101 Posts

I was getting ready to post and realized that this is my 101st post! I started this blog when we were pregnant with Jessica as a way to update my families on what was going on with us. Just kind of a neat thought to know that I've done 101 posts now. :)

So anyways, here are the happenings with us in the last week or two...

I have been (attempting) to shave some $$$ off our budget by meal planning and getting back into couponing (yea for the upcoming Relief Society mid-week meeting that is focusing on those two topics exactly!) In any case, one thing I've tried to do is a monthly Costco run. I figure that there are some things I can coupon and others that I can get in bulk. One of these items last month was liquid dishwasher detergent. We finished up our previous supply and so I loaded the dishwasher with our new, bulky, cheap liquid dishwasher detergent. (Can anyone guess where this is going?!? haha...) It was late at night, I was baking a wedding reception cake for my hubby's grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, when I turn around and saw:

Yes. I saw all of these bubbles just pouring out of our dishwasher! What did I put into the dishwasher? Dish soap! FYI: Dish soap is VERY different from dishwasher soap! I thought it was pretty funny so I grabbed some towels and my camera. (Only I - and my cousin Brittany - would include the camera as a part of our natural thought process...)

I very quickly found out that dish soap answers to no man!

I figured that soap was soap though, and the dishes still came out clean!
(As did my kitchen floor. Unexpected bonus, I guess. hee hee)

My mom sent a package down for her favorite granddaughter. Included in this package were two toddler sized aprons (yellow and green). Since I was working on a cake, Jessica really wanted to help. So, I helped her put her apron on. She did NOT want to take it off! She LOVES her new apron!

She also loves pretending to bake. *cough cough* I mean she really is baking... in her mind...

Remember how I said Jessica LOVES her new apron from Grandma?!? She loves it so much that she wanted the entire neighborhood to see it! I figured it could only help keep out the cold weather we've been having so Daddy bundled her up and took her out for a walk, apron and all! I love the mismatched outfit! I just had to snap some pictures of our lil' baker!

She got very excited when she saw Mommy through the kitchen window...


This is the 3 layer wedding anniversary cake I did. I was sooo nervous the entire time I was decorating! It turned out great though! For those who are wondering, yes. Those are silk flowers.

I LOVE this pale yellow with those beautiful flowers! I am desperate to take a Wilton decorating class so I can work on this new passion I have! (My husband would shake his head and mumble that I do not need another hobby to become passionate about!)

Grandma & Grandpa Workman - 50 years of wedded bliss!

This is the Grandma who made our wedding cake 4.5 years ago. When her daughter (our Aunt Val) told us she was putting this wedding celebration together, I asked if I could try out my new skills and decorate the cake. She was kind enough to trust me. I have always loved that Grandma Workman did our cake and really wanted to say thank you by doing their anniversary cake. They must have liked it because they consented to take a picture with me by it! :) These are two sweet and wonderful individuals! I'm so glad to know them and be a part of their family.

4 Generations of Workman's!
(I insisted that they take this picture!)

Jessica loved playing on the stage at the church with her cousins. Me? I was a little nervous to have her up on the stage!

Jessica is such a ham! I just LOVE this picture of her! hahaha!

In the Nursery room the kids found out that the doors to one of the cabinets was unlocked. They all decided to "bunk down" for the night!

Jessica and her cousin Hannah.

All 6 of the Workman "kids"!
From left to right: Marcia, Val, Robbin, DeVon, Jack, Richard

Grandma and Grandpa Workman

Sometimes in the mornings, Jessica will snuggle with me in our bed with her sippy cup and other mornings she will snuggle on the couch with her blanket. She has 4 special blankets that her Great-Grandma Jennessee made for her. Great-Grandma Jennessee is Jer's mother's mother. (In scripture language, Great-Grandma Jennessee begat Grammy Workman who begat Daddy who begat Jessica...) This yellow blanket is one of those special 4. I love them and Jessica loves them! :) Thank you Grandma J for being so wonderful, kind, and special to us!

Well, we are more than half-way through November. Thanksgiving Day is 2 days away, followed by Black Friday, followed by Christmas with my family! Expect more posts to follow...

