California, Here We Come!!!

TEETH!!!!!

So, for all of you who have been anxiously awaiting this day with us - it's finally here.

KEV GOT HIS NEW TEETH YESTERDAY!!!!

Thank you for all your prayers as we have been thru this ordeal. The extractions went well and didn't even bleed that much. He was numb for most of last night but didn't drool on himself too badly. The partial went right in and fits well. He has to go back on Monday once the swelling has gone down some and get them adjusted. How fantastic it is to finally be done with this madness that started back in Feb. And Kim, his grin is back! :)

And as promised, here is a photo of Josiah with is TWO new teeth.

How funny it is that my husband and my son got their new teeth the same week! Must be a scrapbook page in there somewhere. :P

I'm open!!

So, with the encouragement from friends and family, I decided to open an Etsy shop and sell my blankets online.

You can check out my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5473537

or go to http://www.etsy.com/ and type in spicytuesday in the search area for sellers.

Here's a taste of what I have posted right now:

After we get back from Christmas I plan to post some scrapping stuff, too. I have several ideas for gift-type stuff that people can buy instead of making themselves.

4 months old!

So, yes, we're still here. Sooooo many things to do for the Christmas season before we head out to CA that I haven't even gotten on the internet in a week. Hopefully these portraits will help emphasize my abject apologies.

Josiah had his 4 month well-baby check last week. All is well and here's the stats:

Head size - 17in (75 percentile - as if that matters to anyone in real life)

Weight - 16lbs 14oz (again, 75 percentile)

Height - 28 1/4 in (99 percentile, but can't be trusted until you can stand them up to measure)

Another tooth popped out yesterday so he has both bottom middle ones and wow, what a cranky beast! I was lucky to get these portraits done in between screaming episodes. Speaking of, he just woke up and is letting me know exactly how poopy he feels. Better go get him. Enjoy the photos, and family, we'll be bringing prints to you next week!

advent

So, I made this advent calendar thing for the kids this year. Josiah isn't at all interested yet but next year he will be. Each drawer has a surprise in it for Gennie to open and count down the days to Christmas.

I got the idea from a scrap mag last year and just couldn't wait to try it this year. But the hardest part was finding the matchboxes in the right size. They had them at Wally World but wanted $2 each and I wasn't going to pay $48 to make this myself. Finally I found them at the Dollar store 2/$1 . . . that sounded better. The cashier kept looking at me funny as I unloaded them from the cart to pay . . . I'm sure she was trying to memorize my face and then went home that night to watch the news for stories about any suspicious fires in the area . . . I looked like quite a pyro buying 24 boxes of 250 matches.

Oh yeah, I still have the matches . . . all 6000 of them! Wonder what to do with them.

And Josiah is 4 months old now. He tried rice cereal for the first time this week and did pretty well with it. He also sprouted a tooth last Sat. just for fun . . . guess he thought we didn't have enough going on. Seems a little young to me but whatever. Funny thing . . . he went in to get his 4mos shots and the dr said, "Yeah, he's drooling like they do when they teethe but he's way too young still for teeth." Out it popped the next morning. Awesome! Pix of that to come.

turkey day trip

So, as promised, here's a taste of our trip!

Gennie loved that she got to sleep in her sleeping bag. Josiah had a blast kicking on the big bed . . . and we're not going to think about what could be on the bedspread . . . he only layed there for a minute :).Cracker Barrel was fab for dinner. Love me some hashbrown casserole! My parents and Gennie played that little peg game on all the tables. We all had to try out the rocking chairs on the porch . . . I'd love a wrap-around porch like that some day . . . but not on our trailer.

Josiah helped Kev take the photo. The skin-colored schmear at the bottom is his tiny hand as he reached across and caught the lens cap and tugged just as the camera clicked.

Gennie loves the mall! My little shopper!

And this was the view in the mirror on the way home:

When she's a teen and has boyfriends over, she'll kill me for this photo :P.

Only 11 months until we do it again!

Turkey day

So, we're headed off to SLC for our annual Thanksgiving/shopping trip. The past few years we have gone over for all the sales on the day after but last year we decided to go on Thanksgiving and eat there so none of us have to make the big meal. We get the whole turkey dinner at the Holiday Dinner at church which was last Sunday so we go to the Cracker Barrel who serve their whole menu even on Thanksgiving. Then shopping, shopping, shopping!!!

Anyway, we leave tomorrow sometime so these photos will have to hold you over until we get back. I'll have tons to post for you then. Have a fantastic Turkey Day!

other weekend activities

So, every year our church participates in the Shoebox Project. It's a nation-wide program that sends shoeboxes filled with small gifts to children in other countries who wouldn't otherwise have anything to open on Christmas. Our church sends them to Mexico, to 2 little towns that don't have running water . . . well, they do have a creek of some kind . . . and the people live in tar paper dwellings with no electricity or pavement or anything. Whoever wants to participate takes a few shoeboxes home and fills them with hygiene products, toys, whatever and then we add in a Bible and a "plan of salvation" typed up in Spanish . . . there's at least one person in the towns who can read . . . and wrap them up in Christmas paper and label them for age and gender. Gennie always looks forward to shopping for the "Mexico kids" and this year we did boxes for 2 boys and one girl, all about the same age as our kids . . . makes it easier to choose things for that age group to enjoy when you have one that age.

We went to the dollar store to pick out stuff . . . not because I'm cheap but because we can get sooooo much more for our budget than at even Wally World (the baaaaaad place. Oh, for a Target!) We also found a sale at Kmart on summer clothes . . . $0.25 per item . . . and since NO ONE shops at our Kmart there was tons to pick from for both boys and girls.

Kev and Gennie packed up the boxes at home (top photo) then he stayed with Josiah so Gennie and I could go to the church and wrap them. Yes, I did her hair before we left. :) She helped with all the boxes by getting the Bibles into them and tearing off tape for us to wrap with.
I think total we got around 53 boxes done, and after the service where the elders prayed over them for the kids who would receive them, someone donated another $50 for the lady in charge to make up as many more boxes as she could.

Merry Christmas, Mexico kids!

Sneak Peek #3

Here they are, Kendra!