Craitlyn

Christmas Day

2012-01-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

After staying up late on Christmas Eve, we were able to sleep in until about 8 on Christmas morning. We got the kids ready and went out to the living room to see what Santa had left. Mason and Charlie found their new play kitchen, as well as some other various gifts from family. We couldn't decide whether or not the kitchen would be from Santa, so when Mason asked if Mommy had made it, we told him the truth. ~~Mommy~~ Santa Claus kind of screwed up this year and didn't plan very well for stocking stuffers. I guess ~~she~~ he was too busy working on other things. ;) Mason got some toy cars from the movie, Cars 2, that he can use to play games with on the iPad, and Charlie got a pair of shoes. Daddy got a new wallet personally designed by Kaity, and crafted by the talented Quinn Peterson from the Etsy store QP Collections, and Kaity got a few small goodies for her camera (macro ring, remote, and a replacement lens cap).

After we opened all the gifts, Craig made us all omelette scrambles (scrambled eggs with all the usual omelette add-ins) with a side of biscuits and gravy and orange juice. Elaine and I spent the rest of the morning working on some Christmas puzzles we had gotten. The boys played with their new toys, and Craig lounged around and read a book. Later we took showers and got ready to head back up to Grandma Becky's and Grandpa Roark's for dinner, and the phone call with Elder Janis in Mexico.

After dinner we celebrated Rebecca's birthday with some cake and presents!

It was a wonderful, calm Christmas!

Side Story:

A few days before Christmas, during the Girsberger Christmas get together, Mason was given a Toy Story Woody doll by some cousins. Mason loves the Toy Story movies and was just thrilled to finally have his own doll. On our way home from the get together, Mason told us that Santa Claus was going to bring him a Buzz Lightyear. This was the first time that he had requested something specific for Christmas. Craig and I just couldn't let the kid down. We looked around to see if there were still any available in local stores, but as to be expected, they were all sold out. So Santa Claus ended up making a mistake, and delivered a Buzz Lightyear to Grandma Lynda's house in California rather than to our house. Mason was so excited to open the package when we arrived in California.

Last of the Cali picks

2012-01-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

The weather was perfect while we were in California, so we spent a lot of time sitting and playing out in the backyard.

Charlie loves brooms! Ask him to sweep inside or outside, and he's happy to oblige! :)

Charlie's classic scrunchy face.

Climbing the tree with Daddy.

Uncle Zach showing off his own tree climbing skills.

Playing soccer with Uncle Zach and Daddy.

Grandma Lynda had an extra cowboy hat laying around. Mason liked wearing it and pretending to be Woody from Toy Story!

Dress Refashion

2012-01-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

I bought this dress over 4 1/2 years ago. I wore it to the temple the day that I got married. If I recall, it use to look good on me. Minus 15 lbs or so, and a much smaller breast size (thank you nursing!), this dress was starting to look incredibly frumpy. I've been wearing it anyway though, because I don't have very many other options, especially when it comes to fall and winter church clothes. Well, some of our friends just recently got married, and I knew I could not show up to their wedding looking like this, so I whipped out my sewing machine and a pair of fabric scissors and went to work.

BEFORE:

The first thing I did was lose the sleeves! I wanted to be able to wear this with a cardigan, but the sleeves and the ties on the sleeves always looked lumpy and awkward under tight fitting sweaters. After the sleeves were gone I pulled in the fabric under the arm pit, and lastly, I shortened the length of the skirt. With a cardigan and a belt, it looks a million times better!

AFTER:

I've always been scared of refashioning clothes, but this time I'm glad I took the risk!

Amaryllis

2012-01-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

At our Hanukkah party, a friend gave me this beautiful amaryllis plant. It's been forever since I've had the pleasure of watching one of these grow, and I was so thankful for her thoughtfulness! As to be expected, it grew rather rapidly, but it didn't actually bloom before we left for California. I was pretty bummed out. I took it down to my neighbors to watch it while we were away, and when I picked it back up it was gigantic, and still had 4 beautiful flowers on it! They flowers have since died and withered away, but another four have popped up on another stem. Craig joked and said it's the gift that keeps on giving, but it's true! I just love it, and I hope to watch it bloom year after year. Thanks so much Pam! This was such a thoughtful and gorgeous gift!

I enjoyed taking some time to capture the tiny details of this plant with my macro.

The Boy's Christmas Surprise – A Play Kitchen

2012-01-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

Whoever originally said it is cheaper to build a play kitchen than buy one, was lying! Or it's possible that they may know something that I don't, because this was definitely not a cheap project! It's more unique than anything I could have bought for the same price, but it was definitely more (like two time more) expensive than the plastic play kitchens you can buy at Walmart or Toys 'R Us. If you already own all your own woodworking equipment, and you happen to have a stock pile of wood and other random items (ie. a sink, faucet, knobs, etc.) laying around, then go for it; but if you don't, and you'd like to save money, stick with the plastic or find a piece of furniture that needs minimal work. Or, if you're just plain crazy like me, and don't already have the needed supplies, make one anyway. ;)

I started dreaming up this project in early November. I thought I would try to find a piece of furniture to repurpose into a kitchen, but DI (Utah's version of Goodwill) is often heavily picked over, and the newspaper classifieds get hit pretty hard around here too. I finally bought a side table for $8 that I thought might work, but after considering all the wood I would have to add to it to turn it into a functional kitchen, it seemed pointless. Not to mention that neither Craig or I have much experience with woodworking, and with the side table, construction was looking a little too complicated. After much mental frustration, I decided it would just be easier to start from scratch. I looked online and happened to find free plans on how to construct your own play kitchen by Ana White. She provides the supply list, cut list, and instructions. Win! I was feeling much more confident!

Over my birthday weekend (Dec 4th), Craig and I went down to Home Depot and bought all the supplies. Then that Sunday morning, after the boys were dropped off with the grandparents, we started constructing. Thankfully, construction went fast, and we were able to get both units built in about an hour and a half.

The hard part was over – or so I thought! After the construction, I was mostly on my own. I sanded both units, applied wood filler, sanded again, prepped for painting, and finally painted the whole thing myself. I also cut the holes for the sink and the faucet myself, and learned how to score and break plexiglass. Scary stuff! I did have to get some extra help from Craig's uncle, Joe, to refine a few things though, mainly the oven door and the hole for the sink! Thanks Joe, you saved the day!

After much deliberation, I decided to match the paint colors of the kitchen to some cute fabric I found on Etsy. I was originally going to make a curtain to hide the shelves under the sink, but later changed my mind and made aprons for the boys.

Most of the work on the kitchen was done in our cold garage, until I finally couldn't take it anymore and I snuck it all into our master bathroom where the boys couldn't see me work.

Overall I'm very pleased with the outcome! It's not perfect by any means, but it did turn out pretty darn well, and the best part is that the boys love it! Maybe even a little too much! In less than a month, the plexiglass on the oven door is already covered in scratches and scuff marks, the oven door is starting to skew to the left from Charlie constantly sitting and standing on it, the magnetic latch on the door had to be removed because the door stopped shutting all the way, the painted carrot on the chest is also scuffed, and the paint on the inside of the chest is peeling from being opened and slammed shut so often. I guess that's what you can expect from two rough and destructive boys! Oh, and Mason ripped a 4 inch wide hole in his apron. I have no idea how! I keep trying to tell myself that these are all good signs that they love it, but it's a little hard not to wince when I find yet another sign that the kitchen is already aging!

Since we didn't already own play food and dishes, I asked both sets of grandparents if they would coordinate their gifts. They were happy to oblige!

Grandma Lynda and Grandpa Steve bought a dish set,

Most of the silverware has already gone missing. We've caught Charlie throwing stuff in the trash can, so who knows if we'll ever find them all!

the Melissa & Doug Felt Pizza set,

The box won't last much longer, but the pizza will!

and the Melissa & Doug felt sandwich set.

Grandma Becky and Grandpa Roark bought the Ikea pot and pan set, the utensil set (not pictured),

the felt veggie basket,

and the felt breakfast set.

Aunt Alissa gave us the Ikea fruit basket a year ago.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen!

Nojoqui Park & A Random Discovery

2012-01-16T21:48:00.001-07:00

We took a little drive out to Nojoqui Park one afternoon while vacationing in Cali. My parents drove Mason up in there car, and we drove with Charlie. My parents left before us though, and we couldn't remember which way to go. So on our way there we made a slight detour and found an awesome old windmill, built in 1922. It's so awesome that it has been named a Santa Barbara County landmark! I'm glad we got lost, because I'm absolutely in love with the pictures I was able to get!

When we finally found the park, we had a lot of fun being goofy on the play equipment.

We also noticed that all the palm trees in the area have been pecked to death by woodpeckers, looking for a place to hid all their acorns for the winter.

Ellwood Monarch Butterfly Habitat

2012-01-16T21:14:00.001-07:00

While we were in California, we had the opportunity to visit the Ellwood Monarch Butterfly Habitat in Santa Barbara. Every fall, thousands of monarch butterflies migrate to this habitat, and areas like it all along the coast of California, to mate. December and January are usually the best time to visit, and they are most active on sunny, warm days. It's quite an impressive site. It's difficult to see in the pictures, but those large clumps of eucalyptus leaves, are actually butterflies.

I only brought my 50mm lens with me, so I wasn't able to get any awesome, close-up pictures of the butterflies. I promise that there are butterflies in these pictures though! :)

The Ellwood Monarch Butterfly Habitat also happens to be right on the coast line. So while we were there, we took a little hike down to the beach. Mason and Charlie's favorite part of the day was playing with the dead seaweed. :)

stork prints

Does ice plant grow in states other than California?

La Purisima Mission

2012-01-15T22:54:00.000-07:00

On the 27th of December we headed to California to spend a few weeks with my parents. While we were there, we visited La Purisima Mission, in Lompoc. The weather was gorgeous, and the boys enjoyed being able to run around outside.

