Family and Crafting

Ryans Open house

2010-06-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

Ryan the Caterpillar. This decorated the classroom door at Open House.

Ryan and his buddy Jezzrell checking out his Michelangelo picture under his desk. The kids actually drew them laying on their backs.

Ryan's Van Gogh Picture. His is the green one in the middle.

Ryan and his Aide Ms. Mac. They grew so close this year. We will miss her.

Ryan has officially finished Kindergarten. Todd and I are so proud of all he has accomplished this year. He started the year struggling to do his work, refusing to write his name and playing by himself. Now he does most of his work independently, is speaking so well that he no longer requires one on one speech and is making up games on the playground and inviting others to play with him. Next year he will be with a small group of boys mainstreamed into a first grade classroom. He will continue to get the help he needs and we have high hopes that he will continue to climb mountains.

We attended his open house this year at Spinelli Elementary and Ryan couldn't of been more excited to show us everything he had been working on. It is all he talked about for two weeks prior. His Kindergarten Classroom made many pieces of art work based on art styles of famous Artists. They were so nice some are going to be framed in our home.

I LOVE October!

2009-10-28T23:01:00.000-07:00

I love October! I love the colors, I love as the hot weather turns cool, and I especially love Pumpkin Patches. We usually hit up 2 or 3 if only to take cute pictures of my little munchkins. This one was in Santa Clara. Grandma treated the grandkids to a fun time on the inflatable slides.

Abbey and Jaiden search for a pumpkin.

Colton visits the pumpkin patch for the first time.

Visiting with cousins

2009-10-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

Traveled down to Santa Clara last week to see family. The boys had a chance to play with their cousins in Grandma and Grandpas backyard. Whenever we have all of them together we always attempt at trying to get a group picture. The only "great" smile we end up getting in Justins since he is the oldest. It is a hilarious sight to see because it involves 5 adults standing behind 3 cameras making the craziest sounds trying to get them all to laugh. I love the Look on Coltons face, he has no idea what a crazy family he has joined. It was a great visit. The kids enjoyed playing hide and seek with their older cousin Justin and playing Toy Story on Wii with Auntie Beth.

My little peanut at 3 years old.

Colton is now 8 Months and is starting to crawl.

We have a new "furry" addition!

2009-10-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

So I have been begging for a new kitten since we returned from Pendleton last year, and Todd finally gave in. The one cat we have does not like the kids at all and I wanted a cat that would grow up with them and allow them to pet her. So when Ryan's new childcare said that they knew someone who had kittens they were giving away I signed up. She is the cutest little calico I have ever seen. She will come up to us and will rub against our legs and face wanting to be petted. She is too small to get away from Ryans grasp right now and has been placed inside a plastic halloween bucket several times in the last two days. Ryan gives her cars to play with and has even picked her up (by the stomach, feet dangling) to show her a picture he drew. Either she will totally despise him when she is bigger for torturing her or they will be good friends. We will have to see. She does not have a name right now. I am having a hard time coming up with one. So she is just being called Kitten. Any ideas? I was toying with something to do with the season or Halloween. Autumn is the only thing I have come up with.

Caprisun Purse

2009-09-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I saw a lady at Walmart with one of these and had to try my hands at making one. I am so pleased with the way it came out! So who wants one for Christmas?? It was really easy too! Sewed it with a denim needle on my sewing machine. It took me about an hour to make. I will put the link for the directions at the bottom if you would like to try yourself. Happy Crafting!

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/capri_sun_bag

Colton at 6 Months

2009-09-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

So here is my adorable nephew at 6 months. I know I am missing a few months, but thought I would put up the most recent one. Isn't he so cute?

First Day's of School!

2009-08-28T00:43:00.001-07:00

August brought firsts for both the boys this year. First Ryan started Kindergarten on Aug 5th. We tried to prep him during the summer that he would be attending a big kid school. He wasn't so sure about this and at one point he told us, "I just want to go to school with the little kids." I took him shopping two days before school started for his school supplies. A new backpack, a pencil box, crayons, eraser, glue stick and pencils and Grandma Toni bought him a first day of school outfit. He was very excited about his new supplies. The first day of school I took him to school and he did just fine. He found his name tag at his seat with a very enthusiastic, "I found it!"

