Caitlin's Creations

Savannah at 2 1/2 months

2012-02-15T11:37:00.001-07:00

Oh Savannah is getting so big! She sat in her Bumbo chair the other day while we were all out in the backyard enjoying some fabulous weather (in February). She loved being able to look all around & sit up. It was a bit windy out, and every time a big gust came she would suck in her breath & freak out a little bit. It was pretty funny! Savannah really likes to be held sitting up, rather than being cradled lately. She's been trying to figure out how to suck her thumb, but mostly ends up sucking on her fist. She's also started sleeping for 7 or 8 hours at night. {happy mommy}

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

2012-02-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

My husband bought a package of multi-grain tortillas the other day, & while they were extremely tasty, they were also fairly expensive (as far as tortillas go). So, I told him I would try to find a recipe for whole wheat tortillas so we could make them ourselves. Today, I perused the internet for a recipe & found two that looked promising. When I looked at them a little more, it was pretty much the same recipe, but one made half the amount. I used the smaller one, mainly because the instructions included how to make the dough in the food processor. I used the recipe found here. I'll post the recipe, as well, so I can note what I did differently. When I gave Ammon a piece to try, he said, "Oh yeah, that's a keeper!" So, this recipe is definitely going in my book of family favorite recipes. We love homemade tortillas!

Whole Wheat Flour Tortilla Recipe

(makes 10 tortillas)

1/2 cup white bread flour or all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups boiling water

In a food processor pulse both flours and salt. Add shortening and pulse until blended (I ended up adding just a little more shortening to make it look a little more crumby). Slowly add boiling water though tube until a wet dough forms. The tortilla dough should be just a little bit sticky (I took the dough out of the processor & kneaded it by hand a few times to make it a little less sticky, & Sharon actually helped knead & form them into balls, though admittedly, her's were more like smashed balls). Form 10 balls of dough and rest on cookie sheet under slightly damp towel or plastic wrap for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.

To cook tortillas, heat large frying pan on high heat (I had to turn my stove down to medium because they started to burn on high heat). Roll out tortilla on floured surface until you reach your desired thickness. Place tortilla on griddle and cook until you see a bubble form. Flip tortilla and cook for about 30 seconds more. Roll out the next tortilla while the first one is cooking (I think it would be better to roll them all out & have them sandwiched between waxed paper, because it takes a little too long to roll one out while the other is cooking & I ended up burning a couple). Eat immediately (try not to eat them all immediately, they are that good!), refrigerate, or freeze your tortillas.

The girls

2012-01-20T11:04:00.002-07:00

I had a grandparent request for some pictures. Here's one of Savannah smiling.

Sharon wanted her hair in curlers one Sunday morning because she saw me with curlers in my hair. Her hair turned out much cuter than mine.

Crashed

2012-01-03T17:32:00.003-07:00

Today was Ammon's first day back at work after taking about a month off. He had a bunch of use or lose hours of vacation time, so he obviously decided to use it. It's been so nice to have him home to help me get used to having two munchkins instead of just one. I even ventured out to the grocery store by myself with both girls this morning. It went really well, too. I had Savannah in the sling & Sharon in the cart & had no problems. It wasn't until we got home that I realized just how close Savannah came to having a major blowout in her pants, but thankfully it all stayed in the diaper. Early this afternoon I had my 6 week post partum checkup, which went fine. I had a friend watch Sharon & took Savannah with me. Ammon was home when we got back, and Sharon was pretty grouchy. We let her watch some cartoons on the computer, but she was still just whining and crying about everything. I had noticed that she'd been a little warm earlier, & Ammon agreed that she felt kind of hot. We took her temperature, and sure enough, she has a fever. I gave her some tylenol, and she wanted to snuggle with Daddy. This is what happened soon after. So, I'm taking a break to blog & look at things on Pinterest, while trying to get Savannah to go to sleep as well. Here's to hoping Sharon's just getting some teeth and isn't actually sick!

Savannah's Blessing

2011-12-30T17:55:00.003-07:00

While we were down in Glendale for Christmas, we decided to have Savannah's baby blessing. For more information on what a baby blessing is, feel free to visit this link to learn more. Usually, these blessings are given at church, but since we live away from our family, we decided it would be easier to do it at my brother-in-law's house while we were visiting so that we could have our family attend. Savannah wore the blessing gown that her great-great grandmother was christened in. This gown is over 100 years old. It's been worn by my mother & her siblings, me & my siblings, many of my cousins & by my other daughter for all of our blessings. Everyone who's been blessed in it has their name embroidered on the slip. It's a pretty neat tradition! I made the little headband that she wore. She screamed through the whole blessing, so it ended up being pretty short, but it was still beautiful. We are so happy to have this little beauty in our family, and especially happy that I was able to carry her full term & that she is healthy & growing. She had her 1-month check-up the other day & she weighed in at an amazing 10 pounds (in comparison, I'm pretty sure Sharon didn't hit 10 pounds until she was about 7 months old). It's definitely different having a normal sized baby! She's such a good baby. She nurses well & has been sleeping pretty well, too. She's already grown out of her newborn clothes & is starting to get some rolls on her legs. It was so nice to be able to celebrate our healthy girl with family & spend some time together! I hope your Christmas season was filled with love & laughter!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-14T15:47:00.004-07:00

These went out in the mail this week! Merry Christmas everyone!

Our beautiful girl

2011-12-10T17:43:00.001-07:00

I did this photo shoot of Savannah when she was about a week old. My mom acted as my assistant & we were able to get some pretty cute shots. It helps that she's such a beautiful baby!

Sharon's picture

2011-12-07T14:31:00.001-07:00

Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them

2011-12-01T10:39:00.001-07:00

Some friends recently posted this message to their Facebook pages, & I finally took the time to watch it. It is a beautiful message of hope during a time when men (and women) could so easily be living in fear. I just wanted to share a few thoughts that I had as I watched & afterward when I pondered the message. Here's the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=EMwKxmTLaCs

I might have made it through this video without crying if they hadn't included the shot of the baby in the NICU. After seeing that precious baby in the isolette I, of course, started thinking of my own experience with my daughter & the feelings that my husband & I had throughout that journey. I can honestly say that it was a hard time & one that I wouldn't willingly undertake again. But, as Elder Nelson spoke about his feelings as that plane was falling toward the earth, how he felt at peace, while other passengers were experiencing completely opposite feelings, I related to his feelings of peace & acceptance. Not knowing whether my daughter was going to live was hard, but because I believe that my family has been sealed together for time & all eternity, I was blessed with a feeling of peace & hope that even if she didn't live here on earth, I would eventually get to be with her again & raise her as my own.

I know that there are so many things that we can be fearful about in these times. Many people are without jobs or a secure income, people are losing their homes, divorce is common, children & teens are facing awful challenges at school & from their peers, & the list goes on & on. These experiences are not easy. In fact, they can be down right terrible, but when we have the hope of Jesus Christ & the faith that this life is not the end, we can face these challenges with confidence & peace.