Cleaning and Re-cleaning

I hate it. Actually that is not true. I like cleaning. I hate re-cleaning! I hear from all over that it is the "norm" with little kids in the house though. Still drives me nuts. I swear that I will have my home clean one day, and by half-way through the next day, it is completely trashed looking again. My husband says to just put things up when I'm done. Which is great in theory except I have to rush and save the little toddler from climbing on the counter where the scissors are, or stop her from leaning into the bathroom and falling to crack her head on the tub. Or, my favorite, you try cleaning up and putting things away with a screaming child who is pushing on your legs and crying "up! up!" so that you will hold her because she is sad. Seriously. And then, when I put a movie on so she can be still so I can clean, I feel like this horrible mother who has gone back on her naive goal of not letting Disney movies become the babysitter. The reality of it is, mothers occasionally (note that I said occasionally) NEED Disney to be the babysitter! Plus, I feel like ALL I do is clean up after everything!!! (Which isn't true in reality but we're talking about what I feel here! Work with me...) My mom also told me that the housework can wait while you spend time with your kid(s). Which is true except can it wait a week? A month? A year? A lifetime? The trick is to balance your housework with playing. Or, somehow involve the kids WITH the housework (hello Mary Poppins: A Spoon Full of Sugar... which, by the way, is Jessica's favorite Disney babysitter! haha!) In any case, this is my re-cleaning rant. I hate re-cleaning.

Christmas Shopping

I have decided that this year will be different. 'How' you ask? Well, let me paint a picture of years past. In the past, I wait until about December 10th to really truly nail down an idea of what I am planning on getting everyone. By December 10th, all of the really good sales are over (a.k.a. Black Friday). By December 10th, I am either gearing up for finals, teaching, unpacking because we've just moved, or packing because we are visiting one of our families for Christmas. By December 10th we are looking at our bank account thinking "where did the money go?!? How will we afford presents?!?" Then, by December 23rd I am almost done frantically running around like a chicken with my head cut off. By December 24th (at about 4pm) I am finished either running around stores searching for that last lil' item I forgot to get or I'm wrapping presents in a rush so that I can finish working on the other Christmas Eve things I forgot to get to because I was working on getting my Christmas shopping done. *whew!* This entire monologue wears me out just typing it and thinking about it! Yikes!

So. This year will be different.

This is how this year will be different:

1. By November 5th I had a fancy spreadsheet all ready to go with all of my people listed and several options for Christmas gifts next to their name.
2. By November 10th I not only had priced out the majority of the items I had planned to buy, but had already purchased or ordered them.
3. By today (November 15th) I have almost finished with 1/2 of my Christmas gifts.

My goal?
To be completely (yes, I said the "C" word) completely done with my Christmas shopping.

Why?

1. Because after having just one kid, I'm realizing that I don't have too many brain cells to lose with additional pregnancies and births (and no, this is not an announcement that we are pregnant. I'm just looking at the facts of how scatter-brained I truly am and it does not look like the situation will be rectified ever in my entire life.)
2. Because I am tired of rushing around on Christmas Eve putting the finishing touches on my shopping list and/or creating shoddy wrapmanship on my Christmas presents (I'll be honest - I LIKE the pretty bows and ribbons and having everything look neat and nice! It's the scrapbooker in me! I am one of those crazy people who try to unwrap my presents exactly the way they were wrapped. Drives my husband crazy!)
3. Because we are traveling this year to visit my wonderful, crazy, fun-loving, awesome family in Alaska this Christmas and I want to make sure we have everything we need.
4. Because we are having a 2nd Christmas when we get back and I want to make sure that we have everything we need.
5. Because we now have international family members and I want our presents to arrive in Germany on time.
6. Because I am tired of being Christmas scattered! :)
7. Because, ok ok - I confess. Because I plan on spending Christmas Eve day working on a fabulous cake with fondant that is supposed to look like a 3 tier Christmas present that will be edible! (I bought my pans today!!!)
8. Because I want our bank account to thank us by having money in it at the end of the year. Literally.
9. Because - why not?

So, for the sake of my own sanity, my husbands well-being, and my daughters care, I am attempting to be Christmas organized! So far, it is going well. I have even managed to post thrice in the last month. That is saying something...

