And people say GIRLS are emotional???

The boys just got done eating their after school snack, and I told them they had ten minutes (read 'em people - 10!!) minutes to play before it was homework time. Wanna know what happened?

1st child (aka Scottie):

Says "Okay" and runs back down to play Mario Kart.

2nd child (aka Braden):

How did B react? You wanna know how B reacted?

Well, he dissolved into tears, curled up in a standing fetal position, and howled.

When I asked him why he was crying, and what was wrong, he carried on and on about how it would take him ten minutes just to figure out what he wanted to do with his ten minutes.

*sigh*

And people say that girls are emotional.

Prayers for B

So, on Friday, B called me from school (something he NEVER does) complaining of an earache. So, I went and checked him out of school, gave him some Tylenol, and had him lay down on a warm heating pad. But, an hour later, he was still crying that his ear hurt. So, I took him in to the Dr. and sure enough, he has an ear infection in his right ear, and the makings of one in his left.

So, I stayed home from church with him and Gavin yesterday, but he was well enough to go to school today. Scott, however, has been coughing every 30 seconds, and has a fever, so I decided to keep him home. I told B that Scott wouldn't be going to school today, and the poor kid just broke down and cried. He's never been to school by himself, so I think he was kind of scared.

I had Scott walk B into school, and as soon as Scott ran back out to the van, he said, "Mom, Braden will be okay, but I think we should say a prayer for him that Heavenly Father will help him be comforted." How cute is that??

So, as soon as we got back home, Scott ran into the house and said, "Come on, Mom. In the living room. Let's say a prayer for Braden." So, we did. It makes me feel so good to know the Scott loves his brother enough, and trusts in the Lord enough to say a prayer whenever he wants to. What an awesome big brother!

New coat closet

So, during the winter, the boys pile their coats and backpacks on top of the shoe basket by the back door (because they couldn't reach up high to hang up their coats in the coat closet), and it would just be a mess of fabric that I would trip over as I was setting the table. And, our coat closet was a typical coat closet - one rod that was hung in the middle of the closet. So, Brandon decided to fix that.

He tore out the old rod and shelf, then raised the shelf and rod up higher, then put a row of hooks all along the bottom part of the closet so that we can hang up the boys coats and backpacks! Yeah! No more messy back door and tripping over coats! I'm so excited - you have no idea!


Gavin helping Brandon tear out the old shelf


My messy backdoor - it's even worse with the boys backpacks laying there


My new closet

I'm so looking forward to when the boys get home this afternoon - they can go hang up their bags and coats and I'll be one happy Mama!

B's first school dance & the Fun Park

So, after Scott's birthday dinner last night (see previous post), we headed over to the school for their annual dance night. The kids have been learning various dances in their gym class over the past several weeks, and last night it was show time! They had some dancers from a local dance school come perform, and then each grade got to perform.

Scott, Braden & me enjoying the dancers

Last week (as you'll see in my Funny Favorites bar), B was adamant that he didn't want to go. Yesterday, he changed his mind. His class was doing a waltz. I think he really wanted to dance with a girl in his class (he got to during PE), but he wasn't able to last night. But, it was so fun watching him dance the waltz! My little B is growing up.

B, leading his partner out onto the dance floor

Waltzing

We have no idea how Brandon took this picture, but thought it was pretty cool! Click on it and you can get the full effect of its coolness!

The second grade did a cha-cha (without partners), and then a blacklight performance of the Macarena (minus the bum twisting at the end of the pattern!). Scott, however, did not want to get up and perform in front of all of those people, so he and I did it together on the floor - which also happened to be our seats! The gymnasium was PACKED and they eventually told people to start sitting on the floor wherever they could.

The second grade classes

After the dance, we headed over to the Fun Park for . . . well, what else? Some fun! We were originally going to go swimming, but Cache Valley doesn't have a covered swimming pool that is little kid friendly. So, we went to the Fun Park instead. It was a good birthday celebration, and all involved had lots of fun!

Evil Knievel meet Gavin - oh, and Snoopy!

