Park Pictures

I love our neighborhood. We have 2 parks and a school within walking distance. I have been taking Simon to our park to play since he was just a tiny guy. Now it's Ryan's turn to join in the fun.

Having a swingin' good time.

This is Ryan and his new friend Kate (Danielle Long's daughter. Isn't she cute?)

Ryan is already 6 months old and he is soooooo much fun. He just discovered that he can reach any toy he wants to (or paper, remote control, whatever) by rolling! Simon's toys aren't safe anymore. He also just learned how to play peek-a-boo. He kept pulling his pj's up over his face when I was getting him ready for bed. I finally realized he was playing peek-a-boo, so I started saying BOO when he would take the pj's off of his face and he would giggle like crazy.

He still seems so small to be so smart!

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Last week we went to one of our favorite places. The Riparian Water Ranch. We go there often because it is right by our library. The weather was perfect so we went hiking on the trails. Simon DID NOT want his picture taken but I managed to sneak a few good pictures anyways.

This is one of those pictures worth a thousand words. It sums up Simon's morning. Don't worry, he brightened up.

Simon is content with his big box of Cheez-Its. Ryan loves being outside. He was smiling the whole time!

This is what got Simon out of his grumpy mood. He loved these birds. I think they are a type of crane. They have really long legs that bend backwards at their knees. They look like birds on stilts. Simon wanted to go into the water and catch one to take home!

After hiking through the wildlife preserve Simon wanted to go play.

My favorite pic of the day.

Rolling down the big hill. (He did this about 10 times! That is one way to wear out a 2 year old.)

King of the mountain!

And sitting on the big concrete rattlesnake.

I am taking every chance to enjoy this beautiful spring weather. The Riparian Water Ranch is one of my favorite places. We might just have to go back again soon.

Catching the Craft Bug. Ouch! it bit me!

So, Jeremiah thinks I'm crazy. Really crazy!

I honestly have a hundred different hobbies. Depending on the day I will be doing anything from Polymer Clay, making cloth diapers, knitting, home decorating, solar cooking, canning, and bleach stencilling. And this is only a handfull of the things I've attempted to learn in the past few years. Right now I am getting into photography and food storage. I wonder where these will take me. . .

Anyways, Jeremiah thinks I'm crazy because I can never just choose one thing to practice and get really good at it. But, as long as it is crafty I will try it at least once, or until I get bored with it.

So. . . with that said this post won't seem quite so random, I hope.

First, I finally leared how to put on snaps. Not that it's hard, I've just always been intimidated.

So I took my new found talent of pounding with a hammer and improved my cloth diaper making skills. Woo Hoo!

(weird, my picture turned sideways. You will just have to tilt your head. Don't worry, no one is watching.)

Now they are one-size-fits-all! That means I don't have to keep making more as Ryan grows. Thank heavens for snaps!

Second, I am working on a skirt for me. I found some funky black and white prints that seemed to work. I have an obsession with Black-and-White prints. I think I would have black and white curtains and comforters and sofa covers. . . if I only had that kind of $.

This is a work in progress. I still have to add a yoke waist band and a zipper. I just wanted to show off the cool fabric.

Third, more bleach stencil shirts! The best part. . . I finally made some for me! Yay! I am sooo in love with my new shirts. I love them so much I am going to start making and selling them on Etsy.
(disclaimer: please ignore the after-baby belly that is soon to be history)

The Chandelier.

Damask on brown

My Favorite one! Swirlies!

This one I finished a while back but never posted.

It's a push car!

I need your opinions on which ones you like. We'll call it "Marketing Research". I'll have many more to come. I am always open to new ideas too!

The craft bug bites every few months and when it does there is no stopping me! ha ha! I have about a zillion projects I'm working on so I'll keep posting as I go.

8 Things. . .

8 THINGS ABOUT ME
Here are the rules:
1)POST RULES ON YOUR BLOG
2)ANSWER THE SIX "8" ITEMS(They're not in any particular order)
3)LET EACH PERSON KNOW YOU’VE TAGGED THEM BY LEAVING THEM A COMMENT


8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS
1. House
2. American Idol
3. Myth Busters
4. Chuck
5. CSI
6. Scrubs
7. Phinneas and Ferb
8. The News

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
1. Woke up at 5:00am
2. Sang and danced to "Choo Choo Soul" with Simon
3. Went to the park for a play date
4. Marie came over to visit
5. Made peanut sauce for the first time
6. Played peek-a-boo with Ryan
7. Sewed a new skirt
8. Bought a new purse/diaperbag at Ross

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO
1. Paying off all of our debts
2. Seeing Jeremiah after work
3. Opening an online store
4. Hugs from Simon
5. Weekends with Jeremiah
6. Storytime
7. Calls and visits from family
8. Getting back into shape

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
1. Matta's
2. McGrath's Fish House
3. Streamers
4. Olive Garden
5. Cafe Rio
6. The Fat Burrito
7. Arby's
8. Cheesecake Factory

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST
1. Our own home
2. Get my pre-baby body back
3. Happy Husband
4. Healthy happy kids forever
5. Vacation to some exotic place (with no kids)
6. Sleep
7. Bachelors degree
8. Patience and Courage

8 PEOPLE I TAG
1. Shelly
2. Bethany
3. Amy
4. Chantel
5. Brittney S.
6. Tawni
7. Bonnie
8. Brittany G

Celebrate!!! Hooray for Keaton!

The best news of the entire year. . .

Keaton has officially been declared CANCER FREE!!!

I want to say thank you to everyone who has been there along the way to help out our little buddy through this tough time.

THANKS TO YOU ALL!

Congratulations Keaton! We are so happy for you and your family. We love you!

Everett's B-day in the Mountains

Everett Vee turned 7 years old this month. Happy Birthday Everett!

We all headed up north for a much anticipated celebration that included a day of sledding!

Here is the handsome Birthday boy. He LOVES trains! I think that is where Simon picked up his love for trains. Everett got a new model train for his b-day and he and Simon played with it until the batteries died.

As I mentioned, Everett wanted to go sledding for his birthday this year. So. . . we got the boys all bundled up and headed out to the old ski run up by Sunrise.

Here is little Ryan. (I was so happy to find baby gloves, no thumbs).

Once we got the the ski run, much to our dismay, we ran into freezing cold wind. Ryan was asleep so I stayed in the car with him while Jeremiah and Karissa braved the cold and took Simon and Keaton up onto the mountain to sled. Ryan finally woke up and I got him all bundled up to face the horrible winds. He was completely covered from his head to his feet. Then I strapped him into the snugglie baby carrier and we headed up the mountian. The wind was so cold it took my breath away and I had to really concentrate to get my footing right so I wouldn't slip on the ice. We finally made it to the mountian where the trees were tall enough to block the charging winds. Just then Jeremiah came down to meet me. "Let's go" he said. I didn't know if he was joking or if he was crazy so I just gave him a perplexed look. "Veronica just called and they want to go down the road to another snow drift."

"What!?" I squeaked. I had finally made it all the way to the mountain and now I had to turn around and go all the way back. So we all hiked back to the cars and headed down the road. I'm glad that Simon got to sled down the hill at the ski run because after that he was wet, cold, and cranky and we couldn't get him back out of the car.

After a few more minutes in the cold we all headed back home for cake and ice cream! yum!

Here is Si sporting his frosting 'stache.

And we got to spend some good quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Udall

And Marie and Steve were there too.