A Few of my Favorite Things...

So, since I'm still working hard all day long on unpacking, organizing and decorating, here are a few more of the house. Not that that's the only thing we've been doing. This task has been put on pause for: vacation time with Grandma Judy, Kendi and her kids! We were so lucky to have them come for a few days, one being Judy's birthday. We had a blast celebrating and the kids had tons of fun playing together!

...unpacking, organizing and decorating also gets put on pause daily for lots of trips to the park, shopping errands, airport with Grandma Shauna, play-dates with friends, and gymnastics. We are always having fun!

So, without further ado:

The special flower pot from my Mom! I love it on the porch- and since we've had so much rain lately, I set it on the lawn for a water :) Thanks Momma! Oh, and what to do with those bricks? Maybe I'll find a craft to make with them...

My mantle decked out in St. Patty's green! I made the banner and will post about it on my Kk blog soon. I love me some green!

Thanks to Naomi, who reminded me a house isn't a home until you put pictures on the wall, we put up some art!! I have always loved this picture of Christ with the children and had one in my bedroom growing up too! And I will be updating the blue shelf with a brother's saying instead of the animals. Jeff also built Tyler's new headboard/shelf, so I'll get a picture when I figure out what to put on it.

Playroom decor... AZ for the alphabet, not the state of Arizona, although we do LOVE many people who live there! I still love these animal decals that I got from a trade with JoDell! I made some superhero capes and tutus for some vinyl lettering. I also have "so many toys, so little time" that I need to paint a board and put on for the play room.

and our room-- when Jeff and I got married, he told me he wanted a RED room. Well, red is probably my last choice of favorite colors, but I feel like I have added enough PURPLE- my very favorite color to make it reflect my personality too! There are some girly touches, but he doesn't seem to mind :) I just finished making the chandelier- another vinyl art piece :) This one from Lolly Jane! Now I'm wishing I did white instead of grey, but oh well. I remembered we had a small table in the garage (Jeff's man-cave) that he so kindly brought in for me to put by my bed. Not black, but it works!

And my all-time favorite piece of art from Katie and Randy this past Christmas, the CLARK letters! I love them and knew I wanted them in the front room and I love this spot, with the orchids from Jeff from Valentine's Day, I smile every time I walk in the door and see it all.

We feel so blessed to have a place that is ours, and I am trying extra hard to keep it clean and nice (since I had close to 7 months of nesting stored up!) and it truly feels like a home where my boys can grow up!!

Idiot.

Well, thanks to a couple G rated movies that think Idiot is a great word to teach 3 year olds, Tyler has learned the word. It happened a couple months ago when I heard him yell, "give me that toy, ya idiot" to Jackson and I had to stop everything to have a little chat about mean words and nice words.

And then again one day when Katie and Randy were visiting us, we drove to the store to pick up my Mom and Dad for lunch and Katie said to Tyler playfully, "where are we?" He answered with "At Wolfe's Market, ya idiot!" It was actually totally hilarious and how am I supposed to scold and teach when I am cracking up? Dilemma.

So, the other day, we are driving to gymnastics and there is a true idiot parked along the street (not broken down, just parked for fun.) I had to change lanes so I didn't hit her. And I yelled, "Get out of the road, you idiot!" Well, Tyler in the backseat gave ME a lecture about nice words and mean words. "Do you want people to think you are a bad guy, Mom? We don't say idiot. Or poop or stupid or dumb. But Lightning McQueen can because he is a car."

Master Bedroom

Here is our bedroom. Still a work in progress. But I love the colors and the romantic feel of the room.

The black and white damask with touches of dark red and jewel tones. I am going to make black and white pillow cases and I'm working on a really cool chandelier vinyl canvas... Think light charcoal grey with dark purple- I hope it turns out like I'm imagining it.

AND, I must put up our curtains on this window soon. I am getting really sick of the ghetto towels. I'm not sure why I have a fear of drilling holes in the wall, but I do. And Jeff would be so ashamed, as he reminds me that the drill is actually MY DRILL since he gave it to me one year for Christmas. Of course.

And like our bedside table that is actually the 6th chair to our dinning room. Must. find. cheap. bedside. tables. soon.

the BOYS ROOM!

I still haven't put anything up on the walls yet (except our key hook, for obvious organizational reasons :)- imagine us losing our keys every day if we didn't) but with the addition of a pretty picture of Jesus with children, a blue shelf, Tyler's name, Jackson's name, you'll have a completed room...

This is the view from the door- a dresser in between the beds.

Tyler got to pick his own special bedding and got a big boy bed for his new house!!

And since it's a small room, but we needed to fit 2 dressers, we put one in the closet!! So Jackson get's changed up by the hangers (and loves it!)

They have such a fun, clean room- since the toys go in the play room. I can't wait until we get the pictures and letters on the walls!

Our Valentine's Day!

We had a great Valentine's Day! It was so nice to have Jeff home all day long.

I started out by letting him sleep in and then Tyler helped me make scrambled eggs and toast.

We all ate it then headed to do errands. Jeff and Jackson went to Lowe's and Tyler and I went to the dentist. He did a great job getting a cleaning. Opened his mouth the whole time, flirted with (I mean talked to) the hygienist, had no cavities, and got to pick 2 prizes!

Of course, we had to wear red :)

We got lots of treats from Grandmas :)

We had a delicious dinner from Wolfe's Market- I had shrimp alfredo fettuccine and Jeff had filet mignon stuffed with cheese and spinach. Not only was it so nice to not have to cook, it was fancy and delish!!

And my valentine and I ended the night with some yummy Sparkling Apple Cider!

