ready to shoot his basket This is what he was shooting at. Everytime he would throw the ball Lukas would close his eyes!

Below is the boys looking at a ladybug they found
This past week Lukas got to invite his cousin Porter over for a play date. The two of them played so well together and Lukas loved having his own friend over for a while. Luckily we had really nice weather and the boys got to play outside and eat Popsicle's. Basketball and soccer games were played, but my favorite thing they did was go on a ladybug hunt. We have so many ladybugs around our house right now. It wasn't hard for them to find a lot of them. As soon as one was spotted one of them would yell out, "Here's a ladybug!" The boys would inspect each one as if they had never seen one before. Here are some cute pictures of the two of them.

No More Daddy's Falling Off Roofs...

2010-02-23T14:09:00.001-08:00

On Sunday my husband was at his parents house taking down their Christmas lights for them when he had a terrible accident. While one foot was on the roof and the other on the ladder, the ladder slide out beneath him. He tried to grab the gutter, but all it did was pull out of the building. Luckily he landed on top of the ladder, before his head slammed into the concrete. I'm positive God was watching out for him during that moment, because who knows how much worse this could have been. Thankfully he had explained to my youngest son to always stay back from the ladder in case daddy ever fell. That way he wouldn't get hurt. I'm always telling him to knock on wood. I guess he didn't this time. Lesson learned, right Justin =) He seems to be recovering well and the swelling is finally going down. His right wrist is still pretty swollen and aches. He is still getting bruises that are finally coming to the surface, so he is a site! Here are some pictures that I had to take just so I could make a post. He couldn't help but laugh. He was laughing that I wanted to take pictures

Even though it was swollen here it got MUCH worse!

His nice hairy leg

Again the swelling hadn't really set in yet.

2010-02-20T08:29:00.000-08:00

The kids and I have been enjoying the wonderful weather outside sooo much. Aubrey loves getting out and running around. The boys have been enjoying riding bikes, soccer, and playing with chalk. It's just nice to open up all the windows and get some fresh air. For anyone on the East coast that is stuck in all the snow, I'm thinking of you while I'm soaking up all the vitamin D I can get!