Christmas Day

Eddie LOVES Thomas the Train. He was SO excited about his Thomas Duplo set. He couldn't look up for a picture.

Jade and Josh's reactions to their presents were the best.

(this is a certificate for art lessons)

Even Potter loves his gift. Poor rejected frog toy is face down and lonely.

We went and visited Bill's sister, Beckie. Jade and Carlie are 6 mo apart. Such cuties.

Eddie looks like he has evil plans while baby Zane is eating a toy.

Beckie is so beautiful, you can see where Carlie gets her gorgeous eyes, (and the Danielson dimples).

It was a wonderful Christmas day with family. Gifts, food, games, relax time, etc. (I am grateful divorce doesn't mean you're not a family, you're just not a "traditional" one. We are all still family and friends.)

I'm looking forward to this year, it's going to be a good year. It doesn't matter the technical details, friends and family are everything. :)

Happy New Year!

Lovely times

I am beginning to think I am either a very unattentive mother, or I need to ban this kid from pens.

An absolutely wonderful visit from Bill, was just what the kids needed, and exactly what they got.

I have mentioned before, how Eddie adores his grandpa. This is a great example of why. (running around playing "hide and seek" with blankets on their heads, endless "airplane rides", and attic exploration might also help)

Eddie sometimes struggles with sharing playtime with grandpa. He let Josh have about 2 jabs, and then tried to pull the gloves off for his turn.

My sweet little grandmother was visiting, and we were able to get a "4 generation" line of women.

Yes, I actually went to the Ward X-Mas Party.

And it was actually fun.

The kids joined right in with the activities, and sang with the youth.
Eddie LOVED being on stage, typical last born. The entertainer. He stood there trying to sing and madly waving at me for most of the song. He lowered his hand RIGHT before I took this shot. darn. it was so cute.

Eddie has this thing for grandpa. He absolutely ADORES him. He wanted to be near grandpa the whole time. Occasionally while I was talking with friends, I would hear this little voice yelling above the chatter as he wove through the tables, "GWANDPA!...... GWANDPA WHERE ARE YOU!!!....GWANDPA!!!.........OH! Dere you are gwandpa...I found you!"

Class Christmas Parties

Both kids have teachers on their last year. Wonderful, loving, wise, patient teachers. I couldn't have asked for more.
Jade's teacher knows EXACTLY what Jade is dealing with in her life, having gone through quite similar situations in her own life and daughters. She is an angel and has been a tremendous support for Jade.
The girls in her class are acting "bored"

Now "happy". (I LOVE when Jade smiles with her braces.....metal mouth. hehe, cute)

AAAND the rest of her class......yeah....all boys.

Josh giving his ultra Joshy-smile and enjoying his decorated cookie.

I love working in the classroom, it's fun to be near my kids, even if I could NEVER have the patience to teach younger grades day in and day out, all day long. (If I teach, I want to teach college or high school art) It's fun to help his teacher though. :)
Another Joshy-smile. I love this kid.

His wonderful teacher. She is amazing. She puts SO much effort into lots of extra stuff, I just love that Josh has her for 1st grade. He does too.

My daily sunshine

I love being around this little guy ALLLLLL day. He is every bit of a little monkey like his brother at this age. Although he is much more verbal with MUCH more of an attitude.

He is about to be a dinosaur. I only caught a good shot of the start. But he is so cute.
He has a chopped hair cut, I need my mom to fix it. At least his head doesn't look so big with fluffy hair like before.

I was cleaning out his toys today, and this is what he did when I thought he was watching a movie.

He is so proud of himself. That's my boy! I can't believe he is going to be 3 in March. Time is flying!

(Jade is going to be 13 next year! yikes!)

House pics, "before" & "in-progress"

Not the best virtual tour, but a start, if it doesn't give you a headache with jumping from room to room. :)

So, on with the tour....
This is a LONG multi-purpose room with the kitchen. A waste of space if you ask me, since there is already an entry/living room that can be used for entertainment. My mom and I came up with a better use of this space.....it fits my needs. :)

We made a sort of divider so I have a "craft room" in the back by the windows.
I LOVE this side of the wall. I brought over my favorite cabinets from my basement studio, and they work fantastic as office storage. The "media" area will have cabinet doors and converted into a storage closet. Still need to put up shelves and stuff, but the kids and I enjoy having the homework table/computer, etc, space.

(I'm testing out a blue color to repaint my table, just so you know why I have one blue leg ;)

I love my kitchen too. It's so open.

ALL the cabinet doors from the entire house are at my parents, getting repainted or varnished.

I feel very "exposed".

Doesn't Eddie looks so cute and dangerous with pens!

I picked a pale grey for my kitchen. I want to keep white walls and neutral background for the future art I'll make in classes. (I'm going back to college for an art degree)

It's a bit cluttered, I'm still unpacking and arranging. :)

This is the narrow front room right when you walk in.

The open loft we enclosed to make Eddie's room. And we added a "pillow" closet off the stairs.

It's coming along. I recently borrowed a TV from a friend. *Thank You Jessica!* (saving up for a TV to replace the mirror, and build bookshelves around it)

The kids love their tiny "hide out" under the stairs. :) The tape marks where a tile walkway is going.

The front door and window.

Yeah, it's still cluttered with boxes.......these things always take more time than you like. :)

My stained glass panel from my old kitchen fits, kind of, over the high entry window. It's really fun during the day to see the light coming through, and then at night from the outside.

this is the view from my bedroom balcony before my dad took out some of the trees. So many trees have to come out because of several years with water turned off, the roots have all come up. Yards will get attention next year. Anyone who knows my dad, knows he is excited about a "blank canvas" for yard creation.

In a few years, we will build a ceramic studio in this corner. It's the main reason we picked this house, the corner space in the backyard for a future studio. I just need to get through school so I know exactly what I'm going to do as an artist/teacher.

The WAY too big tree in front of the house. It was the first tree to go.

You can kind of see my stained glass through the top window, kind of. We will plant more appropriate-sized trees in the spring. :)

Being me, I recycled lots of paint, mixing what I had to come up with colors for the smaller rooms in the house and the front door. I mixed ALL the outdoor paint I had, and came up with a muddy, reddish, black/brown. :) It works. I love to recycle!

So that's it for now. I just try to fit in housework through the week while I run around with kids, appointments, sorting life, and deal with the endless stream of colds and flu. I'm feeling pretty happy with the place and SO blessed to be here! Living a mile or so from an engineer father and organization-queen mother, definitely has MAJOR perks. I don't know what I would do without them!

We love living here, love the neighborhood, and it's starting to feel like home. A permanent home. FINALLY!

family catch-up!

These are a bit out of order.

This last visit to Utah for Thanksgiving. We spent time with Bill, his family, and a few close neighbors. It was a short and sweet trip.
I forgot to grab the camera for most of the trip, except on the drive back. I stopped and let the kids crunch around on some salt flats.

Potter was such a good doggie, we love him so much!

Right before the kid's school Christmas program. They reminded me they really DO love each other.

kids LOVE baby Lucas!!! (and auntie Lindsay AND uncle Enos...really)

Lucas just looks worried. poor Lucas.

Bill came for a visit and took us out for dinner. It's nice when we can all spend peaceful time together, he is a great dad and friend. :)