What in the "craft" did we get ourselves into?

I am not a crafter.

Nor do I come from a line of crafters.

I think there is some unspoken expectation that being a Mormon woman means you are magically gifted with this incredibly ability to take a piece of scrap wood, some wire, paint, and that leftover scrapbook paper from scrap-booking every day of your 12 children's lives and turn it into this incredibly easy, simple, fast, and adorable holiday decoration. And post it on your blog.

Well, it's not happening people.

So when "Mormon Craft Saturday" as I call it {Super Saturday is the official name} rolls around, I typically avoid signing up to make anything. My first try at crafting all day with a bunch of women from my church didn't go so smoothly. In fact, I didn't even sign up for it. Jeff signed me up. He kept teasing me that I needed to go to Super Saturday because that's what all the women did. I insisted on "no thank you" but a few days before the event, he confessed he had signed me up for a craft and already paid for the supplies. He sent me on my merry way the day of the craft extravaganza and I took the entire six hours to make one thing {while other pro-crafters were cranking out dozens of Christmas gifts for family and friends}. This little wooden flag that I hang up by the front door and pretty much leave it up year round. I was pretty proud of myself... until I dropped it. Jeff laughed {and then glued it back together} and then broke the news to me that not only had I broke it, I'd made it backwards too. It was and still is pretty funny. 

Flash forward to now. I've learned that I can't make anything too complicated. It must take minimal supplies, preferably just paint. It must be able to be completed in the time allotted... none of this finish at home thing. And it can't be "old lady" looking. I mean, I'm old but not that old yet. Oh, and I have to have someone to go with in case I need morale support staring down a table of craft supplies.

Pumpkins, witches hats, and a sister and daughter fit all the criteria!

Kimmy, Pearl, and I decided to be adventurous and make two sets of pumpkins and witches hats {happy birthday Mom!} and a set of owls.The only one not panicking when we picked up all the supplies was Pearl. She was so excited to make stuff and wasn't the least bit intimidated by all the paints, papers, wires, glues, and ribbons. 

We visited and crafted until we had to leave for Cole's soccer game. We figured it wouldn't take that long or be too hard to finish everything at home afterwards. What we hadn't planned on though was some extra pairs of little hands who wanted to paint and glue and ribbon too. it was a mess! Buttons, paper, hot glue, ribbons, spilled paint, Mtn. Dews {it was stressful, ok!}, stickers, tape, fuzzy wires, and Nerd candies everywhere!!! Everywhere!!! With a husband in the other room trying desperately to listen to the Aggie football game. 

I may have lost my patience once or twice. 

But we persevered and finished all of our projects. Jeff even told me he was proud and said these were my best Mormon crafts yet! But only because I hadn't dropped them yet....

It was a lot of fun. I almost had the crazy thought run through my mind that I should have signed up for MORE crafts!

That's crazy with a "Kay" as Jeff will tell you!

Cookie Copy Cat

I rarely stray from my chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's just easier to make something you already know how to. Plus, they bring back memories of my teenage/college years with friends and trying to win over boys' hearts with a plate of cookies.

Jeff says that cookie nonsense didn't work on him. I'm not sure how I snatched him then, 'cause he got a lot of cookies. 

But in an attempt to avoid making six dozen cookies with the Young Women for our activity, I found a super cute, teeny, tiny Mini M&M's Chocolate Chip cookie recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod {Maria happens to be a former coworker of mine too}. The pictures are what convinced me to make them. Don't judge my copy cat pictures with Maria's. We tried them out for YW and they were such a hit, I made them the next night for my family. I usually decide, hey, the house is quiet, no one is bugging me, I think I'll not only make some cookies but take some pictures of them at 11 o'clock at night when there is zero natural light to work with.

These cookies were kind of pricey for the mini M&M's considering I'm not a food blogger with an endless supply of goodies in my cupboards {or heck, any edible food lately}. And I wasn't sure if semi-sweet mini chocolate chips would work so I got the regular sized milk chocolate chips. Note to self, buy the expensive, cute mini chips even if they are semi-sweet. But man were they easy to whip up and so fun to bake because I didn't spend three hours making batch after batch after batch like my usual chocolate chip cookie recipe. It makes a ridiculous amount of cookies. 

They really were teaspoon sized balls of dough. Super tiny and super cute! 

