29 Things to Accomplish in 2009

Go to the Tulip Festival in April
Take a Sewing Class or 2 or 3
Check out a Medical Terminology book from the Library
and read it
Get rid of the roll on my tummy
Teach Miss M to tie her shoes
Toilet Train Mr. M
Make a skirt or dress out of neckties for Miss M
Completely Organize my life
Never let a week pass w/o FHE
Never let a month pass w/o attending the temple
Talk to my siblings at least once a week
Go camping; REAL camping
Take a hike (HA HA)
Volunteer at the kids school
Finish a month with no unfinished projects
Erase the word fashionable late from my vocabulary
Reconstruct/Repurpose a shirt
Reconstruct/Repurpose a pair of pants
Workout at least 4 times a week
Make Mr. M a signing book
Plan a vacation for just my husband, kids and I
Take a Sign language class
Grow a garden
Show Mr. and Miss M how to make a green house out of a pop bottle
Go to a spa; I’ve never been to one
Plan and Execute a huge 30th Birthday bash for the husband
Plan and Execute a graduation party for Mr. M
Watch my sis play volleyball

Some will take me all year other will not but I am very excited for a new year!!

Happy Belated Christmas

These are my silly kids!! Yes they are always hamming it up! I'm not exactly sure what Miss M is doing just being cute (I guess) but Mr. M just opened a present with a car in it! He was very excited!!

I went to the Scrapbook Expo...

this weekend and saw way too much stuff that was so very cute!!! It was so fun to see all the new things they have since it has been so long since I have done any kind of scrapbooking. I saw lots of fun projects and loads of paper that made me think, "man that would make a great blog background"! Curly Q had a great time doing a few "make & takes" while I was running after the Racecar Driver. At then end of the Expo my craft bug was revuvinated and ready to spew forth creativity!! This is how it landed...

This is the make & take Curly Q made!

This is the scraplifted "Button wreath on a canvas" that I saw at one of the booths. I have wanted to do a Christmas something for a long time that had red and light blue together! This was PERFECT!!!

Let's see - What have we been up to...

Ben had his 10 year High school reunion. It was a lot of fun to meet some of the people Ben used to run around with. Also at the Homecoming Football game we went to as part of the occasion there was a junior on the football team who has an "Extra C". It was completely wonderful to see the respect the other players gave this young man. He wears a jersey but doesn't go out on the field unless it is for timeouts and then he takes every one some water and helps giving pep talks. Not only that but he was also elected to the Junior homecoming court. What an inspiration.

Halloween came. Madi was a superhero while the rest of us were Superheros adorned in our secret identity clothing. Marshall wanted to part in were the Buzz lightyear costume a good friend let us borrow. I couldn't even get him in it long enough for picture. And speaking of pictures I only got a picture of Madi's cape flapping in the wind as she and her cousin were trunk-r-treating.

I had a birthday!! WOOHOO!! The BIG 25!!! Sometimes I don't feel like I've been around for that long. Other times like right now because I am sicker than I ever remember being I feel way to old; "where has time really gone". Well, 25 down and life is still good. So lets bring on another 25!!!

Silly Childhood Obsessions

Madilynn
Peppermint Soup -This water with peppermints stirred into it.

Stamp line - Everyone stands in a line and gets a stamp. She talks about it almost every day.

Apple Seeds - Not kidding every time I cut an apple she want the seeds so she can grow them.

Maracas - I have no idea. She just loves them.

Making houses - She loves to make houses out any thing for just about any thing. Every time it is a different doll or imaginary pet.

Making scary noises - She loves to make scary hissing noises to scary away the wildlife. Mostly racoons.

Marshall
Hoodies - Hoodies make him feel safe. I had to go buy a bunch of hoodies becuase the only way I can get him out of a dirty one is to put a clean one right back on.

Buzz Lightyear - He loves loves loves Buzz. End of story!

Putting Stickers on Uncle Chuckie's Missionary Calander - One day I found him standing on top of a bar stool holding on to the frindge for dear life yelling and pointing to put some stickers of the calander. He knows no fear.

Yoga Ball - He loves to grandpa yoga ball out of his room and roll the things all over the house. Almost everyday it is in a new spot.

Closing Doors - The kids is OCD about doors. Sometimes when I'm holding him if he wants to close the door bad enough he will grab on the the door jam as we're walking thru the door. And

he holds on until I say okay you can close the door. Who does that?!?!?!

Throwing his cars down the stairs - I'm sure other kids love to do this too. But he's almost 3 I thought he would be tired of that thrill by now.

I think it is so funny how little kids gain their own likes and personalities. It's fun to watch them evolve in to quirky little people. Sometimes I get tired of the bowls of pink peppermint soup or tripping over the gigantic yogo ball that is in the middle of a dark room but in the end I just shake my head and laugh!

The best Carmel Corn EVER!!!

1 cube of Butter
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 to 3/4 bag of Marshmellows
2 bags of Popcorn

Pop the Corn. Seperate the Popcorn from the seeds and put in a big mixing bowl. Put Sugar and Butter in a small pot and stir until melted over Med to Med Lo heat. When goo starts to bubble add marshmellows and stir until melted and gooey. Pour over popcorn and stir, stir, stir until the popcorn is coated.

