A New Phase...

Wood, Distressed Temple Blocks I made for my YW's lesson for each girl.

This years Valentine's Cards for the boys classmates.

My very first Trifle! Love desserts with fresh fruit!

Blueberry & White Chocolate Scones! Yum!!

I have pretty much worked non-stop since I was 15 years old (my first job was at a tanning salon because it was the closest and "safest" place for me to work at 15) As a new wife I worked, while having babies I worked. Carl has always been very supportive of me and when I told him I felt like I needed a break to be JUST a mom and wife he was totally onboard although he wasn't sure what I would be doing with my days...I've made a mistake by keeping a clean and organized home while working. He said I made it look so easy, so what would I do now?

Holy cow am I busy! I'm not even sure myself how I've done it all these years to be honest. But I feel so much better! I feel like I have a little more time for myself which means I am a much better, happier, more patient mom (to all boys) and wife (to a cop, a very stressful occupation if you didn't already know.) ;-D

So, I AM keeping myself busy with cooking, crafting, sewing, organizing & volunteering and quite honestly LOVING it! Now I'll even have more time to update this blog more frequently! Yeah

Have a great weekend everyone!

~Kristen

Try and try again!

Oh man, sewing is NOT easy! Especially when you're using fabric with a pattern! I love this chevron print...but by the end of the day, (cause that's how long it took me!) I was ready to set it on F-I-R-E! Silly of me for thinking that one semester of home ec in the 7th grade would be enough for me to know how to sew! ;-D

I figured this part out...it was supposed to have pockets...emphasis on "SUPPOSED TO"! I was so bummed that my pea size sewing brain couldn't figure it out!

Here is the finished product! Luckily the son who took the picture for me had unsteady hands and it came out a bit blurry. Up close, its just not the same as the skirt below!!

Thanks to Cori for the inspiration!! Now off to see if UCC offers a sewing class...I desperately want to learn!

It's Tradition

It's tradition to be with friends and family...laughing!

It's tradition to climb in the back of a pickup truck and drive around

River Forks Park to look at the

beautiful display of Christmas lights!

It's NOT a tradition that I'm still not used to cold weather

and wearing loads of layers.

It's tradition to take silly pictures...

...especially one's like these!

It's tradition to always have grandma and grandpa

Oshita around to celebrate with!

It's tradition to write a letter to Santa...

...and mail it!

It's lovely to have great-grandma to celebrate with too!

It's tradition to take a picture with Santa,

and make sure he's received our letters!

A BIG thank you to grandma and grandpa for hosting our Christmas Lights Party and to the Forsloffs for joining us and making it a wonderful Christmas-y evening!

An Early-ish Start...

Jones Design Company...is one of my most favorite blogs!! Not because she offers so many classy downloads for FREE, but because she has so many great ideas that really get my creative juices flowing! (The Link to her website is down below)

Jones Design Company

Jones Design Company

Martha Stewart

Jones Design Company

The Paper Mama

Vicky Dar

My Home Ideas

Houzz

The Cinderella Project

Today on my dayoff, I decided to go to a few stores in town and just sorta "window shop" for Christmas decorating ideas. I love being creative and working with a tight budget. For some reason the less money I have to work with, the more creative I get. Pinterest is a great resource for me! I'll print up a page of all the ideas I love from there and take it with me while I shop. The pictures above are just some of the ideas I'm playing with...the day after Thanksgiving (by way of tradition) is when I like to decorate the house!

When do you get started?

Thankful Chain

Silver Box Creative

Birthdays, Halloween, Christmas...no matter what the Holiday we always count down to it with a chain. I love this idea from Silver Box Creative, an 'I am thankful for...' chain. It's a great way to teach our children to count their every blessing. They even offer it as a free printable here: http://silverboxcreative.com/blog/2010/11/i-am-thankful-for-printables/

Looking back...loving our life!

2010 Roseburg, OR Hucrest School
2009 Thanksgiving in Ferndale, WA

2008 Lehi, UT

2007 Mililani, Oahu Hawaii

2010 Kona, Hawaii

2011 Roseburg, OR. Me and my cutie pie niece Mia

2011...Kobe & Carl in a rare "I love you brother" moment! ;-)

2011...Kobe, need I say more? He's obsessed with trying to get a six pack. Apparently "ALL" 8th grade boys show off their six-packs in the schools locker room!

Hanging with our friends! These kids have amazing friendships with the V. Family! Seriously, they ALL get along perfectly! So it's always a treat when they can come over and hang with us!

Chillin on the front porch with pizza

Some Re-Creations & Free Inspiration

So, as you know I am addicted to 'Pinterest'...it is literally FREE Inspiration and everyday I check it is like receiving a new magazine in the mail! I just love it! I've been wanting to make myself one of these bags for about a year now after seeing a girl sell one on her etsy site for $85!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This re-creation cost me $2.75 and 2 hours of my time! I love it!
Here is a close up. That flower clip I made as well but is not actually for my purse. Probably for my hair or a sweater. The one for my purse will be out of an old grey T-shirt. Will post that later!

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Not only am I inspired to be creative but I'm also inspired to cook more interesting (cheap) dishes for my family! I have cooked all of these dishes over the last 3 weeks and they all surprisingly turned out great! (SO SORRY BUT FOR SOME REASON MY COMPUTER HAS NOT BEEN LETTING ME LINK ANY OF THE WEBSITES!! GRRRR. IF YOU WANNA TRY A RECIPE JUST LET ME KNOW AND I WILL SEND IT TO YOU OR YOU CAN CHECK OUT MY 'YUM' PINBOARD)

Avocado and Black Bean Salsa

Lime & Cilantro Rice (YUM)

Hawaiian Coconut Chicken

Indian Naan Bread (So yummy with curry!)

Blueberry Breakfast Cake (I made this for General Conference Weekend)

Herbed Cream Cheese and Cucumber Bites

Guacamole Bruschette

Stay tuned for some more re-creations!! The Holidays are upon us and I'm feeling my creative juices flowin!! ;-D

What We've Been Up To...

Here are Carl and I before the Annual Law Enforcement Banquet, where he was nominated as 'Officer of the Year'

Our youngest, Kaleo in his first year of Flag Football! So much fun to watch!

Kobe and his best bud M. There are friends your children make that you know will last a lifetime!

The boys and I running the Umpqua 5K...I love these guys!!

This was a very hard picture to take! It was already 90 degrees and quite humid. Noone REALLY wanted to pose for me, but it was 9-11 and I wanted to capture them at this age because time just flies by too fast!!