We are now three weeks into school. It has taken Ryan a little while to settle into his new routine. Carpet time, where the children listen to stories and work on letters and numbers is Ryan's best time. He sits and participates well. Working at his desk and especially writing and spelling his name were met with more resistance. The teacher was able to get him to trace his name at the top of his papers written in highlighter. Now I am happy to say that after 3 weeks he is writing his name on his own. We are now hoping that the district will hurry up and get a permanent aide in the classroom with him. He has had 4 different ones in 3 weeks. It does not seem to have affected him much to have different aides but we know that it is when things are consistent that Ryan does the best. He has started Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy. We are very excited to see what new things he will learn this year!

On August 10th Jaiden started Preschool at Center Co-op preschool. All summer when we would past the preschool we would tell him it was his new school and it didn't take long for him to announce "There is my new school!" Every time we would pass by. With the school being a co-op I work in the classroom one day a week. My work day is Monday so I got to work on Jaiden's first day. Still being a young preschooler, he wont be 3 until Sept 6th, Some activities were met with resistance. During the flag he refused to stand up declaring, "I can't!" But now after two weeks he tells me, "I put my hand on my heart and sang flag of America!" His favorite activity is swinging during outside time.

Chipboard house, My Moms Birthday Present

2009-08-25T11:19:00.001-07:00

I bought this kit at the greatest little craft store in Pendleton Oregon called "The Heart of the Home." I was a little intimidated when I took it out of the package. I couldn't decide just how to cover it. Should I paint it or cover it with paper? In the end I ended up covering it with paper and adding some old fashioned stickers friend had given me, popping some of them up with pop dots. I printed small 2x3 pictures of my children and fit them in the windows and door opening. I am really pleased with how it turned out and my Mom loved it!

Colton turns 4 months

2009-07-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

Colton was so tired when I got around to taking his picture that this was the best that I got. But he is still cute!

Colton's 3 month Picture.

2009-07-01T04:20:00.000-07:00

So here is Colton's 3 month picture with the dump truck. My sister took the one of him at 2 months and I am yet to see it. And hopefully I will have the 4th month one this weekend. As we will be seeing them for fourth of July. He is getting so big and is very ticklish. If only he would sleep and let his Mom get more rest.

Ahoy Pirates!

2009-06-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Fathers Day Weekend Todd, the boys and I went to Vallejo CA to the Northern California Pirate festival. It was on the waterfront with Cannon fights, music, and Pirates galore. The boys didn't like the loud sounds of the cannons firing but enjoyed seeing the pirates, jumping in the pirate jump house and seeing Captain Jack Spare-ribs. A magician and ventriloquist.

Jaiden loved his new Pirate pop gun and went around shooting pirates. It was fun that everyone played along and would pull out their pretend guns and "Shoot" back!

Blog abuse

2009-06-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to continue with a blog when you are not sure if anyone actually reads it. So if you do read what is going on with my family then please drop me a comment once in a while and I will continue to post updates.

San Francisco Zoo!

2009-05-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would post a little about what we have been up to lately. For Mothers day we went to the San Francisco zoo. They were having free admission. We went with Todd's parents. Had a picnic lunch and then enjoyed the animals. Ryan really enjoyed the zoo map. He would point to the animals on the map and tell us where he wanted to go. When we spotted a animal he had to find it on the map. The giraffes were really cute and the penguins were cute to watch. I haven't had time to craft. Hopefully soon I will have something to show you.

Visiting friends

2009-03-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

The boys and I had a wonderful time visiting friends in Pendleton last week. Yes I guess I am a little nuts to drive 11.5 hours in the car, in one day, with a 4 and a 2 year old, But it was well worth it to see all our friends. Who would've thought that in just the one year that we were there we would have made so many life long friends. Below are some of the highlights from the trip.

Ryan's favorite park in Pendleton is Pioneer Park AKA (by our family) the Castle park because of the tall wooden structures that resemble a castle. Ryan enjoyed looking out the window and down on me from above.

On one morning after it had rained we decided the kids would have fun jumping in the mud, and we were right. What's a little clean up when they get so much enjoyment from it.

I think it goes with out saying that this picture was a must and Ryan will kill me for it when he is older. Senior yearbook here we come!

We were so thankful to be able to spend so much time with the Simpson's while we were there. Here is the rowdy bunch after being pumped full of pizza, chocolate milk, brownies and popcorn.

Our friend Madison loves playing dress-up and when the boys saw her putting on her Tinker-bell costume they wanted to play too. A picture was a must!

Colton John Wyatt

2009-03-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

My Nephew Colton at 3 weeks old. Check back each month to see how Colton has grown in Comparison to the Dump Truck.

