Life at the Willmores

Reality

2011-12-08T16:02:00.001-08:00

Ok remember that post where I was all talking about how awesome our tree was going to look full of original and meaningful ornaments created by me and my wonderful children?? If not, refer to my prior post. Oh yes I had a beautiful image in my head as I was planning to turn our home into a wintery wonderland. My vintage glam christmas tree was going to be the show stealler.

And here's reality folks.

A) I went to 3 different stores and those glass ornaments with which to stuff with personal touches were not to be found. I gave up and bought dollar store ornaments. Still very lovely but way off my ornament-making track.

B) There are two sets of little fingers that like to admire the said ornaments and to prevent breakage and a possible hazards (historically my babito has not done well around glass objects) the ornaments had to be placed out of reach. I risked the garland and lights getting pulled on and covered the whole tree with those so it wouldn't have a naked bottom. Those lights and garland are now quite skeewampus.

The result and reality is my Christmas tree is very UN-vintage and UN-glam like. But you know what? I'm totally Ok with that. The chillens had so much fun helping to decorate it and although I went around and replaced the balls since Caleb liked to put them all on one branch, it feels like us. Some day when our babies are more grown up we can have a picture perfect tree. But we have enjoyed looking at our ill-decorated sparkling tree every day for 2 weeks. I enjoy looking at it after the kids have gone to bed and the lights are dim and the christmas lights are bright. Its very relaxing and fulfilling.
And of course I have nativities and other christmas decor scattered throughout the house. I just love this time to reflect on the birth and life of our Savior. He has been such a strength to me and helped me through such hard, painful times. He really is my constant friend, always there to hear my worries, complaints, pleas, and thanks. One of the most comforting things about the whole Gospel thing is knowing that God knows everything and He has a perfect plan specially designed to bring me ultimate happiness. Things can go terribly wrong all around me but He is constant...always loving, righteous, and compassionate.
Wow...I seriously meant to just post a picture of our ugly yet endearing Christmas tree on here but instead I got all mushy. That happens. Frequently.

So lest I get busy, here is a Very Merry Christmas from our family to yours. We are grateful for all the love and friendship we have shared with so many of you throughout the years. We hope your Christmas is filled with fun, food, and family (what I affectionately refer to as the 3 critical F's)!

If you would like to learn more about the Savior and my beliefs, here is your invite :)

Got 20?

2011-11-22T20:32:00.001-08:00

See this meal?

That there took about 20 minutes. I kid you not. And pictures never do justice to food...this stuff was A to the MAZING!! It was basically my version of hawaiian pork but without all the grease creating a pool for the rest of your food to bath in. Hawaiian food makes me feel sick but Kiel loves it so I made this as a greaseless alternative and the taste was perty darn perfect. And yes, it took a total of 20 minutes. OK! Here's how this puppys done.

You need:

approximately 3 LBS pork roast (I just got the cheapo one and it couldn't have been tastier)

a can of root beer or pepsi (I used pepsi since thats what we had on hand)

Salt n Pepper

Put a skillet on the stove and turn the temp to med-high. Pour a few tsp of oil and get it nice and hot. Then place your roast in the oil and sear the sides of the roast. This should just take a few minutes. You don't want to cook the meat, just turn the sides nice and brown quickly...it holds in the flavor and juices since you will be crock potting (is that a word?) this.

Put the seared roast into your crock pot and turn it on low. Pour the can of soda over the meat and cover. Now go to church or work or something for about 6 hours while the roast cooks. Take the roast out and shred it. Place the meat back in the liquid and cook for one more hour. The liquid should be gone at this point leaving very moist shredded pork. Add salt and pepper to flavor. Because Hawaiian pork is generally pretty salty, I added quite a bit of salt...I don't measure (sorry folks) but it was like a tsp...just taste it. If it needs more, add more.

Preheat oven to 400. Rough chop an onion (or two) and some red potatoes. Place them on a cookie sheet and drizzle olive oil, oregano, rosemary, salt and pepper over them and stir them a little so they are evenly coated. Place cookie sheet in oven and these are done when your rice is done...about 20 minutes.

Put your rice on to cook. I cook mine on the stove but if you're a rice-cooker person then whatev. It takes about 20 mins either way.

20 minutes later everything is done cooking and you have a ridiculously easy, fast, delicious- as in seriously delicious- hot meal.

Oh, and there was still some left over so the next day I warmed it up and stuck it on a bun and added some bbq sauce. Ohminagoota. It was just as good as it was the night before. So make some extra.

Note to self: measure ingredients in the future for blogging purposes...