Sisters

2011-11-25T16:47:00.001-07:00

Looking at this picture of Savannah, I can really see some similarities between her & Sharon. There may even be a teeny bit of me in there. Savannah had a quick check-up today. She lost 7 ounces, but she is doing well, and the doctor said she doesn't seem dehydrated. She's definitely enjoying eating now that my milk has come in. We'll put the weight back on soon enough.

Sharon is quickly becoming a fan of Savannah. She just doesn't quite understand the term "gentle" yet. She loves to hold her sister & is always aware of when Savannah is crying. She loves to help & is becoming a wonderful big sister. {can you tell that Daddy did her hair?}

Savannah Wilhelm

2011-11-23T21:21:00.001-07:00

We are so excited to welcome Savannah into our family. She was born on Nov 22, 2011 at 5:57 pm, weighed 7 lbs 7 oz & was 19 inches long. She is such a sweet baby & oh so pretty! Here are a couple of pictures from the hospital. More will be coming soon!

Savannah & Daddy

Halloween Page

2011-11-03T17:09:00.002-07:00

Sharon turns 2 pages

2011-10-27T18:54:00.004-07:00

Printable Subway Art

2011-09-24T11:50:00.001-07:00

When I first saw a print of subway art, I fell in love! I'm a huge typography dork, so having art made out of words just made me happy. I gave my sister some subway art for her birthday, & I haven't been able to stop making more, so I thought I would share one with you. You should be able to click on the image, save it to your computer, & then print it at home or have it printed at a store. It comes in an 8x10 size. Oh, and I know it's for Thanksgiving, but I already have one from another site for Halloween. Maybe next year I'll make my own Halloween print. We'll see. I hope you enjoy it!

Next Hawaii Page

2011-09-12T17:23:00.001-07:00

Latest Pregnancy Page

2011-09-11T16:35:00.003-07:00

A post about popcorn

2011-09-11T16:13:00.002-07:00

Another page from our Hawaii trip

2011-09-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

Giant Ruler Growth Chart

2011-08-31T16:32:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to make a growth chart for quite awhile, and now that we are expecting Baby #2, I figured it might be a little more difficult for me to just remember the heights of the kids as the grow. So, that made it time to make the growth chart. I saw an inspiration picture online of a growth chart made to look like a giant ruler & thought it was exactly what I wanted. I bought a 6-foot length a pine 1x6, making sure it was nice and straight & didn't have any splits or crazy knots. After finding the perfect board, I bought it and brought it home. Myt husband routed the edges with a slight diagonal cut, then he sanded it and we treated the wood with a natural stain. We let it dry overnight & the next morning I got to work. I started the board at 6" instead of 0 because I want it to hang on the wall, and I'm pretty sure I won't have any kids measuring under 6". I measured and marked every inch on the board, then went back with a black paint pen & drew the lines, using a ruler as a straight edge. For the foot marks, the lines were two inches long, then I did two one inch lines & every third mark was 1 1/2". I printed the numbers, which are just Times New Roman font and 125 point. I tried just tracing the outline with a pencil and then using the paint pen to color inside the lines. That didn't work so well, so I pulled out my Silhouette & vinyl & used the blank space as a stencil. Much better, but I did still have a little bit of bleeding under the edge. While I was letting the paint dry, my daughter decided to draw a bit on the top end. So, after sanding the last foot, refinishing it, painting the lines & number 6 back on, we finally finished it with a couple coats of clear, spray-on top coat. I used the velcro picture hanging strips to hang it on the wall in my daughter's room & measured her for her 2-year birthday. She's about 31 1/2" tall now! It was definitely a good project, & not very difficult!

Giant Cupcake Cake Liner

2011-08-29T19:03:00.001-07:00

I'm getting ready to make Sharon's birthday cake, the giant cupcake cake. Before baking the cake I wanted to try making the cupcake liner for the bottom half, so I don't have to frost it. I just melted 6 squares of almond bark (six was plenty with some left over), then painted it on to the inside of the giant cupcake cake pan with a spatula. I let it harden in the freezer & when it was ready I was dreading trying to get it out of the pan. Lo & behold, it slid right out & looks perfect. I added a little more chocolate to the thin spots, which were easy to see from the light shining through, & it's all ready to hug a cake! I can't wait! Oh, it's sitting on a two-tiered cake stand that I made using two plates & a small goblet.

Newest pregnancy picture

2011-08-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

This is my latest belly picture! I'm 24 weeks this week. I was feeling fabulous today in my new dress & curled hair, so I got Ammon to take this picture before church! I've been feeling our little girl moving quite a bit, especially when I take some time to rest during the day.
This week I'll be getting three shots instead of one. I will still get my normal progesterone injection, but, in addition, I will also get two shots of steriods to help mature the baby's lungs (just in case). We certainly hope she isn't born early, but if she is, the steriods will help prepare her lungs for early breathing. I've been feeling great & am really enjoying this pregnancy!

Trip to the zoo (Scrapbook Pages)

2011-07-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Our Garden

2011-07-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

Kettle Corn

2011-07-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Ammon was in charge of a youth fireside for our ward. He decided to have the kids watch the movie To This End Was I Born, a wonderful movie about the last days of Christ's life & His ministry on Earth & in the Spirit World. It is very moving & wonderfully done! He also wanted to have popcorn for the movie, so I ended up making 7 batches of popcorn in our stove-top popper. Ammon had the idea to try making some kettle corn, which we've never tried before. He thought I'd made it, but I've definitely never put sugar in my popcorn popper. So, what to do? Go online of course. I looked at a few recipes for Kettlecorn & they all seemed fairly similar, so I finally settled on this one. It's pretty much exactly how I make our regular popcorn, plus some sugar. And let me tell you, it was wonderful! It's not too sweet, & after the popcorn has cooled a bit you can break it all apart so it's back to individual kernels, rather than a giant glob of sticky popcorn. It really isn't sticky at all & oh so fun to eat! So, here's the recipe:

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions:

In a large pot with a tight-fitting lid (or a whirly popper like mine), heat the oil over medium-high heat. add the popcorn. When the oils sizzles, sprinkle the sugar over the kernels. Cover and shake the pan until the popping slows down, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and toss with the salt.

Oh, & just so you know, 4 batches of regular popcorn & 3 of kettlecorn makes way too much popcorn for 15 people to eat. Leftovers!

Ultrasound news

2011-07-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

I had an ultrasound on Wednesday and everything went well. The nurse said the baby is measuring perfectly for 20 weeks and is right on schedule. With our first daughter, she measured a little small at the same ultrasound, so I'm hoping things continue to go well.
Now, on to what you've all been waiting for; Baby Wilhelm's gender. We are having another GIRL! We are so excited! I'm pretty sure we would have been excited either way, but since we already have so many girl things we won't have to buy as much.