Bind-it-all post it note holder

2009-02-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

These cute post it note holders were made using my Bind-it-all. The instructions came from youtube. If you go to my site www.youtube.com/user/bekiew (look for link at the bottom of this blog) and look under favorites you can find the instructions. I decorated the covers with paper from Creative Memories Earthy power palette and attached ribbon to the binding. They were so easy and turned out so cute.

Baby Shower Favors!

2009-02-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

Aren't these cute??!!! Another youtube find. I love that site for finding new craft ideas. This was one posted by a member called irvinehouse. It is titled 2-4-6-8 valentine box. For some reason I am unable to copy and paste the URL. My sister is doing a Mickey Mouse theme in the baby's room so I chose to cut a baby head with Mickey ears using my Cricut. ( I love that thing!) The poem below was again something I found on youtube. Needless to say, everyone loved them and couldn't believed that I made the little bags. I filled them with Hershey Kiss Cherry Cordials.

Cowboy hats

2009-02-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

I was working on these hats for my sisters baby shower. I got the plans and ideas for it off a you tube video. I had plan to fill them with candy and wrap them with cellophane. And even though they came out cute, they weren't the right look I was looking for for the shower. So I chose something else that I will post in different post. Don't know what I am going to do with these... :)

A baby gift for my Nephew

2009-02-02T13:34:00.003-08:00

This was my first attempt at decorating wooden letters. These will be hanging in my Nephew's Room. His name is going to be Colton John Alford. The little disney characters were cut with my new Cricut machine that I got for Christmas. I painted the edges of the letters with a darker blue paint then the paper I had chose for the front of the letters. Once I attached the paper to the letters I used a emory board to distress the edges of the letters and the fronts. I used hot glue to attach the ribbon, and tied bows to be hung on the wall. I am extremely happy with the way they came out and my sister loved them too! Let me know what you think.

Christmas Memories

2009-01-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

We did Christmas a little different this year. We decided we didn't want to travel for Christmas Day. We invited anyone who wanted to, to come to our house. Todd's Parents and Sister came. We had a gourmet meal made by Todd, went to church followed by Christmas lights on Christmas Eve. The boys and I put out cookies and Milk for Santa and played with the train around the tree for a little while before going to bed. It was so nice to wake up to presents under our tree. The boys let us sleep in until 8:00 am. (I think that may be the last time that happens) Jaiden came into our bed at 6:30 but went back to sleep with a little bit of milk. Ryan came into our room at 8 am and Announced, "lets go see Presents!" They were very excited about what Santa had brought them. Although Ryan said, "where is my truck?" This is what Ryan had asked Santa for and it had been wrapped. We will have to write a note to Santa for next year to leave the presents unwrapped under the tree. Jaiden got his gift from santa too, a new ball. He played catch all morning with the whole family. Christmas day we just played and ate. It was very relaxing.

The boys looked so handsome in their Christmas outfit given to them by Great Grandma Dorothy. They didn't really want to pose for pictures. But they still look very handsome. They Absolutely love wearing their, "ties".

Ryan was very excited to be able to hold his own candle at the Christmas eve service. The chair in front of us almost caught on fire a couple times but survived.

Putting out carrots and cookies for Santa and the reindeer.

They had a fun time putting these out and Ryan was speechless in the morning to see everything half eaten.

Jaiden was quite excited to see the Speed Racer cars and he wore that helmet all day, especially when he played catch with his new ball.

"Roarrrr!" Said Jaiden's new dinosaur.

Christmas Gifts!

2008-12-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

I got this idea to wrap the kids up as presents for my Christmas cards from a group in the Roseville holiday parade. Ryan got so excite when he saw me wrapping them. They both couldn't wait to play in their "box". They posed pretty good and I do say they make cute little packages.

Jaiden playing Peek-a-boo

The hunt for a Christmas Tree

2008-12-15T12:30:00.000-08:00

We had a fun/crazy time in Paradise searching for the perfect tree. Jaiden loved running away from us and Ryan would point at every tree and say, "how bout that one?" In the end the one we got wasn't everyones favorite but I think it is very cute!

The True Meaning of Christmas

2008-12-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

With Ryan getting older I really wanted to start teaching him about Christmas being about the birth of Christ and our Church did a reenactment of Bethlehem Village. Ryan was so excited to see Baby Jesus. It was a great way to bring what we had been reading in our Christmas books to life.

