5 for today

Well, the memory that makes me smile the most in the last 12 months is Tanner's baptism. If you want to know what's made me smile the most in the past 3 months it's probably realizing that I'm growing.

Hands down, my Dad...and the outdoor fashion shows in the backyard (and other backyard shenanigans), picking raspberries for FHE, family reunions, the farm, and riding our bikes in the alley.

A hug




What I believe and know

That I'm a snob, hard hearted, unfriendly and/or mean.

Now onto a different subject. I know the Hunger Games are coming out and, honestly, I do not see or understand the infatuation with these books/movie. Why on earth do people want to read about kids killing other kids/people for sport? I just don't get how that in any way can be interesting or worth reading. Obviously this is just my opinion but I don't get it. I don't have any intention of seeing the movie or ever reading the books. That's just me, though.

Last week, I took Jill out for her birthday and she chose Osho's for dinner which I was super happy about because I've wanted to go there for so long but Matt's a picky eater and didn't want to brave it with me. It was so yummy! I hope to go many more times. Ever since East Side Marios closed we haven't found a new favorite restaurant. I think I might be able to convince him that Osho's is a great new place!

What's your favorite place to eat?

I have been really bad at taking pictures of anything lately! I am so mad at myself. We've tried a bunch of new recipes and I forgot to take pictures. I guess I will have to find the pictures online. I love pinterest for that reason. I try to keep my boards realistic so I don't get overwhelmed be wishing I had what I don't need.

Tanner...such a funny boy! On Sunday night he was running a fever and breathing funny (he was quite congested) and when we asked him what was wrong he said "I don't want to die. I think I have cancer". The only thing I can think of where he got that is because at dinner Matt asked what I wanted to drink and I said water...but not tap water because I didn't want to get cancer from drinking the tap water (as a joke!). I don't really like the taste or our water so I always boil water and add some lemon to it and keep it in the fridge so that's what I normally drink. Anyways, Tanner picked up on it, I guess...oops!

This is a HUGE shocker...mostly because I am pretty strict with myself in being organized and on time for everything! Unless it's a RS activity that is on a night when I work. Then that is totally out of my control...I will be late. Anyways, the huge shocker is that for the last month I have NOT been able to get myself out of the door to get to work to get there early. I'm not late but I usually am there right on time. This is kinda huge for me because I like to get to every place in my life early. I can not get myself organized in the morning. I think that part of the problem is because I have started taking my time when getting ready. More so in the bathroom putting on my make up and doing my hair and showering. It annoys me if I can't get my outfit picked out the night before so I can just get up and get dressed. If I take more than 5 minutes to decide what to wear I get super annoyed and think "Uhhhh, I have nothing to wear" and I literally have to walk out of my closet and do something else. I usually just throw on my clothes and slap on some make up and go but now for some odd reason I take my time. Do I look better when I take my time???? Heck no! I do my make up the same. I have 3-4 hair styles I wear all the time. So my goal is to get my act together and stop staring at myself in the mirror and get going out the door to work.

So there you go. 10 random things on Thursday.

What have I been up to...major catch up

A lot has been happening. We are finally moved in and starting to get settled. We have a huge pile in the middle of our garage to either take to the dump or donate/garage sale. I have been ruthless in getting rid of stuff. It feels amazing! Matt has been working really hard at helping me get everything organized and my Mom was a HUGE help as well. It was a wonderful and much needed visit. We are still working on sorting through and organizing the basement but it'll come in time.

We will be up in Calgary next weekend for my Aunt's memorial service. We are going up for the whole weekend and my cousin from Hawaii is coming as well as my Aunt and Uncle from Utah. It will be nice to see them all.

Life is good! Enjoy the pictures.

One section of kitchen backsplash


The mirror in the ensuite got put up today! Now I can finally see what I look like...lol



Our shower...sans curtain

Tanner's bathroom mirror


Guest room


One half of our back deck


The other half of the deck


Please excuse the mess...


food storage


T.V. and spare bedroom downstairs

Scrapbooking corner. It's not done yet

Kitchen



Calgary

I LOVE this picture



Hot dog roast. Why is it that you can eat many more roasted hot dogs than you can boiled or fried

We suffered another loss. Brandy got old and had to be put down. She will be missed.