For Aunt Tirzah

Already I'm doing better! I didn't wait 4 months to post again since my last time blogging! Hooray! :) Let me just say, it has already been a CRAZY busy time since I last posted! Life just seems to get busier and busier and I love it! (Most days). We finished October with some fun Halloween experiences and are into the middle of November gearing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This is a semi-side note but I am super excited for the holidays.
Reason #1: Most importantly I get to go home to Alaska and spend Christmas with my family. I love, love, love my crazy, zany, wacky, goofy, wonderful, kind, amazing, fun-loving family! I'm not sure why but in the past month or two I have been missing them like crazy! I've been so homesick for Alaska and I was just there a few months ago in June. In any case, I'm soooo glad that I get to go home!

Reason #2: I decided to be oober organized this year. So, at the beginning of November I started making my list of "things to get people". I finished it after the first week and began gathering presents the second week! I almost have my husband's family all finished and will begin working on my family in the next week. My goal is to be totally done with Christmas shopping by Dec. 5th so I can spend the rest of my holidays relaxing, enjoying, and having a fabulous time with my daughter!

Reason #3: I feel like my daughter is finally getting to the age where she is going to be excited for Christmas. She will definitely "get it" more this year than last.
Reason #4: I just LOVE this time of year! I love the music, the decorations, the mood, the excitement, the hot chocolate, the gift buying, the laughter, the smiles... the list just goes on and on! Really though, what's not to like about this holiday season?!?

To get back to this post though, here is what we did for Halloween and the beginning of November:

Trunk Or Treat

Ward Halloween Party

This is a picture of the cake I brought to our ward Halloween party. I decided to make a pumpkin cake. It didn't take too long and it looked awesome!

Another view of the pumpkin cake...

Jessica is wearing her rocker outfit for the Trunk-Or-Treat. We found this $2 kid guitar at Deseret Industries. When I put new batteries in the guitar, it still worked! Score!

Jessica was not a happy camper by the end of the night. She was sooooo tired!


Carving Pumpkins

Jessica was so excited to help us carve pumpkins! I love it when we do something totally new to her. She gets soooo excited!!!

We were given these special pumpkin carving packets that let you carve intricate designs on your pumpkin. I was very excited to build a tradition with Jess and to carve my intricate design.

How cute is this little girl?!? I just can't get over it!

Jessica was enthralled with our pumpkins. She kept trying to poke her face down into the pumpkin while we were scooping out the seeds because she wanted to see what was going on. It made the scooping process just a wee bit slow...

Jessica even took a turn at scooping out seeds. Now if we could just manage to teach her where the seeds actually are, she might have some luck!!!

Daddy was a GREAT pumpkin seed scooper!

Jessica wasn't sure if that piece should be thrown away.

Woo-hoo! Pumpkin carving masters!

Trick Or Treat

We decided to go as a punk rock family band. Obviously Daddy and I are a teensy bit more excited about our costumes than Jessica was... When she does not want her picture taken, watch out! 2 words: Temper Tantrum!!!

After a tootsie roll (and opening the front door) she calmed down and was loving the costume idea. Here is Mommy rocker and Toddler rocker posing for their photo opp.

The Punk Rock Family Band (PRFB) in the middle of our set... (We bought her guitar at D.I. for $2.00 as a prop to her costume. I decided, on a whim, to replace the AA batteries for kicks. It worked! The guitar totally works! Score!

We're on our way to our neighbors house for trick or treating... We had practiced for several days the knocking on doors part and saying "Trick or Treat!" Jessica would love to knock on her Aunt Angie's door and (immediately) say "ick-o-eee!" Then the door would open and she would hide her face.

She certainly wasn't shy when it came to receiving her candy though...

Here she is enjoying her candy!

Halloween Decorations

This is my pumpkin! It took FOREVER to carve but it looks awesome!!! Next year I'm going to attempt a new look with shadow patterns. The idea is, you carve something on the front (like a witch over her cauldron) and then something on the back which casts a shadow on the wall behind the pumpkin (like the "spirits" rising up from the cauldron.) Just wait until next year folks, next year...

I don't know if this picture does it justice but here is the front of our house with our Halloween decorations. I can't wait to own our own home so I can really begin to decorate our house the way I want to! I absolutely LOVE Halloween decorations! (Not the gory kind though...)

