Homemade Valentine Decorating

I recently discovered the fun of Modge Podge. I know, a lot later than all you crafties. I get together once a month for craft day with my sis and sis-in-law, which was the perfect time to try out some ideas I wanted to use with Modge Podge. I just had to see what it was all about. I bought some wood letters at a store called Crafty Wood Cutouts, which happened to be a really great price. I also bought scrapbook paper and the Modge Podge there as well, its a great little store. Through some trial and error (on my part), we got the job done and I think it turned out pretty well.

We had left over scrapbook paper and I had picked up a couple of paint cards at Home Depot last weekend, so we decided to make a Valentine garland that my sister Becca had on Pinterest. (Thanks Becca) It turned out like this:

It was a fun craft day, relatively cheap, and spending time with some girls what just what I needed.

I had one more sheet of scrapbook paper that hadn't been used and I couldn't just throw it away. I had one more idea.... I picked up an unpainted picture frame at Hobby Lobby, which happened to be 50% off. (Oh yeah.) With a little more help from Modge Podge, I made this:

I had the perfect picture for the frame, it was taken two years ago, and very festive.

All-in-all, I think Modge Podge lived up to my expectations. It was pretty fun and easy to use. I have used up all of my crafty energy though, so Modge Podge is done for a while.

Oh, wait one more idea....

I found something on Pinterest that I wanted to alter a bit.

Found Here

I bet it smells wonderful, but I wanted to change mine up a bit. I had the perfect container that I bought at Pier 1 years ago. My version:

Perfect.

And that concludes my Valentine projects.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas from the Rearys!

This past year has been a little crazy for us. We sold our house the end of January and moved into a rental, which was smaller than the house we sold. We had most of our stuff stored in the garage and lived out of boxes. Fun. The good news is that we are finally in our new house. We were able to move in December 10th. We have been able to get most of our Christmas decorations up and quite a few of our boxes unpacked. We are finally home. We still need a few light fixtures, some doors fixed and shutters for our outside windows, but we are home. I can't get a picture of the outside until we have our shutters, its a big deal. So here is the inside.....

Not the best pictures, I will post more (that are in focus) without boxes hopefully.

Caleb is 4

For Caleb's birthweek back in November, (I know, I know....) he got to do several of his favorite things. Shane took Caleb to Cabela's the night before his birthday, which is his favorite place ever. I get asked every day if we can "see a moose". Caleb saw a moose calendar and just had to have it. Shane said he bounced through the store pointing at and announcing everything that he saw. Can you tell that he loves it?

On his birthday we took him to McDonalds for dinner and took his birthday cake (a road with cars) to Uncle Nick and Aunt Sharon's house. I have pictures, I just can't get them off my camera. Since I didn't put last years pictures on the blog, I am putting a video on this year.

(Note to self: don't sing Happy Birthday while holding the camera, it is BAD.)

Lastly on Saturday we took the kids swimming at the Legacy center, our city's indoor pool. Caleb's other favorite thing is swimming and he had lots of fun.

Caleb is a funny, sweet, happy, energetic, tough-as-nails four year old. He has been through a lot in his life, with all his surgeries, but he is doing great and we love him a lot.

Halloween 2011

We had a fun Halloween this year. It was the first time that we all went trick-or-treating as a family. Usually I stay home with a baby and pass out candy while Shane takes the older kids out. This year we left a bowl of candy on the porch, and amazingly we had some left when we got home. It was a good night and the kids had lots of fun.

Here is a picture from the community center, they have a halloween party every year with trick-or-treating, games and prizes.

The Zoo

We took a day off school last month to go to the zoo. We took Grandma Eilene, Aunt Leesa and Joshua and Aunt Sharon. It was perfect weather and not crowded. The kids had lots of fun. Here are some pictures:

We were able to get pretty close to the tigers.

The Boys are back in school

Cole has lost yet another tooth. Anytime his tooth is loose he begs his Dad to pull it out and will find pliers to help the cause.

Caleb loves school, mostly the snacks and toys. It has been very good for him, his speech therapist works with him twice a week and he has made big improvements.

Avery wanted to fit in and grew a perfect mustache and goatee.

Summer Recap

We spent a lot of time and Trafalga and Seven Peaks this summer.

Fourth of July bbq at my Grandparents.

We went four-wheeling several times.

Cole played T-Ball this year.

We also had visits from cousins.

(Avery found a marker and decided to color her face, thankfully not her dress.)

We also went to the splash pad weekly and the park as well. It was a fun summer, we are sad to see it go.

Avery's Birthday

Wow, she is getting so big!

Ave turned two on Sunday. Its hard to believe, she is growing so fast.

She got her first Barbie and loves it.

And what is a Barbie without a pink Corvette?

Avery is such a fun girl. She is so affectionate to her family, but is pretty shy with others. She is really easy going and pretty much does her own thing, but has quite a stubborn streak. She likes being around her brothers and doing all of the things that they are doing.

It is funny having a girl after two boys, she loves picking out her clothes, carrying purses, and is becoming a bit dramatic. When she is upset she covers her face with her hands and slowly melts to the floor. It is pretty funny, although I can see it getting old before long.

(practicing posing in her sleep)

At her check up on Tuesday her doctor was amazed how easy she was and commented that his life would be easier if every two year old would be as good as she was.

Her stats:

23 pounds - 10th percentile

33 inches - 37th percentile

She really is our little girl, and we love her.

Cole moves on from Kindergarten

Cole finished kindergarten in May and will be moving on to first grade next month. It will be a big change having him gone all day, his siblings will definitely miss him. His kindergarten class had a program, here are a few pictures.

He really loved his teacher, Ms. Wright and will miss all the friends that he made.

It was fun for me to go once a month to help out in his class and get to know the other kids.

Now I have to convince him that first grade will be as fun as kindergarten. I am sure the new three recesses instead of one will help.

Easter

Easter came and went, now I am finally doing a post about it. The Saturday before Easter my Mom was in the process of packing for her big move to Draper. Since we had planned on helping her that day we decided to do our hunt at her house. This was Avery's first year finding eggs and it was fun to watch.

I left her for a minute to get a picture of Cole. When I came back to Avery this is what I saw....

I guess she had enough finding, and was ready for the eating.

The boys had fun too and collected a lot of treats.

I couldn't find our easter baskets this year, so the boys made due with old ice cream buckets from my Mom's basement. I guess whatever works. The kids had fun and had too much candy, another successful Easter egg hunt.