Headstone Sketch

I just thought you might be interested to see what Kaylie's headstone will look like. We are doing this design on a 20 inch wide slanted stone (so the triangular up-right shape) and the stone will be black. The design will be etched in a lighter gray, leaving the letters black, I believe. We also opted to add a vase to one side to hold flowers up and if we'd like to have fresh flowers, the vase can hold water to keep them nicer longer. They said it will take 6 to 8 weeks for it to be ready to put in, but once it is in place, I'll post another picture.

Finding the Gardener in Me

This is most of my garden. The plastic in the front is my tomato plants. We have planted corn, carrots, onions, cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and....I can't remember what else. I think that's pretty much it. I am just beginning to get a little taste of how much work a garden can be, but I am hoping it will be worth all the work and it will be something to get me outside and working out! :)

The little landscaping part in front of our house that I have been having fun figuring out what to do with. The shrubs and trees and rock are what we left from the previous tenants. Everything else we just rototilled in and replanted. So far we have pink and purple petunias with lobelias mixed in. I got some pinkish-orange perenial flowers that I think I will plant in a row behind the purple petunias. After that, we want to find some more shrubs to fill in the middle.

The section by our bridge we are leaving pretty scarce because we would like to have a rosebush garden. Ben and Corinne gave us a yellow rosebush for Kaylie, so we decided to get one for Sam and for each child we have after. We have enough room for four or so and when we get more than that, we will have to move anyway, so it all works! :)

Memorial Day

So I thought Memorial Day was just going to be another ordinary day, but lo and behold, Robert was able to get off work early, hooray! I'm just so glad we had some great friends we could call up and get together with to make the most of the time we had with Daddy.

We went over to our friends' house and cooked up some hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, played lasso golf (also known as redneck horshoes and sorry no pictures of that) and Monopoly, then roasted marshmallows over this little fire pit they have.

Needless to say, Sammy was nearly in seventh heaven with being 1. outside 2. with daddy 3. with a hotdog in his hand.

This was soo cute! Daddy put two pieces of wood together to make Sammy a little seat! He has been loving to find places for him to sit lately, it is so adorable! He usually comes in the office and sits on top of my box of scrapbooking stuff and looks at himself in the mirrors that are the doors for the closet, I'll have to post some pictures of that soon!

Time for a Video

So Sammy has been loving his horsey lately! He gets so crazy and excited he will move it all over the room! He is also learning many new tricks with his tounge and spitting and yelling all crazy. It's like he suddenly got a spurt of even MORE energy and personality than he had before (if that is even possible!) Some days I wonder where the heck this kid came from! But other days, especially when I can't stop thinking about Kaylie (this last week was the one month anniversary of her passing), he reminds me of how wonderful life is with him and how I can't imagine not having my little man around to make me smile and laugh.

Another Giveaway

Sorry guys, but yes there is yet another giveaway I am going to tell you all about! This one is on Make It and Love It and is for a $10 giftcard for a lady's etsy shop and she makes ADORABLE girl's hair clips and bows. She makes them out of flowers, ribbon and felt and they are soooo cute, so run over and enter. I think this one ends on Saturday. Thanks and have a fantabulous day!

Different Kind of Giveaway

This time the giveaway is at the "Making Life Sweet" blog. It is for a book on how to significantly decrease your grocery bill and how to use coupons, etc. Hey, couldn't use a few extra bucks these days, right? It ends tomorrow, so go check it out quick!

Ready for School Already!

So now in addition to being fascinated by books, Sammy is ready for school by wearing this backpack everywhere he goes.

Daddy introduced it to him last night (thanks Daddy) and now he doesn't want to take it off. Especially once he realized he could carry his doggie in it!

Here he his heading out the door putting the backpack on backwards. For a little while he felt it was more comfortable in front rather than on back.

Are You Ready for This?

So this is the most recent before picture I could find where my hair was down. This is us before leaving for Kaylie's funeral. The stylist actually told me that my pregnancy had turned my hair a completely different (darker) color right next to the scalp, wierd!

Yep, that's right, I chopped all my hair off and colored it again for summer

I really think I like this look for me and my head feels loads lighter!

So we cut it short, did an A line towards the back, gave me back my bangs, thinned my hair so I didn't look like a big puff ball and highlighted throughout.

Ok, I know I look dorky in this one, but it really shows the gorgeous coloring. The stylist convinced me to do two colors of highlights, a pale blonde and a honey blonde, to make it look more natural and bring out my own natural highlights better and I'm glad I went along with it!

Go for a Stroll

Just wanted to post on here for all to know that I am now ready to take orders on my new blog, Christine's Creations (better known as CC's). So take a stroll on over there (the link is on the right) and check out the cards now available and remember that I do take custom orders (within reason, of course)! Also, if you would please let others know as well so they can look, that would be great! Thanks to all of you for all your support in this new endeavor!

