Pay It Forward

I got this wonderful idea from my amazing sister-in-law, Amber. I think it will be fun. Read on...



This is how it works...The Rules1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenter's on this post, you can still play along. Please take the button and post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

(ps I don't know if I won yet but I wanted to start it anyway!!)

Jacob's New Blog

Jacob has decided to take the blogging plunge! His Blog address is http://justbecauseican-jacob.blogspot.com/ Hope you like it!

Miss Independant

My little girl is not so little anymore. Last week at lunch time I was preparing Isabella's meal and she walked in and said " Mommy, can I do it myself ? " I thought OK. So I got her little safety knife that I bought from Pampered Chef and let her cut her own apple. I snapped this picture in between bites. She was eating everything she cut off. She is getting so big!
I also can say with much confidence that Isabella is totally potty trained. She is dry 3 out of 4 nights and during nap time. She is even waking up at night to go potty. I am so proud of her. She has started telling me, "I go potty by myself...you can't help me anymore, I am a big girl" that my friends is a direct quote! She is talking so well.

It REALLY is going to happen!!

SPRING!!!!

Last weekend Jacob and I went to the temple because my sister's family were being sealed and ...I saw it. The first and best indicator that winter is not going to last forever. With 6 separate snow events so far I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to warm up. But as I stated before... I saw it. What is it you wonder; I saw Daffodil's blooming all over the grounds of the temple!! They were so pretty!! There is nothing like early spring flowers to give you hope!

The funny thing is if you know me well, you know that I LOVE the winter time. I love the snow and wearing sweaters and cuddling up and watching the weather blow around outside. But ever since I had children I have been craving the sunshine. I really love a good cloudy day but when the sun comes out I couldn't be happier. Go figure!

PARTY!!!! (by:Jacob)

We weren't quite ready to let the holidays go when January came so we decided to have a Snow Party. We got out all the things that we have that are light blue, silver or white. We also saved the white lights from Christmas and strung them up all over the house. We even hung icicle lights under the table. It looked awesome! I cut out some giant snowflakes from wrapping paper (which turned out to be harder than it looked because it is just so cotton-pickin' thin!) and we put them up to add the proper mood.

Leahona got into it too and made up this pin the nose on the snowman game. She also made a crossword puzzle and a word find. She is so-o-o creative! We also looked up trivia about snow online and had people do that too.

We invited several families to come. We made it an open house type party from 11-4 so that nobody would feel obligated to stay the entire time. We had a good turn out and our guests enjoyed the challenge of bringing a white treat. We made white pizza (ranch & chicken), white punch (invisible strawberry-kiwi kool-aid, 7up and pineapple sherbet), white spritz cookies and melted snowman soup (potato soup made with mashed potatoes that had a carrot and two raisins floating on top). Everyone especially had fun with the activities Leahona had ready.

New Years (by:Jacob)

For New Years we went up to my Aunt and Uncle's house. It was fun to see the cousins (and their cousins) again. Isabella had so much fun swimming. Iyla even enjoyed it. Strange thing was though that we were swimming indoors and there was 3 inches of snow outside! That was sure a weird feeling. We also had fun bowling and just playing games while we were there.

Happy Chanukah

This past December our family was invited to a Chanukah party. We thought it would be a good cultural experience for Isabella so we went. Jacob saw a pattern in a crocheting magazine for a menorah and decided to try it. The friend who invited us seemed really interested in it so Jacob decided to bring it to the party to show her. When we got there we found out that they were having a menorah contest so on a whim Jacob entered it. Would you believe it, he won most original. We were so excited. http://http//cloj.org/?p=113 check out this link about the party. They mention the menorah. The picture on the site is pretty good of all the menorahs but Jacob's fell over. Here are the pix we took of the evening.

We had a really good time. We tried Latkie for the first time. I highly recommend them. After we we were done eating they had a Chanuakh trivia game. Isabella was so excited she kept raising her hand and luckily when they finally called on her we knew the answer, Chanukah has 8 days. She won a wooden dreidal. All in all it was a great experience. Isabella told anyone who would listen she went to a harmonica party!