I had fun playing around with my macro some more.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

This Christmas was the first that we've ever spent with Craig's immediate family! On the afternoon of Christmas Eve we headed up to their apartment to watch some football and eat appetizers while we waited for Elder Janis to call from Mexico. Craig's brother, Ethan, is currently serving a 2 year mission, in Mexico, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. On Christmas and Mother's Day, the missionaries are given permission to call home. Since we were all in Utah, we gathered as a family to talk to him via Skype, but Ethan got caught up doing missionary work and had to reschedule for the following day.

Once we realized we wouldn't be able to chat with Ethan, we headed out ice skating. We went to a tiny little outdoor ice skating rink in South Jordan. The ice wasn't very smooth, and the ice skates were pretty dull, so it was pretty slippery and unpleasant. I didn't even last 5 minutes. My ice skates didn't fit right and the minute I stepped out on the ice I was in terrible pain. Laura had the same problem, and opted to skate on the ice with her ballet flats. Everyone else braved the ice, although no one lasted too long. Mason even tried it out for a bit, before he froze and had to take shelter in the heating shed with Grandma and Charlie.

Once we were back at the apartment, we opened up our Christmas Eve gifts (pajamas), and then we headed home to get the boys in bed. Elaine came home with us and helped us get ready for Christmas day while we watched White Christmas.

Poor Man's Macro

2012-01-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

Santa Claus left this in my stocking...

A Fotodiox Macro Reverse Ring for Nikon.

You attach it to your lens mount on your camera, and it allows you to mount your lens (I bought mine to fit my 50mm) backwards so that you can use it to take macro pictures. For those of us that are too poor to buy a real macro lens, it's a great substitute.

Here's a demo on how it works...

Here are some pictures I've taken with it so far. These were all taken hand held rather than on a tripod. For better, more precise focus, I would suggest using a tripod.

Pretty awesome, right? There are several downsides to using a "poor mans macro" versus a real macro lens though. First, you have to get extremely close to your subject, which makes it difficult to focus on anything that is not stationary. Second, with the lens turned around, it has no electrical connection with the camera, so aperture, shutter speed, and focus must all be adjusted manually. Third, wider apertures are best when using this method (i.e. f/1.4 - 5.6) because you need more light, but wider apertures also decrease your area of focus. My eyes started to hurt after just a couple of shots with how much squinting I was doing while trying to focus the lens. With all that said, it's pretty amazing that a method even exists for turning a normal lens into a macro. So if you have a prime lens, and $8 to spare, you should give it a try!

This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own!

Gingerbread House Party 2011

2012-01-11T16:07:00.001-07:00

On Thursday, December 22nd, we held our annual gingerbread house party. This year was a family only party. Craig's immediate family recently moved up to Utah, so they all came; as well as my brother, Matt, and his family; and Craig's Aunt, Alissa, and her family.

We originally stated that it would be a contest, but at the last minute we waved the contest part. Too many competitive personalities. ;) We started the evening out with a potluck dinner, and then proceeded to decorate our gingerbread houses. The children played and helped decorate the houses as well as some extra gingerbread cookies we made.

Laura, Sarah, and Roark worked on a cute gingerbread house kit from Costco. They sell the kits pre-assembled now, so they just pulled it right out of the box and started decorating.

Matt and Sharee's family brought two small houses made from graham crackers. Clara was a big help with the decorating, and Andrew mostly played with Mason's cars. :)

Joe worked alone, and created a two story mansion. It took so long to build that he didn't have time to decorate it!

Chad also worked alone, and made a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. ;)

Mason, Emmeline, and Hazel decorated sugar cookies, and Charlie walked around stealing candy from everyone!

Craig, Elaine, and I decorated a homemade gingerbread house. I made it the same way I do every year, but this time I added a chimney and two gable windows.

A big thank you to everyone that came! We had a blast!

Hanukkah 2011

2012-01-11T15:01:00.001-07:00

On December 17th we hosted a Hannukah Party at our apartment's club house. Normally we celebrate Hannukah with Craig's extended family, but this year we were unable to make it. Thankfully, we had already planned to host our own party, in addition to the usual family celebration. It was fun to be able to start our own traditions, and enjoy the company of friends and coworkers.

Here's the invite that I made –

The clubhouse had been reserved in the morning, so we were not able to start setting up until about 1pm. It took longer than expected to get everything ready, so our guests ended up helping with most of the setup. By the time we were ready to start the festivities, it was already 3:30, and our reservation was only until 4. Thankfully the other people didn't show up until around 6pm, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy our food and some dreidel!

Table center pieces

Hanukkah gelt/party favor

Skyler explaining the dreidel symbols to his wife, Olivia.

When everything was ready, we gathered our guests and I read the story about the miracle of Hanukkah.

Picture "stolen" from our friend, Annelise White. :)

Then we lit the menorah. In Craig's family, it is tradition that the women of the household light the menorah. We decided to continue this tradition in our own family, so we invited each of our female guests to take a turn lighting a candle.

Our friends, Rochelle and Gaylan, sang a traditional Hanukkah song while we lit the menorah.

After the lighting of the menorah, we sat down and ate a delicious Hannukah meal. Our menu included traditional potato pancakes, also known as latkes, served with homemade applesauce (made by Rochelle), and sour cream. Our friends, Art and Rochelle, came early to make their family latke recipe, and Craig made a bunch the night before.

Picture "stolen" from our friend, Annelise White. :)

We also had brisket and a colorful salad made of spinach, pomegranate seeds, pistachios, goat cheese, and a homemade pomegranate vinaigrette. It all turned out amazing – no thanks to me! Craig ended up cooking the entire meal by himself because I sliced my index finger with a kitchen knife as I was attempting to trim fat off the brisket. At 11pm we ran to the emergency room so that I could get three shots of anesthesia and 4 stitches. :)

For dessert, we served a a fancier variation of the traditional jelly-filled donuts.

After the meal, we enjoyed a few rounds of dreidel. We used the blue and white M&M favors as our gelt/gambling pieces.

Picture "stolen" from our friend, Annelise White. :)

It was a wonderful afternoon, and we are so grateful for all the friends that we were able to share it with!

Doby Updates {Dec 21st-Dec 25th}

2012-01-11T11:09:00.001-07:00

We made it through all 25 days of elf on the shelf mischief! I'm not sure if we will make the same kind of commitment next year, but it was a fun way to start off the tradition. Here's our last 5 days with Doby before he returned to the North Pole with Santa.

December 21st, Doby used a dry erase marker to add funny embellishments to some embroidered wall hangings. Usually the faces are blank except for the lips and mustache.

December 22nd, Doby left new Christmas cookie cutters on the counter. He must have overheard me talking about our gingerbread house party that we were having that night, and thought that Mason would enjoy making some special cookies.

December 23rd, Mason found Doby sleeping in his bedroom. He was all snuggled up in a basket, cuddling one of Mason's stuffed animals. I guess elves need their beauty sleep too!

December 24th, Doby kidnapped Mason's Cowboy Woody, and together they hid in the Christmas stockings.

December 25th, Doby was no where to be found! We did find this letter though.

Dear Mason & Charlie,

Goodbye! I went home with Santa tonight to start making toys for next year, I love you! I will be back next year though and we will have LOTS of fun! You are such good boys! Have a Merry Christmas!

Love,

Doby

Doby Updates {Dec 13th-20th}

2011-12-20T00:33:00.000-07:00

We're in the homestretch to Christmas! Doby is still managing to come up with something mischeivious every night, although he told me he's starting to get a little worn out by it all. I think he'll be happy to return to the North Pole in a few days. He needs some pampering. :)

December 13th, Doby was feeling a little homesick and decided to draw a picture of some of his favorite friends up at the North Pole. His picture included Santa, Mrs. Claus, and his girly elf-friend, Lula.

December 14th, Doby raided the fridge and made a batch of chocolate chip cookies. He saved a few to share.

December 15th Doby got motivated and blew up a bunch of balloons and stuffed them in the pantry closet. Mason and Charlie enjoyed playing with them throughout the day.

December 16th, we found Doby playing Dominos with some of his other stuffed animal friends.

December 17th, Doby decided to practice his present wrapping skills. He got so excited that he accidentally wrapped himself in a box.

December 18th, Doby got cold and decided to crochet himself a scarf.

December 19th, Doby hung lights and candy canes down our hallway. He must have gotten bored with our current Christmas decorations and decided we needed to spice things up.

December 20th, Doby dressed up like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He was inspired after seeing Mason watch the movie about Rudolph yesterday.

Doby Updates {Dec 9th-12th}

2011-12-12T21:19:00.001-07:00

Doby's still going strong!

December 9th we found him in the bathroom all wrapped up in towels next to a bathtub full of water and bubbles. I guess even elves need to bathe every now and then.

December 10th we woke up to find the wooden train tracks set up down our hallway. Doby had even set up a steep launching ramp with some blocks.

December 11th we found Doby all wrapped up in toilet paper outside the bathroom. The toilet paper trail led us to the toilet where we found green pee and poop (Raisinets) still in the potty. Doby must have gotten so overwhelmed with the toilet paper that he forgot to flush. Yuck! (Sorry if this offends anyone, but poop and pee are common, and generally funny topics that come up in a house full of boys.)

December 12th- Doby decided to go fishing for Goldfish crackers. He even had a little fishing pole all rigged up.

And here's the picture from December 5, when Mason stayed over at Grandma Becky's house.

Idea Submissions

2011-12-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I'm thinking of making a few new pattern sets, similar to my Animal Felt Book Patterns, but rather than think up the perfect idea for each letter/number myself, I'm ask you for your ideas!

I would like to eventually make patterns packets for another alphabet pattern packet as well as a number book packet. I need inanimate object (vehicles, food, toys, etc.) ideas for each letter of the alphabet, as well as ideas for a counting book. Most likely the number/counting book would count from 1-10.