Mother's Day Present

Yep, my husband bought me a Zojirushi BBCCX20 bread machine for Mother's Day! I had told him long ago that someday it would be nice to have, and he remembered! I can't wait to get to work with this beauty when it arrives in a week or so! Hope you mothers out there (especially the new ones I know) had a great day as well!

Headstone Quote

This is the design we are looking at for Kaylie's headstone, only it will be smaller (20 in wide) and it will be on a triangular/slant instead of a flat headstone. We'd like people's input on what to put on Kaylie's headstone, if you guys don't mind helping us choose. Here are some ideas we are considering:

1. It is not lenth of life, but depth of life -Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. Peace be the journey (I don't really know about that one)

3. At rest in the arms of Jesus

4. Gone, but never forgotten

5. Saving us a spot in heaven

6. Forever in our hearts

7. To live in the hearts of those we love is never to die

8. Those we have held in our arms for a little while, we hold in our hearts forever.

We are thinking we really like #8, but we still aren't sure. If you have any additional ideas, they are also welcome, but we are looking for something short and simple.

Another Giveaway

Had to let everyone I know know that Make It and Love It is doing another giveaway, only this time it is from one of her sponsors. The sponsor specializes in nursing covers and other baby items and the giveaway is for a nursing cover of your choice - a $20 value!! So go over, using the button on the side of my blog and check it out. Hey, it couldn't hurt!

Crunch! Wince!

Yep, as if our family hasn't had enough going on lately, we added a car accident on top of it! Thankfully it was not my fault, though. I came up to where my friend was having her garage sale and when I saw the car's back up lights on, I thought I would stay on the road, out of her way and let her back out before I pulled in - my mistake for being nice. She didn't look behind her and backed up in a sharp turn instead of straight back. Despite everyone shouting at her and me honking my horn furiously, she backed right into me and Sammy. He was just scared out of his wits because he had been sleeping, but other than that everyone was ok. But now the passenger door won't open, which means we will have to get it fixed soon and it sounds like it will take a while to fix, leaving me without a car. Oh joy!

So I Did It!

Ok, so I got good feedback about the business idea, so I'm just going to shoot for it! The address is http://christinescardcreations.blogspot.com/ and I'm just going to call it CC's, because I think it's cute. :) I will be putting more and more cards on there, so give me a little bit to get a good variety on there before you order, ok? But I would love feedback on the cards, the blog design, etc. if you have any suggestions. Thanks for all the love and support guys - here goes nothing!

Had an Idea.....

So I had an idea yesterday as I was making birthday and thank-you cards and I wanted to throw it out there for my friends and family to comment on, so please tell me what you think. I was thinking that I could start a new blog that would feature the cards I have made (only my best ones of course) and I could sell them? I have alot of ideas floating around in this little brain of mine of how to approach it, but overall do you think people would be interested in buying homemade cards? I was thinking of taking pictures of each card, then letting the buyer decide if they would like to buy a pack of the same card, or create their own "variety" pack or even make it flexible enough where the buyer could somehow (again, still coming up with the details) request a custom design whether it be with a certain color scheme or whatever and I'd make it. I was thinking of advertizing on the BYU-I bulletin board and making a button that would be featured on the Make It and Love It blog (she's taking sponsors right now and really helping moms with their own businesses get the word out). Again, this is a very new idea, so I want everyone's feedback on whether they think it would be worth it, ideas of how to make it successful or if you think I am just plain dumb and should keep my silly ideas to myself next time. :) Please let me know what you think!

Building Faith

So I had to post these pictures of Sammy riding Daddy....just way too cute!

Today as I got ready for church, I realized that it has been about 2 years since I have been able to fast between being pregnant and breastfeeding! It was surprising to me to find myself being grateful to be able to fast now and recieve the comfort fasting brings. I guess you never really realize the testimony you have of something until it is tested; like with fasting, or our recent experience with having faith about eternal families and being able to see the ones we love again. I'm so grateful that this Gospel brings us so much comfort and hope both through its teachings and its people. I think we all know how utterly miserable this life would be if we couldn't find those things in the Gospel. Anyways, just some food for thought.

Ready for Summer

Sammy rockin' his new spikey hairstyle. Daddy hates it when I do his hair this way, but I absolutely love it!! Now if only the weather would cooperate with our readiness. Today and yesterday Sammy and I spent some time in the backyard running around, kicking the ball, and playing with bubbles - Sammy's new favorite pastime. When I blow the bubbles, he just stands there shaking with excitement as he watches the bubbles float past him - movie to come soon!

Sammy's not quite sure what to think of his new summer look (mainly the feel of the flip-flops between his toes). Aren't his sandals and shorts so cute?!