Goodie Exchange #2

We are definitely spoiled this Christmas season with lots of yummy goodies! If you've never been to a goody exchange and would like to host one, this is what you do. Invite your friends over, let's say there's 8 of you. Each person makes 8 dozen of 1 kind of cookie. You meet up and everyone shares and goes home with a dozen of 8 different kinds of cookies. I participated in 2 exchanges this year and ended up with 24 types of treats! Now I'm going to make up plates to give to my neighbors, and the rest our family will enjoy on Christmas day.

For the first exchange I made Oatmeal Scotchies. Blogger's not letting me cut and paste for some reason, so click on the cookie title to link you to the recipe.

For the second exchange I made Pumpkin Cookies. If you make either one of these recipes let me know- I think they're so good!

Christmas Trilogy

I picked up The Christmas Hope from the library this week and got her read. Even though I guessed the end from the beginning, it was still a nice read. I also want to read the other Christmas stories by the same author. Maybe next year!

Goodies for my mind and tum- yum!

I'm behind, but only have time for a quick catch-up.


October's book- really cute. I had seen the animated and live-action movies, but it was sweet to read the real story.


November's book- undecided. I liked the positive female relationships between mothers and daughters, but it had too much creepy stuff in it for me to wholly love it.


December's book- waiting for it from the library. This was a sweet little Christmas story.

January's book- also waiting for it from the library, but this is JK Rowling's favorite book, so I'm really excited to read it! In some ways I loved this book, in other ways it made me mad. I don't like love triangles and I hate it when I finish a book but I still want more closure.

This is the book I got from our White Elephant exchange. I love the title and can't wait to dive in. This book is Trash with a capital T! After I read it, I threw it in my recycle bin because I didn't want to take up space in a landfill with it, but nobody should waste their brain on this story. I wish I didn't.

This is a book I bought for its title! I enjoy my own book club and cookie exchange, so we'll see if this book lives up to its name. This book wasn't as bad as the previous title, but again it reminded me why I usually read Juvenile or Fantasy fiction- fiction for adults always has to have some "adult" content in it that I really don't want to read.

All of the above treats are from goodie exchange #1. After goodie exchange #2 next Friday I'll post more pics and maybe recipes? I might be too busy eating to type though- ha ha!

Fine Art

I just ordered this "Yummy Rooster" from FineArtAmerica.com to hang in our kitchen. I L O V E it!! I can't wait for it to arrive!


I'm also going to attempt to paint this flower to hang in our family room, but I'll do it more red. Wish me luck!

Remember this?

This was a little sketch I did earlier in the year.


I finally painted it! It's 22 by 30 inches painted with acrylics. Now I just need to paint the frame so I can hang it in our playroom. We painted the playroom last month, but I'm still unpacking boxes, and sorting through stuff, so it may still be a while before the whole room is complete. I can't wait until it is done and then I'll post more pictures here.

Judge a Book by its Cover!

So, I haven't kept up on the books I've read this year and wanted to add them here since I gave up on Good Reads. Maybe one will peak your curiosity?


The Actor and the Housewife-
I'm not sure if I liked this book or not. I bawled, bawled, bawled my eyes out though. My friend Mary and I have been having our own mini book group discussion about it for the past couple of days. I can't wait to hear everyone else's thoughts about it next week.


Warbreaker-
This is by the author that will finish Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series. My brother sent Len an autographed copy of it. I wasn't sure I would like it since it said "Sci Fi" on the cover, but I really enjoyed it. I would label it as "Fantasy Fiction," but I'm not a publisher. Their alternate universe was very interesting. I would love to be Siri for a day!


Next to Mexico-
This is the cutest little book about the cutest little 6th grader with buck teeth. My friend Leslie lent it to me this summer and guess what? it's written by another girl I went to high school with. Isn't that so cool? Way to go Jenny!


Traditions- Creating Memories to Draw your Family Close
My friend Amanda told me about this book and I had to get it. It's chock full o' great ideas for the holidays and every day. Love it!


101 Expert Solutions for Scrapbooking-
I used to scrapbook. I thought I would do it forever. I miss it and hope to still do a little here and there. Once upon a time I entered Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame contest. I didn't win, but I collected all 9 special issues. Last year they didn't do a special issue, but made this publication instead. Since I like round numbers I bought it, but I'm done collecting now.


The Dragon Reborn-
Book 3 in "The Wheel of Time" series. I've got 8 more books to get through written by the original author and then we'll see how many books it takes for the new author to finish the story. I'm enjoying it though. Alternate universes are fun to visit!


Inkdeath-
I have the first 2 books in paperback, but I couldn't wait for this one. I checked out the hardcover from the kids' school in Taiwan. An interesting little trilogy, and I thought the Inkheart movie wasn't too bad either. Now I want to see The Thief Lord's movie version.


Rise of the Evening Star-
Fablehaven book 2. These books are kind of the opposite of Harry Potter- instead of having magical experiences during the school year, 2 siblings experience these adventures during the summer. I would like to visit Fablehaven too someday.


Grip of the Shadow Plague-
Fablehaven book 3. This series gets better and better with each book. They're fun little reads. I enjoy Juvenile Literature because they usually have interesting stories without all the unnecessary adult stuff.


Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary-
Fablehaven book 4. Again, I bought the previous books in paperback, but I don't want to wait to read this. Our local library doesn't have it yet either, but I can order it. I should go do that right now!

Our First Home!

This is it- our very first home sweet home!

Let's take a tour of the main floor:

the living room with the dining room behind it


the kitchen


the dinette area in the kitchen


the family room

the powder bathroom.