I mostly just want to get an idea of what you all are interested in. I'm also curious if you all prefer the touch a feel/activity books, or just simple picture books with room for embellishment. I'd love to hear your feedback. You can either comment below, or send me an email at simplykaits@gmail.com.

It may be a while before I get around to making it all, but the more enthusiasm I get, the more likely I am to push it up on my to-do list! :)

I hope you guys are all having a wonderful holiday season! Stay tuned for a really awesome announcement, coming soon!

Doby Updates {Dec 3rd-8th}

2011-12-08T01:51:00.001-07:00

Doby has been a busy little elf...

December 3rd, we found Doby hanging from the ceiling fan where he had mischievously hung paper airplanes on each blade.

December 4th, we found him dangling from the extra Christmas lights on our garland.

December 5th, he traveled with Mason and Charlie to Grandma Becky's house where he had fun coloring with crayons in a coloring book. Picture coming soon!

December 6th, he wrote a welcome home message on our bathroom mirror with a tube of Mommy's red lipstick.

December 7th, he scattered Mason's tighty-whities all over the living room floor next to a book called, Bear in Underwear. He also left behind a stuffed bear, in underwear! I think Doby might be trying to convince Mason that potty training is fun and exciting. ;)

December 8th, I'm pretty sure that Doby will have made another mess in our kitchen! This time it will probably consist of marshmallow snowmen and hot chocolate. But how would I know? I'm supposed to be asleep!

My Birthday Getaway

2011-12-06T20:33:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, I turned 26. It made me a little sad, at first, to think that I was yet another year older, but after the wonderful weekend that I spent alone with my hubby, I'd have to say that things are starting off well for my 27th year of life!

As always, Craig planned an amazing weekend for us. He's been working himself to the bone over the past month, and he deserved this weekend just as much, if not more, than me.

On Sunday morning, Craig took the boys up to his parents house for a fun weekend with Grandma and the aunts. When he got home we enjoyed some breakfast burritos in the comfort of our freezing cold garage, and then got to work on the boys' Christmas present – a play kitchen! Neither one of us really have a lot of experience or knowledge about wood working, but it turned out pretty well. We got the sink and oven constructed in about an hour and a half. And it wasn't until the last half hour or so that it started to snow! There's still a lot of work to be done, but we got a good start!

After working on the play kitchen we headed back to our apartment to warm up with some hot cocoa, a blanket, and a couple of episodes of Game of Thrones before we had to pack up and head out to Midway.

In Midway, we checked into our room at the Homestead Resort, and then grabbed our swimsuits and headed out to the crater. Our free voucher was technically only for a half an hour swim, but it was pretty slow, and the guy didn't say anything to us. We swam for about an hour, and even got to snorkel around for a bit and watch some guys practice their scuba diving skills.

After our soak in the crater we headed back to our room, showered, and got ready for dinner. I had gotten us reservations earlier in the day for the Troll Hallen Restaurant at the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City, or so I thought. When we got there we found the restaurant and checked in at the waiter's desk. They had our table all ready. What neither of us had realized was that rather than making reservations for the Troll Hallen (which you don't need reservations for), I had accidentally made reservation for the Glitretind restaurant, which is the one of the nicest, most acclaimed restaurants in all of Utah! Whoops! Well, rather than saying anything, we sat and dined! Craig and I are not rookies when it comes to spending money on fine cuisine. We don't do it often, but when we do, we both enjoy ourselves immensely. This was one of the best meals that either one of us has ever had, and the most expensive, by far. The restaurant even has their own chocolatier. Before leaving the restaurant we bought a dozen handmade truffles, selected by the chocolatier herself. They are the most gorgeous truffles I've ever seen!

Their amazing bakery team even made this amazing life size gingerbread house. All the candies were hand made, and the gingerbread house was constructed on site. It really was a site to behold! These gummy bears were literally the size of my hand! It was really amazing!

(This year's Stein Eriksen Lodge gingerbread house is made from edible products produced by our pastry team. It contains over 450 pounds of gingerbread and 300 pounds of royal icing. Hundreds of pounds of sugar have gone into our giant candies and candy canes. It is built on a wooden frame to provide structure. The pastry team has put over 200 man hours into this year's holiday masterpiece. Pastry items are produced in a kitchen that contains nuts.)

After dinner we went back to the resort and slept.

The next day we headed back up to Park City. We spent the morning and early afternoon walking up and down Main street, and checking out all their fun little stores and boutiques. Some of our favorites were...

Olive and Tweed – a boutique that sells gorgeous women's apparel, jewelry, and baby clothing/accessories
Mountain Town Olive Oil – offers a variety of olive oils and balsamic vinegarettes from all over the world.
It's F'n Hot – a store that sells a million different kinds of hot sauces, with a million vulgar sayings and brand names!
Atticus Coffee, Books, & Teahouse – this place had an impressive selection of teas, and a fun atmosphere for relaxing and hiding from the cold.

After our time at Park city, we headed to Salt Lake. We did some Christmas pajama shopping at Target, ate dinner at the African Market & Restaurant (delicious Ethiopian food, btw), had some dessert at the Sweet Tooth Fairy (you should try their Cupshakes and cake bites, they're to die for!), and then finally we went and saw the 20th anniversary performance of The Forgotten Carols. Neither Craig or I had ever seen it.

Well, that was our weekend getaway! It was a busy two days, but it was so much fun! Thanks so much Craig for always planning such wonderful dates, and for making me feel so special! It was perfect! :)

Elf On the Shelf- Day 1

2011-12-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

Sure enough, the mischief has begun! Last night, Doby got into the pantry and found the bin of flour! He must have been missing the cold fluffy snow from the North Pole, because he made a flour angel on our kitchen floor!

Here's Mason's reaction...

Elf on The Shelf- Day 1 from Craig Janis on Vimeo.

When Mason woke up this morning he immediately ran to the shelf to check on Doby. When he realized that he wasn't there, he went searching through the house for his new friend. It makes me so happy to see him get excited about things like this! I can't wait ~~to cause~~ for Doby to cause more trouble tonight! ;)

A Surprise from Santa

2011-12-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

Last night Santa left the boys a present...

Doby, the shelf elf!

He was sent to keep on eye on the boys for Santa, so that he will know if the boys have been good or bad.

Here's a little video of the boys meeting Doby, and reading the letter from Santa.

Santa warned us that Doby is a mischievous little elf. I wonder what kind of havoc he is going to wreck in our house when we are all asleep? Tune in each day for updates on Doby's mischievous antics!

I'm sure whatever Doby decides to do, these little boys won't mind, they love the him already!

Snowman Advent Makeover

2011-11-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

I gave our snowmen advent calendar a makeover! I still like it, but the blue scarves and numbers were bugging me, and it really didn't match the rest of our green and red Christmas decor.

This is what it looked like before...

And this is what it looks like now...

I decided to hang them in this frame because we really don't have a good place to hang a long garland. Besides, the snowmen tended to make the garland sag quite a bit as the days inch closer to Christmas each year. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

If you want to make your own snowman advent calendar, just head on over to my felt Christmas ornament post and download the free template with the snowman pattern, or make your own. It's pretty simple!

FOR SALE – Set of 3 Christmas Stockings Made From Old Tweed Jackets

2011-11-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

These stockings were made 3 years ago using old tweed jackets and a wool sweeter that I bought at DI (Utah's version of Goodwill). They are still in great condition! The only reason that I am selling them is because I made new ones to accommodate our growing family. I'm selling them as a set, for $50. If you are interested, please email me at simplykaits@gmail.com. You must live in the continental US.

Family Pictures

2011-11-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

Today after our big Thanksgiving feast, we went out and took some family pictures. When I say we, I mean Craig's parents, brothers and sisters, and our little family. They are building a new home in Daybreak and they wanted to get some pictures in front of the Daybreak sign to send to friends and family for Christmas. What they didn't realize is that I was going to turn the camera onto each of them individually!

I'm in love with the way they turned out. I'm pretty sure that all of these are going to get framed and hung on my wall!

Now in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I just want to give a big shout out to all my beautiful family!

I am extremely grateful for my wonderful parents who have overcome tremendous obstacles in their lives. They are such an inspiration to me, and I appreciate all their love and support over the years. You will always be important to me!

I am grateful to have married into such a large and loving family. Craig's brothers and sisters have always been so kind to me, and I'm grateful for their friendship, love, and support. I also love and appreciate my in-laws. I'm thankful for who you are, and your constant love, support, and concern in our family's behalf. Our little family wouldn't exist if it hadn't started with your love for each other. Thank you so much!

I'm grateful for my children! Motherhood is the hardest thing I've ever done! It has pulled my through the wringer and back. I have learned so much about myself, and I continue to learn every day. Not everything I learn I like, but it is good that I am forced to recognize my weaknesses. I am trying my best, and I'm grateful for your patience and unconditional love!

Last but not least, I am grateful for my husband! You are my better half. I love you so much and am so grateful that I found someone that fits me perfectly. You have been such a huge support over this past year. I wouldn't have made it with out you. I'm grateful that when you could have easily left my side, you didn't. You loved me and supported me through some dark moments. For that I am extremely grateful. Thank you for being my cheerleader. Thank you for pushing me towards my potential. I love you so much, and I am so grateful for all you do for me and our family.

Sorry for all the sap, but it needed to be said.

Now, on to the pictures...

2011 Family Christmas Ornaments

2011-11-23T17:46:00.003-07:00

This year, for our family Christmas ornaments, we made felt penguins. I got the idea from this pin I saw on Pinterest. I decided to make ours the traditional black and white, except for one...mine! I thought the idea of an albino penguin would be really cute. When I asked Craig what he thought, he looked at me funny and tried to convince me that albino penguins don't actually exist. Rather than argue about it, we googled it....and indeed, there are albino penguins!