Going shopping with Grandma

Tanner's first time at Peters'. What did he have???? JUST fries!



Not all these fries were Tanner's. We shared them.

My A-M-A-Z-I-N-G milk shake.



The cutest little nephew!

Could you not just die at the happiness of this boy???



Driving a tractor

riding....a dog???? lol



The magical chair. This was a chair in my Aunt's hospice room. It lifted up so you could stand right out of it. The boys thought it was the greatest chair.

My VERY red lipstick that I love



Easter hunt at Grandma's


My crazy friend Susanne...we went to Time Out for Women together


Eating at Spolumbo's for the first time.

Susanne and I at Time Out...thanks Dawna for taking the picture.

Happiness

I haven't done a happiness post in a while. Although some things I am happy about are kind of obvious, I wanted to be a little more specific and get back to the basics.

Happiness is:

-Tanner being so thoughtful of Matt last night. We went to drop the car off at his work and when we knocked on the door he didn't come and so I said "oh well, I guess Daddy can walk home tonight". Tanner then replies "We should leave the car for Daddy and we can walk home so he doesn't have to walk home in the cold tonight". Sometimes it surprises me at how thoughtful he is and has become.

-knowing Tanner has never attempted to cut his hair. His friend cut his hair in class to add to the egg nest they were doing.

-having good jobs

-packing. The last time I packed, I was working full time and Tanner was 3. This time around it's easier because I don't have Tanner running under foot, I'm not working full time and Matt is a huge help because he is home in the day to pack on the days I'm not there.

-not being sick after eating far too many cookies yesterday.

-getting tickets to my final dance recital

-wearing my fun costume at dance class that Susanne made for me. I totally love it and it looks awesome!

-putting all my effort into my last dance class before the recital.

-cleaning out the trunk of the car

-washing, drying and folding 4 loads of laundry yesterday. I'm finally caught up and all I have left are a batch of towels today.

-rubber boots so it's easier to walk around in all the mud around our house.

-knowing my Mom and sister are coming for my dance recital

-a week long vacation in Calgary next week

-talking to Susanne on the phone

-being a mother

-being a wife

It's easy

When you have your 7 year old tell you he doesn't want to go to church and you ask him if he thinks Jesus loves him and his response is "no" , it becomes easier to see all that you've been blessed with and have been given as you start to list the ways and reasons Jesus does love that innocent, impressionable, young, sweet boy. In a moment like this I am terrified that I have done something wrong to make Tanner say that he doesn't want to go to church. It makes me grateful for my testimony, yet still tries my faith as I don't know if he just says that or if he really does not like going to church. It makes me unsure of what to say to him so that he also can grow his own faith to know that Jesus loves him even more than everyone in his life combined love him. That is something there is no specific answer to. Prayer and faith is all I have and is going to have to be used to the fullest in a moment like this.

Just now...simple things

This is a section of the carpet samples that we have right now to choose. I like it but I don't LOVE it so I'm going back tomorrow to get more samples.

So this picture is so much more artistic and more about the photo than anything else but the next photo is what really made me smile! Tanner had a difficult time getting ready for bed tonight and so we sent him to bed without stories (a BIG deal) and a few minutes later this is what we found...





Tanner halfway out into the hall. He is so cute and sweet and we just love him to bits.

I'm sorry if I broke the rules Rebecca...I just couldn't resist putting the one of Tanner in : )

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Speaking of Carpet...these are our colors and samples for the kitchen counters, walls, cabinets and flooring. We're going with Maple cabinets, laminate counter tops, vinyl hardwood looking flooring and the color is called Honeydew.




Last night Matt and I went to the annual (it was our first time but it's an annual thing) Rotary dinner and dance. It was so much fun and the food was great.




Then today, after church we played "Find Waldo". It was a ton of fun and we all got a turn to hide waldo and then we looked at the Find Waldo books that Melany lent us.






No, Tanner did NOT wear this to church. He changed when he got home so he wouldn't wreck his Sunday clothes.

