Redecorating

We decided that it was time to get rid of the college/apartment look in our home. We have done some redecorating lately.

When you do redecorating you have to have a craft project. Here is the one that I attempted. You can see the reflection of the ceiling fan in the clock because these pictures were taken at night and the light was on... (so I'm not a professional photographer as you can see).

BEFORE AFTER

The only picture that I could find where there was a full view of the living room downstairs was at Christmas time.



BEFORE AFTER

I don't have any before and after pictures of the dining room or the kitchen, but I liked how they turned out and wanted to share..... In the dining room we got a bigger table for entertaining and changed the lighting. In the Kitchen I added some decor above the cabnets.

Festivities.....

On friday we had preschool over here. Since it was valentine's day we celebrated!!! My favorite was when they made valentine's for each other. It was fun to see what they truly thought of their friends. I think that they have really bonded with each other these last couple of months. We also played a game where you stack the conversation hearts on top of each other. We set the timer and the person that had the highest stack when the timer rang won. The best stacker had to go to Mya. At the end of preschool I let them make their own sugar cookies. I think that kids thought the fun part was frosting their own cookie and draping them in sprinkles.

Will you be my Valentine??

Today has been one big fun filled Valentines celebration. We went to the library where the kids listened to stories about valentines day. After singing and story time it was one sugar filled extravaganza. (why is it that people associate valentines day with chocolate and sugar anyway?) There were cupcakes and cookies, chocolate covered pretzles, lemonade and suckers.

We came home and what did I find in the mail? A valentines day package sent from Grandma and Grandpa Womack. It was full of coloring books and stickers. Grandma sent some m&m's and suckers too.

THANK YOU GRANDMA!!!

We have spent the whole afternoon coloring and eating the treats.

I think that I am going to have a fun time getting the kids (who are now full of sugar) to sleep tonight.

Birthday Bash!!!!

Kareena sure knows how to throw a party. Her daughter Alice turned 6 and they had a little chef birthday party. Kareena sewed the aprons for the kids and they were able to decorate them how they wanted to. Mya just wanted to show everyone that she knew her letters and drew a buch of letters on hers. Mya's favorite thing of the evening was being able to choose the toppings for the pizza and make her very own.

After the party Mya was asking what she was going to do on her birthday. Try explaining to a four year old that she still has five months till her birthday. We had a blast!!!!!!!!!!!

Fry Sauce

Well folks, fry sauce is a condiment for dipping french fries that started in Utah. It is basically a combination of ketchup and mayonnaise, but "Some Dude's" recipe includes tomatoes, Santa Fe chiles, garlic, and "The Dude's" secret spices. You can eat it with french fries, hamburgers, chicken, and fish sticks. Some use it as a veggie and chip dip, some have even been known to use it as shampoo (not recommended).


When we moved down here to Houston I missed this stuff. I can't believe that it has basically stayed isolated in the Idaho, Utah region. Jessica and I were talking about it one day. She is pregnant and craving wierd things and so she got on the computer and ordered some. She brought a bottle over to my house and I have used it on everything. YOU GOTTA LOVE FRY SAUCE!!!!

A WHOLE MONTH.....

I have had many people contacting me through facebook, phone calls, and email asking if we are still alive down here in Houston. WE ARE STILL HERE!!!! I really don't have any excuses as to why I haven't written in awhile.
Just a couple things that we have been up to......
I had a really neat experience with the missionaries this last week. There is a 15 year old young women that is investigating the church and they wanted me to go with them to tell her more about the young women's program. We spent a lot of time discussing 3 Nephi chapter 11. There is a lot of information in that chapter. I learned so much!!! I even had some questions for the missionaries. I loved to be able to bare my testimony about the young womens program and the influence that it had in my life when I was a teenager so many years ago (because it was a long time ago right? lol).
Preschool......
I really enjoyed teaching preschool this last week. We learned about the letter B. There are so many fun things to do with the letter B that we didn't even get to all of the things that I had planned. It was so nice on the day that I taught that we spent a lot of the time outside. We rode bikes, played baseball, made some blue bubbles, and made oragomi boats and floated them in the bathtub.
A little about the weather....
Yesterday it was so warm outside that I pulled out the shorts (not that they ever get packed away down here in Houston) and we spent the morning playing outside and enjoying the sun. Today we went to Austin's birthday party at the park and it was freezing. We pulled out our winter coats. It's funny how one day you can be wearing shorts and the next you can be so bundled up.
We had a good time at the birthday party. I wish that I had taken pictures....
Anyway-things are going good. I will try and be more consistant that way you don't have to read long drawn out posts like this one.

Boda......

Tonight we were invited to a wedding. Sonia was a student in Gerald's class last year. The invitations said that the wedding would start at 5:00. We showed up and there wasn't anyone in the parking lot. Gerald and I looked at each other and laughed, I know I was second guessing if I had read the invitation wrong. A car pulled up next to us and Gerald started a converstation with them, we hadn't read the invitation wrong because they were under the impression that that was when the wedding was going to take place.
The bride and groom did show up, but apparently the wedding was not supposed to start until 6:00. It was a good thing because when we got to the church both Gerald and I had forgotten to grab the present. I had an hour to come home and drive back (sigh).
The best part was while we were waiting for dinner, Mya was dancing with a little boy her age and Keegan was set up with a little girl that was his age. (oh the things that we get out kids to do) We had a really great time meeting new people, listening to music and eating good food.

TRADITIONS....TRADITIONS....

We have started the tradition of having the missionaries over for dinner on Christmas Eve. It brings an amazing spirit into our home. We ate ham, mashed potatoes, green salad, jello salad, corn bread, and stuffing. After dinner we watched Mr Krueger's Christmas and ate an amazing hummingbird cake and drank hot chocolate. I think that I was more excited about Christmas Eve then Christmas morning.

This morning we opened presents. The kids were super excited about what they got. Christmas is so easy when they are young. I don't even want to think about what they are going to be like when they are teenagers. Keegan opened a train that my sister sent them and he didn't want to open any presents after that. Mya got the pony that she was asking for (my little pony was a life saver sent from my mom). When she opened it she kept saying, "I told Santa... and he brung it to me." (We've definatly got to work on her english skills). We had a relaxing afternoon with naps.

I have been talking to all of my family up in Idaho and they are getting pelted with snow. My mom said that she is snowed in. I felt so lucky to be able to go out this afternoon and play outside because it was in the seventy's out there. Keegan got a tee ball set and Gerald was teaching him how to hit the ball properly. Mya was riding around on her bike with her my little pony in tow.

I feel so blessed this Christmas!!!!

You have to play in it.......

This morning I woke up and the snow was still on the ground. When Mya woke up I opened her window and she was so excited. I took all of her patients to sit and eat breakfast before we went outside to play in it. She doesn't even have a coat because it doesn't get that cold down here. Keegan had one because someone had passed it down to him. I was the only one with gloves so I put them on the kids so they could throw snowballs. As you can see, it has been awhile since any of us have seen any snow.

SNOW!!!!

For all you Idaho and Utah residents, this is a very bloggable thing. I think that it has been about 2 years since I have seen snow. I had to go outside and take some pictures and then I can back inside to enjoy it from the window and called everyone to tell them what was going on. You have to enjoy it because it is going to be gone by tomorrow and you don't know when it is going to happen again. I need to go and get some hot chocolate so that I can really have an "Idaho" moment, but I will not go out on the roads with all the Houstonians that don't know how to drive in the snow.