Here's our family of penguins.

Daddy penguin

Mommy Penguin

Mason Penguin.

Charlie Penguin

Below are some download links to the penguin pattern, as well as all the patterns from are family ornaments over the past 4 years. I also threw in two snowflake patterns for good measure. Have fun creating!

These patterns are free. You may use them to make items for sale, but you may not sell the patterns. Thanks for being considerate! Also, please check the sidebar for additional holiday patterns and tutorials!

If you are having trouble viewing the download links, click HERE.

Here are all our family ornaments, going back to 2007. If you are unfamiliar with our family Christmas ornament tradition, you can read more about it HERE.

2010

2009

2008

2007

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

2011-11-22T20:43:00.001-07:00

So tonight while I was working on the stocking tutorial, Mason came to the office and told me he needed a bandaid because he had blood all over his hands. This is not an uncommon occurrence. He's at that stage right now where whenever he gets hurt he has to have a bandaid. To avoid going through a whole box of bandaids in one day we tell him that he only needs a bandaid when there is blood. So now, regardless of the injury, he always tells us that he has a "bloody owie". Well as I'm sure many of you are familiar with, when your kid does this kind of stuff repeatedly, you start to ignore it and assume that they are just saying things to get your attention. Well that's exactly what I did. I ignored him. He walked back and forth for a while repeating the same thing over and over again. He even showed me his hands from a distance, but I didn't see anything, so again, I assumed he was making it up. I heard him go into the bathroom to wash his hands, and then a little bit later I heard him say that Charlie had blood all over his hands and that he needed to wash his hands too. When I finally got up to take a break, I found what I should have expected to find – Charlie, covered in blood! The first thing I thought of when I saw him was of Dexter, the tv show about the serial killer who kills other serial killers. Blood, so much blood! Then the questions...Where did the blood come from? Is it Mason's or is it Charlie's? What happened? Is the child still bleeding? Is he going to need stitches? Oh crap, there's blood on the floor...and on the safety fence too, and the door! What the crap!..Why is the Christmas tree tipped over?

*mental pause*

Oh yeah, the kid. I should clean the kid. No cuts that I can see. Craig! I can't figure out where all this blood came from! Can you help me?!?

You get the picture.

Anyway, come to find out, Mason tried to get behind the play yard fence that we put around the Christmas tree. While doing so he pushed the fence into the Christmas tree, knocking it over. Why I didn't hear this, I'm not sure! While the tree was knocked over the kids started playing with the ornaments that they could reach, including some glass ball ornaments. Charlie must have crushed one in his hand because we found a cut between his thumb and forefinger, and another on the tip of his forefinger. They're small cuts. He won't be needing stitches. So if you are family, please do not worry! Charlie is fine, he didn't even cry! Now as for some of our Christmas ornaments, we will be holding a funeral tomorrow at our home, at 3pm. ;)

Felt Christmas Stockings- Free Patterns & Tutorial

2011-11-22T17:54:00.001-07:00

I made new stockings this year since our family has grown and we didn't have a stocking for Charlie. Our last stockings were rather fancy, and were made from tweed jackets I bought at the thrift store, but this year I decided to go with my favorite craft medium – felt! I love felt! It is so easy to work with, and always comes out looking amazing! After searching online for some fun ideas, I came up with these.

All these patterns are free. You may use them to make items for sale, but you may not sell the patterns. Thanks for being considerate! Also, please check out my sidebar for other tutorials and patterns!

Materials:

1/3 yard felt for the main body of the stocking
1/4 yard or less of embellishment felt
fabric scissors
matching thread
1/3 yard cotton fabric (for lining)
sewing pins
printed stocking pattern
tape

How-To:

1. Cut out the stocking pattern and tape the edges together (click on the images below to enlarge and print).

2. Using the pattern, cut out 2 stockings from your felt.

3. Depending on the style of stocking you wish to make, cut out the necessary embellishments. Here are some guides that you may find helpful. Just click on the diagram to enlarge.

For the zig-zag stocking you will need to cut out 7 zig zags. Length may vary from the picture shown.

For the circle stocking you will need to cut out 47 (1.25 inch) circles. I used the bottom of a medicine cup as my pattern)

For the criss-ross stocking you will need 5 (1 inch) strips and 4 (0.5 inch strips)

For the ruffle stocking you will need 4 (1.5 inch) ruffles and 3 (1 inch) ruffles

4. Once all your embellishments are cut out, pin them to the stocking. Reference the diagrams above for spacing measurements. Also, I did not pre-sew my ruffles before sewing them to the stocking, but you can if it will make it easier to sew.

5. Sew your embellishments to the stocking front.

zig-zag – sew 1/8" from the top and bottom edge of each zig-zag. The best way to do this is to sew along the line until you reach the peak of a zig zag. At the peak, leave the needle in the felt, lift the presser foot and adjust your fabric to sew down the next line. Repeat this process until you reach the end of the zig-zag.

circles – sew a running stitch down the middle of the line of circles.

criss-cross – sew 1/8" on each edge of the 1" strips. Sew down the middle of the 1/2" strip.

ruffles – sew down the middle of the ruffle.

6.Trim overhanging pieces.

7. Next, take your two stocking sides and pin them RIGHT sides together. Sew a 1/4" seam around the edge. Leave the top edge un-sewn.

8. Clip small triangles around the curved sides of the stocking, such as at the heal and toe area.

9. Turn the stocking RIGHT side out. Press the stocking, and set aside.

10. Cut out two strips of felt 1" x 5".

11. Place them one on top of the other and sew 1/8" along the two long edges (sorry I don't have a picture of this). These strips are for the loop to hang your stocking. Set this aside.

12. Take out your lining fabric. Fold the fabric so that the RIGHT sides are together. Pin your pattern to the fabric and cut out 2 stocking linings.

13. Un-pin the pattern and re-pin the linings RIGHT sides together. Sew a 1/4" seam around the edge. Leave the top edge un-sewn. Clip small triangles around the curved sides of the lining, such as at the heal and toe area.

14. Do not turn the lining RIGHT side out. Instead, fold down the top edge about 1/2" and press with an iron.

15. Put the lining inside your stocking. Line up the seams. The top of the lining should be about 1/2" down from the top of the stocking. Fold over the top of the felt, and pin.

16. Sew 1/8" along the top edge of the felt to secure the lining and finish the edge.

17. Take the 1" x 5" strip that you sewed earlier. Fold it in half. Pin it to the back seam of your stocking. Sew to secure.

18. Now enjoy your handy work!

Please let me know if you have any questions, and have fun crafting!

Felt Nativity Pattern Now Available!

2011-11-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

I am so excited for the holiday season this year! This is the first year that neither the hubby nor I are students, and Mason is finally old enough to understand and get excited about the holidays. It has allowed me to think ahead about our family traditions, and I'm so ready to get started! If I had my way, my house would have been decorated weeks ago, but I'm holding off, until this coming Friday. Instead I've been trying to channel my excitement into making some really awesome patterns and tutorials. To start, I'm sharing this adorable felt Nativity that I made a few years ago. I got my inspiration from a stuffed fabric nativity that my mom made when I was little. I wanted my boys to have something similar so that they could play with it without the risk of it breaking.

Here's a picture of the full Nativity scene. Usually I hang the angel above the nativity, and Mary and Joseph go in the center of the manger with baby Jesus, but for the sake of the picture Mary and Joseph got pushed to the side.

Here are some close ups...

Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus. The Mary doll has a pouch that baby Jesus fits in, so that she can either be pregnant, or holding baby Jesus in her arms.

The shepherds and their sheep.

The three Wise Men bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The new star and angel.

A wise man's camel.

A cow.

And the donkey that Mary road on to Bethlehem.

Although I made this set 3 years ago I went ahead and made a pattern for the entire nativity set shown above. You can buy it now for $15.00 and download it immediately in both JPG and PDF formats! Here's a preview of the pattern. It also comes with a full set of instructions and suggestions on how to make the most out of your pattern.

DIY Baby Food Jar Menorah

2011-11-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting our own menorah for a while now, but I just haven't been able to find one that I really like, and that doesn't cost a fortune! So last year I started looking for a good DIY tutorial, but I couldn't find one that I liked. Instead I just sat on the idea, hoping that I would figure something out. Well, after a year of collecting baby food jars, I finally found some inspiration...

This came out entirely different than I had originally imagined. Isn't that how it always works? My first idea involved a nice, clean piece of stained wood with a center block to raise the shamash, or center candle, but with the look of the jars, I just didn't feel like it flowed. Instead, I headed out behind the garages at our apartment complex and broke off a weathered piece of pallet wood, white washed it, and then glued my jars to it in a zig-zagish pattern. To differentiate the shamash from the other candles, I decided to etch a Star of David onto the center jar. It's the first time I've ever used glass etching cream. It's actually not that hard. The only downside is the cost – $8 for a tiny 3 oz bottle. So if you decide to make your own, I would suggest getting your hands on a 50% off coupon. Just a thought. ;)

All in all, this project only ended up costing me $12. $8 for the glass etching cream, $3 for the rocks, and $1 for the white paint. Quite a steal if you ask me!

Now go and get yourself ready for your own Happy Homemade Hanukkah!

Happy Birthday Videos

2011-11-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is a special time of year for our family. Not just because it's the most jammed packed season when it comes to holidays, but because it is the most concentrated time of the year for family birthdays! It starts with Charlie's birthday at the end of September, and doesn't end until my MIL's birthday on Christmas. During this time of year we celebrate 7 birthdays! I use to be better about sending homemade cards, but then life happened, and I stopped having time for paper crafting. What's a girl to do? Well this year I felt like I needed to make up for birthdays forgotten. It started with my dad's birthday, a couple of days before Halloween. My Dad has really gotten the short end of the stick the past couple of years, and then I always try to make up for my thoughtlessness on my mom's birthday that happens just two weeks later. Sorry Dad! Anyway, this year I wanted to do better, so I decided to make him a video. A stop-motion video, to be exact. For those of you who are unfamiliar with stop-motion, it's a video made from a sequence of still photographs. They are fairly easy to make, just time consuming. This was the first stop-motion video that I've ever made, and I didn't realize how short the video would be despite the plethora of photos I took, but I'm proud of it, and my dad loved it! Win!

