The New Year

This Year we have BIG plans and lots of stuff we will be doing. Lets start with Beau He will be Graduating from college with a degree in Computer/Electrical Engineering! I thought this day would never come! We have been stuck in cold Idaho for almost 3 years and everyone in our family is ready to move somewhere warmer. We don't care where he works but we would like to get back into the USAF as an Officer (I will make a great officer wife ;))I will be graduating with an associates degree, and plan on transfering to another university where we move to. I am also ready to begin "real life" again and no longer be a "starving student"! I lost 40lbs this last year and plan on another 30 this year. It will have taken me 8 years to loose that baby weight from my first child. Daniel has begun, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Language Therapy he will finish the 3rd grade and move on to the 4th! Emma will master her amazing reading skills and graduate from kindergarden and become a 1st grader! Nathan will finish preschool and begin kindergarden! We are all cold and ready for summer! here's to a Big Year full of great things!

Little Miss Muffet

Emma was Little Miss Muffet in her class nursery ryme operetta. It was super cute, plus I made her dress and apron.

PDD-NOS or A-Typical Autism

I'm doing this to get it out and face it head on. Daniel has been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified. Which is an Autism Spectrum Disorder.He also has a processing disorder, which means everything going in takes longer to be processed and put into categories, and it is harder for him to retrieve information, if he can at all. He now will begin therapy for language, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and Developmental therapy. the dev. therapy is to help him learn social cues and ways to cope with certain situations. We are still waiting for test results dealing with what doctors call Ataxia. Which addresses the balance and coordination problems. We are glad to know what exactly is going on inside of him, and I feel as though I can now use some strategies to help all of us, deal with this. We always knew Daniel was special and there was something different going on with him but I never new what it was. I am glad I finally found a doctor who would listen and not give me excuses for his odd behavior. It will be a long road but I know we will make it. I don't know what his future holds but now I feel as though we can give him the best chance of reaching his goals and creating a learning environment at school for him to learn, the way he learns best, not the way they expect you to learn. I feel like we have answers as to why he can't swim, why he still has training wheels, why he doesn't ask to play at other peoples houses, why he can't tie his shoes, has to have certain things just so, why he can't stand the smell of cheerios or gold fish. Why he needs a certain blanket, shoes, elastic waisted pants. Why he obsesses over Super Heroes, and the color Red. Why he doesn't play with cars, trucks or planes. Why he sits in the same spot in the car, at the table and on the couch everyday. Why he can't stop talking about certain things for days at a time. Why he eats the same thing for breakfast everyday. Why when he was younger he would eat things that were not food. The list goes on and on. I feel better now getting it all out there, and not holding it all inside. I wish as a mother I would have tried a little harder to get a referral, but I did the best I could. If you're still reading thank you for your support!

Froggy Flip Flops: Fabric Flowers

Froggy Flip Flops: Fabric Flowers

Froggy Flip Flops: Bed Makeover

Froggy Flip Flops: Bed Makeover: "Ok we bought this bed 6 years ago with the intent to refinish it. The only problem there has always been a child sleeping in it. Every time ..."

my new Ottoman

Ok so a few weeks ago I knelt on my coffee table and my knee went right thru it. it scared me more than it hurt and there was no blood just a nice scrap down my shin. so for a few weeks we had a table with a hole in it. So I set out to find an ottoman I've been wanting one but they are expensive. I found one that I would love from Target so of course it's on the cheaper side only $279.00 (cough cough)But of course I don't have $300.00 laying around. If you go anywhere else they are double that, so what is a girl to do? Craigslist of course! So I went hunting and this is what I found for $75.00. And they just painted and recovered it so no work for me!

Leg or Arm Warmers

OK so we are starting to get some chilly weather. Emma lives in skirts and dresses, and some have sewn in shorts, when you put leggings underneath they get pretty bulky, so here you go leg warmers.
First you take a ladies knee sock.

Then you cut it.

After that take it and fold it. then pin to the bottom of the sock.



next sew together, I stretched my over my machine and used a zigzag stitch to make sure it would stretch over her leg.

and then you're done well OK repeat on second sock!

Hat Rack Just Thier Size!

Before....

After....

This was my D.I. score for the week it only cost me $5.00! What an awesome deal!

Hair Bow Drawers

Before...

ok so here are the drawers un painted.

First I painted the outside.


Then I had little helpers paint the drawers.

I then modge podged paper to the front of each drawer.

Then I sprayed them with sealer.

And here they are finished!

First Day of School

Daniel and Emma, they all got ready really well. Daniel was excited to see his friends,and found out his best friend that moved halfway through last year is coming back and in his class! Emma also has friends from church in her class! It is going to be a good year!



Nathan hung out with his best friend Bizzy.

And here is the outfit she was supposed to wear the first day but decided to save for the next.

Beau turned 28

Daddy had a Birthday! He turned 28! There are only 18 candles on the cake we ran out. We asked what he wanted for his birthday, he said a whole day of gaming so that's what he got!

Mango Strawberry Jam

I made mango strawberry frezzer jam. It looks yummy! And it is...I wanted to capture the processes but I lost my camera, then found it after I finished. I can't wait to make more!

My Little Fisherman

While we were on vacation in Oregon Nathan caught, cleaned,and ate his first fish. He was very proud of his first catchand it got bigger each time he told the story. So for those of you who heard it was huge here are the pictures to prove that it was! Nathan also recently learned how to shoot his very own BB gun. He is a natural, I have no pictuure because I'm not brave enough to go out while he has it (not really) I was busy shooting a pellet gun, it was awesome! We had fun this summer learning new things!