One of the Wisemen gives Ryan a gold nugget to give Baby Jesus. Ryan was so excited. Ryan would show this gold to everyone after this point and say, "I have Gold, Its for Baby Jesus." He held onto as tightly as his little hands could.

Ryan helps a woman at the well fetch water from the well and fill her pitcher. He did really well and had to do this several times.

Ryan Explores the Shepards camp near by the manger and pets the sheep.

While we were visiting with the Shepherds the Angels appeared and announced Jesus Birth. It was very exciting. Ryan had so much fun. It will definitely be something we will repeat this tradition next year.

All Aboard!

2008-12-08T10:33:00.001-08:00

On our way back home from Thanksgiving we stopped in Pleasanton for the Great Train Expo. There were so many train layouts to see. The boys just watched and watched. Our favorite was a complete layout made of legos. There even was a miniature Hogwarts castle. Ryan even got to control his first model train.

Below Jaiden watches the train go round and round. As it would pass he would say, "bye train, bye!"

Lots to be Thankful For!

2008-12-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

I have many things to be thankful for in 2008. To start I am extremely Thankful for the opportunity Todd's company provided for us to be in Pendleton Oregon this past year. It was such a wonderful time. The country is beautiful up there and I made some wonderful lifelong friends whom I look forward to visiting next spring. I am always thankful form my children who bring me so much joy every day! I am thankful for Ryan being able to be in Preschool and receiving services , his speech is improving greatly. We are in the process of getting him assessed by Kaiser. It is a long process that wont really even get started until Feb. I am thankful for the help from Todd's company and our family, in improving our house. We have new carpet, a new refrigerator and a new heating and air unit. I am very thankful for my husband who God has blessed with patience and understanding for me. I am thankful for all the support and love from all my friends and family this past year. It was hard to be away from you all but great to know that you supported what we were doing and shared in the excitement of our adventure.

We spent Thanksgiving this year at The Wiley home in Mountain View. My parents and sister Beth joined us. We were also Surprised to have Todd's Sister Christine come home to make it that more special. We had a great dinner followed by some Mario Kart and wii Bowling. It was a wonderful day!

Thanksgiving morning while Jaiden was napping Ryan and I killed some time playing in our friend's front yard. Their tree had dropped many leaves on the ground and we had so much fun throwing them at each other. Ryan also loved being covered in the leaves. It was one of my most favorite memories from the day. I love how simple things can just light up my child's face.

I love this picture of Ryan. His hair is the same color as the leaves!

The day after Thanksgiving we celebrated my Sister Kelly's and My birthday with my family. As always it was a afternoon of teasing and laughing. The kids all got along great with the favorite activity being jumping on the dogs bed. I cant wait to see them all again at Christmas.

Concrete Slide

2008-11-23T00:44:00.000-08:00

I learned about this slide in A small free paper that gets delivered to my door. They are made of concrete and go down the side of a hill. We took a piece of cardboard with us to ride on and down we went. You go faster if you have wax paper under you as the cardboard gets worn down quickly but it is still fun. I think Surfboard wax would work awesome! Ryan went down the first couple times with our neighbor and friend Catherine, and then wanted to go alone. He had so much fun! He called it his skateboard racing machine. JJ on the other hand, when a couple times with me and then got scared and wouldn't go down at all. We are looking forward to going back with some wax paper and perhaps some plastic tote lids.

We are doing well. Ryan has been in school now for about a month. He seems to like it, and has been coming home singing songs. He is getting speech therapy twice a week and the therapist says he is doing well. The teacher says he is doing great with transitions and is following directions great. He also is using the potty consistently at school, if only I could get him to do that at home. The past couple days he has been talking a lot. Haven't figured out quite why but I am starting a dietary journal to try to see if it is diet related. We have a intake appointment with Alta Regional on the first and Kaiser received my paperwork but said they wont be able get Ryan tested until FEB! :( Very frustrating but at least he is getting some services through the school and he is improving.

Embossed Card

2008-11-23T00:15:00.000-08:00

I made this card a couple weeks ago for my Mom. I hadn't gotten my craft supplies out since we had moved back to CA and I decided it was time to do so. I was itching to do some crafting. So I locked myself in my craft room and made this card. I usually don't put printed paper with printed paper but I decided I would try it. I think it came out pretty cute. I am still pretty new to embossing, but I love how simple it is and how cute it comes out.

