{holidays and celebrations}

Tending Wildflowers

March 10, 2011 2 Comments

A set of cards about growing wildflowers… and love. Each has a homemade paper–wildflower seed infused piece that can be planted.

{Tutorial for homemade paper here at Family Fun’s website. Instead of drying it as a sheet I put the pulp into cookie cutters and then popped out and dried that way. A little messy and a lot of fun!}

Quotes:
Left card–
“A single wildflower,
Given with love
Is better than
A dozen perfect roses
Given with indifference.”
– Anonymous

Right: “Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow.” – Frances Hodgson Burnett

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time, from “The Secret Garden”. I first came across it, over a decade ago, in Seminary. Each morning we wrote in a notebook. There was always a quote or scripture on the board and we would write our thoughts about it first thing while everyone was gathering. The Secret Garden quote is one that stuck with me. It doesn’t hurt that it was easy to memorize. 🙂 This inspirational quote is true in all aspects of my live. If I can learn to tend a rose – in my thoughts, actions and words, then a thistle cannot grow in the same place. Love that principle. The constant tending is where I need to focus. A drowning every week or month doesn’t work the same as constant watering and love. And those little weeds? So much easier to get rid of than after they have had time to take root.

Jim Bob and I put the quote on our wedding invitation (hidden behind the main photo as a bonus. 😉 ) to remind us that a marriage is worth tending:

The wildflower cards above are wonderful as anniversary or everyday giving. I’m thankful for the reminder to refocus, recommit, and continue on in love.

{Credits: All by Cosmo Cricket: Earth love papers, elements and candy candy, Early Bird paper pack, Mr. Campy paper pack}

Filed Under: {digital happiness}, {happy times}, {holidays and celebrations}, {Jessica Sprague}, {one little word}, {reflections and deep thoughts}

peeksy…

March 8, 2011 Leave a Comment

I have so, so, so many posts sitting in draft mode. Some waiting on photos, some waiting on words. There’s a sleep update and a President’s Day to never forget among others.

Here’s a peek into part of our Valentine’s Day:

Joshua had big plans for his valentine box – a science experiment. His dad helped him build a pump-inspired “experiment” with two colors of liquid passing through a tube. Very exciting – and it made it through an afternoon of lots of little hands – impressive! 🙂 It was loved by all. Especially Joshua, and that was the point. 🙂

p.s. Although the whole area around Joshua’s mouth is the same color of the liquid, it is in fact Fun-Dip residue and not unsugared Kool-Aid (that is what is in the containers). You know – for future reference. For posterity wanting to make the same impressiveness. (And psst… the containers are a Tupperware salt shaker with the shaker part cut out and a Kool-Aid Burst bottle that’s been throughly emptied. I have no worries about Tupperware being around generations from now. Kool-Aid Bursts? – we’ll have to see 🙂 , Squeeze-It’s are gone after all. 🙁 )

The day in photos is soon to follow… but I couldn’t wait any longer to share. 🙂

{Credits:
Template by Mandi Miles, available on her blog. Love! Love her template AND her! 🙂
Daisy Jane paper, v.3, Little Uniform & Affectionate word art by Carina Gardner,
Love: Me paper pack and accent pack by The Queen of Quirk
Love Yoo frame by Splendid Fiins
paint from Digital Distressing kit by Nancie Rowe Janitz, included in the Brush*abilities class by Jessica Sprague.}

Filed Under: {digital happiness}, {holidays and celebrations}, {Jessica Sprague}

Of Cookies and Family History… Happy Birthday Week Dad!

February 25, 2011 7 Comments

Happy Birthday to my dad! This is his present this year – He gets to redeem it in a few short weeks. 🙂

Homemade bread, pancakes, chili and oatmeal raisin cookies were all recipes I mastered at a young age. The cookies were for the benefit of my dad. Of course he shared, but those are his very favorite. They are the kind I remember most in the cookie jar growing up. I also remember whenever there was a darker batch he didn’t complain. They tasted quite good crunched up on top of a bowl of oatmeal. “Even the queen of France doesn’t eat oatmeal cookies for breakfast!” he would say after eating a bite. Whenever he visited me at college I made a huge batch of oatmeal raisin cookies – partly to make sure there would be enough for the road. It made the parting easier to send a little of my love with him.

When he and my mom were in the MTC, there was no question what I should send in a care package (that and Jr. Mint brownies for my momma). They even had enough for their long road trip to serve their first mission in Chicago. 🙂 Now they are serving in Salt Lake City at the Family History Library:

Photo and following quote taken from Church News on the 25th Anniversary of the Family History Librar y:

“When the Family History Library in Salt Lake City was dedicated in 1985, President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) said the structure—then called the Genealogical Library—was a “companion structure to the temples of the Lord.” President Hinckley, then serving as Second Counselor in the First Presidency, petitioned in the dedicatory prayer that the library “may be used by multitudes to search out their kindred dead that the necessary ordinance work may be carried forward in thy holy houses, with both genealogist and temple worker cooperating to the accomplishment of one glorious end.”