Me & B hugging

My birthday boy - isn't he handsome!

On a side note, his hair was long and shaggy, and me, being the mean mom that I am, made him get it cut. I really didn't cut that much - it was more of trim, but it looks SO much better!

After playing in the soft playground for a while, Brandon bought the boys tokens so they could play various games in the Park. They all had fun!

Scott & Brandon driving a semi -

quite wrecklessly, I might add!

Ready, set . . .

GO!!!

Scott wanted to play basketball

Another really cool picture - you can see the ball moving through the air

SCORE!!!

Tallying up the tickets to see if they could get a prize

Wall E takes the cake

So, Scott has absolutely fallen in love with Wall E. He loves the movie, he pretends to be Wall E, wants to be Wall E for Halloween (which, I remind you, is 8 months away, but he decided to be Wall E for 2009 Halloween during our 2008 Christmas holiday!) He wants anything and everything Wall E.

So, for his birthday, he requested a Wall E cake. Yikes, I thought! Can I make something like that? I was planning on make two square cakes and stacking them for Wall E's body, but I wasn't sure how to make his eyes. But, I found a Wall E cake pan, so I got that.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Yesterday was his birthday. My baby turned 8! He's going to be baptized in a couple of weeks! I don't remember him growing up (well, I mean, I do, obviously, but it just went by WAY too fast!) So, I went all out Wall E.

Observe:

Opening his shirt and underwear (yes, Wall E underwear!) so he could wear them to school

Opening up a Wall E lunch box

His face as he examines said lunchbox


Opening up his Wall E blanket -

it's SO soft. I want to keep it for me!

His loot

It looks like Wall E's holding Scott's hand. Hmm.

So, after opening his presents, it was time for dinner. He requested Mormon Enchiladas. Now, I have no idea why it's called this, but I grew up with this dish, and it has become a favorite.

Basically, you heat up some spaghetti sauce (your choice of flavors), add some cooked ground beef, and then mix the beef into the sauce. Grate up some cheese, and then scoop the sauce mixture up with Fritos. We like the scoop kind of Fritos, but growing up they didn't make that kind, so we crushed the Fritos and put the sauce on top, then topped the sauce with cheese and any other toppings you want. It's really quite good!


The family - LET'S EAT!!

Now, time for the Wall E cake. I baked it yesterday morning, then let it cool while I ran to get dinner stuff and some balloons for his birthday. After it was cooled, I frosted it while Gavin napped. It took me about two hours total to decorate it. Time consuming, but well worth it, as you'll see in a picture further down.


Wall E, in the beginning


The frosted background


Smoothing out Wall E's eyes


Me & and the finished product


A closeup of Wall E


Scott's face when he saw his birthday cake


Thanks, Mom!

This makes that two hours of decorating totally worth every minute of it! Happy Birthday, Scottie! We love you!

Temple Sealing

So, my brother-in-law and his wife got married about 18 months ago in Hawaii. They are expecting their first child together - next week, in fact (she has three other from a previous marriage) - but before this baby was born, they were able to go through the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity.

It was such a nice intimate sealing - only 13 people TOTAL there - and it brought back the feelings and thoughts of my own sealing. As we were in the temple, we were trying to remember what room we were in before the ceremony, and which room was our actual sealing room. It was so fun to remember, and yes, as I watched these two be sealed together, I cried. I admit it - I'm a completely hopeless, sappy person! :)

Then, as we came out of the temple - COLD!!!! (It was cold on our wedding day, too - I think there was a high of about 28, but I'm not sure, and although I did some research on the internet, I couldn't find the actual temperature of that day.) But, our wedding day was not windy. It was sunny and bright, but very cold. This sealing day, though, the wind was blowing, and it was super cold. But, we did take a few pictures (for posterity sake), and then headed home to warm up!

Thanks so much for sharing this special day with us, guys! Congrats!


The whole clan (minus the children) outside the temple


Just to show how windy it was -
check out my father-in-law's tie!


Smooooooch!!


Jon hates PDA's (Public Displays of Affection)
so he was laughing - he hates kissing in public!