A quick catch-up

2011-07-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

Wow! I know, I've been neglecting my blog. I've just been busy with other things, so that blogging kind of fell to the bottom of the list. So, you ask, what have I been up to? Well, aside from being pregnant and having limited amounts of energy for the day, we went camping over the 4th of July weekend with my parents & sister, I've been dehydrating food, caring for our garden, we planted grass and are busy trying to get it to grow (we have sprouts), I got released from my presidency calling in our Ward Relief Society, I've started getting my weekly progesterone shots (which are a pain in the butt, literally), we transitioned Sharon to her toddler bed & it's been fairly successful, Ammon's been busy with late night bat surveys and early morning bird surveys for work, I've done a little bit of canning, and now I'm working on cleaning out my craft room to make some space for Baby Wilhelm. I took a picture yesterday so I can show you my growing belly. It's not huge but pretty much none of my pants fit. I finally broke down & cut off a pair of my maternity pants so I can have some shorts to wear this summer.
I know I haven't given many updates on my blog, mainly because it's so much faster & easier on facebook, but I do want to give a few updates. I am now about 19 1/2 weeks and when I was about 11 weeks my doctor put in a cerclage as a precautionary measure to help keep this baby in longer. At 17 weeks I started getting weekly progesterone shots. Those are definitely going to be super fun & I think my butt already hates me. I've been able to feel the baby moving a lot more lately & I love it because it's so reassuring! I am feeling well & never really had any morning sickness. After the surgery I did notice that if I over did things even a little bit I would get really tired and sore, & get a major headache. I just make sure to rest for a little while after doing something a bit strenuous, which has made things better. We find out the gender of the baby next week & we are pretty excited to find out. All along I've thought it is another girl, but now I'm not so sure. I can't wait to find out because then I'll be able to start debating names with a little more certainty. I told Ammon a couple days ago that we should have a name picked out by 6 months, just in case, & so we don't have to make such a big decision with all that extra stress that we had with Sharon.
Well, I'll get around to scrapbooking our latest pictures sometime, but I really want to take advantage of the time I have this summer to get things ready for baby & to do all the things I won't be able to do if I end up on bedrest. If it comes to bedrest, you can be sure you'll be seeing a ton of scrapbooking catch-up!

Hawaii: Day Three

2011-05-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hawaii: Day Two

2011-05-07T08:00:00.003-07:00

Hawaii: Day One

2011-05-06T16:00:00.001-07:00

Sharon has an announcement!

2011-05-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

Working out back

2011-04-01T17:48:00.001-07:00

Spring has Sprung

2011-03-12T14:40:00.001-07:00

A Quilt for Sharon

2011-03-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

What my name means

2011-02-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine recently did this on her blog & I thought it would be fun to take a look at what my name means literally & what it means to me personally.

Caitlin Wylie Wilhelm

I was born in the mid-80's, which naturally means that my parents got my name from an 80's TV show. Up until today I didn't know what show it was, just that the character named Caitlin was a female helicopter pilot. But, Google is a wonderful thing, as I was able to simply type in "Caitlin from 80's television show about a female helicopter pilot" and up popped the information for which I was looking. It turns out that the show was Airwolf and the character was Caitlin O'Shannessy played by Jean Bruce Scott. Fabulous!

Having the name Caitlin growing up meant that I was unique, since I never met another Caitlin until college. I also have the claim of having the original Caitlin, not a variation of the original as all those other spellings are. As it is a variation of Katherine, the meaning has remained the same & is generally believed to mean "pure."

Now, I can honestly say that I am definitely not a perfectly pure person. I make an effort to live righteously & try each day to be a little better. Hopefully someday I can truly represent the meaning of my name.

When my parents named me, they carried on the tradition in my mom's family of not giving the girls middle names. That way, when I got married, I could take my maiden name as my middle name, which I did. Hence the middle name of Wylie. All of my married sisters also have the middle name Wylie, which I think will make it a little easier for our posterity to do their family history. My mom has also taken her maiden name as her middle name. Not having a middle name growing up made those get to know you games where you had to find someone with the same color eyes, same number of siblings & the same middle name a little hard. It wasn't until high school that I found another girl without a middle name. My husband & I decided to carry on the tradition as well, & gave our daughter only a first & last name.

The name Wylie carries all kinds of meanings for me, including the rich heritage from which it came, the fact that my Dad chose it as his last name & how much it means to him, & that I always had to stand up for it when people would mispronounce & misspell it (pronounced Why-lee, as in the coyote).

Now, on to my last name. I've only had the name Wilhelm for about 5 1/2 years now, but it is firmly a part of me & I definitely feel a part of it. Or rather, them. I have been welcomed into the Wilhelm clan with open arms & consider them to be my family, too. I love to learn about the history of my husband's family & I'm grateful to be a part of that history.

I've come to love & accept the family motto of "Where there's a Wilhelm, there's a way" because that definitely describes & defines the way that my husband & I view life & how we can shape & influence it for good.

I always promised myself that I would marry someone with a last name at the beginning of the alphabet, so that my kids wouldn't have to suffer being last in the lunch line, the last one on the role, being stuck in the back of class pictures, etc, but obviously that didn't happen. My kids will still be at or near the end, & I'm sure they'll turn out all right. I'm sure my daughter will think that she'll definitely marry someone up near the A's & B's, & maybe she will, but eventually she'll discover that it doesn't matter at all where you land in the alphabetical order.

So, there you go. I am Caitlin Wylie Wilhelm & proud of it.

What does your name mean? But more importantly, what does your name mean to you?

A new page

2011-02-21T14:48:00.002-07:00

Newest photos of Sharon

2011-02-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

Girly baseball t-shirt

2011-02-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

I was cruising through my Google Reader this morning & found a tutorial to make a child's baseball t-shirt out of old t-shirts at one of my favorite crafty sites Make It & Love It. I thought it was super cute & looked really easy, so this afternoon I decided to give it a go & made one for Sharon. Actually I made two, but the first one had a really small neck hole & it wouldn't fit over her head. I figured out my mistake & the second one came out perfectly. I just used a t-shirt that fits her as the pattern for figuring out the length & width. As a note: be sure to cut your pattern pieces based on the neckline that's below the ribbing, otherwise your neck hole will be too small. It may look too large, but you add the ribbing later, which makes up for the difference. So, here's a picture of Sharon wearing it. Sorry, it's not the best quality because I forgot to switch the ISO on the camera, & she was walking toward me (I know, how can such a tiny thing be walking! She is 17 months old after all).

I've had a pink t-shirt in my fabric stash for awhile, & decided it would be perfect for this project!

The goings on

2011-02-03T10:01:00.004-07:00

I've been up to quite a few things lately, & wanted to write some of them down so I wouldn't forget. On Tuesday we had our (women's church group) Relief Society activity at the Family History Center here in town. Those who weren't signed up on the New Family Search were helped to do so, & the rest of us learned how & became inspired to do our own family history work. Yesterday I spent a good amount of time entering our family information into a pedigree program in the hopes that I will be able to discover forgotten ancestors in the future.

I've also been working on my grandmother's quilt, which she asked me to quilt by hand. I sewed all the squares together a couple of weeks ago, & finally pulled out my quilting hoop & got started. The pattern is fairly simple, it just takes awhile to finish each square. I've included a picture of a square in progress in the hoop, & one of my first completed square. I love how it turned out! The quilt is called the Rose of Sharon & my grandma has had the squares since the 1930's & 40's. Hopefully I can finish it soon!

