My Prayer Too for my House

Centerpiece (recreate)

This is my centerpiece. I had to use stuff I already had around the house, eventually I will be able to buy stuff specifically to create my centerpieces, I am excited for that day. But for now I am happy that I can enjoy this.

Oh the Possibilities!

I had this cork board and about 2 or 3 months ago I decided I wanted a Pinboard so I made this thing, I put it up on my wall, but as time went by I didn't pin anything on it except the two butterflies. Which is why they are so far to the right(I intended on putting more things on the board) Now I have Pinterest(if you haven't heard of you it you can google it. ) Which means I have this beautiful board ready for anything hanging in my bedroom. Oh the possibilities!! the nice thing is how much color it adds to my really plain bedroom right now! and I don't mind that it is empty. So we will see if I come up with some brilliant idea for it, but for now it is just a board with paper on it : )

Tickling the Kitty in the Book

Savannah sat herself up to the table with this book. She was flipping through the pages and then started 'tickling' the book. She was making the tickatickaticka sound that we make when we are tickling them and she was twiddling her fingers on the picture of the kitty. Hard to explain with words, but it was adorable!!

Re-Do-Two Problems, One Answer

I know these pieces look familiar because of my most recent centerpiece. {1}I came to the decision that although I really liked the individual parts of the centerpiece, I did not like how it all came together. That was my first problem that I was thinking about today. {2}My second problem came as I realized how annoying it was to not have a very good place to keep our scriptures and our hymn book. We use them everyday and it is kind of annoying to have them just sitting on the table all the time. I was thinking about these two things I wanted to fix this morning when I realized I still had a shelf that I have not put up wince our move. So I spray painted it black and ta da...a happy solution to both problems. and it took up some one my big empty space on that wall. It was really a solution for {3} problems!~

Now I just have to do another centerpiece...those pictures are coming soon! : )

How does Charity apply?

"We all have strengths and weaknesses.

We are here to learn from each other's strengths

and have charity towards all of our weaknesses."

Chrissy Gavin

I wrote this quote while I was on my mission in South Florida. I think this is an important aspect of charity in our lives, we are so quick to be upset with people because of what they do wrong or what they struggle with, and sometimes we need to have more charity for whatever they may be having a difficult time with. I know I hope others have charity and patience toward the mistakes and shortcomings I have.

How to Live Happy-Learn something you want to learn

GEOGRAPHY

In Junior High I took a Geography class. We had tests on all of the different continents to know all of the countries and their capitals. I didn't focus on it as much as I should have because I worked really hard on the Middle East and I memorized the capital of Saudi Arabia as Rliyahd instead of Riyahd(the correct version) and so I only got 99% on my test and I was mad so I didn't try as hard for the others. But I really wish I knew my geography better. So I decided I was going to relearn all the countries in the world. I am starting with Asia, and I want to know them where I have a blank map of Asia and can write in all the countries. I found maps and little tests on the internet for each group of land (I am not so much worried about the capitals right now)
This is my new goal! Wish me luck!!

This is my new challenge-If there is something you have always wanted to learn about, stop waiting! : ) make a study plan or plan out how you will learn it. It is a lot more fun when you are choosing what you want to learn.

By the way, did you know that Bhutan, Brunei and East Timor were all countries in Asia?! I didn't. But I do now! : )

Playtime, Frogs, and Giggling

For some reason Judah loves playing with his carseat but one time he pulled the carseat over covering all of him except his little legs were sticking out. It was funny but I didn't get a picture because he didn't think it was funny : )

He is so HAPPY! : )

Savannah is a fan of pens(she isn't as good with colored pencils or crayons because she doesn't push hard enough). After letting her play with the pens(which I know is not the best idea) and her notepad she had pen marks ALL OVER haha. She had them on her face on her neck on her legs. She had a great time!!





I was wearing my hat today because I had to drive Glenn to school to study for the LSAT and I hadn't got ready all the way, Savannah pulled the hat off my head and put it on hers! I love the picture above!!




I just wanted to get a video of Judah and what he is like at this age. I love that he bites on his finger, it is so cute, and he really does still leap instead of crawl. He looks like a little frog!

I was taking videos of the two of them this morning because I just want to capture this age for both of them and I am glad I did. Judah can get Savannah to laugh harder than anyone else! and this is the hardest I have ever heard her giggle.

Centerpiece 1 and 2

Sorry the lighting is bad in both...the top makes it look like the flowers and the frame are cool colors and the bottom part are warm colors but they are all warm...anyway I like how it turned out.

Originally I was going to do the blue, orange, and white gerber daisies, but the problem was that it didn't look all that great from the sides and it seemed a little boring. I would love to go to Tai Pan or Michael's and buy some more flowers and centerpiece pieces. But that will have to wait so I came up with the centerpiece above!

I tried it with the blue and with the orange but it just wasn't working for me.

Savannah and Judah Chronicles

I really like Savannah's little ponytails! She looks so cute!

Do you love the bummcrack shot? Lately these two have been inseparable! Whenever Judah wakes up from a nap Savannah always greets him by saying "Hi Ja" It is really cute!

I love how they do everything together now, they play together, eat together, giggle together. I love that they are such good friends!

Judah is my new DVD Terror! He likes to sit up in front of the tv stand and pull all of them out. Of course right after Savannah has pretty much grown out of that stage : )

Judah really is getting into EVERYTHING now! He just smiles at me and thinks he is going to get away with anything!

