Projects!

We have been working on A LOT of new projects lately...so I thought I'd let you see what we've been up to.

First my sweet friend Kirsten made curtains for Elise's room-THANKS AGAIN-WE LOVE THEM!! Elise's room is painted pink and brown so we did the curtains in the same colors with butterfly's on top (Thank YOU Keri for helping Kirsten with those).

Then Emily(another friend) gave me the idea that I could spray paint things I don't love and make them into something I do love...

she did picture frames...

These two night stands were my first attempts and we loved how they turned out (John was VERY hesitant at first)

So I took it a step farther...

yep that is my bedroom furniture!!

John and I are still debating doing the bed-I think we should so that everything matches-John thinks the bed is beautiful and doesn't need it--

What do you think??

I did this vanity I've had since I was 16-sorry I forgot to get a before picture...but it was cherry wood. My mother hates it, but I love it and Emily thinks she might do the same to some of her furniture.

I found this office set on Craig's list...so John bought it for me for my birthday (I KNOW the sweetest husband!) For those of you who know when my birthday is...yes we bought it exactly once month to the day early...but when you find a good deal you have to jump on it, right?! Thanks to the BEST home teacher, Riley, we were able to pick it up in his truck and not rent a uhaul--it amazes me how much I miss our truck, they sure come in handy sometimes.

This weekend we started work on our back yard by having 11 tons of sand dumped on the street in front of the house...if you ever wondered what tons of sand looks like....

We have our own beach! Now where is the ocean??









And lastly, I painted my old toy box



from when I was Mason's age (it was light brown).






When my mom comes out again she's going to paint flowers like these that are on Elise's Hope chest onto the top of the toy box.

Life Lesson

John and I have been discussing some family issues, both extended and what we need to do for our children as they grow up. I thought I would share a great insight that we discovered (You are all probably so smart you already knew this but for us it was one of those dun dun dun dum moments).

How much can and should you do for people?? People we love and want the best for we want to help them constantly and unconditionally, however, we are also taught that we shouldn't do for others what they can and should do for themselves. Also on a previous post I wrote about letting people receive the consequences of their decisions-both good and bad. So when do we help??? What is the difference between helping and enabling?

Enabling in the dictionary says: 'qualify, authorize, entitle, permit, allow, sanction, approve, empower, faciliate, help, aid, assit' So, if we enable people we entitle them to feel that they deserve things handed to them, we allow them to use us, we sanction their actions, and we empower them to continue making the same mistakes.

To help those we love the best is to let them do ALL they can first, then they need to humble themselves and ask for the assistance they need, but can't do for themselves. If we help before these requirements are met then we are enabling them. After they do all they can and it is not enough then they humbly ask for help then we must help with everything we have to give.

Miracles

I know that this post is different than most of mine usually are, but I can't seem to sleep until I share how the Lord has blessed me. Maybe someone out there needs to know that miracles can still happen, or that the Lord is aware of us and can and will help us if we ask.



As some of you know I suffer from migraines 4 or 5 days a month and live with a headache almost every day. I also have severe jaw problems that has required lifestyle changes in the last year/year and a half.



This morning I woke in extruciating pain. I was in so much pain that I passed out from it (which for a women who had two babies vaginally after being started with pectron (which makes labor harder & more intense) without any pain killers and one with a broken tail bone-that is A LOT of pain). Once I regained consiousness I crawling into bed. I started to worry that something was seriously wrong. I gathered my knees under me and prayed. I pleaded with the Lord that He would help me; that He would ease the pain, that it wouldn't be something really wrong. Within a few minutes the pain eased enough that I could get up, get dressed and eat. I took some pain pills (the Lord helps those who do all that they can, right?). Within an hour of my prayer I was almost completely out of pain. By 11am I felt better than I do most days. I was given more physical and mental strength than I have had for a long time.



I was able to do all the things that I needed to do: at 8am we had 11 tons of sand dumped in our driveway and because of the HOA we had to have in removed to the back yard in 24 hrs. At 10:30 Mason had a primary activity. At 11am we had a guy come to fix out vacum. And at 3pm one of my friends had her three beautiful Columbian children sealed to her and her husband. I was able to do everything and felt good.



I KNOW that miracle happen. I know that the Lord loves us and wants to help us. Blessings hings upon our asking for them and our BELIEVING that they can happen. Miracles can and should happen every day. I pray that I can have more faith so that I can see the miracles happening in my life more abundantly.

Elise Update

Since I am using this as a journal I thought I better do an update. Elise's language skills have blossemed overnight. While Family has been in town for the last three weeks she has started saying a ton of new words.