What a lovely day with the ones I LOVE!!

Some pictures of our new house!

I remember driving over to see the new house before we officially signed the agreement. My grandparents bought this home when my family lived in the house across the street until I was 4. I had a close friend who grew up in the house 2 doors down. So I knew the neighborhood. I loved the neighborhood. But I hadn't seen the house yet. We knew it was a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, and that the kitchen and bathroom had recently been redone. but that's all I knew. I told Jeff on the way over, "I'm hoping for two specific things. I know they may just be wishful thinking, but I hope there is an area that would be good for a playroom. And I really want a fireplace mantel to put my holiday crafts and decorations." Well, I got both! How lucky am I?

Here's my mantel in the front room. There's also 2 bookcases built-in and they will be great for photo albums, books and more decor. We don't have any photos up yet- probably will do that tomorrow on Jeff's day off.

And here is that playroom. The magical playroom that wasn't in my grandparents description- the prior tenants turned their patio into an enclosed room, so it's not included in the floor plan or sq. footage. What a bonus this bonus room is! The kids run out of their room in the morning to this playroom. They run in from the front door whenever we get back, to this playroom. They love it!

And the best part? I can close the doors when it gets messy!!

More pictures coming soon!

The mystery of the Owl's Head

So, we keep finding random things that the prior renters left. Like the entertainment center-shaped paint job in one of the bedrooms (who paints around furniture? Luckily our lovely landlords-my grandparents hired a painter for the bedrooms and front room. Gotta love a fresh paint of light beige and white trim!) And we found a little bunny figurine in a closet drawer, and like this owl in the backyard. Well, I woke up one morning and this owl's head was knocked off. So I said, "aw man, the weird little owl's head fell off." under my breath.

Tyler said, "What did you say mom?" So I repeated myself. I have to do that a lot lately.

Tyler said to me, "I did it!" In a very matter-of-fact way.

"Really? Why?"

"So it doesn't scare the birds." He must be on the birds' side. Thinking about that made me laugh out loud and I asked, "Who told you that owls scare birds?" I couldn't wait to find out who gave him that information because I know it never came up in a conversation we'd had.

"Daddy told me that owl is there to scare the birds. And I didn't want him to scare the birds, so I knocked off his head." Well, there we go. Mystery solved. What a funny thing to do.

Quick Update and Tyler Funny

I am here with internet now! YAY! We moved into our new house on Saturday and everything went sooo smoothly! We had great help and one of my sweet friends stayed almost all day to help unpack and get situated. Which is what I am still working on doing one room at a time.

I can't wait to get some pictures on here of my favorite parts of the house, right when I find my camera!

I just keep thinking how blessed we are to have our own place now and it's so nice to have my stuff back! We are in walking distance to the park and a great backyard so the kids can play while I work in the house or the garage as I pull out new boxes full of toys they don't even remember we had!

I'm off now to start reading Catching Fire- I just finished Hunger Games and LOVED it! I really don't read often (last book I read all the way through was Twilight Series!) but I got hooked right away and enjoyed the suspense.

So one day I was reading on the couch and Tyler was looking at me super weird. He got up close and looked at the pages and then looked back at me and said, "What are you doing?"

I said, "I'm reading my book."

and then he said, "But why aren't you talking to it?"

HAHA! I didn't even think about the fact that I am always reading out loud to him and I'm sure it must be baffling for me to be reading inside my head!!

Anyways, I'll be back with pictures of our new place soon!

Grandpa Robison

 Jeff's grandpa battled cancer for a couple of months, then passed away in Grandma's arms. Jeff has so many wonderful memories of his Grandpa Robison, he spent a lot of time with them during college at Ricks and BYU-I. Grandpa called him "Chief" growing up. They were always so loving to us, and included me as family when we started dating and got married. We had Sunday dinners at Grandma and Grandpa's every week during the school year, and I always enjoyed that time with them.

Ferris Harry Robison, 85, Hibbard, died February 8, 2011 at his home of natural causes. He was born August 23, 1925, in Rexburg to Charles Brigham and Geneal Alida Rock Robison.
Ferris attended Hibbard Elementary and Madison high School. At the age of 17, he joined the U.S. Navy and trained at Farragut Naval Academy during World War II. 
After returning home, he dated his childhood sweetheart, Arva Jones. They were married September 4, 1945, in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple. He was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as Explorer leader, taking several youth groups through the Bechler to Yellowstone. He served in the bishopric, on the high council and as a high priest group leader. Together, he and Arva served a local mission at the Rexburg Deseret Industries. most recently he served in the Rexburg Temple.
He worked in construction, building churches, schools and homes. He also worked on the Palisades Dam. In 1976, he began working as a general contractor in construction with his three sons.
He has always loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing, camping and riding four-wheelers. he has always been an example to his family he will be loved and missed by all.
Last August, he celebrated his 85th birthday and he and Arva's 65th Wedding Anniversary.
He is survived by his wife, Arva of Hibbard; children Rick (Pauline) Robison of Hibbard, Marsha (Mike) Kennedy of Rigby, Ralph (Jan) Robison of Hibbard, Judy (Kenny) Clark of Peoria, AZ, Klint (Valerie) Robison of Plano and Pamela (Rodney) Hart of Hibbard; a brother, Nolan (Barbara) Robison; 26 grandchildren and 63 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister and brother.
Funeral services will be held at 11 am Saturday, February 12, at the Hibbard LDS chapel...Burial will be in the Rexburg Cemetery. 

Funeral Program:

August 2010- at Grandpa's 85th Birthday/ 65th Wedding Anniversary Party