Books (note the other three posts)

My husband has a memory book from when he was a child and it is called, "My First Eight Years, a Record of the LDS Child". It is a great book that includes the usual pages to record milestones and important dates. But it also includes pages for important Latter-Day Saint milestones like baptism and Primary. I wanted to recreate something like it for my own children since they don't make books like that anymore. Thanks to the help of my friend, Carrie, I finally finished them and now I just need to fill in the important stuff. I am so happy with them. Carrie is brilliant at the computer and creating things like that so I definitely couldn't have done it without her. Three cheers for Carrie!! I gave up on scrapbooking some time ago so Anna is the only one with a scrapbook of the first year of her life. I hope this a simpler way to record all the important stuff and I won't get so far behind.

There is a page for geneology.

There is also a page to record who was the prophet at the time of their birth along with the counselors and Quorum of the Twelve. I love it and hope to be a little better at recording important things in the lives of my children.

A re-do

I was able to check off a couple things from my to-do list this past week. I bought a couple of chairs off of Craigslist for $10 each. They add a few more seats in our already small living room. I did not like the outdated fabric so I decided to give slipcovers a try. With my sewing skills and a few books I thought I could figure it out. I finished them but not without a few curses of frustration along the way. I took out many of the seams out at least twice too. I cut off the original skirt of the chair and then painted the legs black. I am just glad to check them off the to-do list, they were definitely a challenge.

First haircut

Before:

After:

Such a big boy! I do miss the curls, though.

Hate that Missouri hail, AGAIN!

In September, we had a hail storm here in Missouri. The girls were fascinated by it while their parents worried about the car outside (we have a one car garage)

For the second time in 5 years, hail broke out a window on our Chevy Malibu. No one else on the street had car window busted out. After the first incident in 2006, the insurance company totaled it and so we took the money, fixed the windows, and kept the car because it had low mileage. Fast forward five years, there is no comprehensive coverage left on the car and we cringe when we hear about storms heading our way. It may just be our lot in our life or the life of this car to attract the big ones! We got the window fixed pronto and spent $3 to vacuum it out at the local car wash. It's crazy, I know.

A great time in Utah

Jacob and his cousin Eli finally got to meet each other. They are about a month apart in age.

Mirror Lake~so pretty, water was so cold

We enjoyed some fun times with the Shaw side of the family last week.

So proud

The Before:

There wasn't much space and we always felt like someone might fall off when the door was open. I spent a lot of time reading deck books and talking with Gary at Home Depot. My Dad spent a lot of time on his end talking with an engineer friend. So between the two of us, or I guess really the four of us if you include the engineer friend and Gary, we drew up the plans. We learned a lot and after three days of sweat and hard work we built this (minus the railings, which Dad added later):

AFTER:

My brother and my Dad came while we were gone to Utah and finished up the railing. It isn't completely done but I can't wait any longer to show off what we, and especially my Dad, has done. I am so proud of this and the greatest part was doing it with my Dad. All that is left is to stain the railings and put some toppers on the posts. We are still looking for just the right skirting to go around the bottom too. Isn't it great?! We are the envy of the neighborhood.

A very Happy 4th Birthday

We love our sweet Megan and she turned four years old in June. The birthday was highly anticipated for months before and she knew that hers was after Mommy's. So once Mommy's birthday was out of the way she kept asking how much longer for hers. A simple request of cupcakes with M&Ms on them was her one desire. Anna was happy to help Megan make a birthday list of toys she would like for her birthday. Anna was VERY helpful and became her advisor on what would be a good choice. Megan was so great at sharing with Anna once the presents were opened. Thanks to all of you who helped make it extra special for her. It is hard to believe Megan is four years old. She is so brave and willing to try so many things. She doesn't have any problem singing or giving scriptures at church. We love to see her sweet smile and her eyes light up when she is happy. She loves to snuggle in the morning when she first wakes up. Megan inherited my curly hair which can be a curse and a blessing. She is patient as I have to cut out knots that refuse to be brushed out. Dancing is one of her favorite things to do and she is very graceful. We love you Megan.