Elise volcabulary now includes:

'Help me' -was the first thing she said at 6wks old (I have three other witness')

'Thank you'- was one of the very first words/phrases she said at 14mos

'Up'- was the next word she said and uses it 10x a day to get picked up

Hi-mason & elise love to say Hi to everyone we pass in the store

Bye Bye-she blows kisses every night when going to bed

Jess(Yes)-though she still doesn't say No much-which I'm ok with-she shakes her head mostly

Mommie

Daddy

Brobro (brother)

shoes-was another of the first words she said and she LOVES them, she will get matching shoes every day so we can go bye bye.

pretty-once she said 'I pretty'

bird

Grandpa

Grandma

pees (please)

mor(more)

give

that

here

don't

book

water

amen

owie-ouch

puppy

poopoo-One day she told me 'Mommie, I poopoo' and she was!

peepee

gink-drink

I dropped that-she said just the other day

she mimicks REALLY well and can often say lot's of words after we say it, but doesn't say it on her own.

Family Fun!

We bought a kite for Valentines and we have REALLY enjoyed flying it. At the park by our house the wind blows perfectly through making it perfect for a kite. Mason loves running with it, John and I like just sitting in the grass watching.

This is our Turtle kite.

Elise also got another 'Baby Einstein' video because we found out from watching Kate (who likes to watch 'Baby Einstein' almost every day) that Elise will sit and watch almost a whole 'Baby Einstein' video...where she won't watch 5mins of anthing else.

John was a sweetheart and bought me flowers (sorry I forgot to take a picture) and on Valentines we tried to go to 'Red Lobster' (my favorite resturant) with Ashtons, but with a 2hr wait we settled for Chilli's instead. Then we went back to Ben & Emily's for fondue (SO GOOD!) and games. We stayed up visiting until past midnight-it was so much fun!

For those who know Elise, you know she has always liked shoes, she has carried them around and tried to eat them since she could get to them, both her own and everyone else's. Recently she discovered that she could put shoes on by herself, especially Daddys! She can put her own shoes on too, which Mommie LOVES!

Our Anniversary! Six years, I can't believe it.

I have the sweetest husband in the world. I don't know what I would do without him. It seems strange that we have been married for six years, but I don't really remember what life was like without him either. I feel SO blessed right now. I am living the dream life with my Knight in shining armour. I thank the Lord daily for my many blessings, with my husband at the top of that list.

For our Anniversary my darling husband went all out for two nights. Friday night he arranged for our dear friend Aurie to put the kids to bed at her house and he took me out dancing. Then Saturday night our other friends Ben and Emily took the kids and John made me this wonderful dinner, which included pinacolatas and hand dipped chocolate strawberries-my two favorite things. Also he took a couple hours off work on friday to donate blood and got free tickets to a show. Am I the Luckiest girl in the world or what?!

I know it's March, but it's never too late for Christmas!

We went Christmas Caroling! Our friends, the Ashtons, organized it! Thank again guys!

I haven't Caroled in years, it was so much fun...I think we'll make it a yearly tradition-as long as others come with us....we're not the best singers in the world.

Isn't Elise Cute all bundled up??

I lOVE that we can wear all of our warm clothes in the evenings for a couple of months, then it's jacket weather for a couple months, and then it is spring again!Yes, that is SNOW! It did snow in Las Vegas in December...it was better than that but I didn't take a picture soon enough-it melted VERY quickly, but it was still snow.

John's sister Terierose, Branon and their three kids came to spend the week before Christmas with us. We had a GREAT time with them (we would love to make that a tradition too-if you guys are up to it?) Mason LOVED having his cousins come, especially where they were close to his age. He also REALLY REALLY loves the Thomas Train set they gave him for Christmas, he plays it EVERY SINGLE DAY!
John's other sister, Connie and her family also stopped by for a couple of days on their way to California. We played at the Park-it seemed safe with 10 kids! The boys found a big stick-so what better to do with a big stick than play stick pull??

Kevin was VERY happy that he could still beat his 15yr old son, Kyle. Then later that night Kevin's work paid for all the adults to go out to a fancy dinner--Yes 'fancy' would be an understatement, it was the MOST expensive meal I will probably EVER eat in my life, but it was GOOD and tons of FUN!!
Well you can't talk CHRISTMAS without the Tree, so here is our's with Mason train underneath.
For our ward Christmas Party John got to play one of the Wise Men, because he is SO wise.

Mason is showing you his Candy Cane.

Christmas!! We had our First Christmas alone (as in just us) for the first time this year. John didn't get any time off this year, and Christmas was on a thursday, so we couldn't go home. We had a great time!
Santa brought Elise and Mason this cute kitchen set. They both love to 'cook', though it still doesn't keep them out of Mommie's kitchen.

Mason & Elise had a great CHRISTMAS, we hope that you did too!