Better late than never

I love getting everyone's Christmas cards in the mail each year. I hang them up on the wall and am reminded of all the people that I love and miss on a daily basis. Usually, I'm just not really good about sending out ones of our own. But, believe it or not, I actually got Christmas cards ordered this year! Guess that's what happens when you have a code for for 50 free photo cards (thank you Pampers Gifts to Grow and Shutterfly). Anyway, check out the posts below to get a sneak preview for those of you that I'm sure are just anxiously awaiting them! ;-)

Photo Card

World Of Joy Christmas

Create beautiful photo Christmas cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Photo Card

Mod Merry Ornaments Christmas

Customize your Christmas cards this year at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away...

Originally, we weren't going to do costumes this year.  And then AJ decided we should, so I spent the better parts of three nights not sleeping and putting together the boys costumes.  Keegan insisted on being Obi-Wan Kenobi, Camden had to be Luke Skywalker and we were originally going to make Hunter an Ewok, but by day three of sewing my brain was fried and he ended up just being a little Padawan (that's a Jedi Apprentice to all you non-Star Wars obsessed people). :)
Overall, not bad...and the boys loved them which I guess is the most important thing of all.  Next year, we're buying them from the store, I swear. ;)

Brothers

Hunter, courtesy of both his brothers at this point (I'm pretty sure they were both taking this one but it might have just been Keegan).

Camden, as seen through Keegan's eyes (and the camera lens). I'm amazed at how great this picture is. And this is such a typical Camden pose...I couldn't have planned the shot any better.

Keegan, courtesy of his brother Camden. For a 4 1/2 year old and an almost 3 year old, I really do think this are pretty good pictures. I guess I should let the boys play with the camera more often...I'd probably have a whole lot more photos of all of them.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I will be the first to admit that I do not have a green thumb. I tend to kill any plant that crosses my path. Thankfully, I married someone who is VERY handy in many aspects of life, but especially in cultivating a garden. We planted super late last year, so our garden wasn't spectacular, although we did get quite the bumper crop of zucchini, which resulted in many, many loaves of zucchini bread, which we are still enjoying today. This year, we planned ahead and planted much earlier in the season, and AJ did a lot of research on soils and the right mixture to have, etc. and he worked really hard to get everything just right, and it has totally paid off.

We currently have 3 planter boxes full of growing things (AJ made 2 of the planter boxes a couple of years ago out of the railroad ties we already had in the yard and some bricks. See, I told you he was handy to have around!). Our pumpkin has almost completely taken over the garden box it was planted in, but we are super excited, because these are supposed to be the really big pumpkins! We're hoping to have a whole family of jack-o-lanterns come October. There's also asparagus and banana peppers planted in the same box, but the pumpkin is kind of taking over, as you can see.

The next box has our corn, carrots, radishes and something else that I'm forgetting (squash or zucchini, I believe). Our corn is pretty small this year, and we really don't know if we'll get anything but it's fun to watch it grow.

And then there is our last planter box...this was our original garden, and as you can see we have expanded it somewhat, but the plants are all growing magnificently. We have three kinds of tomatoes: roma, beef and cherry (which is pretty funny seeing as how AJ and I can't stand tomatoes for the most part). Then we have sugar peas and snap peas, green, yellow, red and orange bell peppers, more banana peppers and squash and strawberries. Sp far the only ones enjoying our strawberries are the slugs that get to them before we can pick them, but we are hoping to prevent that from happening in the near future.

We didn't get it planted this year, but our 4th planter box will hopefully be an herb garden next year full of mint, basil, oregano, cilantro, chives and who knows what else. I'm really excited to see if I can actually keep things alive and thriving enough to have my own herbs to use.

Our garden has also been an all-you-can-eat diner for the local skunks (thanks to the plentiful grubs found in the soil), and they were digging up the soil and displacing all of our seeds (we had some cantaloupe planted and more squash that ended up not making it thanks to the little stinkers) so AJ managed to fabricate an electric fence that we turned on at night to keep them from getting into the two main planter boxes and it has worked FANTASTICALLY!! Granted, I haven't liked the skunk smell that gets left behind when they get a "little" electric zap, but after three or four times, they haven't returned, and our garden is thriving!!

Now we just have to take care of those slugs...:)

And So It Begins...

I wasn't able to sign Keegan or Camden up for their gymnastics classes this time around, because they canceled the ones that were on the only days that worked with our schedule, and then we missed signing Keegan up for T-Ball this season (I know, I know...I'm a horrible parent). To be honest, I had no idea when baseball sign-ups were, seeing as how this if the first time EVER that I have even had to think about something like this, but apparently opening weekend was this past weekend, which means that sign-ups were probably weeks, maybe even months, ago. AJ was pretty disappointed, and I have to admit, at first so was I (but just a teensy bit).