Around the House

No, Picasso has not visited our house. But, perhaps Jessica has a future in art? I figured I had better take a picture of her first "art" rendition just in case. Medium: Crayons. Canvas: our bathroom mirror and walls. Lovely. She was so PROUD of her artwork when I came in. I really had to run for the camera.

She got stuck underneath one of our chairs. Little goober!

Jer hangs his ties up in his closet and they are the perfect height for Jessica to get at. She loves wearing his ties. She loves wearing them all at once!

One thing I simultaneously love and despair is that Jessica tries to copy everything I do. She loves my keys because she she's me using them. Smarty pants that she is, she knows what keys are used for and is constantly sticking my keys into the bathroom door knob. It turns out that one of my keys fits perfectly into that door knob.

Super cool chic!

Reading Rainbow

Jessica loves loves loves to read. She also is able to get onto her rocking chair in her room. On this particular day, I happened to sneak into her room with my camera. Not only was she reading on her rocking chair, but she had pulled one of her blankets onto her lap so she could be comfortable while she read.

When she read she reads out loud to herself. It's pretty cute. She laughs when she "reads" something funny, turns her own pages, etc...

More and more reading

Ooohhhh! This is the good part of the story!

More Pictures Around the House

Jessica wanted to play in her crib and I decided to join her! :)

I'm not sure what is in her hand and neither is she...

Look at that adorable face! I would never have believed it but it is possible to love her more and more each day!

She's either very tired or in the middle of winking in this picture. I love my baby girl!

She's throwing a temper tantrum here... I'm trying to be sympathetic. Honest!

There's the sad face! (faker... lol!)

See what I mean? Just moments later she is laughing and smiling!

I have no idea why I included this picture...

Working Out

Jer and I are trying to work out every day. We either go running in the morning (during the winter time = brrrr!) or we do an ab workout video. Jessica gets really excited and tries to do it with us. It's so funny!

The climbing on my stomach makes this workout less effective.

Twin-ers!

I never used to understand why my mother would dress my sisters and I alike. I can now say that I understand a little more because I have this subconsious desire to dress Jessica and I alike! Who knows why? I decided to put our hair up the same so we could be twins. :)

Wedding Cake(s)

Jessica really loves to help me bake. I made a practice cake for Jer's grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. Jessica liked watching me "sponge" the frosting on the outside of the cake.

Here is the finished practice cake. I did my real cake today and it looked awesome! I'll post more pictures later with those pictures.

Gettin' Jiggy Wid It

There's my lil' gangsta' daughter! Hello Will Smith "na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na..."

She kept leaning her head back, trying to see me take the picture of her. Again - so cute!

HPDHP1C Party!

(Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 1 Countdown Party)

In honor of dressing up and going to see the Deathly Hallows part 1 movie, we decided to watch a different Harry Potter movie each night accompanied with a different Harry Potter activity. Here is the proposed schedule of events:

(1) Jelly Bean Guessing Contest with HP Sorceror's Stone

(2) Quidditch Match with HP Chamber of Secrets

(3) Sculpt Your Patronus with HP Prisoner of Azkaban

(4) Paint Your Patronus with HP Goblet of Fire

(5) O.W.L.S. with HP Order of the Phoenix

(6) Brew Your Potion with HP Half-Blood Prince

(7) HP Dress Up with HP Deathly Hallows Part 1

So far we have really only done the first activity, but we're still watching all the movies. Here are pictures from our first activity!!!

My cousins, Spencer and Colton, came over - in front is the "goblet" containing Bertie Bott's Every Flavor jelly beans (actually, they are filled with Muggle jelly beans...)

Angie and Jer diligently at work guessing their flavors...

And the grand prize winner: (drum roll please).... Colton! He and Angie actually tied and they had to have a taste-off. I picked 3 of the same jelly beans for each of them and they had to guess what flavor. Colton's face reminds me of the commercials "Crazy for Cocoa Puffs!" only it would be "Crazy for Jelly Beans!" hahaha

Hopefully you (meaning Aunt Tirzah & Brittany) have enjoyed the update! hee hee - you are both awesome and I can't wait to see you at Christmas. Tirzah, hang in there! Brittany, can't wait for the unbirthday party for the girls! Love you both!