I love the pop of color the mini M&M's gives them.

I will definitely make these again. Now who's going to come and help me eat all of these?

Forced Family Fun

Every once in awhile I decide I can handle the whining and questioning looks and force my family to have a little spontaneous fun.

And every once in awhile my spontaneous idea turns into some actual fun and a "Mom/Kay that wasn't such a bad idea" compliment.

So a few Sundays ago, I packed up the kids {one of whom was wearing pink sandals and the other one was still in his church clothes... but who cares!}, husband, and dog in the truck, grabbed some water and a few crackers and drove them up behind the Bountiful temple to a trail I'd seen. Everyone but Blu was a bit skeptical about this whole hiking thing. It's just not something we do. We prefer to drive on trails.

Blu was pumped to be outside running around in the trees and finding the stream to splash in. The kids did great too. Cole found all of these big sticks that he insisted on carrying. Pearl looked for acorns that squirrels had left behind. We found a lot of them and they are now sitting in a jar on Cole's dresser. Both kids walked the entire way up and back by themselves! It was a miracle! 

At the end of the trail - or is that the beginning of the trail - there was a pond area where all the water from the stream had pooled. Blu drug this huge tree into the water. I'm not sure why a normal stick wouldn't work. 

Jeff taught Pearl the fine art of catching skeeter bugs. 

Cole ran through the stream until his pants were soaking wet {he went home in just his underwear}. Then stood there with his hands down his pants.

And me? I cherished the moment with my family.

Oh. And the fun didn't stop on the trail. When we got home, we roasted hot dogs over our new fire pit...still in our underpants. Then walked over to the neighbor's house, in our underpants {did I mention they happened to have with visitors over too?}, snatched an ice cream sandwich and ran home. 

Still in our underpants.

Diaper Baby

We've only had Cole's new big boy bed sitting in the garage for oh, at least two months.

We were just too lazy and too cheap to fork out enough money to buy the kid a mattress for it. Or too jealous that we are still sleeping on a taco bed we got 10 years ago when both of the kids now have nicer and more comfy mattresses than we do {and beds... we spoiled them with the Catalina bed from Pottery Barn Kids}.

Well thanks to a deal at Costco, we came home with a new mattress. Cole was so excited to finally have his big boy bed! He helped Jeff build it, handing him all the necessary tools and making sure he was right in the way at every step. Which was complicated by the fact that his room is so incredibly tiny that they could barely build the thing in there.

We basically have two choices for where his bed goes. Either covering the air vent on the outside wall {which has no insulation in it making it really cold in the winter}, or against the inside wall of the room leaving about a foot of space between the foot of the bed and the door. I opted for the inside wall.

Someday, we'll have a bigger house. 

But for now, I love his big boy bed! I think it fits perfectly in his room with the wall colors and decor. Even if it's a tight squeeze with the floor's play space.

And have you seen Wreck It Ralph? If you have then you'll know the two main characters tease each other with some funny names. 

Like Diaper Baby for example.

Diaper Baby has become the latest terminology in our household to describe anyone who is whining. Which seems to happen a lot lately! The day I finally got around to taking a few pictures of Cole's new big boy bed, he was definitely more of a "Diaper Baby" than a big boy! He never naps but after being threatened with timeout for the rest of his life and then being placed in the arm-hold timeout {my new favorite technique... I just hold Cole in my arms while he tries to kick and flail his way out of my death grip until he gives up} until he was begging to lay down, he finally fell asleep. 

He looks so innocent.......

Art Center

Pearl loves art.

The only problem with this blossoming talent is her floor also likes art. As in, markers, crayons, papers, scissors, bits of yarn, and stickers all over the place.

It drives me totally bonkers!

Well, with the beginning of the school year and art supplies in full force everywhere you go {I am a sucker for new school supplies}, a more talented, creative, and organized Mom than me was bound to come up with the perfect solution to our little "pick up your art bin NOW!!!!" problem.

Behold, our new Art Center.

There's a place for markers. And colored pencils. Scissors and glue sticks. Stickers and pencils. And all those random bits of paper that used to be all over the house.

I'm not sure who loves it more, Pearl {because she can finally see what art supplies she has} or me. 

Who would have thought an $8 over-the-door shoe organizer could be so magical?