The second video is for my mom. Her birthday is tomorrow, 11/11/11. Pretty awesome, right? Anyway, we went a different route with hers. I don't even really remember what inspired it, but the minute I thought it up, there was no going back! Hopefully you've seen the original Mahna Mahna video on YouTube, but if you haven't, go check it out. I made the puppets, and Mason helped me make the cupcakes. We really only had one take to get it right, you'll see why at the end, so thankfully it worked out!

Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you so much and hope that you have a spectacular day!

Felt Book Patterns- Binding Tutorial

2011-09-17T13:48:00.000-06:00

I finally put together a video tutorial on how to bind the felt books! I've never done a video tutorial before, so please feel free to ask questions or leave comments if you feel like I didn't explain things well, or if I left something out. I really hope this is useful to everyone, and that it makes the instructions in the purchased patterns more clear! Happy crafting everyone!

Felt Book Binding Tutorial from Craig Janis on Vimeo.

For those of you who might not be familiar with my Alphabet and Name Felt Books, please visit the following links:
Felt Book Patterns
Felt Book Tutorial

Charlie | 9 Months

2011-06-25T19:30:00.001-06:00

Weight: 13 lbs. 11 oz.

It seems like you learn something new every day. The wheels in that little head of yours are constantly turning, and we can tell that all you want to do is grow up and do all the fun things you see your brother and parents doing.

In one week’s time you learned how to crawl on your hands and knees (rather than army crawl), how to sit from a lying down or crawling position, and how to sit down from a standing position. All of these milestones are getting you closer and closer to being able to walk. You love practicing your steps while holding on to Mommy or Daddy’s hands. Your balance is improving each day. In fact, just a few days ago you stood for several seconds unsupported. I think if Mommy hadn’t brought it to your attention and gotten so excited about it, you probably could have stood there longer.

You cut one of your top front teeth this month, and the other one is on the way. That gives you a total of 5, soon to be 6 teeth. Despite all the teething, your appetite has increased drastically. We are now up to two or three solid meals during the day. We’ve even started to mix in a little dry formula, which you don’t seem to mind. You eat and enjoy everything we give you – fruits, veggies, grains, beans, cereal, yogurt, and even french fries and horchata, although those last two aren’t foods we make a habit of feeding you. :)

Last night you slept un-swaddled for the first time. Since the day you were born we have wrapped you up snug, but with the arrival of the summer heat, and no air conditioning in the house, we are having to revise our sleeping arrangements. You did very well for your first night unwrapped. Hopefully you will continue to transition well.

Charlie | 8 Months

2011-05-31T12:41:00.000-06:00

Weight: 12 lbs. 5 oz.

Height: 26.5 inches

You finally perfected your sitting skills! It seemed like you were going to figure it out about two months ago, but then you learned how to crawl and you didn’t show much interest in figuring it out after that. But now you can sit independently, and you seem to really enjoy it.

You cut two more teeth, but not in the order that is most common. Instead of getting in your two top front teeth (top incisors), you cut the two teeth that come in next to your two front teeth, your lateral incisors. It’s given you a quirky smile, but we love it!

Your hair has started to grow back in. It looks like you might be a tow-head like your mamma was when she was small.

In the past week or so, you figured out how to pull yourself up. Since then you have been practicing constantly, which has also resulted in a lot of falls and bonks, but thankfully no boo-boos. It’s funny to see you so upright, especially with your scrawny little legs.

Although your pictures may not always show it, you are a very happy, smiley baby! You are very social and love attention. You are also very curious. You want to be apart of everything and do the same things that your brother does. You are a fast crawler and love to put everything into your mouth. You definitely keep us on our toes!

Big Bro & Lil Bro Shirts- FOR SALE!

2011-05-16T12:55:00.000-06:00

Remember these cute shirts I made for my boys? Well, I never used them. They've been sitting in the closet collecting dust and now the onesie doesn't fit Charlie, so I'm selling them! I'm selling them as a set for $25. They've only been worn once for about 5 minutes, and are in wonderful condition! The shirt is a size 2T and the onesie is a size 0-3 mo. If you are interested please email me directly at simplykaits@gmail.com. They will go to the first person to respond that lives in the Continental US.

Charlie | 7 Months

2011-04-26T20:41:00.000-06:00

You have been learning so many new things recently! This month you started eating solids and you love it! We started out only feeding them to you once a day, but now your up to twice a day. So far you have tried rice cereal, bananas, pears, apples, peaches, sweet potatoes, sweet green peas, carrots, and rice crackers. You seem to love them all and will open your mouth for pretty much anything. We think you’re just excited to be eating like a big boy!

You also started crawling this month! It began as an army crawl, but with time you have learned how to get up on your hands and knees. Often it looks like you are practicing your yoga. You spend a lot of time in plank and up-dog poses. You also like to rock your bum back and forth. Your crawling has also granted you a new nickname — Worm, because you get up on your hands and knees and launch your upper body forward without moving your arms. You amaze us all the time with how quickly you learn things and how strong you are for being SO tiny!

Your second bottom tooth finally came in as well. Despite no longer teething you love to chew on things. Your new favorite chew toys are wrappers — granola bar and fruit snack wrappers, to be exact! You tend to put anything and everything in your mouth though, and we are having to clean, sweep, and vacuum the house more often to prevent you from choking on things.

You learned how to say your “da” sound. So, now when you babble it sounds like you are asking for your daddy.

You are more in love with your mommy than ever! When she’s not close by, you scan the room to find her, and you will often crawl to where she is and play with her feet until she picks you up. And, if for some reason she’s ignoring you, you crawl to the nearest person you can find and wait for them to pick you up and then look for your mommy and flirt with her until she comes and gets you.

Surprisingly, you still can’t sit very well. We thought for sure that you would have it down by now, but rather than sitting, you prefer to be on your belly crawling around the floor.

You are very curious and fast these days, and we are finding it hard to keep up with you. You are definitely going to keep us busy as the months go by!

Watch Out! Charlie's on the Move!

2011-04-09T08:28:00.000-06:00

Charlie started army crawling a few days ago! He's only 6 1/2 months old! He shouldn't be able to do this yet. If my memory serves me correctly, Mason didn't start army crawling until around 8 months. I know you can't and shouldn't compare, but a few months ago if you would have asked me if I thought he would crawl at 6 1/2 months I would have laughed. My baby, who hated tummy time and spent 85 percent of his life swaddled and sleeping, would never start crawling at this age. I guess I was very, VERY wrong! Charlie watches everything that Mason does, and I'm pretty sure he's taking inventory for when he can finally run around the house. I'm a little worried what sort of mischief he will get into. I guess only time will tell.

So ... congratulations Charlie, your are now mobile!

Charlie's Army Crawl (6 1/2 months old) from Craig Janis on Vimeo.

Charlie | 5 & 6 Months

2011-03-29T18:12:00.000-06:00

5 Months

This month you discovered your feet! It’s fun to watch you wrestle with your legs and feet until you finally get your foot in your mouth. We’ve been finding lots of wet socks around the house because of it.

Now that you can roll over you have been spending a lot of time on your belly. You enjoy being able to push up on your arms and see what is going on around you.

You have been making a lot more vocal noises and you have started saying your “ba” and “na” sounds.

You’ve started teething! You haven’t actually cut a tooth yet but we can feel them through your gums. You’ve been overly fussy because of it all and you have wanted to be held a lot more often. You’ve also been sleeping less at night, but you still get about on 8 hour stretch in.

6 Months

Weight: 11 lb 9 oz (less than 3rd percentile)

Height: 24.25 in (4th percentile)

You cut your very first tooth, and we are currently waiting on the second one to make its official appearance (your two front bottom teeth). You started teething right before your 5 month birthday, and the first one finally came in. Unfortunately for your mommy and daddy, you are not the most easy going teether, but we made it through the worst part, at least for now. You spent a lot of time being held, and being drugged with baby Tylenol and gum numbing gel to get you through. Your sleep schedule also changed a little because of it all, but we are finally back on schedule.

You learned how to sit on your own. You still aren’t very good at it, but with a little support from your Boppy pillow you enjoy short periods of time playing upright. You’re still rather stiff though and prefer to lay on your belly.

You started blowing raspberries this month, and in conjunction with the teething it has become quite a slobbery past time.

Now that you can roll over you love to play! You spend a lot of time on your belly playing with your toys, and when something is out of reach you are able to roll and maneuver your body around the floor to get what you want.

You’ve gotten so good at rolling over that we now have to be careful where we put you when we are not within arms reach. Mommy placed you on the bed the other day and before she got back to you, you had rolled right over some pillows and blankets onto the floor.

Your baby acne is finally going away! Mommy cannot express how happy she is about this. You haven’t gotten any new zits in at least a month and your old scars and blemishes are finally starting to fade. Now mommy wont have to spend so much time editing out your acne in all your cute baby pictures!

You are such a Momma’s boy! You light up every time you see your Momma, and if you ever find yourself in unfamiliar surroundings you always look for Mommy to reassure yourself that everything is ok. Just recently Mommy wasn’t home when it was time for you to go to bed. Daddy wrapped you up and laid you in your crib and you cried and cried until Mommy came home and was able to hold you and tell you goodnight.

You are still such a happy baby boy and we all love you so much. Your smiles and giggles are contagious and it's impossible to be in a bad mood when you are around. You just have such a wonderful spirit about you!