Sharon has been going through a growth spurt (I think). She seems to have gotten quite long all of a sudden & we were finally able to pull out the 6-9 month clothes (many of which are already too small, since she is just so long). One of her top teeth pushed through last week & the other top one is also working it's way out. They aren't the middle teeth, though, so she's going to be a little vampire soon.

We cut up & canned our half of a cow last weekend. It went pretty quickly since we had so much help. The long part was just waiting for the canners to heat up & cook. As a result of the cow, Jack has been enjoying some nice leg bones. The results of Jack enjoying leg bones, however, is not as enjoyable for the rest of us. He has been so gassy that it nearly knocks you over! There's just nothing quite like a dog fart.

Other than all of that, Sharon decided to explore the diaper pail last night & discovered the poo squishes really well. Needless to say, I did not take any pictures & immediately gave her a bath. Yuck!

Sharon is walking!

2011-01-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

I've been making stuff

2011-01-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

Sharon's room has been sadly blank for awhile. Actually, it kind of had boxes of clothes, laundry baskets & items without a home scattered throughout it. Last week I finally got it organized & clean so that she can actually play in there without getting into anything she shouldn't. This week I decided I should probably do something to decorate it. Things like decorating the "nursery" tend to get left in the dust when you have a baby 3 months earlier than expected. Go figure.
So, I've been making stuff. Here's a peek at what I've been doing:

{1} For some cheap & easy "art" above her crib I bought art canvas & just covered them with some fun fabric. I just stretched the fabric around & used a staple gun to attach it. Super easy, & fairly lightweight for hanging above her bed.

{2} I've been wanting to display Sharon's first footprints in a frame for awhile, & I finally did it this morning. I scanned in the prints from the card that they did at the hospital, made sure they were the same size as the actual ones, & printed them out on some white cardstock. Then I just cut scrapbook paper to fit my frame & put it all together. Just so you get an idea of how small those feet are, the prints measure 1 7/8 inches from the heel to the longest toe.

{3} & {4} I made some quick & easy bunting to hang in Sharon's room. I used coordinating scrapbook paper & pages from an old dictionary that I picked up at the thrift store for 50 cents. I used white seam binding and my sewing machine to assemble them. I also made two other strands of bunting using pink papers to decorate for Valentine's Day. They are hanging in the dining & living room.

So, that's a little bit of what I've been up to lately. They are all super easy crafts that can be done in under an hour for sure!

Digital Family Tree

2011-01-24T18:33:00.001-07:00

Awhile ago I created a paper family tree with some brown cardstock & a maple leaf punch. I added the names of my family & their birthdates & it now resides in my entryway. I love it! I love keeping every day reminders of my family in my home.

Well, I've now surpassed even my own genius (though how that works I'm not quite sure). This morning I got the amazing idea that I should digitalize my family tree pattern. I scanned in my leafless tree shape & then created a new family tree in Photoshop Elements using my digital scrapbook papers & computer fonts. I made this one to hang in Sharon's room so that she can have some pretty, but sentimental art, too. I'm going to make these trees available for purchase in my Etsy store early next week, so check back then! I just love these colors!

Random Pages

2011-01-17T14:59:00.002-07:00

Christmas Scrapbook Pages

2011-01-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures Pages

2011-01-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

I know I already posted most of these pictures, but I just did the scrapbook pages & wanted to post them as well. Just so you know, if you live in Kingman & want to have your family pictures taken, I would love to do them! My rates are really great, since I'm just starting out! So, if you want your family pictures taken, or individuals of your kids, feel free to leave a comment with some contact info, or email me.

Bread in 5 minutes a day

2011-01-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

Wendy Dewitt posted a link to a video about how to make Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day and I checked it out. I wanted to share the links with you because I am definitely in love with this bread! The link she gave was just to the video that shows the basics of how to mix the bread, but I wanted the actual recipe, so I did a little looking & was able to find it on the blog for the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. So, here is the link to the recipe. Now, let me tell you about my experience making the bread. I found a rectangle container that is large enough to hold the dough as it rises, and then I mixed up my first batch of dough. I left in on the counter for a little over two hours, & I can assure you that my yeast was definitely working. I pulled off a chunk so I could make a loaf right then and I put the rest in the fridge. The first few times I made it, I let it rise on some cornmeal on a cookie sheet. After the first couple loaves, I decided to buy some parchment paper (not sure where the stuff I had went) because I was having some trouble getting the loaf off the cookie sheet without squishing it. With the parchment paper I won't have to do that, I can just put the whole thing on the baking stone.

So, what's the bread like? So good. It has a nice crust on the outside, but the inside is so moist & fluffy (it's so fluffy I'm gonna die!). Sorry, I couldn't pass up that chance for a movie quote. But the best part about the bread is that while it is so tasty, there is practically no effort involved. You don't have to knead it, & the rising time doesn't have to be exact at all. I will say that I will probably make my regular bread recipe sometimes, too, because I do like to knead on occasion. It gets the stress out. But, I'm going to keep a batch of this bread dough mixed up in the fridge from now on, because I can just decide to bake bread when I get a craving for it, and have it just about an hour later! I am definitely going to be getting the book so I can see what other recipes they have using this basic dough.

So check it out! And if you do end up buying the book, it would be great if you could get it through the link here in this post, because then I get a little bit for advertising! =) Thanks!

From behind the lens

2011-01-11T15:37:00.001-07:00

New listings on Etsy

2011-01-06T22:08:00.001-07:00

I finally got around to reopening my Etsy shop & have some brand new art prints for sale. They are all created by me & I absolutely love each of them. Take a look & buy something while you're there. Here is a preview of just a few of the prints that I have for sale.

What I've been up to

2011-01-03T19:36:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful visit down with my family for Christmas. We enjoyed some wonderful homemade Indian cuisine for our Christmas Eve dinner, played too many games to count & only made my little sister cry a couple of times. It was wonderful to be with the family for such a long visit!

While we were there, my mom wanted to do our family pictures as this was the last time we would all be able to be together for at least a year. Mom wanted to go a park in town where we've taken family pictures in years past & recreate a picture on this old tractor that we did about 10 years ago. I would post the picture to show the time lapse, but I lost it when my external harddrive crashed. I'll have to ask my mom to email me a copy of it so I can post it here on the blog. Anyway, on to the pictures.

If you know my family at all, you probaly know that we are quite the group of goofballs. With so many people trying to be funny all at the same time, it tends to get a little rowdy, & I would definitely have felt bad if we'd hired a professional photographer to do these shots, because they probably would have been pulling their hair out after the first pose. Thankfully, we were able to get some shots with everyone smiling (somewhat) and looking pretty good.

After taking the picture like the one from ten years ago, we added in the spouses & our daughter.

Then we got one with everyone in more comfortable positions. We also took individual pictures, but were only able to get half of the siblings done before my sister came up & told us that three of our vehicles had been broken into, including our car. The thief snatched purses, my diaper bag & a camera bag. We were pretty quick to get any debit/credit cards cancelled & I had to suspend my phone service, so there was only minimal loss.

So, my 2010 ended with this lovely picture of our car window smashed. I hope your old year ended a little better. We're definitely looking forward to a new year!

