Family Pictures!

Santa brought Dale a tripod and remote for his camera so we can take more family pictures! We took these after church on Sunday.

Mommy and B modeling for the camera. I'm wearing my new ankle boots! Thanks Santa (aka my present to myself).

Dale's Gettin' Crafty Too!

I saw these two end tables at a garage sale a few months ago (no before picture, sorry), and we finally had a chance to get working on them! Dale and his brother primed them during Thanksgiving, and Dale painted and bought new glass for them this past week.

These tables were $5 each! One had glass already for it, but it had beveled edges, which I didn't like and the other one had none- hence the new glass. And they were just plane jane stained.

I liked the detail on the legs and this scroll-y applique. I think the black paint really lets the details stand out.

Detail of the legs. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to leave it as is, or distress them a little bit. But I am in love with my two new end tables! I'll get a picture of it in our living room soon! Just got the get the Christmas tree out of the way first!

And since Brighton is too short for her pedals on the trike, Dale crafted some new pedals for her!

Christmas 2009

Christmas day! What a fun day. We missed not having family to celebrate with, but we sure got some good stuff and enjoyed spending time together. These are just a few of my favorite shots from the day:

Santa brought Brighton a Radio Flyer Tricycle. She's just a tad too short for it. She was getting frustrated that she couldn't steer or make it go by herself, so my favorite quote from her that morning was her getting angry and running off saying, "I don't like it!"

She got to open her own presents this year too! I love the action shot of the paper being forcefully ripped away.

Mason doesn't know why he's so happy, but he is!

Brighton got creative with her present opening.

Dale got me a ridiculously large tin of bag balm. I use this as lip gloss, so this is like a 5 year supply.

Dale is a little excited about his favorite candies!

Dale being silly opening his gift.

Brighton got to play with her tricycle most of the day in some nice sunny weather (and a return of the hat and gloves).

There's plenty more photos that Dale uploaded to an album so check it out!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Just some shots around the house on Christmas Eve.

Our pretty tree. I wish we could keep it up all year and not be considered creepy.

W e got B a Santa hat and some gloves at the dollar store. She hasn't taken them off since we bought them. She even slept in them.

Since we weren't traveling this year for Christmas, we finally hung lights on our house! Dale didn't want to spend all the time hanging them to only enjoy them for two weeks. Not this year! We were very festive.

You can see little Brighton sitting on the front step (with her gloves still on).

Visit With Santa

We thought this year would be different. We talked with B about Santa, she was excited to get new toys from him and hang her stocking for some candy. But when it came time to sit on the old guy's lap, she was terrified.

Mason did a great job though.

Photo courtesy of Chad Schurtz at our ward Christmas party.

Making Pizza

We had some fun snapping pictures of the little miss. This one is my favorite of her!

And Dale took some of her helping me make pizza. She loves to smash out the dough and put on the cheese and pepperoni.

And we decided to do a few olives too. What kid doesn't love to put olives on their fingers? I still love it.

Christmas Gift

I was invited to a Christmas brunch with just a few girlfriends. We did a lot of visiting and a little gift exchange. I made this little ornament for my secret person just like I made the others. I thought Dale had gotten a better picture of it, but apparently not. This picture doesn't do it justice!

I used Amy Butler scrapbook paper (can't get the fabric, I'll get the paper!) and it was a fun floral print- anyone who knows Amy Butler knows that all her prints are AMAZING! There's rhinestones and a feathery red ribbon to hang it from. I really wish you could see how cute it is, so cute I almost kept it for myself...

Birthday Party

We went to a birthday party a few weeks ago at a Gymboree party place. Brighton had tons of fun! We didn't get too many pictures because the camera battery died. We were a little unprepared. :)

All the kids bounced on a big stuffed tube to the song "The Wheels on the Bus" which just so happens to be one of Brighton's favorite songs. You can see she's having a great time (second from the right).

I just held Mason all night. Yay.

Having fun climbing all over stuff!

Last year we went to a party for the same girl at the same place and Brighton was just a bit too little to really enjoy herself or climb on things. This year she knew exactly what to do.

Growing So Fast!

Sorry I've been AWOL. I am still alive (we're all still alive) and I'll be better about posting! There's plenty of stuff to follow!

Mason is growing so fast. It seems like we can't get pictures of him fast enough! He started rolling onto one side this past month and can roll from his stomach to his back. Dale doesn't believe me because he hasn't seen it happen yet, but I swear, he can!

Mason loves tummy time- a new world view. He picks his head up really well and has great control!

Weekend Crafts

I don't know where the burst of energy came from, but this weekend I had an overwhelming desire to avoid my husband (on the only two days he has off during the week) and my children (Dale is perfectly capable). I didn't spend hours, as this post may lead you to believe, but I did get some of my WIP's done and and some ideas that I've had floating around in my head for months (or, in some other projects' case, years). And these projects were very frugal!

Ok, I totally copied this one- not my original idea! But I saw this at an antique fair a little over a month ago. So many things were so beautiful, but I couldn't bring myself to buy anything knowing I could attempt to make it myself. So I made this ornament, and then made one of my own design: Project cost: $2 per ornament.
I also saw some gorgeous cake stands and pedestal bowls at the antique fair. So I went to the second hand store and found some pretty silver and porcelain to glue together!And here's one finished! I didn't get around to the other... maybe next weekend. Total project cost: $3.
And here's one that's been sitting around my craft room for a year! I bought this fabric because I just fell in love with the printed lace on it. I figured I'd make B a dress with it. Then I found a 2T onesie in her closet. Where did that come from? Project cost: maybe $10?

I cut the snaps off the onesie, and sewed a skirt to it. Then added a yo-yo and orange button. I loved this dress and B got a lot of compliments at church. And a few requests to spin :)

Here's the final project of the weekend. I bought this footstool over a year ago, when I recovered my wing back chair with the intention of covering it in the same fabric and putting them together. I got it home and the stool was just a little too small to match the chair. So it's been sitting in the garage for the last year.

It's hideous, right? Straight from the disco era, yellow vinyl and all. But there was potential.

Then I was at JoAnn's one random weekend that I had a really great coupon. Searching through the remnants (that's where I get most of my fabrics) I came across this gorgeous fabric- a full yard of it. And then I knew- it was meant for my footstool.

Waiting for the paint to dry was the longest part of this process! But check out that fabric's texture! Amazing!

I'm so SO happy with how it turned out. I decided to put it in B's room, since it kind of matches what we've got going on in there. Total cost of this project: less than $15. It was a fabric remant-50% off, and then I had a 50% off anything coupon bringing my fabric cost to $8 and some cents for $35 per yard fabric! The stool was $5 and I had everything else on hand.

And she loves it too. We call it her princess stool and she uses it to climb into her bed.

There are tons of other things that I started but haven't finished. What a great weekend! I've really missed sitting in my craft room for hours on end.