My Little Boy Scout

This happened a while ago, but I just found time to write about it. Daniel is now in cub scouts and LOVING every min. of it!He loves getting awards for completing something.

The 4th of July

This year we decided to go camping for the 4th. Beau was given camping supplies for Fathers Day, so I decided we needed to test them out.Since Yellowstone is only 80 miles away I thought that it would be fun.
We left friday afternoon, the first site we were given was well taken over by some rednecks that stole our table and had very colorful language, we didn't even get out of the car. We went and asked for a new spot, they gave it to us.
We stayed until monday, it was fun, but I am pretty sure yellowstone only has Buffalo because that's all we saw. aparaently everything else goes to bed in the afternoon.
The kids enjoyed camping but the best quote is from emma "mom are we going to drive around alot and then stop and look at nothing?" This was said on our second day at yellowstone. I replied "yep, that's what we're doing today".The boys played with their army men and staged battles then we created a rescue mission to save all the lost soldiers.To see more photos check out facebook.We made the best cobbler ever! It was chocolate cherry and super yummy!1 large can of cherry pie filling,1 chocolate cake mix(I used devils food), slice up 1 cube of butter on top and then 16oz of sprite on top of that. Cook until done, it took about 30min. we topped it with cool whip.
And this is my favorite picture! Overall we had a great weekend and came home exsausted.It was nice to not have any homework, and be able to spend all that time with the kids.

This weekend Daniel was Baptized. He did a great job, he only had to get dunked once! I'm so proud of my little man, he's going to be a great member of our church! Maybe even be able to serve a full time mission if he wants to. I love him very much, anyone that knows him knows he is a very special kid, with a kind heart. I have enjoyed watching him grow up into this handsome young man! Way to go Daniel, I love you!

My Testimony

Lately I have been feeling a little sad, because some of my siblings are inacctive in our church. I am not meaning this as preaching but I feel as though I should just simply bear MY Testimony. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have been taught right from wrong. Even though I made some BIG mistakes when I was younger, I still believed in the church and knew I needed to make it right. It was hard, and painful, and even embarrassing... but I did it. I know now that I grew from that experience. I love my Savior, I have partaken of his atonement. I know the power it has to change lives. I also know how powerful it is, and even if you've made mistakes you can be forgiven. All you have to do is pray and in some cases confess to the bishop. I love my family, my husband, my children and my brothers and sisters. I am so thankful I get to be with them for all of eternity. I KNOW with out a doubt that The Book of Mormon is true. I have prayed about it, I could tell you the very moment I gained a testimony. It was my freshman year of high school I started reading it so I could go to a pizza party and ended reading so I could know for myself. This testimony is what got me through high school having only a few friends and eating lunch alone most of the time. I wouldn't sacrifice my standards for friends, or boys. I made a commitment to myself that I wouldn't date outside of our faith and I never did. I know we are members of the true church. I know what prayers feel like when they aren't sincere and I know what they are like when they come from a heart that is ready to listen. There is a difference, I can't explain it fully but I can tell you I have felt it. The gospel has saved me, more than one time, in more than one way. I have suffered from depression, I have had suicidal thoughts, and the gospel saved me. I am happier than I have ever been and it is because I have friends that have my same beliefs, I'm not saying you can't be friends with people who do not attend our church, how else would we share the gospel? I'm saying it's much easier to live the way I was taught when I surround myself with people who have my same standards and respect me for keeping them instead of constantly challenging or mocking them. I say these things in the name of our loving Savior Jesus Christ.

my second semester

OH MAN!!!! It's finally over! wahoo I survived another one! I start again in the
20th but until then I'm gonna relax, and clean my house. I know those two things usually don't go together but I'm more stressed when my house is a mess than when it's clean. needless to say I've been looking forward to giving it a good scrubbing! I made it out this semester with 4 A's and 1 B!!!!!! next semester I'm going for the 4.0! I'm so happy and proud of myself! It has been rough, but balancing school and kids is easier than I thought, though I must admit they do watch more than 2 hours of tv. oh well I read to them before bed, that counts right? And next semester it will be warm so we are going to be outside, and I'll be doing HW on my laptop in my driveway! Anyway just wanted to brag a little!

my day today

*Woke up @ 6am
*took shower and got ready for school
*got Daniel up
*walked to class
*sat thru parenting class
*started walking home but got picked up by a cute guy in a minivan(beau)
*took him to class
*took his kids home
*convinced them to get dressed
*got them each a gogurt
*went to walmart
*bought stuff I didn't need but wanted
*went home
* made mac n cheese
*ate leftovers
*scrubbed bathroom
*recovered Emma's table
*realized it was an early out and Daniel wasn't home yet
* called the school
*went to school with Emma and Nate
*couldn't find Daniel
*teacher called his friends
* found Daniel
* went and got Daniel
*went home
After beau got back from class I went and got refill prescription
* made appt. for Emma and Nathan to get shots for preschool
*went to walmart again to fill prescription
*bought more stuff I didn't need and food for scout activity tomorrow
*went home
*made dinner
*ate dinner
*Vacuumed house
*cleaned up kitchen(I Washed every dish!)
*put kids to bed
*Did some crafts
*posted to blog
*went to bed

Boxes before and after

While I was at the D.I. looking for books I found these boxes.


They were hideous right? here the are after.




and the inside...



I painted them, modged podged some cute paper inside and glued sea shells over the knobs. It took a long time but they turned out way cute!