Dashboard Baby

2010-12-21T12:12:00.003-07:00

Christmas Traditions

2010-12-03T10:51:00.001-07:00

I just posted about one of my favorite Christmas traditions over at LDS Moms Unite. Go check it out! I also added a new Mormon Messages video to the sidebar. It's about what kids think of Christmas.

It's Time To...Elf Yourself

2010-12-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

Red Dress page

2010-11-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

Time Out for Women

2010-11-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

I was able to attend Time Out for Women on the 15th-16 of October with my sisters, mom & cousin. I always love TOFW & look forward to the break from life to be able to sit & listen to inspirational talks about how amazing I am as a woman, wife & mother. If you've never been, check it out for next year! This is my scrapbook page for the event.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

2010-11-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

I think Fall is fast becoming one of my favorite times of year (I'm not sure anything will ever beat out Christmas), mainly because of all the wonderful foods I love to make during fall. I can also finally leave my doors & windows open to let in the cool air (Arizona cool, way different than anywhere else!). I made a batch of Pumpkin Bread yesterday & thought you might like the recipe to try out for yourself. I always make my quick breads in mini-loaf pans mainly because every time I try it in the big loaf pan half of the bread ends up sticking when I try to pull out the loaf, creating a tasty, but otherwise ugly loaf of bread. Mini-loaves are also perfect for gifting, great for dropping by to a friend, or someone who's feeling a little down. Just wrap it in a cute tea towel, add a little note, and you're good to go. Anywho! Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Bread
2 cups pumpkin (like the canned stuff, or make your own pumpkin puree)
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup oil
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix together the pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, salt, eggs & oil until smooth. Combine flour & baking soda. Stir them into the wet mixture. Grease 2 loaf pans (or, if you do mini-loaves, it filled 5 when I did it), and pour in batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (or about 35 minutes for mini-loaves). Be sure to do the toothpick test, that's the best way to tell if they're ready. Cool 5 minutes in pans, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Prepare yourself

2010-11-02T23:46:00.000-07:00

Can I just say, I'm in love with this page! Not only does the moment portrayed hold special meaning for me, that of holding my precious baby for the first time, but paired with the lullaby that my mom sang to me when I was little, it just tugs at my heart. I don't know if it will have the same effect on you, but I just love to look at it.

I'm thankful for...

2010-11-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

Sharon

Halloween Page

2010-11-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

What do you think of our new lens?

2010-10-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

Can you say, "Dremel?"

2010-10-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

Ammon showed me how to use his Dremel tool so that I could do this fun design on our pumpkin. I used an exacto knife to cut out the words and instead of carving all the way through, I just took off the orange skin and thinned the wall of the pumpkin from the inside. If you decide to do something like this with your pumpkin, here's a helpful hint: you can't use a real candle. Since there aren't any holes in the pumpkin, there is no air circulation to feed a candle. I just use a few of the electric candles that have the flicker motion & they work really well!

Can you guess who will be the topic of this post?

2010-10-19T17:35:00.003-07:00

Yep, it's Sharon. She just happens to be the subject of 90% of our photos these days. So she ends up being the subject of most of the scrapbook pages as well. Guess what! This is my 300th post! Wow!

Trying Out a New Lens

2010-10-18T15:42:00.003-07:00

So I was trying out one of our new camera lenses by taking pictures of Sharon at the park this morning. She's always been very interested in the leaves, but discovered sand today. I thought I'd do an ad campaign for her! =)

Typestaches

2010-10-12T15:51:00.002-07:00

I saw a poster of typestaches the other day on a blog that I read, and decided I wanted to make one for myself. I'm not sure if I'll actually get it printed, but I think it's hilarious anyway! You ask, "What is a typestache?" A typstache is one of these {squiggly brackets} turned on its side to look like a mustache. I think they're so funny! I really like Mr. Ank. Which one is your favorite?

Our New Bed

2010-10-12T09:35:00.009-07:00

I found the plans for this bed at Knock-Off Wood by Ana White. It is called the Farmhouse Bed. I did have to figure out my own measurements, because the ones she has for the King-sized version has the mattress turned so it's 80"wide x 76" long. We like ours the normal way. So ours is 76" wide x 80" long. I also added ten inches of extra height to the footboard measurements. This was such a fun project to work on together & it turned out just like I imagined it would!

This week at LDS Moms Unite

2010-10-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

The posts over on LDS Moms Unite this week are going to be center around the question:
What ways do you try to keep your child(ren) reverent during Sacrament Meeting?
You can check out my post here and feel free to leave any comments and advice for the things you've come up with that help keep your kids reverent during the meeting.

Provo Freedom Run page

2010-10-06T17:14:00.000-07:00

Kewpie-do

2010-10-05T16:13:00.000-07:00

12 months of Sharon

2010-10-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

A New Blog!

2010-10-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! I just want to share with you a blog that I've joined. It's called LDS Moms Unite. Each week there will be a selected topic, and various blog members, including me, will post their ideas, suggestions, and input for all of blogdom to read. The first topic was about General Conference, and how to keep kids interested, or at least not have them screaming for the entire two hour block! So, check back often to see new discussions, and post your own ideas in the comments. The more input the better. Hopefully this site will be a good source of inspiration for many of those challenges that we all face, and we can face them together! I hope you enjoy it!

Turning my heart

2010-10-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

Today I am excited! "Why?" you ask. Well, I'll tell you! It's because of Patriarchal Blessings. If you aren't familiar with what a Patriarchal Blessing is, feel free to click on one of those links to find out more. A Patriarchal Blessing is specific to each person. It contains advice and blessings for the Lord, and also reveals your lineage from Abraham. I received my blessing when I was 15 and it has been a great source of comfort, joy, direction, advice, and so much more, throughout my life. Even though it always contains the same words, I feel like I find something new each time I read it. I love it! It's like a chapter of scripture written specifically for me, which is pretty neat! So, why I am I so excited?
Last week, I was checking out the new LDS.org website. It has recently be redesigned and is amazingly easy to use. It has some new features, including a certain button under the Tools menu called "Patriarchal Blessing: Request a Copy." There are two ways to use this button. If you've received your own blessing and would like another copy, you can request your own. Or, if you have deceased ancestors who received their blessings, you can request a copy of their blessing. Obviously you have to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to use this, and you do have to log in to make the request.
I haven't done much research for my family history, but I am so excited about this feature, because in reading the blessings of my ancestors, I can come to know them in such a personal, spiritual way.
So, I requested a copy of my grandfather's blessing, and it arrived in the mail today. Such a neat experience! So go ahead, check it out, and request the blessings of those of your family who have passed on. Today I requested the blessings of my great grandmother and grandfather. I can't wait until they arrive.

Mohave County Fair Page

2010-10-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

A New Kit at Summertime Designs

2010-10-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I really like digital scrapbooking! Well, one of my favorite digital elements designers is Summer over at Summertime Designs. She makes her kits, and then you can download them for FREE from her website. I love it! Her kits are definitely my style and are so fun! She has a new Halloween kit on her blog, so go check it out!