{A virtual tour is available. In person is even better. :)}

I must admit I am happy I get to hand deliver the cookies this birthday. A few weeks late, but it will do.

Speaking of their mission, I loved my dad’s email this last Sunday (February 20th). He sends one every week with a wonderful highlight from his service that week. I love all of them.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Saturday we were working on the International floor. I had been helping patrons with Norway, Sweden, and NewFamilySearch, and Sister Gedeborg came up all excited and said she had to show me something. She went to Ancestry.com and clicked on a new section they have on International. I had only used them for United States and Canada before. In there, she took me to Europe, then to Sweden. They had the Swedish Parish Records images there in Ancestry!! I looked up some I am familiar with, and it was pretty exciting. Just then I was asked to help a young couple from France. He is on business in Laramie Wyoming for a year, and had come to see Temple Square. They just had some names, with no dates, as they hadn’t planned on doing family history. We tried the pilot site (now the www.familysearch.org homepage) but found nothing except some Italian immigrants to the US with that name. We went to the Wiki, which was good, but no solid leads. Then I remembered the new info in Ancestry.com. We went to Europe, then France, he typed in his information, and up came his great-grandfather and his family. I was so amazed. Sister Gedeborg had only showed this to me ten minutes earlier! I could hardly wait to tell her. This proved to me once again that although we must prepare ourselves so we can recognize what the Lord is talking about when he inspires us; in the end, it is his work – and we are just tools in his hands (sometimes sharper than at other times). The Lord obviously knew the French couple was coming, and prepared us quickly to be ready. We appreciate so much all your prayers for us. They are being answered.

We hope you have a wonderful week. I know we will. You are always in our hearts and prayers.”

I love how much he loves his mission. I love that he and mom are working hand in hand. Or computer by computer. Love how they complement each other and are excited in their discoveries. Love my dad’s sense of humor. Love how he knows his week will be wonderful. Then again, how could he not? It is his birthday week after all!

Happy Birthday Dad!

{retro coupon from Martha. Cut apart and revised. Altered with love. ;)}

Filed Under: {happy times}, {holidays and celebrations}, {one little word}

A sweet thing…

January 24, 2011 Leave a Comment

I am loving looking through all the photos from our trip. We used goblets for fry sauce, whipped cream, and chocolate milk, but not orange juice. We ran around barefoot in the sand dunes at Snow Canyon and *almost* attempted a hike up an extinct volcano. The trail was a little too snowy and muddy. We saw pioneer names written with axel grease on the wall of the canyon. I think from multiple generations as they had the same last name. There was also a website written in smaller lettering if you looked close – it was dated later than the rest. 😉 I might be posting from this trip for a while – here and there.

One wonderful memory from our trip was such a sweet, thoughtful thing. Jim Bob told me there would be a fun surprise, but did not give any hints beyond that. One evening he told me I had to go away for about a half hour. When I came back he had the condo set up like a spa. He treated me to a spa-inspired massage with a warm fire and the sound of waves in the background. It was the epitome of relaxation and indeed a sweet thing.

Indulgence papers and elements by Linda Roos – In the Making design, available at JessicaSprague.com.

Filed Under: {digital happiness}, {holidays and celebrations}, {Jessica Sprague}

Happy National Pie Day!

January 23, 2011 6 Comments

How are you celebrating?

We are having muffins for breakfast. (Obviously I didn’t get the memo in time.)

I did receive an email from Martha this morning with the cutest craft for pie day.

A paper pie box. I’m saving the template for next year. Really, those emails should come at least a week early, so I could gather the supplies all week and make it the night before. 😉

However, the rest of the day we’re covered. I have leftover deep dish pizza planned for lunch. Love leftovers on a Sunday. Pizza pie. perfect.

And it’s already PIE night. We got this idea from a High Council speaker in church a few years ago. He told of a family that had pie every Sunday evening and personal interviews – parents with children. Personal. Interview. Evening. JB jumped on the idea right away. He adores pie. Our interviews with the little ones had been quite sporadic and I loved the idea of consistency. It’s been so good for all of us. With Christmastime I got lazy. There were treats galore around our house and we’d just grab sugar cookies or peanut brittle during the interviews and called it good. I know JB has been missing the pie and this is the perfect excuse to get back on track. Thankfully he thought ahead and we have a whole bunch of blueberry and cherry pie filling in our food storage. Makes it easy. Easy as… my, oh, my.

{pie by me, photo by JB – we make a good team. ;)}

Filed Under: {holidays and celebrations}

1-11-11

January 22, 2011 8 Comments

My man and I celebrated our eleventh anniversary. The real day is on New Years Eve. We love to celebrate the new year with the kiddos and then, if possible, take a week a little later in January for a getaway. We always pick a whole day to celebrate us. It’s like a joint birthday. Could there be anything better?