You can see the snow blowing around


Baby, it's cold outside!

Pay It Forward

Here's how it works-the first 5 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well-before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Remember that only the first 5 comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick!

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
3. You will have no clue what it is going to be.
4. What I make, may be strange. Who knows!
Now, what to make, what to make....... hmmm. :)
Also, if I don't have your address, please email it to me. . . rjgshaffer@hotmail.com

P.S. I actually don't care if you do this on your blog - you can just leave a comment if you want - but thought it would be fun to Pay It Forward. That's a pretty good movie, too, by the way.

Um, Gavin?? It's winter!

So, this is how my little boy has lived for the past week. He'll put pants or sweats on while we take the boys to school, and literally as soon as we walk in the door, he asks,

"Now can I put my swimmin' poot on?"

He pretends to go swimming - he'll lay a blanket out on the floor and pretend that's his pool, and of course you can't go swimming with a shirt on, and you have to have footwear while you're walking to the pool - so my little bug has walked around in his boots, his swimsuit, and no shirt for the past week! Awesome!

What?

Blanket & Card - comments wanted

A very good friend of mine had her baby the beginning of January, and named him Jovan. Poor little thing got RSV and was in the hospital for five days, and her other one has been sick as well. So, I made little Jovan a baby blanket, and sent it to him once he was out of the hospital. It turned out really cute, and is one of my all-time favorites!

One thing that I love about these blankets is that they're the perfect size for swaddling a baby - even up to several months old - and that the inside can be the outside, or the outside can be the inside. Both patterns are nice and they can be turned around and used the other way. These are just all around great blankets!


The "inside" of the blanket


The "front" of the blanket


Both sides together


My latest card - granted, I'm not very good at them yet, but it's fun for me to do, and to try new things.

And, if you don't like these posts, feel free to skip over them. Since this is my "journal" in a way, and since I'd like to start selling these blankets, these pictures are kind of like my resume for when I start selling them. However, If I have ever made you a baby blanket, I'd really appreciate it if you'd post your thoughts about the blanket(s) - loved it, hated it, want another one . . . You get the idea. If I can, I'd love to have these comments to pass on to others that might want to buy a blanket. Thanks so much!

Fog + Temple = Awesome Picture

So, I can't take credit for this picture - as much as I'd like to. My mom emailed me these pictures this morning. They were taken by an acquiantance of a daughter of a friend of my parents, I think. Got that? :) This is the fog/smog/inversion that coats the valley sometimes, and this view was right outside the window where she works, so she snapped a couple of pictures. Aren't they awesome?

Baby Shower & deer

So, my sister-in-law, Molly, my mother-in-law, LaRean, and I planned a baby shower for my other sister-in-law, Dazee. She is due with her 4th (although it's her husband's first) on the first of March, but is being induced on the 24th of this month, as she has been measuring 4 weeks big. They already have a lot of stuff, but we thought it would be fun to throw her a shower, anyway. It turned out to be a lot of fun - just a couple of simple, but fun games, and the treats afterwards were super, if I say so myself. (I was in charge of the food. We had Stephen's hot chocolate, and a variety of Pepperidge Farm cookies and pretzels. Yum!)

For the games, I made up a list of baby animals and the ladies had to write down the mother - i.e. kitten = cat, joey=kangaroo, puppy=dog . . . Molly did one that was really fun, too. She wrapped baby items (lotion, binky, diaper . . .) in brown paper bags, and we had to feel them and guess what was in the bags. It was a lot of fun, and just a nice, simple game. Thanks so much for your help, Molly & LaRean!


Dazee opening gifts - if you look closely, you can see her cute belly - it looks like a basketball!


Her daughter, Ryann, helping her open the presents


Ah - how cute!!


My niece, Marissa, just 'cause she's so cute!

After the shower, I stayed to help my mother-in-law clean up (the shower was at her house), and as we were washing off the counters, she looked up and saw four deer in her backyard. Since the boys weren't there, I had to take some pictures for them. It was pretty cool to watch them.