New Page

2010-09-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I don't know if you've noticed, but I have a new page to my blog. You can click on the link to the right of my blog posts where it says Food Storage Resources. I've been impressed lately to do a better job of getting our food storage and emergency supplies organized. We've had a little bit here and there, but I really feel like we need to be better prepared for emergency situations. I have a first aid kit, I bottle my own meat, I love to do canning, but it just isn't quite enough. We've started storing water in a couple different ways. I've begun to fill up my canning jars with water when they aren't being used to store food. Rather than just have a bunch of empty jars on my shelves, now I can use them for water storage. When I need them for canning, I can just use the water for the garden, or anything I need. We've also started filling the heavy plastic apple juice containers with water and storing them underneath our extra bed. We don't have the recommended two week supply, but we are getting there, slowly.
I've always been a little intimidated by the popular form of food storage, where you buy 30 lb buckets of wheat, oats, rice, sugar, etc, because it just seems like a lot. We also don't have a lot of room to store large buckets like that. So, my idea of food storage has begun to change. Rather than thinking I need huge buckets of bulk food (I do have some buckets of wheat and oats, but I am using them for making bread, and other everyday things), I've started to stock up on the foods we eat all the time. Smiths grocery store just had another case lot sale, and it seems that they have one at least twice a year. When the case sale comes around, I make sure to buy a few cases of things we use all the time: cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, honey, canned tomatoes, macaroni and cheese, mandarin oranges, canned vegetables, etc. These are things I regularly use in our dinner meals, and won't require a lot of preparation. If necessary, a lot of them could be eaten right out of the can without needing to be cooked. When I combine these case items with my bottled meat, jams, jellies, canned beans, and other fruit of bottled, our food storage doesn't seem to be so lacking. Rather than having buckets of stuff I don't know what to do with, I can store the food we actually eat and I can rotate it better knowing that we will eat it before it goes bad.
I hope you check out the new food storage page, suggest any resources you like that I don't have, and I'll keep adding new links so that we can all be better prepared for those unexpected disasters and emergency situations!

Dollar Store Fall Wreath

2010-09-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

Our front entryway has been severely lacking in any sort of decoration because I just haven't know what to do with it. Since I am hoping Fall will be coming soon, I decided to give it a little jump start by making a fall wreath to hang on the front door. I went to the Dollar Tree and found an 18" plain wreath. I also bought bunches of leaves in varying tones of fall, and a couple bunches of fall color flowers and berries. I think I only used about 4 bunches total, though I bought a few more than that. I simply hot glued the leaves and flowers to wreath, so it's a very easy project. All-in-all this wreath only cost about $5 and it looks great in it's new home on our front door!

Sharon's birthday pages

2010-09-18T17:11:00.001-07:00

Was she really that small?

2010-09-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

Since it was Sharon's birthday, and I recovered all our pictures of her from my parents' computer while we were visiting, I've been taking some time to look through all of our pictures from her 3-month stay at the hospital. Looking at these pictures, I can hardly believe that she was really that small. It's hard to remember sometimes that she had such a rough start at life since she is now doing so well, and seems so normal. I count myself extremely blessed to have her in my life. She constantly makes me laugh and she is so smart, and cute, and inquisitive, and determined, and stubborn (not at all like her mother), and she is such a huge part of my life! I never would have guessed that one of the trials of my life would be to have a premature baby the size of Sharon, and it's still hard to believe it's only been a year, but I wouldn't change one bit of the experience. Yes, it was stressful. Yes, I had many emotional breakdowns, usually about once a week, or if Sharon was having a bad day. BUT I also had so many blessings throughout the whole experience. Seeing such a tiny little person (yes, she was a person, even being that small, with her own personality and attitude) fight to survive even though everything was so hard has given me a small glimpse into the wonderful miracle that life is. There is no way that we are simply an accident!

Anyway. These pictures were taken on September 15, 2009. Sharon was starting to look a little better by this time, as her eyes were finally opened (since they were still fused shut when she was born), the bruising on her head was going away, she didn't look so much like she'd been socked in both eyes, and she'd gained a little bit of weight, so she didn't look quite so alien. I can't get over how teenie tiny her hand is. I mean, do you see that! Her whole hand was as big as the first joint of my thumb! She even has finger nails on those tiny fingers. I love these two pictures! I'm not even sure why because they certainly aren't the most darling, or the most glamorous. Maybe it's because that even though she was covered in tubes, wires and tape, all I could see was my amazing little girl, her cute little nose, her Wilhelm chin, and her many amazing expressions.

I was sitting next to a woman at church today who has a fairly new baby. She was sleeping, but every now and then would make little squeaking sounds. Then at the end of the meeting she started to cry, the newborn cry, because she was hungry and I couldn't help but smile and feel a twinge of envy. I remember sitting in the delivery room after they'd taken Sharon out and hearing a baby screaming in the other room. What I would have given to have a beautiful new baby screaming in my arms. And for the next 2 months we couldn't hear anything from Sharon because of the breathing tubes. When we finally heard a tiny cry from her it was such a welcome sound, and pretty emotional for me as well! I love to hear her cry (I prefer laughing now) because her crying just makes me realize how blessed I am that she was able to stick around and be our little girl! I love you, Sharon!

Now and Then

2010-09-07T10:56:00.002-07:00

I just thought it would be fun to do a couple of pictures of Sharon from now and then. The first one is from our most recent family photo shoot last weekend. The second one is the first time I got to hold Sharon in the hospital on September 7th, 2009 at 10:56 AM. You'll notice I scheduled this post for that exact time on the exact day a year later. I know, I'm weird. I'm just excited to see just how far she's come!

Now

Then

Family Pictures 2010

2010-09-04T19:17:00.001-07:00

Since it is Sharon's first birthday and our five year wedding anniversary, I figured we should probably take some new family pictures. Here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks to my brother, David, for taking our family pictures for us! Edited by me.

Happy Birthday Sharon

2010-08-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is one today. I can hardly believe that this past year has flow by as fast as it has. I am happy to say that Sharon is healthy and happy! It was one year ago today that we were presented with this not so beautiful little girl.

Unfortunately we were definitely not excited about her entrance into the world. You see, she wasn't supposed to be born for 3 more months. You can check out her birth announcement here and read more about her first few days here. She weighed 1 pound 12 ounces, and had pretty much no body fat at all. She had to be on a ventilator and oxygen for a couple of months, she had pneumonia, a surgery near her heart, and overcame so many hurdles in order to make it to this point today. She is so much fun, and I feel so blessed to have such an amazing little girl in my life. She is a constant source of joy, frustration, hair pulling, crying, and so much laughing. I am so happy to say that she is here to stay! Happy birthday my sweet Sharon!

I love this picture of Ammon's hands with Sharon. It really shows just how small she is! Her whole hand is as small as Ammon's thumbnail. It was amazing to try to change her diaper because her legs were like two pencils.

Here's another one to show how small she is. That's the nurse's hand and that stethoscope is only a little bigger around than a quarter.

And here we are just a couple weeks before taking Sharon home. I love this little girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sharon!