SimplyKaits Photography Blog

2011-03-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

I revamped my photography blog! Go and check it out HERE!

Valentines Day 2011

2011-02-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

This year we had another amazing Valentine's day, and it's probably all due to the fact that I wore my kissey lip socks...

We weren't sure if we would be able to get someone to watch the boys for us, so we really didn't have any plans set for the day. After some errand running by both Craig and I, I came up with a fun date plan. The weather has been rather warm (in the 40's) over the past few days and I thought it would be a fun to head out to our special spot at the BYU carillon (bell) tower. Craig officially proposed there almost 4 years ago and we haven't been back since that day. So to the bell tower we went!

We took some non-alcoholic bubbly with us along with some scrumptious cupcakes from the Cocoa Bean Cafe in Provo, as well as some blankets and candles. Unfortunately the candles didn't work out because of the wind, but everything else was perfect!

From there, we headed to the movie theater to see The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. We liked it despite the negative reviews from movie critics, and as always Craig predicted the final plot twist well before the ending.Then after the movie we headed to In-N-Out for a quick dinner before picking up the boys.

As always it was wonderful to spend some alone time with the hubby. Our lives have been rather busy and stressful lately and it's always nice to take some time to step away from all that and remember exactly how much we love each other and that all the things we struggle through as a couple and family will be worth it in the end!

Oh, and I almost forgot...

Craig's Valentine to Me- A bouquet of very unordinary daises. He was trying to copy a gift that Steve Urkel made for Laura Winslow in the show Family Matters- a flower with a picture of Steve's head on it that sang. Unfortunately, Craig wasn't able to find a small recording device in time, so mine don't sing.

It may be too tiny to see in this picture, but the note says...

"We grow better together...

love makes us bloom! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Craig"

My Valentine to Craig-

This was inspired in part by some cute Valentine decorations my friend Emily, of Reverie and Fancies, made to sell in her Etsy shop.

I also bought him some socks...

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day | A Blast From The Past

2011-02-14T12:15:00.001-07:00

Valentines Day is a big deal for Craig and I because it is the day that our dating relationship really took off! Ten days after this journal entry was written, Craig and I became unofficially engaged. We say "unofficially," because we didn't have a ring and there was no formal proposal. It was the best decision I ever made, and I am so grateful to have him in my life. I love you Craig. Happy Valentine's Day!

(Craig and I on Valentine's Day 2007)

February 14, 2007

Happy Valentines Day! Today was the best Valentines day I have ever had!!!

This morning I got up around 6:20am so that I could go deliver Craig's Valentine to him. A few nights ago I made a really cute vintage Valentine, and then last night I stayed up late making heart shaped sugar cookies for him.

When I got to Craig's house I got out of the car and started to cross the street when I saw someone come out of the house. As I looked closer I realized that it was Craig and I quickly walked back across the street to my car so that he wouldn't see me. I thought it was odd that he would be out so early, but then I realized that he was in his pajamas and that he was probably on his way to my apartment to drop off my Valentine. Sure enough, he drove in the direction of my house. I quickly delivered the Valentine then I returned home where I found a Valentine on my doorstep. The card that Craig made for me was incredible! I never thought that a guy could be so good at crafts. It looked like something I would have made! The card was a big piece of scrap booking paper and he made it look like there was a box of chocolates on it. In three of the chocolates were quotes about love.

Later in the morning I received a text message that said, "Good heavens! Your incredible! Thanks and have a Happy Valentines Day!"

We texted each other back and forth and his last text message read "Aye-today is a happy day. Enjoy it! See you at 5, though I'd rather see you sooner ;)".

All day I was distracted thinking about Craig, I had written a pretty personal message in the Valentines card I had made and I hoped that he wouldn't take it the wrong way.

Well the day finally passed and at 5 o'clock Craig came to pick me up for our date, When I opened my door, there he was holding a bouquet of red and yellow roses. I was so surprised! They were beautiful, and it was even better of a surprise because I've never gotten flowers from a guy before.

We went to on Italian restaurant for dinner (Ottavio's in Provo). It was really good. We talked the whole time. Then after dinner we went to a BYU basketball game. We met up with another couple (Autumn and Jeremy) who ended up not staying for the whole thing. I didn't pay much attention to the game since Craig and I talked most of the time .

He told me that he was so surprised to get my Valentine. He loved what I had written in the card and he told me that he had read it almost 5 times during the day and that he had been distracted the entire day.

After the basketball game we walked back to Craig's car and we just stood there and talked for the longest time. Neither one of us wanted to move.

We talked about so many things last night and it is obvious to me that we are both on the same page, and that is so exciting! He said lots of little things that gave me the impression that he can see us getting married and spending the rest of our lives together.

I always have such a good time when I am with Craig. He means the world to me!

Charlie | 4 Months

2011-01-31T14:12:00.003-07:00

You turned a corner this past month and we are more in love with you than we could have possibly imagined! Your sad and whiney baby behaviour has turned into lots of gurgles, coos and laughs, and you spend a lot more time playing on your own. We are so grateful that you decided to show us just how sweet and wonderful you can be!

This past month you started to use your jumper. Your feet don’t touch the ground in it yet, but with the help of a book you like to stand in it and grab at the toys around you. You even like to fall asleep in it.

You also enjoy hanging out on your play mat. You use your little legs to kick the ball and occasionally your arms flail enough to hit the toys hanging above your head.

Grabbing things is your new past time. You are getting much better at it and you have perfected your ability to pull on Mommy’s hair. She is so grateful! :)

Although you don’t spend a huge amount of time on your tummy or back (other than sleeping), you have figured out how to roll over. You can roll from your tummy to your back in both directions. Mommy thought it was just a fluke at first, but you really can do it. We think it’s cute how you get a huge grin on your face after you roll over, it's almost as if you think you tricked us.

You love to be a part of whatever it is that we happen to be doing. We've noticed that if we are all in the same room and for some reason we all walk out and leave you behind you start to cry. But the minute someone walks back in you are fine. You just like knowing that we are near you and that you are being included.

You love your older brother and he loves you! He is very soft and gentle with you and lately he has been sharing his love routine with you. I nearly cried the first time I saw him do it. I can tell that you look up to him and want to be just like him. When he's in the room you watch his every move and you often have a grin on your face when he is near.

Thank you for such a wonderful month Charlie. We love you so much!

Sleep, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

2011-01-21T00:12:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is, but Sleep and I have kind off had a falling out with each other. We used to be the best of pals. I never had any trouble visiting sleep, and once we got together I never wanted to leave him. Well those days are gone, at least for a little while...I hope. I miss sleep...but sleep seems to be holding a grudge. He makes me lay in bed for a long time before he will let me visit, and because of that I have lost interest and willingly stay up until all hours of the night (more like morning) until I know for sure that he wont fight me once I do decide to visit.

You see, I think the thing that is getting between my friend, Sleep, and I, is life. Yeah, that thing called life. It might have something to do with the fact that my future, my husband's future, is very much in question at the moment. I've been trying to get my photography business back up and running but it's going very slowly. The dear husband is going to make me a new website (once he doesn't have a million and a half other things to do, which may be never), I readjusted my prices, and I am even offering prints now and other awesome things, but that does me little good without clients. Clients, what are those? Yeah, I get the feeling that Utah was just a really bad place to start a photography business. Not that there aren't plenty of potential clients, but because those clients have a plethora of photographers to choose from, and well, I don't really make the list so to speak. It's frustrating, especially since I want it so bad! I really need a life and identity outside of being a mom. Not that I don't love my kids, but I'm going a little crazy here. I'm bored out of my mind! I do the same thing every day, and frankly I feel like I'm turning into a bitch because of it. Pardon the language. Being a stay-at-home mom is boring, especially in the winter time. Especially in the winter time! It would be so nice to have something to take me away from all the menial, never-ending tasks that I call my life...I was hoping that photography could be that thing, but like I said, it's going slow.

On top of all of that are my husbands worries and woes for the future. In about three and a half months he is going to graduate from law school and we have not a clue what we are doing. He applies to dozens and dozens of jobs every week hoping and praying that one of those applications will turn into a secure job and a pay check (hopefully a fat one, but we aren't holding our breath), but we've heard nothing but a bunch of regection. Things are looking a little bleak at the moment...and when I mean bleak, I mean dry, as in drought dry. It scares me a little, especially since I was hoping to have some semblance of a thriving photography business to fall back on.

Anyway, there are lots of worries on my mind. I try not to think about them but that never works. God has always pulled us through, but I'm afraid that just as Sleep has given up on me, I've sort of given up on Him. Not permanently, but we haven't really talked in a while if you know what I mean.

To say the least, our family is ready for some change. Good and exciting change, or at least to know what our near future holds for us.

What are your current worries and struggles? Are you enjoying life at the moment, or are you too looking for better days?

Bath Time

2011-01-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

Today the boys took their first bath together. Normally I bathe Charlie in the kitchen sink, but he's getting a little too big for a baby who can't sit yet, so he has graduated to the tub. At first Mason wasn't too excited about the idea, he likes the tub to himself unless he's taking a shower with Mommy or Daddy, but once he realized that he could dump water on his brother he got more excited about the whole thing!

Felt Name Book Patterns

2011-01-18T02:05:00.015-07:00

I have been postponing making these patterns available because they are just copies of my original drawings, but due to request I am going to post them anyway. With time I will go back through and update them, and I may even go through and redraw them in illustrator, but for now you get my originals. These patterns are for PERSONAL USE ONLY!. The patterns are not to be printed and sold and in no way are these patterns to be used to make books for profit. Thank you and enjoy!

UPDATE!!!