It is so great to finally have space and time to craft again. I stared making some small albums for christmas gifts. I am also going to be organizing my craft room this weekend. (I CANT BELIEVE I HAVE A CRAFT ROOM!!!! :) ) My Mother gave me her old sewing cupboard that now will now become my craft cupboard. I Cant wait to get all my craft supplies out of their boxes. I will post some pictures once I get it all together. It is even being installed with a lockable doorknob with key to keep little hands out. I cant wait!!!

Spookey Memories!

2008-11-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

So I couldn't post this earlier because we had misplaced the charger to our camera and the pictures were stuck on our camera. But thought you would enjoy seeing our halloween memories. Jaiden was Captain Jack, and Ryan was a Power Ranger, although he would tell you that he was Batman. The boys, of course, had fun running from house to house. Jaiden carried a sword and ran around yelling "Aaarrhgh!" I love being able to relive childhood with my kids, And I get free candy too!!! We also had fun decorating our front yard. It was great because the kids saw us decorating they weren't scared. And if we saw something kinda scary we declared it, "Spookey." A much less intimidating word. It was a great Halloween.

The Happiest Place on Earth!

2008-10-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

We had a busy 3 days in Disneyland with family. When we got into the park both boys were excited to see the Disneyland Castle. Especially Jaiden who pointed and said, "look Daddy, Castle, Caste!" We went with Todd's sister Christine, my three sisters, my niece Abbey and nephew Justin. It was so great to be able to share this great vacation with everyone. It was a little crazy at time with so many people and everyone having different things they wanted to do, but it was so much fun! And of course we got some great pictures. Ryan had fun meeting the different characters. While we were waiting in line to see Tigger, he jumped out of line. As I got him back in line he said, "I want to hug Tigger." Jaiden just kept pointing out everything to us. Favorite rides included the Rockets in Tomorrow land, The horsey ride (AKA the carousel) , The Winnie the pooh ride and the new Toy Story Ride. Todd and I got to ride Tower of Terror, which I will say made me scream like a little girl! We are thinking about getting passes so we can go more often.

Ryans favorite ride was what he called the Horsey Ride. I don't even know the number of times we rode it, more times then anything else by far.
We were excited to Meet Captain Jack after riding the Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time.
We couldn't believe that Jaiden was big enough to ride the Matterhorn. He looks pretty scared in this picture but he rode it 3 more times.
The park was decorated great for Halloween including large candy corns in California Adventure. Jaiden was so cute pretending to eat them.

A couple new crafts

2008-10-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

So lately I haven't had time to do any crafting. And Frankly I have felt a little lost without it my favorite past time but I have been so busy with my house. Our newest project is painting the living room RED. It is very bright and I love it. We have also chosen carpet finally and it will be installed on the 14th. So I thought I would post a couple projects that I did before I left Pendleton. The first is a magnetic Calendar that some friends and I made on the back of a cookie sheet. There is a different sheet for each month and magnets to place on the calendar for appointments and special events. It came out so cute. I will try to create instructions if anyone is interested.

These cute paper cupcakes are a project that I found on the chatterbox blog called the Chatterblog. But it can also be viewed in video format on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcCTYZM3hrM They are not the quickest craft to make but sure have a cute result.

Boys Birthday!

2008-10-05T18:54:00.001-07:00

Ryan and Jaiden's Birthday Party was a huge success! The favorite thing by far was the bounce house. My kids wouldn't even exit the house for Cake and had to be drug out to open gifts. We had great turn out. It was so nice to be able to see everyone.

We were happy our babysitter Catherine was able to join us.

Jaiden sporting his cute spiked hair cut.
Blowing out candles on a pirate ship cake Daddy Made.

We made it home to CA

2008-09-26T13:47:00.001-07:00

Thought I would give an update to how we are doing. We made it back to CA on Sept 16th. After two hours of helping Todd clear the living room of furniture and boxes the boys and I were rescued by my good friend Jennifer. We spent the week in Paradise CA playing with her 3 kids. The boys loved her large back yard and lots of play equipment. We have pulled out all the carpet in the house, It smells so much better now, and are having a new air/heating unit installed next week. We are still trying to agree on carpet but hope to get that picked out and installed soon. Ryan's birthday was on Sept 24th. We had a nice dinner and then went to 31 flavors for ice cream. We are celebrating both the boys birthday's with family and friends Sat. Look back for pictures. Not too much else to report other than I miss Pendleton Dearly. I look forward to a visit in March of o9.

Ryan and Jaiden playing with Owen, Emma and Nathan Ward at their house in Paradise CA.