And then, while perusing the internet late at night, I thought I would be proactive and check out when I could sign him up for some of the other sports that he is now finally old enough to participate in. I might have missed soccer signups (at least through the rec centers, it seems, but maybe not through AYSO), and we aren't pushing any of the kids to play football, and the boys don't seem to have a ton of interest in playing basketball...so I thought we were out of luck, and then I remembered a sport that someone had mentioned to us about 6 months ago, that is perfect for Keegan.

Enter
We have officially signed Keegan up to play water polo (or at least the non-contact version that introduces the sport to the kids) and now my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3:30 - 4:30 are no longer my own (although it's not like they ever really were...but it's even less so now). At least I get to spend the time hanging out by a pool, which is never a bad thing, right?

2011 Challenge #3

So here's the thing...I vaguely remember that at one point in my life I was actually thin. For anyone that has only known me in the past few years, they will probably find that statement really hard to believe, but I swear, that at one point in my life I actually looked good (ok, fine, pretty decent), and I really did fit into the size 2 jeans that are currently residing (read: collecting dust) at the bottom of my closet.

If you don't believe me, here's the proof:

See, my stomach was actually flat, my arms weren't flabby, and I didn't have a "muffin-top" that hung over the top of my jeans, and there was no double chin (and I was actually tan...but that's a whole other issue). Having 3 kids in a 3 1/2 year time frame (and gaining way more weight than I should have with Keegan and then not losing all of it before I had Camden and not being good about exercising before/during/after/ever) changed all of that (meaning my once thin body) for the worse.

However, this year is the year that I am changing that (beacause really, I am the only one who is to blame here and I am the only one who can change it...there is no magical weight-loss fairy who can zap me with her wand and magically give me back my 21-year-old body again, but oh if only there was one!). When I finally reach my goal, I will actually be able to look at myself in the mirror and recognize the person that is looking back at me. And believe me...actually losing the weight is going to be a daily challenge/struggle, but it's one that I am definitely up for (because honestly the almost daily query of when my next one is due, and if this one is actually a girl is getting a little old people).

So, here's to the new year...and a new, and thinner, me.

Now, who wants to tell me what's worked for them? :)

2011 Challenge #2

In keeping with challenging myself, I promised myself that I would try new things. I'm not great at sewing, by any means, but I try. I've just realized that I'm not a patient person when it comes to sewing, but I'm working on improving that.

I've made some blankets, and some things for the boys and even a few things for myself, but I wanted to try and make a quilt for a good friend of ours who works with AJ and who just recently had their first baby, a little girl. Only having boys so far, I was in love with all the pinks that I got to work with to make this quilt. It's a really simple pattern, and I just did a straight-line quilting on it (no stippling or any other pattern for me just yet), but I love the final result. Hopefully the recipients were just as happy with it.

It went together fairly quickly, and I only had to unpick a few rows toward the end when my impatience got the best of me (lesson learned, seriously). My fingers have never been so numb as they were after hand sewing the binding on, but I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished and think that it looks pretty decent (not that I'm trying to toot my own horn...I just want to make sure I remember how I felt about the whole process years down the road).

Now I just need to get working on quilt #2 so I don't lose my momentum...maybe, someday I'll get good enough that I can sell them and turn it into a little bit of a side business. :)

Bring It On 2011

So, I know that January is halfway over, and I realize that I'm a little late with posting about resolutions, but better late than never, right?

I've decided that 2011 is going to be the year for stepping outside of my comfort zone. I'm trying to find that balance in life of who I am as a wife and a mother and as me. Sometimes I feel like the "me" part gets lost in all of the other stuff. That's not to say that I don't love being a wife and a mom, because I do. I LOVE this time in my life right now, but I don't want to wake up in 20 years and wonder who is staring back at me in the mirror, you know?

I didn't really make a lot of resolutions for the new year...I really just sort of made one really big one. I've resolved to challenge myself daily, whether it's to try new things, to not be afraid or to stop making excuses.

With that being said, my first challenge of the year came from my sister, Val. A while ago, last year, we had talked about running a 5K together. No big deal...just 3.1 miles. Easy, peasy, right? Except that we never managed to sign up for one and do it together and life got in the way and just kept right on going. And then came the challenge for this year...forget the 5K and let's go for a 1/2 marathon. That's right...13.1 miles. Further than I have ever run in my life at one time (and sometimes further than I have ever run in a week, and sometimes a month). I'm not a runner...I don't love it. It's hard to do and it's brutal to me and my body (and to be honest, my mind at times because it really gives me too much time to think and that's not always a good thing). For whatever inexplicable reason, I said "OK" and she held me to it...and we signed up for the SLC 1/2 Marathon on April 16th. And then we got Cynthia to sign up and run it with us and hang out with us in our insanity. Why? Because this is the year of no excuses. Of challenging myself every day (and trying to stick to any sort of training program with 3 kids is a daily challenge).

So, to those 13.1 miles, I say "bring it on". I will conquer you, and I will survive it (and maybe even run another one depending on how this one goes). Why not, right?