This year we thought Tuesday the 11th (of 2011) would be perfect. Nevermind the fact that it was the morning of the 11th when we decided it would be perfect. 😉

Here’s how our fake anniversary went down:

Strawberry stuffed french toast after sleeping in.

Some late morning dancing and talking.

A trip to a place very similar to where eternity started for us:

We were married in the Manti temple and went there New Year’s Eve a few weeks ago. The two temples were built around the same time and have many similarities. We couldn’t think of a better place to celebrate us, so we went to the St. George temple to do sealings. We wanted to be reminded of all those wonderful promises given a couple who choose and qualify to be together forever. I love this temple (and grounds) – so beautiful! …and Jim Bob did an amazing job taking evening photos – without a tripod.

Next was one of my favorite places for dinner. Cafe Rio. Yeah, it deserves it’s own sentence. Their napkins alone deserve their own sentence. JB had the fire grilled chicken salad and I tried the Pork Barbacoa burrito for the first time. We both won.

Dessert at Applebees (thanks to Mom Pipes for the GC!)

Jim Bob’s only requirement was that his dessert sizzled. He loves the fajitas there. Same reason. When his blonde brownie came to the table it was sure sizzling. Even more so when he poured the buttery carmel sauce over it.

A quick trip to Target for valentine-y stuff we can’t get back home and then back to the condo.

And like all our days there, it was nicely punctuated by a trip to the hot tub. mmmmmm.

Happy Birthday to us.

Filed Under: {holidays and celebrations}

Livin' it up!

January 17, 2011 4 Comments

What do we do on our anniversary get-a-ways? Just the two of us, without any children?

Why we eat smiley face pancakes with chocolate milk filled goblets and jump on the bed of course.

We also watched “Despicable Me” for the first time. All the way through. In the middle of the day! *sigh* I loved the film. It shows just how children can change people for the better. Even a crusty old villain. We had rented it from redbox. When we returned it at a Walmart we walked right in to see if they had the blu-ray. They did, for a good price, and it soon became ours. I can’t wait to watch it with our little ones.

eta: While we were gone 3 of our 6 watched the show in two different houses. Fun! Our wonderfully sweet 93-year-old grandma also liked it. I guess it was the week for Despicable Me. 🙂 Now there just needs to be a sequel so Gru can find a Mrs. Gru and those adorable girls can have a mommy!

Filed Under: {holidays and celebrations}, {tickles and smiles}

{flashback friday #2}

January 15, 2011 2 Comments

on a Saturday evening. 🙂

This one is dedicated to my love! 11 years (and a little bit) ago we hooked up for eternity.

This photo is from our first Christmas Eve together:

I love the dreamy feel. That’s how I felt.

We spent the week leading up to Christmas in my childhood home. Many wonderful memories and last minute wedding preparations – we got married on New Years Eve. We also found lots of time to snuggle. In separate blankies of course. 😉

11 wonderful years… so far. Many more in the works. And to think he thought I would be a good summer fling. 😉

Happy 11th Anniversary Love!

p.s. Some fun anniversary celebratory posts to follow in the next few days.

Filed Under: {flashback friday}, {holidays and celebrations}

"Gee, do they still make wooden Christmas trees?"

January 3, 2011 2 Comments

Of all the trees in the world, ours is the Charlie Browniest.

Perhaps because it’s licensed. 😉

“Isn’t he the cutest thing?”

I saw this adorable tree in the Shopko ad for Black Friday. Beautiful and wonderful. Only 7 dollars, but I wasn’t willing to fight the crowds to pick up one item there. Jim Bob found it the next week online. 8 bucks shipped. That we could do.

Our Christmas tree took a little while to get this year (another story for another time). This one came just in time to help us celebrate the season. When we got the large one for the living room, this Charlie Brown tree moved to our bedroom. I loved how it helped me focus on the simplicity of the true meaning of Christmas.

A few days later we added something:

It just needed a little love.

Another year we will add this to the bottom of the tree:

Family Christian had it for $24.97 this year, but ran out. They have 25% off coupons often too, so here’s hoping for another time. I can be patient.

Filed Under: {holidays and celebrations}, {reflections and deep thoughts}, {tickles and smiles}

Mr. January

January 1, 2011 Leave a Comment

Happy Birthday to our New Year’s babe. Mr. January himself. 🙂

A year ago today he was born into our family. I think the bottom two photos show his personality oh-so-well. Mostly sugar and a little bit of spice. That’s our Caleb.

Happy Birthday little mister! We all adore you.

Supplies:
Cosmo Cricket: Early Bird papers and elements
Calendar overlay by iKari
Calendar template by Michelle Filo