We stopped by Crater Lake on the way home. It was so pretty! Ryan really liked telling Daddy how the volcano exploded and then filled up with water, after Mom had explained it to him. It was nice to get out of the car and walk around a little.

Round-Up Adventures!

2008-09-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

We have had a full schedule of Round-up activities and the weekend isn't even over yet. We enjoyed the Rodeo, BBQ and Happy Canyon show on Wen and a full day of Carnival on Thurs. The Boys loved the Ferris Wheel and the fun house. Papa and Grandma Nobriga bought them new cowboy hats and man do they look handsome! I will miss this town when we leave. It has such Character.

bumper cars

2008-09-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

This became the boys favorite thing to do on our back deck. They both would laugh so hard!

Pirate Party!

2008-09-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

We had a Awesome Birthday Party for Jaiden and Ryan with all their little friends here in Pendleton. The highlights were hunting for treasure and having pirate fights with foam swords. Jaiden especially loved walking around and saying "ARRAAGH! Pirate Captain!" Thank you to everyone for coming and helping us celebrate!

Fighting sleep

2008-08-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share something that has become a nightly routine at our house recently. Ryan has always gone to bed really well. We never had a difficult time with him getting out of bed or anything. Well recently he has been getting up, turning on his light and playing after we put him to bed. He is really quiet about it and we usually don't hear him, until we walk down the hall way 30-60 min after bed time to find him playing on the floor. Well the other night I checked on him before I got in bed and found him asleep on the floor. It was too funny that I had to take his picture. He had taken all his blankets off his bed so he could play with his cars on the mattress and eventually fell asleep on the floor.

New Websites

2008-08-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

So the past few days I have been addicted to searching for new crafting websites and ideas on the internet. And I have found some good ones. Make sure to check them out <------------------- One, called the Scrapbook Lounge where they have weekly crafting videos that you can have delivered right to your email box. Make sure to check them out!

Paper Bag Album

2008-08-20T15:45:00.001-07:00

This little paper bag album was another class I taught. It was so easy and so cute! I got the directions off of a youtube users site. www.youtube.com/users/angik08 It uses 5 brown paper lunch bags. You can also buy these bags in white from the store. I cut cardstock at 4.5 x 7 to use as the cards inside the paper bags. You can put 2+ in each bag so this little album can really hold a lot of pictures. I hope you try this album, it really has cute results.

Umatilla County Fair

2008-08-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great Day at the Umatilla County fair a couple weeks ago. It wasn't too hot and there were lots of things to do. I think Ryan's favorite was the bumper cars. He was just tall enough to ride with Mom and he thought this was cool! He steered a little but mainly enjoyed driving around and bumping into people.

Jaiden wasn't tall enough to go on the rides by himself so Daddy went with him on the balloon ride. Jaiden seemed to have fun, but tipped over a couple times as it was spinning.

Ryan and Jaiden both liked petting the animals. They would bend down and say hi.

Ryan had so much fun on the roller coaster. He is still talking about it. Here he saw other kids putting their hands up, so he did too.

Rose Card

2008-08-09T08:42:00.003-07:00

Creative Memories came out a great paisley shape maker. This card was an idea that came from the Paisley Shape maker section of the Creative Memories project center. I love all Creative Memories shape makers but I think this one is my favorite. The paisley can be made into so many different things. (angel wings, flower petals, lion manes)

What a big boy!

2008-08-09T08:06:00.000-07:00

Jaiden will be 2 in a month and Todd and I decided it was time for him to move out of his crib before he learned to climb out and hurt himself. So last monday we took his mattress out of his crib and placed it on the floor. The first couple nights we had to redirect him to his bed when he wandered off, and occasionally we hear him playing with toys instead of sleeping but for the most part he has done really well. He is such a big boy! Time to buy a big boy bed!

Explosion Box

2008-08-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

I made this box for a workshop I taught at my house. I found the directions in the Creative Memories project center on www.creativememories.com . The only change I made in the directions was in the lid. We found that if you score the lid at the distance they say to, then the lid doesn't fit, but if you score the lid at 1/4" less than the directions say, than the lid fits well. It can hold up to 10 photos. Everyone who has seen this box has really liked it and it looks great on a table of shelf. I found the directions for the bow on top on Youtube. It was a easy process and am excited to try this technique on packages during the holidays. I am really happy at how this project came out. I would give this project a difficulty rating of Medium.

explosion Box

2008-08-07T17:23:00.000-07:00