I think Savannah learned a new word from nursery. She keeps saying "Go Away" to anyone or anything in her way(like the big ball that she wanted moved, she told that to go away too!) Not a fan of that phrase. But I am happy that she is starting to talk more.

Savannah loves climbing up on chairs now, especially when Judah is in the high chair she thinks it is a ton of fun to get up there and eat with him.

Never Feel Inferior

“You need never feel inferior.

You need never feel that you were

born without talents or without

opportunities to give them expression.

Cultivate whatever talents you have

and they will grow and refine and

become an expression of your

true self appreciated by others.”

Gordon B. Hinckley

One Bright Shining Hope pg 55

I really love this quote! In a world where we as women are constantly battling self confidence, it reminds me God doesn't want us to feel that way and it breaks His heart that we put ourselves down constantly when He knows just how amazing we are and how we can become!

New Calling

I just got called to be the Gospel Doctrine Teacher, which is the Sunday School class for adults. I had this calling in a singles ward right after my mission, I was much better prepared back then. And it was teaching the Book of Mormon which is a lot of fun. Teaching the New Testament will be a little harder for me.

It is funny too because my sister Kim is now the Primary Chorister which she was in a previous ward not very long ago, and my sister-in-law Lisa was just called to be in the Young Womens with the Beehives which she had done not so long ago. We are all revisiting a previous calling! Fun!

Diets and Duress

I am letting it all out there I suppose....
Because I had two pregnancies 6 weeks apart, I gained a huge amount of weight! Like 83 lbs. Yes that is REALLY a lot of extra weight. When I had Judah only 12 lbs came off, which was a little disheartening. I think weight is such a sensitive subject and with women especially it causes so many problems. And we all have our individual struggles... But I have found that it really does affect my confidence, which I usually have a pretty strong amount of but I find myself saying stupid things all the time about it, in ways of putting myself down because inside I feel like- if I say it, it hurts less than if I know you are thinking it anyway.
It has been 7 months and 1 week since I had Judah and I have lost 53 lbs. I only have 30 to go. I am already starting to feel like myself again, which makes me really excited! But it really has been difficult. I have been on a very strict diet lately and I DREAM about breaking the diet and eating chocolates and brownies and every kind of junk food that you can imagine. It is funny because there is a Dairy Queen commercial on right now and every time(I am not exaggerating) it comes on I holler "noooo...not the Nutter Butter Milk Shake"
I have also started a list of all the foods I want to eat when I can start putting normal foods on the menu again.
Here are a few of them

Homemade Ice Cream Cake
Pizza(of course)
Homemade Fudge
Chocolate Chip Cookies
California Tart Frozen Yogurt with Gummy Bears(yes I am still a little kid)
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Pot Roast and Mashed Potatoes
Fresh Baked Rolls with Cinnamon Honey Butter(like the kind at Texas Roadhouse)
Double Stuffed Oreos and Milk
Homemade Cream Puffs Dipped in Chocolate
and
Raisin Bran-(yeah weird)



If that wasn't enough I made a notebook and decorated it and inside are all the recipes I want to try out for the holiday season this year! I think I might be addicted to sugar....It is amazing how we can become so use to certain foods. One of my mission companions reminded me of how I used to eat spoonfuls of cookie dough for breakfast every morning.(and what is funny I was the skinniest I ever been(except in one area I gained a little, but I lost it all when I transferred out of that area, and I maintained that weight until I got pregnant!) My body just knows how to use sugar really well.....Until I have babies and have to gain weight. I am hoping to make some changes so that I don't end up gaining so much next time. and we plan on not having two babies that close together again : ) Being overweight just makes me more tired more often and I don't feel all that great about myself(I realize that what we are is not based on what we look like, but I think that when we are our best selves on the INSIDE and the OUTSIDE it makes a good combination)
I would like to be back to how I like myself to be. And it is in view. Wish me luck!
(I hope you guys read this more as a funny post than anything else, it is so much harder to convey tone for me when writing.)
I guess what I want to leave most of all is to never give up on anything you want to do! If you keep trying and trying you will get there but it may take some pain and a little sacrifice...

The Next Big Drummer

I totally forgot to post these way back in May...we had just woken up(hence her messy hair) and I was getting more things packed and Savannah was sitting on the bed and started playing drums on part of our food storage. She was having a good time!

Discovering Sticky

I am so lucky I caught her doing this! She is so funny!

To learn from....

My Sister-In-Law, Lisa comes up with THE cutest ideas to do with her little daughter Audrey(who is 3 years old) Recently they decided to pick a "person of the week" from all of their family and do something cute for them. Last week Audrey drew Savannah's name out of the bowl. She got a couple balloons, a drawing by Audrey, and a candy bar. There was a card that went with it and inside the balloons were little pieces of paper rolled up...

Card-
Robbins Dictionary
Savannah
Sa-van-nah-
one who is inflated with love(because she had given her balloons)

related words:
funny, happy, beautiful, smart

Inside one balloon-Audrey's favorite things about Savannah

"I share books" meaning Audrey likes to share books with Savannah
"I like smiling at her"
"I like her smile"
"She laughs at me"
and a scribble one which is probably a special secret between Audrey and Savannah

Inside the other balloon-Lisa's favorite things about Savannah

"I love how smart you already are. You will definitely have a bright future ahead of you."
"You are so beautiful Savannah"
"I love her cute personality"
"I love how much you like attention"
"I hope all your dreams come true"

I know that Savannah was so excited for this little gift! She definitely loves the candy bar I am letting her eat a little at a time. and now she will have this to remember forever. Thank you Audrey and Lisa! You are so thoughtful and loving!