I spent dozens of hours and a few long nights recreating all my drawings in Illustrator and turning them into patterns. You can still use the free links I have listed on this page to my old drawings, but this set of patterns is significantly more useful. I've updated the drawings, and I separated out all the individual felt parts you'll need — all you'll have to do is cut along the patterns. Here's a low-resolution example of how the patterns look:

You can purchase the entire alphabet pack, including all the designs listed below, for an introductory release discount of 25% off, which means all you'll pay is $15. That's 29 patterns (A-Z and three extra patterns for A, H, and N), ready to print in PDF and JPEG formats. Also, if I add second patterns for other letters in the future, you can have them for free. Use this link to purchase the patterns:

Links to other related posts/sites:
Charlie's Felt Name Book
Mason's Felt Name Book
Felt Name Book Tutorial
Felt Name Book Flickr Group (Go here to see examples and share your felt book creations made with or inspired by the SimplyKaits Felt Name Book Patterns!)

Patterns
A is for Alligator
A is for Armadillo
B is for Bee (I used this pattern for honey bee rather than bumble bee, hence the H rather than a B)
C is for Crab
D is for Dog
E is for Elephant
F is for Frog
G is for Giraffe
H is for Hedgehog
H is for Hummingbird
I is for Iguana
J is for Jellyfish
K is for Kangaroo
L is for Lion
M is for Monkey
N is for Newt
O is for Owl
P is for Pig
Q is for Quail
R is for Rabbit
S is for Seahorse
T is for Turtle
U is for Unicorn
V is for Vulture
W is for Walrus
X is for X-ray Fish
Y is for Yak
Z is for Zebra

Felt Name Book Tutorial

2011-01-18T01:23:00.001-07:00

I've had lots of requests for a tutorial on how I made Charlie's felt name book, so here it is! Also, if you are wanting patterns, go HERE!

Materials Needed:

- Sheet of Wonder-Under (can be found next to the interfacing at your local fabric store)

- Felt pattern pieces (already cut and ready to go)

- Iron/ ironing board

- Press cloth (I either use a thin washcloth or a thin dish towel)

- scissors (I use paper scissors to cut the Wonder-Under, NOT my cloth-only scissors)

- pencil

The How-To:

1. Lay out your felt pattern pieces on your page the way you want it to look once it's all finished.

2. Pull out your Wonder-Under. Notice that your Wonder-Under has two different sides, a shiny rough side, and a more matte-looking smooth side. Place the Wonder-Under with the shiny rough side facing DOWN.

3. Take all your felt pattern pieces and flip them so that the RIGHT side is facing DOWN on the Wonder-Under. Trace around all your pattern pieces. This doesn't have to look pretty or be precise.

4. Once you have all the pieces traced you are going to begin cutting them out. Don't bother cutting on the line though, cut about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch INSIDE the line. You want the pieces of Wonder-Under to be slightly smaller than the pieces of felt. It makes it much easier to peel the Wonder-Under off the back of the felt!

5. Now it's time to iron the Wonder-Under to the felt! To do this place the shiny rough side of the Wonder-Under to the WRONG side of the felt pattern piece. Press for 5-8 seconds with a hot, dry iron. Let cool. Repeat for all your felt pieces.

6. Next, carefully peal the Wonder-Under off the back of the felt. Position each of your pieces onto your page with the fusible web side DOWN. Cover with a damp press cloth and then press firmly for 10-15 seconds with a hot iron. Repeat, lifting and overlapping the iron until all pieces are fused. Remove press cloth and iron the page to dry excess moisture.

NOTE: Rather than pressing all the pieces down at the same time I often do one piece at a time so that I can make sure that they get fused in the correct spot. I'm always worried that if I fuse too many of the pieces at once, something might shift a little and come out funny looking.

7. Once all your pieces are fused, admire your work and start embellishing!

As always, please let me know if there are any improvements or corrections that need to be made to this tutorial to make it more user-friendly! Happy Crafting!

Christmas Day

2011-01-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

Christmas day was pretty chill at our house. We woke up, Mason opened his gifts (which I'm proud to say that we didn't pay a penny for thanks to the generosity of grandparents and family), and then we lounged around for several hours while Mason played with all his new loot. In the afternoon my brother, Zach, came over and we ate a delicious dinner of leg of lamb, mint and jalapeno chutney, brussel sprouts gratin, curly kale risotto, stuffed mushrooms, and Martenelli's Apple Cider. Dinner was followed by homemade apple pie and vanilla ice cream. The day was perfect, and despite the sounds of our menu, dinner didn't take all day to prepare which is always a plus!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

This year we spent Christmas Eve with some of the extended Janis Clan. We all congregated at Alissa & Joe's place for a yummy dinner, followed by the annual acting out of the Christmas Pageant.

This was actually my first year to participate in the pageant. We each got a costume and a script. The following pictures were taken by Craig (wise man 3).

Alora- Angel Gabriel

Uncle Ed- wise man 1

Uncle Joe- wise man 2

Grandma- choir of angels

Me- choir of angels

Elijah- shepherd

Grandpa Janis- King Herod

Emmy- Mary and Baby Jesus (Charlie was nursing and couldn't make his appearance as Baby Jesus)

We tried to make Mason play Joseph but he didn't want to wear a costume. Instead he helped Alissa with the accompaniment for the Christmas Carols.

Mason's New Acrobatic Trick

2011-01-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

Mason still sleeps in a crib. We never bothered to switch him over to a big boy bed because it was more convenient not to. He never figured out how to climb out, and seeing as we have no interior doors in our house, it was the easiest way to keep him confined to his room.

Well not anymore. Last night was the first time that Mason has successfully climbed out of his crib. He has climbed into it, and he has even fallen out of it a couple of times, but never, until last night, has he climbed out of it.

When I asked him to show me how he climbed out, this is what he did.

Mason's Crib Acrobatics from Craig Janis on Vimeo.

Pretty ingenious don't you think? I think it took him so long to start climbing out because he wanted to insure that while climbing out he wouldn't run the risk of getting hurt. He's cautious like that.

Now let's just hope that this new trick of his doesn't prevent him from taking naps.

Temple Square Lights

2011-01-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, December 23rd, we packed up the kids and headed up to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square. Usually we wouldn't go so close to Christmas day, but somehow it slipped our minds that only a million other people would be doing the same thing. We still had fun though.

Craig camped out on the side lines with the two strollers so that I could spend some time taking pictures.

Mason was extremely grumpy for some reason and refused to smile and look at the camera.

Charlie was in a decent mood though, as long as he was being held. :)

I had no idea that Craig was making those ridiculous faces behind me.

Charlie | 3 Months Old

2011-01-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

Weight: 11 lb. 2 oz. (3rd percentile)

We finally found a solution for your projectile vomiting! The medication that your doctor prescribed for you during your 2 month well-baby visit did the trick and you only threw up once this month. As long as we remember to give it to you every 6 hours you don’t seem to be bothered by your acid reflux. It is truly a blessing, and Mommy is especially grateful.

As you continue to grow we become more and more aware of your needs. You are an emotional child and you are in constant need of attention. Your frantic, and often unnerving, crying can be trying at times but we recognize that it is part of your personality and that you are just trying to express your needs in the only way you know how. Part of the reason that you cry so much is because you have a constant need to be held. One moment you will be in the depths of despair and then Mommy or Daddy will pick you up and instantaneously your are perfectly content. We find it rather bizarre, but you really just love to be held. As a result, you have earned the nickname “Faker,” because Mommy and Daddy no longer believe that you are as sad as your crying would lead us to believe.

You continue to be a wonderful sleeper. You sleep well at night, and Mommy has finally gotten a hang of your nap schedule, although it’s not always consistent. You typically take three longer naps during the day, as well as several cat naps. You do seem to be incapable of sleeping for long periods of time when you are not swaddled though, but that’s typically not a problem.

You have completely rejected the use of a pacifier, and your introduction to the bottle didn’t go so well either. We haven’t really forced the issue with the bottle though, so hopefully in time you will learn to use one, especially since Mommy plans to start working again.

You still hate belly time, and as a result your skull has started to develop a funny shape. You only seem to sleep on the right side of your head, so the back of your skull is starting to skew to the left. When you were born the nurse mentioned that you had an extra soft spot, so it wont surprise us much if you end up having to wear a helmet at some point during your infancy.

This month you discovered your hands...which is actually an accomplishment considering that they are always hidden away in a pair of socks. For some reason your little hands are the coldest part of your body, and when they get cold, you get sad! But when you do have the opportunity to play with those little digits of yours, you love to grab and swat at toys hanging from your swing, bassinet, or play mat.

You are extremely ticklish! You squirm and make the cutest little gurgles and coos when we change your diapers and clothes. It has become a game that we like to play with you.

Gingerbread Houses

2010-12-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

Last night we hosted a gingerbread house making party. We originally thought it would be fun to make it a competition and require everyone to make their houses out of graham crackers, but not a lot of people RSVP'd so I went ahead and made my usual gingerbread house recipe. The recipe makes enough dough for two houses so we gave the extra house to our Aunt Alissa and Uncle Joe, but then our friends Stephanie and Doug weren't able to find a gingerbread kit like they had hoped and ended up having to make theirs out of graham crackers. We felt bad and offered to let them help us decorate our house, but they insisted on making their own...which turned out pretty darn cute if I don't say so myself.

Stephanie & Doug

their cute little cottage and amazing sleigh!

Alissa, Joe, and their sweet girls

the front of their gingerbread "mansion"

the amazing roof detail

Our tired, sugar-high children

and of course, us...

Craig helped with the roofing, and that was about it. The rest of the night he was busy holding Charlie and making frosting. What a hubby...he knows how much I LOVE decorating gingerbread houses!

For those interested, go HERE for the recipe...

As written, the recipe says it will only make one gingerbread house, but if you don't make the roof tiles you end up having enough dough to make two full size houses. And even after making two houses there's always extra dough to make trees, gingerbread men, and this year I even added a chimney to each house.