This week has been pretty good. There was a bump in my personal road today...just something that was "the last straw" for me. Other than that, our weekend has been really fun.

I even sorted through a ton of baby stuff that I'm giving away. If any of you have boys that are 18 months up to 3 years, let me know because I have so much stuff and I would hate for it not to go to someone who could use it or needs it. All the 0-12+ stuff is being given to a lady I clean for and is having a boy. Then the 3+ stuff my Mom is storing for my sister so she can have it when Emerson needs it. I am NOT taking any of it with us when we move. I have a maple crib in super good condition as well as a matching change table. So let me know because otherwise, I'm taking what's left to Value Village.

Have a great week everyone!

when life hand you lemons, make lemonade

Strep Throat is NOT fun! But on the bright side:

We spent the day on Thursday picking out samples of carpet and lino and doors/windows.

We got batteries for the camera so I can take some pictures again

The screaming coming from Tanner at our house on Wednesday morning at 1 was not because someone was in the house kidnapping him (which for a millisecond I thought was happening because the scream was a terrified screaming type)...it was because Matt had scared Tanner by accident in the middle of the night when Tanner was going to the kitchen to get a drink of water and Matt was right there as Tanner turned the corner.

Tanner had a hearing test today and his hearing is perfect...above normal range actually. Hooray!

Tanner tells me everyday how much he loves school and today when he thought he was going to miss his spelling test because of his hearing test in Lethbridge, he told me that missing it made him sad (but they gave it to him anyways when he got there!)

2 Christmas gifts came this week. Both not for me, but both for someone else.

Watching Shelby and Hannah is lots of fun.

A hot shower is always pleasant.

Wearing flip flops today

Finding a fruit that Matt will eat like candy was pretty awesome (Sunkist oranges)

Fixing Tanner's dresser was a treat since it kept falling apart every couple weeks. It was the drawer that kept falling apart.

Can I get some Happy with that please

Friday:

Being somewhat productive. I had some specific things I wanted to do but I didn't get them done because I got distracted and did other equally important things

Mine and Matt's 11 year anniversary. It does not feel like 11 years. It feels like just a very short time ago I was anticipating the day when Matt and I would finally be married. Lots of ups and downs in the past 11 years and I know there will be plenty more ups and downs. It's a refiners fire. You learn and grow as you go through the ups and downs. No marriage ever has or ever will be perfect and that's just the way it's meant to be. If marriages were perfect then people would be perfect and let's face it, we're not. It's what makes us all unique and special.

A Tanner story: While driving Tanner and his friend to a birthday party in Lethbridge, Tanner said to his friend: this is the Collins' car. Then he paused and said well you and your sister ride in it so it could be the Collins' car and the ___'s car. I do not know where he thinks up this stuff. Then later last night he pushed his friends sister and I firmly told him it is not nice to push girls (okay, it's not nice to push boys either and I've told him that too, but it's especially not nice to push girls). So he says to me: "Well I'm 7 and I'm tough". Like that was suppose to justify the pushing. He did apologize so it ended well.

Last night he snuggled with Matt and I in bed for 20 minutes and talked about the people we love. We came up with a question that is a really good question. When we're in Heaven, will we have birthdays? And if we do, how will they be determined? Will the day we die be our birthday in heaven? Tanner is much smarter than I think.



Saturday:

Going to the Temple

Tanner telling us we didn't kiss on our anniversary so we kissed right then.

I found out that Tanner had tried to kiss a girl at school. We talked about who it was appropriate to kiss.

Making cake

Finally coming up with an idea for New Beginnings based off a quote Dawna gave me this week.

Joyful Simple Things

Tanner has had his baby (aka his monkey or dangles or happy baby)since he was only 4 weeks old. My cousin Cindy gave it to him and it has gone in to every surgery he has had, nearly every doctor's appointment (even now that he's 7 he still accompanies us) and ALWAYS to Grandma's house. He has gone to school a few times and almost jumped out the window while driving to Calgary once. He has had mouth surgery twice and his tail has had to have a hole sewn up in it. This little monkey was lost for nearly a year, and we bought 3 more just like it when we finally gave up hope that the original was going to be found. Well, as luck would have it, about 1 week after we bought the other 3, we found the original one. If you place all 4 in front of him, he know EVERY time which one is the original one.