Homemade dress

2010-08-26T12:23:00.001-07:00

Ammon, Sharon & Guitar

2010-08-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

Camping Scrapbook Page

2010-08-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

5 Years Down

2010-08-17T13:45:00.001-07:00

Wow! Five years of wedded bliss. I can harldy believe that it's gone by so quickly. Our lives sure have changed in the last 12 months with addition of our presently super grouchy, teething, congested, and snotty Sharon. She really is the most beautiful girl ever and is usually so happy and goofy. I can't imagine life without her as she kind of fills my days completely. Anyways, back to our five years of wedded bliss! I certainly am blessed with such a wonderful husband. He can always make me laugh, which I think is a pretty great commodity! Life sure would be boring without all the crazy and goofy things Ammon does for me.

If you didn't know, the 5th anniversary is traditionally a wood gift. We are planning on building a bed frame for our mattress once we get around to it, so that was going to be our gift to ourselves. Ammon decided he still wanted to make me something for our anniversary. So, he made me a fly tying stand modeled after one that he's had for a long time. I can't think of many other women who would be thrilled to be given a fly tying stand as an anniversary gift, but I love it, mostly because he made it for me!

He ran the Provo Freedom run 10K this year! I am so proud of him!

I love that he loves the gospel. He is a worthy priesthood holder, does a great job at his calling in primary and Cub Scouts, and I love to go to the temple with him.

He loves to try new things, like trying to get up on the wakeboard at our family reunion. He was pretty close!

He's the favorite uncle, at least to some of his nieces and nephews.

He's an amazing father and Sharon always love to see him! She gets a huge grin on her face when he comes home from work & she loves it when he sings to her and when he rocks her to sleep.

I am so grateful for this wonderful man and the years of marriage we've enjoyed! I look forward to many more years, and lots more laughs! I love you Ammon!

Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

2010-08-16T22:23:00.002-07:00

I found this recipe while perusing Preparedness Matters the other day and decided to give it a try. The first time I made it I actually used amounts from a different recipe and used the cooking method from this recipe. It worked pretty well, but my KitchenAid mixer couldn't quite handle the increased volume. I tried this recipe today and it was perfect! The mixer did so well and the loaves turned out perfectly, aside from being kind of large in the top. They cut so nicely for sandwiches and have the most wonderful flavor! I love that I don't have to spend hours letting them rise, and can have a craving for whole wheat bread and make it a reality in so little time! I think me and this recipe are going to be very good friends.

Whole Wheat Bread in an hour & a half

6 cups whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons yeast

1/4 cup high gluten flour

3 Tablespoons dough enhancer

3 cups very warm water

4 Tablespoons oil

4 Tablespoons honey or sugar

2 teaspoons of salt

Mix 3 cups wheat flour with gluten, dough enhancer, yeast and warm water; mix 1 minute. Cover bowl and let sponge 10 minutes.

Add oil, honey or sugar, and salt. Quickly add remaining flour one cup at a time until the dough forms a ball and cleans from the sides of the bowl (depends on the humidity whether you'll need to add more). Knead 7-10 minutes. Roll into 2 or 3 loaves (depending on pan size). Preheat oven to 200 degrees and put the loaves in. Rise dough in oven until double, 20 - 30 minutes (I think I did 25 minutes today and they were a little too high, think muffin top) (you can also just rise the loaves on the counter if you have time). Leave in oven. Turn heat to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from pans to cool. Coat with butter.

Yes, another scrapbook page. It's what I do.

2010-08-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

Emergency/Camping Box

2010-08-12T12:21:00.001-07:00

Over at Safely Gathered In I recently saw a post about how to make a camping/moving box. I also think it would qualify as an emergency box. I always hate it when we go camping, and once you get there you realize you've forgotten an essential item. So, either you get creative to make do without it, or you run into the nearest town and buy it, meaning you have an extra when you get home. We went camping last weekend and I did forget a few items, though luckily my parents were coming up later and I was able to have them bring the things we forgot. Now, it would have been so much easier to just have a box with all of the necessary kitchen and miscellaneous items, rather than having to go through everything and say, "Will we need this?" So, after we got home, I created our own camping/emergency box. You can check out the post at Safely Gathered In to see what she put in hers, but here's what I put in mine.

Aluminum foil
Broom & dust pan
Bug spray
Can opener
Cereal bowls (2)
Cheese Grater
Chef knife
Clothes pins
Cook Pots (large and small)
Cutting board
Dish scrubbers (2)
Dish soap
Egg carton fire starters
Frying pan
Hot pads (2)
Jack’s food bowls (2) (he's our dog)
Ladle
Matches
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Metal mixing bowl
Mugs (2)
Pancake turner
Paper towels
Paring knives (2)
Pitcher (2-quart)
Plastic cups (2)
Plastic mixing bowl
Plates (9)
Potato peeler
Rope
Scissors
Serving Spoons (2)
Silverware
Skillet
Spatulas (2)
Spices (Garlic powder, chili powder, salt, pepper, cajun, taco seasoning)
Stove & fuel (single burner)
Table cloth
Tea pot (for boiling water)
Toilet paper (2 rolls)
Towels (5) (hand towels)
Trash bags
Wash bins (2) (we got these from the hospital, they used them to bathe the babies, I've also seen them used as barf buckets, etc.)
Wash rags (2)
Whisk
Wooden spoon
Ziplock bags

Ok, so obviously this box can be adjusted to your individual needs. Why do we have 9 plates? Well, because we found a camping dish set at a thrift store and it had 9 metal plates in it, along with the cook pots, tea pot and skillet. All of these things fit in the box with room to spare. For the box we used an 18 gallon plastic tub that we got from Walmart for about $4.50. Now is a great time to buy those because they have them cheap for college students. Ours only has the neon colors left, but we bought them while there was still blue.
Now, please, don't go out and buy all of this stuff today because it will be way too expensive. A lot of these things I already had. Most of these things can be found at thrift stores, or garage sales for really cheap. Some of them you probably already have and just don't use because you have so many, like wash rags, hand towels, and other things. Look around your house before you buy things. Take inventory and then make a list of things you want to look for at thrift stores. Then, if you still need things, buy them on sale at the store. Do it gradually, you don't need it all today.
So, in an emergency, I could grab this box and have all the things I would need to have a working kitchen and tidy campsite. Plus, we could use the plastic tub for bathing, or just storing water. I will probably find a few more things to add to the box as we go camping again and realize we've forgotten something that we needed. I hope this helps! Leave comments with any questions you have. I put a link to the egg carton fire starters so you can learn how to make your own if you want. They are so great because they burn a whole lot longer than a match, so you have a bit more time to get your fire built around it. All I used were the carton, dryer lint and candle wax. I didn't have the wood pellets and they still worked just fine.

