Space, Control...Finally

We have been busy. So busy. We're trying to make a spare bedroom appear again. It's required cleaning out the garage, clearing out Devin's things, and rearranging Caleb's room. I've LOVED seeing the progress!! My goodness, if we moved at this pace all the time, we might see a bit more rapid progress.

Anyway, this is Caleb's room. It no longer has the desk and lots of other books...it is all his stuff. and I'm in love with it. I finally have some space that I can try to organize and keep clean. Everything has a place, and he has some space where he can crawl and play without my being afraid of him eating something he shouldn't or hitting something terrible.

I'm grateful to be here, but this past month or so has been tough: On top of having to get another student loan since Justin's grant was revoked, we found out we are being audited and that due to inaccurate information sent by my employer, we actually misfiled and have to now file an amendment. and the catcher is, we have to wait to file the amendment: we don't want to be processed twice, so we have to wait for either a check or a letter of intent to assess. I hate waiting.

With all that happening, it was such a relief to have this room rearranged. I walk in there now and it's like a breath of fresh air. I need more of that. It is hard not having control over some things...but Justin is helping me to be grateful and see the positive parts of things. He is a strength to me, is so patient with me, and works so hard to try and make things better for us!

It's time to eat, eat eat!

We started Caleb on "Baby Signing Time" and it has some very catchy (though sometimes annoying) songs. That's where the title comes from. I really like the video, but since we check it out from the library we don't get to be as consistent with it as I would like.



My favorite picture is the one in the middle! He was so excited to be playing with food! lol. He wasn't very good at picking up the food, but he sure enjoyed making a HUGE mess!

Also, he likes to grab the spoon when you feed him and just chew on it. He does it more with Justin, though, for some reason. Funny boy!

The top picture looks like a face Justin has made before. :-)

I made the cake...and ate it too!

Happy Birthday, JUSTIN!

Yup, he turned 27...and it was a busy weekend! As you know, we don't have a ton of funds at our disposal for me to splurge and get some awesome presents (plus, Justin has an expensive wish list)...but I know there is one thing he wants. He goes to look at it any chance he gets!

It's the MASI Speciale CX (I'm sorry, Dear, if i spelled any of that wrong). It's a pretty bike...and a pretty penny. So, when I went to the library a few weeks ago, I checked out some cake decorating books, just for fun. Since I'm trying to be positive and use this time to continue to learn and try new things, I thought, "Why not learn how to decorate cakes? It could be fun!". I know my mom is a great cake decorator, and so is my sister-in-law and my sister. I'm always so impressed! Anyway, I was looking through the books when I found a pattern and directions for a bike cake. YEAH! I knew immediately what I HAD to do for Justin's birthday. I was SO excited about it! It took me 2 days, just because of scheduling with the baby and all. Luckily, Justin worked the first day and then was gone all day on the second day at a conference. (yes, I missed him, but I wanted to surprise him more!)



I didn't decide to start documenting the process until I was pretty far into it, but you get some idea. It was so much fun! I've never really iced anything like it before. The last time I tried to make a special cake I was in high school. I made my mom a Black Forest Cake for her birthday...and it kind of melted. (Turns out, you have to let the cake layers cool before you try to ice them and then stack them. who'd a thunk?)

Justin's surprise! He thought it was going to be an elephant...

8+4+6 + nine single candles. we get creative.

The happy face...:-) It was special...and tasty!

Peek-a-Boo!

Sounds like a game I'd play with Caleb, right? Well, it just so happens this is how most activities feel right now.

For instance,

1. I get up in the morning and get "peek-a-boo" work out, every other day.
2. Then I teach, and I get a "peek-a-boo" good morning kiss and goodbye for the day from Justin, 4 days a week.
3. I also get a "peek-a-boo" breakfast for myself and for Caleb in there somewhere.
4. I shower, every other day, and get dressed in a very "peek-a-boo" fashion while Caleb takes just a hint of a morning nap.
5. The dishes get done in "peek-a-boo" snippets through out the day.
   
6. Somewhere in there I eat lunch and encourage Caleb to eat lunch, too.
   
7. Dinner prep is always a "peek-a-boo" effort during Caleb's naps and happy play times.
   
8. Reading my scriptures and journal writing are also very "peek-a-boo" efforts.
   

That' s just a basic outline of what I try to do everyday and how it somehow happens, sometimes.

Caleb DOES love playing "peek-a-boo," though. :-D And he sure is getting to be a "Mama's Boy"!

What do you do in "peek-a-boo" style?

As old as dinosaurs...

Not really, of course, but that's what we kept telling her. Justin even made Mom a card during Sacrament Meeting (her birthday was a few weeks ago) that had a picture of a dinosaur and a bonfire engulfing the cake because of all the candles on it. :-D She thougt it was funny.


These are the cupcakes we made for her...they say "60." And they have Dinosaur sprinkles. :-)

Despite our teasing, we still showed our love for Mom on her birthday. See, Mom and DAd have a few gift cards to go to some restaurants...but they NEVER seem to make it to them. Something else ALWAYS has to be done. So, we decided that since they never go out to eat, we'll bring the restaurant to them. We splurged. We bought shrimp. It was quite pricy, but we got to enjoy it, too.

It was blackened shrimp stroganoff. And it was DELICIOUS!! Oh my goodness! We were cooking for like 3 hours to make the garlic asparagus and the spaghetti and the shrimp...and yes, both of us were cooking. Justin is a great cook. I love his help in the kitchen. It's so much fun to cook with him! Anyway, it was a hit. Home run. Slam dunk. GOOOOOOOOOOAL!
(if you want the recipe, let us know! It's pricy, like I said, but AWESOME for a special occasion)



And I think this is the video? Well, I guess not, but it's the snapshot of the video. You know how it goes. :-)