Tanner has lots of stuffies, which I don't mind because he plays imaginatively with them which is good for him. Well, his friend R has a lamb from Scentsy and Tanner wanted one too. So for Christmas, Santa got him Lenny the Lamb and now Happy Baby has a friend that comes everywhere he does. It's the sweetest thing to watch Tanner interact with these cute stuffies and it makes me smile that he loves these 2 so much.

Just this simple thing makes me smile

Just click below if you want to learn more about Rebecca's weekly Challenge










We have had quite a busy couple of days. I haven't really even been home except to have a 10 minute lunch and then go again. We had a Family Fun Day on Saturday...which was a bit of a let down initially. Here's the story

Last year Tanner won 4 passes to the swimming pool in the Ramada Hotel. 2 of them expired at the end of last year...which we didn't notice until it was too late. The other 2 expire at the end of April of this year. Since we are trying to stay on a budget, free swimming was on the top of the list. First mistake: I didn't call ahead to find out if it was open and/or available to the public (which it is on certain days). We had to grocery shop anyways so it wasn't a wasted trip. We went in and they told us that the pool is only open to people that have reservations at the hotel...that is, until, they said, "February or March". So we'll swim then. Tanner was upset and then suggested "a really fun family fun day activity". Guess what it was????

Slurpee's.









Yup, in -25 weather, we got Slurpee's and a small treat (all under $8) and then went looking at show homes for ideas for our house.

Then we had a post Christmas/new years dinner with Aunty Elaine and Doug which was SOOOO fun.

So my happy thought for Saturday is:

I'm thankful for families and for making quality time for them.

I'm thankful for a great husband who loves me and his family

What makes me Happy today (Sunday) is Tanner feeling better. He was sick in the night but seems to have recovered very quickly...phew.

Making and enjoying Cafe Rio.

Watching 'Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration'

Sleeping until 9:30 after having to do 2 loads of laundry at 11:30pm last night (as a result of Tanner puking)

Having Family Home Evening and learning about prayer

If it makes you happy

I am going to look up in a thesaurus other alternative words for happy. THAT makes me happy...LOL


THURSDAY JANUARY 13

-KEEPING STEADY GOING

-CLEANING AND HAVING A GOOD VISIT WITH ONE OF MY "THURSDAY" LADIES

-A SURPRISE, LATE CHRISTMAS GIFT

-HAVING A REALLY NICE, REFRESHING, MUCH NEEDED SHOWER

-MY VISITING TEACHERS COMING





Wednesday January 12

-a really great day at work

-sticking to our menu plan (i can't BEGIN to tell you how much money we've saved doing this. it's amazing!)

-a funny tanner story: when i went to pick tanner up from amelia's, we had dinner with her family and afterwards while she was upstairs, i was helping by loading the dishwasher and wiping the counters and tanner said to me:

why do you always clean up amelia's when we have dinner here?
M:because that's what friends do. they help each other
T: I KNOW! that's called kindness! (they are learning about kindness at school as a theme this month)
M: you're right. that's called kindness

-watching toy story 3 while laying in bed having some trail mix and hot chocolate



Tuesday January 11


-nervousness turning into sheer, jumping on the bed (literally), excitement!!

Projects

This is the ONLY Halloween picture of my little guy. Both Tanner and I had the flu that day (so sad, I know) so we did not get to go out at all. He's still pretty cute, though.







These are the cupcakes I made for his birthday party. It was a HUGE hit and I can't believe he is 7! I can still remember the day when we were so worried if he would make it through the night of his first transfusion.





The un-iced cupcakes (directions in a following post)





How do I stay on top of things??? I have a calendar hanging on my front door on the inside so I can look at it every time I go out the door to see what's up for the week/day etc. It's a second calendar to my kitchen one. It's my life line.





This wreath was so easy and I am in LOVE with it. I'm all about wreaths right now.


I have some really yummy recipes I'm going to share in the next few days...so if you like food, come back.