STARSTRUCK

Tyson and I were a little star struck when our new home teacher came over for the first time today.

Check out #13 here.

ONE MORE REASON I THINK MY KIDS ARE AWESOME

Santa put an i-tunes gift card in my stocking this past Christmas. I told the kids that I would get them each a song of their choice.

Corinne answered with no hesitation: Miley Cyrus's "The Climb".

Matthew's choice?

"Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran.

Total 80's awesomeness.

P.S. Allison is getting the theme song from "Never Ending Story". She loves to sing-a-long with it.

I HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN BIT BY THE CRAFTING BUG

Here's how my latest project turned out for the kids' bedrooms:







This is so much fun! (But I've only done two things and I am fresh out of ideas.) I guess I'll be taking a break for now!

Side note: Corinne is in love with her sign, Allison is clueless, and Matthew hates his. He does not like that his name is in red ("That is a Utah Utes color mom!"), and he doesn't like the "black" board. It is actually navy blue. And the colors were chosen to match his bedding. I guess you can't please everyone, and frankly, I don't care.

HOME VIDEO

This is a recent video of Allison and new things she has learned. If you are totally bored with home videos of toddlers, just skip this one! (I won't be offended.) :)

This is for the grandmas and grandpas who haven't seen Allie in awhile:



(Notice that I finally got a clip in her hair. Yay!)

LOOK AT ME, I'M CRAFTY!

**Disclaimer: I am actually not crafty AT ALL. That's why I am so proud of this little project!**

We bought Allison some new crib bedding almost a year ago, and I have wanted to hang the quilt ever since. I have had no luck finding cute clips for hanging quilts and I have looked EVERYWHERE. I have even scoured the internet, eBay, and catalogs. You name it, I have looked there.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and make them myself. I found a pack of 5 mini chip-clips at the dollar store (totally on accident; I was shopping for other stuff). These clips had a hole on the back which is exactly what I needed so I could hang them on a nail.

Anyway, I bought some wood flower cut-outs, circles for centers, and some paint. They still needed something, so I rummaged through my sewing kit and found a couple of old buttons about the same size. I painted those too, and VOILA!

Here's the finished look:







Now, if I could only get Allison to stop pulling the whole thing down when she goes to bed! I figure she'll get used to it soon. (Let's hope!)

OUR CHRISTMAS

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We enjoyed Christmas Eve with family for a great dinner, decorating sugar cookies, music, and reading the story of Christ's birth from the Bible.

Christmas day was just us at home and it was fantastic. Nice and relaxing. The kids were thrilled with all of their presents and we enjoyed just spending a relaxing day as a family.

Here are the highlights:


Our family on Christmas Eve


Tyson playing Christmas carols on his guitar while we all sang along.


our stockings ready for Santa to fill


Corinne and Matthew Christmas morning opening their last gift ... a Wii!!


Allison holding her new book, wearing her new hat (with mittens still attached) and riding her new car. (I couldn't get a good shot of her looking at me and not blinking! Oh well. Pretty funny, though.)


Our kids' annual picture in front of the tree wearing their jammies.

We are truly grateful for this great year we have had. Tyson has been blessed at work, we've all been blessed with a new home, Allison is in great health, and Corinne and Matthew are thriving in school. We are grateful for all of our blessings and for our wonderfully supportive family.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are blessed in the new year!

HOW CUTE IS THIS FACE??

Allison is 18 months old today. She has been our "busiest" toddler by far. She is constantly into EVERYTHING. I can't turn my back for a minute without her climbing on the table, emptying the garbage, or climbing up onto the bathroom counter and using everyone's toothbrushes! She is exhausting really. But, she is fun, learning new words everyday, and she is definitely cuddly and loves to give hugs and kisses. That makes it all worth it!

Look out nursery, here she comes!