Wonder Box

2010-08-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made a Wonder Box. A wonder box is not a telephone-booth-type-box that has a variety of super hero costumes in it so that you can change at a moment's notice to dash off to do an heroic act. It is a thermal cooker that can double as a small bean bag for a little girl named Sharon. If you don't have a little girl named Sharon, you could probably substitute a small child by another name. At our most recent Relief Society activity we had a woman teach us about emergency preparedness and 72-hour kits. She showed off her wonder box and told us what it can do. I was definitely interested and asked her if I would be able to borrow her pattern. Well, as you may know, I tend to get a little crazy when I have a project I want to try. Rather than just call to see if I could pick up the pattern, I found one online. This website has great information, including a tutorial and recipes for the

Wonder Box. I've saved the instructions that I used in a PDF file, which you can access via Google Docs at this link. I drew the pattern out using a compass and ruler, since I couldn't really print it with my printer. I also only drew half of the pattern (long ways), and then placed it on the fold of the fabric. This is a fairly quick project to do, especially since I like to go crazy and finish projects the same day I start them. First, I made the Wonder Box out of a duvet cover I bought at Goodwill awhile ago. Then, I made another Wonder Box out of jeans that I got at the thrift store for 50 cents each, and inserted a zipper so

that I can use it as a cover for the one made out of sheets. This way, if it gets dirty, I can just take off the cover and wash it, rather than having a big, dirty bean bag. I bought a 100 liter bag of styrofoam bean bag refill beans from Kmart for $12.99 and it filled the entire Wonder Box, plus I made another bottom half of the box to use as a bean bag chair for Sharon. I had a bit of trouble with the zipper, because the first time it was too small to fit the bean filled box inside.

A 14 inch zipper is ok, but a 20 inch zipper would be a whole lot simpler. I'm not going to go into huge detail because you can go here and read all about it. You basically get your food up to boiling, put the lid on it, insert into the Wonder Box, put on the Box lid, and your food is piping hot hours later. I'm so excited to try it! I might just have to cook something here at home and try it, rather than wait until we're camping. Hope this was helpful! Good luck! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Silhouette Art

2010-08-08T15:33:00.002-07:00

I've been wanting to put some silhouette art on my walls for awhile now. I just had to make the time to get the pictures and make them. My mom took pictures of everyone aside from myself, Ammon & Sharon and just emailed them to me. I then opened the pictures in Photoshop Elements and deleted the background. I then printed out the pictures in black & white with my printer already sized to the correct size for the frames they were going in. Then I cut them out in black paper using the printouts as templates. I also added some grey papers to some of the frames to give them a little more interest than black and white. I think they turned out really neat! I love that you can tell who each person is! I love them! They look so good in my dining room on the wall!

Here they are all together.

Meghan & Jordan

Breanne & Adam

Sharon

Grandma Shari

Mom, Dad, Janelle, David, Allyssa

I guess I forgot to take a picture of the one with Ammon & I. You can see it in the picture that has all of them in it. I bought most of the black frames from Wal-mart and a couple of them were at an outlet store for super cheap. All-in-all, it was a pretty inexpensive craft!

Play Group Page

2010-08-05T10:10:00.002-07:00

11-Months

2010-08-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that Sharon is already 11 months old! She'll be a year in less than a month. That's crazy! I love this little girl so much! Here are the scrapbook pages I did of the pictures I took of her today.

Sharon in Box Tops

2010-08-02T17:22:00.003-07:00

Bathtime Scrapbook Page

2010-08-01T21:32:00.002-07:00

Oh, Baby, the Places You'll Go!

2010-07-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading a book to Sharon, twice. My uncle sent it to me when I was pregnant with Sharon because it is a book meant to be read in utero.It's called Oh, Baby, the Places You'll Go! I never had a chance to read the whole book to her when I was pregnant because she decided to come a bit early, if you didn't already know. The first time I read it to her today we were both laying on the floor of her room and she just lay and listened as I read it to her. When I finished reading, she crawled over and tried to climb up onto my stomach to find the book. When I showed it to her she tried to grab it (probably to sample the edible quality of the pages), so I read it to her again. She stayed where she was, half-way up on my stomach, with her feet on the ground, as I read the entire book again. She loved it! When I was done, she just crawled out into the living room. Now she's happily snuggled in an afghan on the floor sucking her thumb. This is such a cute book, because it takes bits and pieces of all the other Doctor Seuss books and gives kind of an introduction to the wonderful world of Seuss for baby. I love it! And Sharon loves it, too! If you are expecting, or know someone who is expecting, get this book! It's so cute, and I'm sure you'll see a similar response that I did. She just loved to hear my voice, even if I didn't get to read it to her in utero. Maybe with the next baby (no, I'm not).

Sharon's 10-month page

2010-07-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

A Preview of Hoggan Family Reunion 2010

2010-07-13T13:02:00.001-07:00

Sharon Crawling

2010-06-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Last of the FR08 Pages

2010-06-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

Cleaning Mirrors

2010-06-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

My wonderful husband cleaned our bathroom yesterday (oh how I hate that chore!) and I finished it up by cleaning the mirrors today. As I was cleaning, I wondered how many of you don't know about this wonderful cleaning solution. I use my regular window/mirror cleaner (a cheap off brand of windex), but instead of using paper towels (which leave lint all over) or a rag or towel (which also leave lint all over), I use a crumpled up piece of newspaper. I learned this trick from my mom & always cleaned windows & mirrors with newspaper growing up. All you do is take a sheet of newspaper, crumple it up, & wipe up the window cleaner. For some reason it doesn't leave lint, plus it is absorbent enough to clean the mirrors. I love it! Plus, I don't have to pay for it (I just use the free paper that comes every once in awhile). If your piece gets too soggy, just throw it away & grab another one. It's great! How many of you already knew about this, or have I totally enlightened you?

More FR08 Pages

2010-06-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

My Jean Quilt

2010-06-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to have a jean quilt to take to our upcoming family reunion, so I made one this last week. I love it! It's so huge & heavy, but it will be great for picnics, watching fireworks, & hanging out on the beach!

A Quick Tutorial on Etching Glass

2010-06-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

I ordered some Armour Etching cream last week & it arrived the other day. I finally had a chance to try it out & thought I would share the process of etching my pyrex glassware with our last name. I think this is a great idea so that you don't lose your glassware when lending it or taking it to potlucks. I also think this would be a wonderful gift for newlyweds, their last name etched into their dishes. So, I used my Silhouette SD to cut a vinyl template of our last name. Make sure your glassware is clean by using some spray glass cleaner. You also want to make sure you don't have any fingerprints in the area to be etched.

Then, get your Etching cream & a paint brush ready. I did start out trying just a regular paint brush but wasn't getting the kind of coverage I wanted, so I switched to a foam sponge brush.

Apply a coat of cream over the empty letter spaces. Don't skimp, you want to have enough cream to etch the glass completely, not just in patches. The bottle said to leave the cream on for 5 minutes, so that's what I did.

After the 5 minutes are up, wash the cream off. Be sure not to wipe it with your hands, this is an acid based cream we are dealing with. It will cause chemical burns. Be safe. So, wash it all off, then clean your dish again with the glass cleaner & wipe dry. Here is what one of mine looks like. I've actually done about 4 with the same template. Don't look too closely, or you'll see all the lovely fingerprints. It took me a few tries to get a good picture, so I had to keep readjusting my hands. I love this stuff! I'm also excited because I have another use for my Silhouette & my vinyl! (By the way, theSilhouette SD is an amazing machine! You just hook it up to your computer & it will cut any of the fonts that you have. You can also create your own custom images for it to cut onto paper, vinyl, heat transfer, etc.)

Happy etching!