I got this reciepe from my Stepdad's Brother and its soooo good!!

Three things I love about...

Ben

1) His boyish laugh and charm

2) His stinning blue eyes he passed on to Marshall

3) His strength and dedication

4) His love for his family

Madilynn

1) Her curly hair she wouldn't be Madi w/o it

2) Her enchanting spirit

3) Her humor and whit

4) Her love for her brother and Dad

(she does think I'm pretty cool too - I think?)

Marshall

1) His smile and captivating eyes

2) His contagious spirit

3) His courage

4) His love for Buzz Lightyear

Myself

1) My easy going nature

2) My relationships with my family anf friends

3) My ability to redo leftovers

4) My eagerness to learn

Well is turned in to 4 things because it was really hard to narrow the list down to 4; 3 things was just not doable. I also had to add in Myself. Right now I am on a journey to liking myself more and focusing on my good qualities while still improving in certain areas like being punctual. Sometimes I get down on myself because I get so caught up the things I am not doing (like the kids only getting 4 servings of veggies in a day) that I forget to give a little pat on the back for all the things I do.

So I want everyone to give themselves a little pat on the back. Look at all the amazing things you accomplish everyday.

Apple Fest 2008

Every Fall we pick apples with my dad. We then use the old cider press Ben and his dad restored to make apple cider. What ever apples we have left we make applesauce with. This last weekend was the picking of the apples!
Marshall loved picking apples. He didn't just want to put them in the box. He wanted to pull them off the tree. Most especially the ones that were out of his reach. So I got my work out lifting Marshall up to pick apples.Madilynn and her cousin Zoe had more fun laughing at each other than doing anything else. Those two are so crazy!

The most memorable event of Apple Fest 2008 goes to the dead skunk carcuss hanging from one of the apple trees. We most certainly did not pick any apples from that tree. Katrina really wanted to get a picture by it but I couldn't bring myself to even go down that row of trees. So my next canning adventure will be apples. I think I'm going to attempt making some kind of special applesauce like cherry applesauce or maybe blackberry. Who knows maybe I'm just being lofty.

Buddy Walk 2008

Buddy walking agian. This year the weather was beautiful and we made it for the prewalk activities. It was so fun to go and see all the wonderful people there. I have never seen such cute little Down Syndrome kids. During some of our walk there was a young DS boy and girl in front of us holding hands while they walked and had a great conversation. It is so wonderful to go and see how loved and supported these people are. This is Marshall's third Fall being with us and you would think by now I would be used to seeing such wonderful spirits and be able to not get over come by it. But truth is I don't think I ever will. I am so lucky I get to be a part of this. I get to be part of a people who are so dear and sweet and innocent. It really is a wonderful calling.

Thank you Tina and Blake for coming. I really appreciate the love you have for Marshall. Especially you Blake. Marshall thinks you are one cool guy.

I invite all of you to mark your calanders for the next buddy walk. First Sunday in October.

How Super!!!

It's a bird.... It's a Plane.... No it's Super Madi! For a long time Madilynn said she wanted to be a fairy. Well then She changed her mind when we got to Joann's. She wanted to be something scarey but when she saw the super hero costume her mind was made up.

Marshall wanted in on the action. So he got a painted on mask too. Madilynn says she needs a sidekick. Marshall will be one cute little super too.

Trick or Treat

MY latest art project. When I went to visit my sis her friend had brought over some vinyl. I finally made it around to doing some thing with it.

What an Obsession!

Ben's mom has this book called the "The Amazing Apple Book". It's, well, all about apples. On one page it gives instructions (complete with pictures) on how to make a head for a doll out of a shrivelled apple. Really its a shrucken apple head. She had been asking me about it for really weeks. Any time I cut up an apple for her she would run and get the book and ask if we could make it. So I finally gave in. It's been in the spare room shrinking and yesterday when Madilynn checked on it, it creeped her out. Now she wants me to cut it down. Thank you Madilynn. I will do it with pleasure.

October is National Down Syndrome Month

Just as the title states October is National Down Syndrome Month. A little known fact maybe because October is also National Breast cancer Awareness Month; an equally important topic. There are lots of things for everyone to get involve with and in most areas it is kicked off with a Buddy Walk(for DS support). In our area there is the Puget Sound Buddy Walk and in South Eastern WA there is the Tri-City Buddy Walk. There is a link for the Down Syndrome Assc. of the Mid Columbia in the sidebar. For us on the dark side; you can go to Pugetsoundbuddywalk.com and find info there. For those of you in other parts of the country you can go to the National DS Society linked in the sidebar.If you can - get involved it's tons of fun. Even in the rain.

Sweet Pumpkins!!!

The kids have been a little sick lately and so I've been busy with them. So while they were sleeping today instead of doing dishes or laundry I did something else. I made a glitter pumpkin. My very own Cinderella glitter pumpkin.

A New Canning Experience

This last week, with the help of my sis-n-laws, I tried my hand at canning. I've never canned really. I've been present every year for Applefest. But my parents have always done the actual canning. So this was my first real attempt. The fruits of our labors was 30 QT. jars of peaches that are so good and about 78 pint jars of salsa. And we only had 1 broken jar. SWEET! I really want to try some out jam making. So that will may be my next canning adventure.

Pics from our road trip!

Fun Times at Sun Lakes