Now let's tour upstairs:

the master bedroom

the ensuite bathroom

Kaleb's room

Noe's room

Gavin & Teague's room

the kids' bathroom.

Now let's look at the basement:

the rec room is "L" shaped, so this side will be the play room for the kids and all their toys

this side will be the play room for the grown-ups with my craft stash and where Len can write his novel.

And here's the backyard:

we hope to fit a swingset back here, but if it doesn't fit next summer we may remove the deck.

*I can't believe this home is ours! I'm so excited to move in and stamp our personality on it!

Anniversary and Status Change

Today is this blog's one year anniversary! Although, I didn't complete 52 projects this past year, I did complete some- so I count it as a success. I love to craft and still have tons of unfinished projects to complete, however I won't be posting weekly on here for a while. Tuesday I will have baby #4 in my arms and I will be busy taking care of him and the rest of my family. Soon we'll be moving half-way around the world again too. I will craft again though, and I will post my completed projects on here. Now that I'll have my first home I have a million more things on my list to do: painting, decorating, gardening, cooking, projects with the kids. I'm excited for all the upcoming plans!

Easter Inspiration

Next school year, I plan on having twice monthly activity days for my older kids with a few of their friends. Once a month we will do a "fun foods" class and then once a month we'll have an "arts & crafts" class. With all of the fun holidays and seasons it will be so fun! Here's some projects I already want to make with them.





These Easter Cake Pops are adorable and can be found at Bakerella.



This Easter candy dish is also super cute! Unfortunately, I could only find the picture on-line, but not the instructions. It looks easy enough though, just a small terra cotta pot with a larger draining dish, straw hat, felt ears, silk flowers, acrylic paint, and candy- voila!

The Best Creation

I haven't done any crafts for a while, but my body has been working overtime creating a new little body to house one of Heavenly Father's precious spirit children. I am honored and humbled at the amazing calling of "Mother" that I have. One year for Christmas my mom gave me a recipe book she had made with all of my favorite family recipes. On the very first page was a recipe for a "Daughter." Since I am now making a "Son," I wanted to share the recipe here:

Ingredients:
1 Year of Breastfeeding
3 Parenting Books
5 1/2 Bedtime Stories
17 Educational Toys
4 Reliable Babysitters
2 Important Talks
5 Sleepover Birthday Parties
18 Years of Education
377 Rides Home

Directions:
Mix ingredients. Let stand 18-21 years, opening bedroom door occasionally. Release. Hold breath. Results may vary!

Stir Crazy

This week has been LONG! I've been on house arrest and Gavin has been sick. So pretty much I've sat on the couch holding a toddler in one hand and occassionally a book in the other. I finished reading book 1 of "The Wheel of Time" and have started book 2 "The Great Hunt." I'm enjoying the story, but I'm about ready to pull all my hair out if I don't get out of the house soon!

Escape

This week has been extremely stressful (you can read more about it on my other blog), so I did a lot of escaping reality into literature.


I read "Fablehaven," book 1 in the series and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I can't wait to read books 2-4!


Ever since I've known Leonard (or at least since we've been married) he's wanted me to read "The Wheel of Time" series. However, the author had poor health and I was scared he would pass away before the series ended. I didn't want to start the story and not be able to finish it. Well, unfortunately the author did pass away in 2007 with the 12th and final volume unfinished. He did leave detailed notes on how the story is supposed to end though, and a new author, Brandon Sanderson will now take over where Robert Jordan left off. The volume is set to come out this year so I decided to go ahead and start the series now. I'm only 1/4 of the way in to book 1 "The Eye of the World," but I am really enjoying it too. I love reading good books!

2008 Edition

This week I have been busy working on our 2008 Blurb book of my blog, "This is REIL fun." I'm half-way done, so hopefully I can finish it next week and get it published!

5 x 5

Tomorrow is Kaleb and Noe's birthday, so this week I've been getting ready for that. I haven't really done anything creative for it though, but will post pics of it on my other blog later. Since I love all things media, I decided to do a little meme on here.

5 FAVORITE BOOKS:
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The Lord of the Rings
The Joy Luck Club
The Count of Monte Cristo
Pride and Prejudice

5 FAVORITE MAGAZINES:
Better Homes and Gardens
Woman's Day
Family Fun
Creating Keepsakes
Ensign

5 FAVORITE MOVIES:
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Ever After
Notting Hill
Life is Beautiful
It's a Wonderful Life

5 FAVORITE TV SHOWS:
American Idol
Jon & Kate plus 8
Project Runway
Lost
Monk

5 FAVORITE MUSIC ALBUMS:
U2- Achtung Baby
Sarah McLachlan- Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Morrissey- Bona Drag
Natasha Bedingfield- Pocketful of Sunshine
Killers- Hot Fuss

*This was actually hard to do, I have lots of favorites!

Only One or Two Years Later

The kids didn't have school on Monday, so we invited our friends Lauren & Minji over to play. Kaleb, Noe, and Gavin had fun playing with Minji while I taught Lauren the basics of scrapbooking. It inspired me to finally finish the above lay-out. I made the pages at a scrapbook class in February 2008, all I had to do was add the pictures and the little details. The pictures however are from February 2007! Can you tell I don't scrap very often anymore? I have a lot of catching up to do even though I don't scrap our snapshots anymore.

That's why I started blogging, so each year I could make a blurb book of our family history. Now I need to get over to my other blog and finish up 2008, so I can make a blurb book for last year!

Being the huge fan of Harry Potter that I am, I picked up "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" this week. It was a fun little read. Now I want to add "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," and "Quidditch Through the Ages" to my collection. I'll also be curious about the mini-prequel set to come out later on about an adventure James Potter and Sirius Black had together.