Felt Christmas Ornaments

2010-12-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

Just four months after Craig and I got married we celebrated our first Christmas together. Like most couples, we came from homes with different traditions and we were now left to decide which of those traditions we would carry on in our own family and which ones we would leave behind. One of Craig's family traditions is that each family member receives a new ornament every year to put on the tree. Craig has kept all of those ornaments, and when we got married he expressed his desire to keep and use all of them on our tree. My family had a similar tradition, but over the years it faded and we started decorating our tree around a theme, and only certain ornaments would make it onto the tree. I really didn't like the idea of using all of our kiddy ornaments, but Craig would not give up what I believed to be a tacky tradition. So every year we have decorated our tree with our old, falling apart, childhood ornaments. I rather enjoy it now, but when we got married it was a sore topic. :) Anyway, we decided to keep the ornament giving tradition alive, but rather than buying the ornaments we plan to make them every year. We missed the first couple of years though, so last year I had to make 3 sets of ornaments rather than one. When our children get older I look forward to having a tree completely covered in felt ornaments, and when they are old enough, they can make their own.

2007

2008

(Left to Right: Craig, Mason, Kaity)

2009

(Left to Right: Craig, Mason, Kaity)

2010

(Left to Right: Mason, Craig, Charlie, Kaity)

Last year I saw these owl ornaments featured on Ucreate and I decided to copy the idea for this year's ornaments. All the others were my own idea.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

This Thanksgiving was particularly special because we got to spend it with both sides of our family. Craig's parents flew in from Texas with his brother Chad and the two little girls, and my parents drove up from California, and my brother Zach came down from Salt Lake. We had dinner at Uncle Blair and Aunt Danae's house with the rest of the extended Utah Janis family. I think there were about 40 of us total.

Charlie & Grandpa Janis

I made this pilgrim hat the night before for a photo scavenger hunt I had intended to participate in but didn't.

Our cousin Sophia was convinced that it was actually a pirate hat.

Craig got a little competitive about the wishbone.... ;)

Charlie's Baby Blessing

2010-12-06T15:32:00.001-07:00

Since Craig's family was already planning on coming out to Utah for Thanksgiving, we decided to invite my parents out as well so that we could bless Baby Charlie the following Sunday. In the LDS church rather than christening/baptizing a baby we simply give them a name and a blessing. We do not baptized children until they are 8 years old. Craig gave the blessing and he did a wonderful job. After the church service we went back to our aunt's house for a family luncheon.

Before everyone headed off for the evening we snapped a few photos. I was feeling a little stressed to get them done so I forgot to check all of the settings on my camera and we ended up with some VERY grainy pictures. Oh well...

Here is our very first family photo.

My immediate family (minus Matt, Sharee, and their kiddos)

Craig's immediate family (minus Elaine who had to head back to Idaho for school, and Ethan who is currently serving a mission in Salt Lake)

Both Sets of Grandparents

Great Grandma & Grandpa Janis

Four Generations of Janis'

Charlie | Two Months Old

2010-12-03T11:01:00.001-07:00

Weight: 10 lb. 5 oz. (8th percentile)

Height: 23.5 in. (51st percentile)

This past month you learned to smile and coo. At first you would only do it for Mommy, but now you are smiling and cooing for everyone. You especially loved to perform for your Grandma’s when they were here for Thanksgiving. We even caught you practicing your coos, smiles, and even a few giggles one night while you were sleeping in Mommy’s arms.

Charlie Smiles & Coos In His Sleep from Craig Janis on Vimeo.

Over the course of the past month you have also started to sleep through the night. You sleep between 8-11 hours, and you have even gotten use to sleeping in your bassinet, as long as you are swaddled up good and tight.

You still spend most of your wakeful hours in your swing or being held, and occasionally you’ll let us lay you on your back on your play mat, but never on your tummy. You hate tummy time!

You love to watch your big brother play, and he loves to involve you in his play as well. He reads you books, builds block towers for you, and even lends you some of his Hot Wheels now and again.

You still haven’t decided how you feel about your pacifier. Some days you love it, and some days you hate it. But when the situation is dire, and Mommy can’t feed you, you usually love it.

You are a very social baby and are always on your best behavior when we are out and about, and for that we are very grateful!

Unfortunately, you continue to struggle with GERD. When you turned one month old we were able to start giving you acid reflux medicine. It seemed to help at first, but after a few days it began to increase your projectile vomiting and we decided to take you off of it. We tried taking you back to the doctor, but unfortunately we were told by the physician’s assistant that there was nothing else that we could give you and that we would just have to deal with it. Mommy didn’t like that answer very much so she decided to go find her own cure at the health food store. We tried a combination of baby acidophilus and gripe water, and Mommy even went on a dairy-free diet for a while. We thought it was helping, but you continued to struggle. You would have 2-3 good days, and then a really bad day full of spit up and projectile vomiting. Finally, Mommy took you back to your regular doctor, who prescribed another medication. We have yet to see results, but we are hopeful since it is one of the same medications that Mason used when he was struggling with the same thing.

Charlie | Smiles & Coos

2010-11-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

On November 3rd Charlie socially smiled and cooed at me for the first time. I forgot how gratifying it is to experience these little moments with your baby and to know that they really do recognize you and love you. So far he's only done this for me and it helps to remind me that despite all the imperfections that I may have, and all the mistakes I might make as a mother, he loves me and needs me!

Charlie-Smiles & Coos from Craig Janis on Vimeo.

Once Upon A Sunday

2010-11-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

Fall Leaves

2010-11-05T19:16:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I took Mason out to our front yard to play in all the golden leaves that have fallen from our trees. The sun was at the perfect position in the sky and the light was filtering gorgeously through the branches and leaves. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some pictures.

So I raked up a pile of leaves, placed a chair next to it, and told Mason to jump into the pile of leaves. Upon my request he quickly replied, "no" and wandered off to play with the rake instead.

When I tried to physically coax him onto the chair he freaked out, but with a little more encouraging he figured it out and decided that he enjoyed it. Can you tell?

I tried to get him to throw the leaves at me, but surprisingly he had too much respect for me to do that. We tried just throwing them straight up into the air, but he wasn't as coordinated with the upward motion. He was cute trying though.

So we stuck to just jumping and rolling around in the leaves.

We tried to involve Charlie in all the action, but he wasn't as thrilled.

Our Baby Owl

2010-11-03T15:59:00.000-06:00

Mason's iPhone Costume

2010-11-03T13:15:00.001-06:00

Saturday we took Mason up to the Apple store to take pictures of him in his iPhone costume. The store was rather crowded and he was rather distracted, but we were able to get a few good shots out of it. As to be expected, he attracted a lot of attention from it, and a few Apple store employees asked to take pictures of him with their own iPhones.

To see a picture of the full costume, and to access the app patterns to make your own iPhone costume, go HERE.

Happy Belated Election Day!

2010-11-03T12:41:00.001-06:00

We hope that you were able to get out and vote, even if the results weren't what you had hoped for! :)

Here Comes Halloween

2010-10-25T21:00:00.000-06:00

I'm sure that some of you are dying to know what Mason and Charlie are going to be for Halloween, so I will tell you...

Months ago I knew that I wanted to make Charlie an owl costume, it was just a matter of coming up with a pattern that would work for an infant. As for Mason, I absolutely had no clue. I really wanted to make them matching costumes, but I just couldn't decide on anything without giving up on the owl idea. So I gave up trying to come up with a theme all together and went with Craig's suggestion of making Mason an iPhone. Craig was an Apple computer one year for Halloween, so it feels appropriate to keep up the tradition. :)

Anyway, here are the costumes.

I plan on doing a more formal photo shoot for each of the kids and their costumes, but I wont be able to do Mason's photo shoot until Saturday (we're going to take him up to the Apple store in Salt Lake) and I didn't want to wait that long to post their costumes.

Also here are the patterns for the iPhone apps if anyone wants to whip up their own iPhone. I used felt and Wonder Under to make Mason's costume, but you could easily use paper or paint to make a simpler version. Let me know how it works out for you if you decide to use the patterns!

iPhone Apps 1
iPhone Apps 2
iPhone Apps 3

Charlie | One Month Old

2010-10-25T16:18:00.000-06:00

At one month old Charlie is a pro at....

-eating

-sleeping

-spitting up

- making messy diapers

He LOVES...

-to be held

-to be swaddled

-to sleep in his swing (the incline helps his acid reflux)

He HATES...

-tummy time

-sleeping flat on his back (blame it on the reflux)

-pacifiers (they make him gag, although we've tricked him into

taking one on a couple of occasions)

Overall he is a good baby. He just has a different personality than his brother and that has taken some getting use to. That doesn't mean we don't love him to pieces though- because we do! Now that he is a month old we can start giving him acid reflux medicine which I'm sure will make our lives even easier.

To see more pictures from Charlie's One Month photo shoot go HERE.

Our Pumpkin Patch Outing

2010-10-19T18:49:00.000-06:00

Yesterday for FHE we took a family trip down to the pumpkin patch at the Red Barn in Santaquin. It was rather cloudy so unfortunately I wasn't able to get the gorgeous warm light pictures that I got last year, but I was able to catch this shot right when we got out of the car.

Mason was VERY excited about picking out a pumpkin, but less excited to catch that excitment on camera. He was too distracted watching the other children that were there!

But I was able to catch this little grin.

Here's a picture of Craig and Charlie on the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. This is as much of an appearance as Charlie made yesterday evening due to the chilly breeze. He was much happier snuggled up to his Daddy!

Cute Mason on the hay ride.

And one shot to prove that I was there too. Oh the life of the photographer...the only way to get in the picture is to take a self portrait at a funny angle! :)

Daddy helping Mason pick out a pumpkin.

And a few shots of the field at twilight.

I wonder where we will be next year, and if we'll even be somewhere where they celebrate Halloween and have pumpkin patches.