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-11-12T09:37:00.001-08:00

I'm one of those people who start craving Christmas music in August. Before I see the pumpkins appear in stores I'm looking around for Christmas lights. Christmas means we are going to see family. It means Kiel will be off school and work. It means family time, singing around the piano, lots of sparkles, three 15 passenger vans full of my family caroling to all 96 people we know, cheerful shoppers, and possibly the best part of it all, Christmas candy. Lots and lots of it. So as far as I'm concerned, skip halloween all together, enjoy a little thanksgiving pie and then party like its Christmas the rest of the year. Yup. I released all inhibition and started playing Christmas pandora a month ago. I embrace you Christmas.

We picked up our new-to-us (i heart you craigslist!) christmas tree yesterday and that sucker is going up today. In the past we have always had a 2 feet tree that was the perfect size for our Wymount apartment and one package of mini ornaments and half a garland made that tree look a little crowded. So this year I'm going to make this 7 foot tree mine. White a red and sparkly. Glitter pine cones tied with sheer and white ribbons. And a monster bow on top. I'm making it all. OK not all but I plan on being ambitious. So with the help of Pinterest I've been collecting ideas. I also wanted to share this website with ya'll. Its fantastic. 101 christmas ornament ideas...it really helps the imagination to bubble over.

As I get to creating whats in my head I'll try to chronicle them on here. I sure love to see and steal all your good ideas! All you crafty brilliant people you.

Some comparative thoughts

2011-10-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

I had a realization this morning. I'm a writer- I write when I'm frustrated, when I want to remember something, when I'm confused- it helps me organize my thoughts instead of it all getting jumbled in my head. So here goes.

As I was studying a talk from an Ensign my thoughts started going off on a tangent like they normally do and suddenly the question came to me, why do I always compare myself? Why do I compare myself as if my talents, abilities, style, IQ, value increase or decrease based on who I'm comparing myself to? When did my own progression become a ratio based on determined by others? I have often read others blogs or observed friends or strangers and thought, they are a domestic, patient mother of 4 with a booming party planning business on the side. I'm a fairly domestic, striving for patience mother of 2 but have no booming business to help pay the bills. I'm doing pretty good. OR- that lady has 3 kids, has a tush and tummy tight as Jillian's, has a lovely clean home and extensive talents. Geez. I'm a horrible person. OR {even worse!}- I swear that lady hasn't brushed her hair in a week and she has no social life. I ROCK!

Seriously??! What a skewed perception of my own worth. Why do I strive to achieve someone else's talents, abilities, even physical appearance as if they determine my potential? I realized today that under those false pretenses I sell myself short- not because the other person's personal best is less than mine, but because we are all blessed with different talents, abilities and life missions that make us unique and useful in the eternal scheme of things. What a weight is lifted off our shoulders as we realize we are not in a competition, but assessing our own personal weaknesses to strengthen and our strengths to help the Kingdom of God on earth progress. We only have to worry about ourselves! Whew! So much extra time and brain space just presented itself.

This is not the only time I have been hit by this realization. As I thought about it this morning I remembered several other times I have written down the same thoughts in my General Conference notes, journal, RS notes. Every time it hits me like I've never thought of it before but its just the profound, life-changing attitude and mindset that I need to adopt to be fully productive and happy. And then I forget about it a few days later and life is more stressful and unhappy than it needs to be until I remember this wonderful reality again. So how do I actually incorporate it into my character? No more comparing, unrealistic expectations and shallow judgement on myself...sounds awesome. Ideas? Have you adopted this liberating reality? How do you go about it? Its so easy to get sucked in to the overwhelming popularity of the idea of compared worth. or compared style. or compared abilities. I'm going to write
Am I doing my personal best??

on a piece of paper and hang it on the fridge. Simple reminders like that work for me. What works for you??

Be original...procrastinate!

2011-10-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

No, thine eyes do not deceive you. Halloween is already passed. You missed it. Huge bummer.

Not. We had our church trunk-or-treat and chili cook-off party over the weekend so this is Halloween part 1. The party was a total success. All the different types of chili were so delish and the corn bread- to die for. Ha. But seriously, I've been asking myself why I don't make corn bread more often? I'm going to work on that kinda crucial flaw. And I have a killer corn bread recipe...the trick is sour cream in the batter people! The treat is moist and light deliciousness. I might have to post that recipe in the future.

So here is how our party went in picture form:

Mr. Parks Man was originally a cowboy but after everyone congratulating me on the cutest back-woodsman they'd ever seen I changed my mind. He's a back-woodsman.

I totally spaced the need for costumes until the morning of the party and then got so busy I forgot about them again until 30 mins before the party. I'm a slacker like that. No awesome mom award for me. But I gotta tell ya, Caleb didn't mind a bit. He loves trains so I broke out the recently emptied diaper box and cut a hole for his head and arms and then he helped me paint it red. We did a great job. You can even see the huggies baby through the paint. Then I made the details out of paper, cardboard, and tin foil and hot glued them on. He was so proud of his train costume. Works for me!

This is our family picture taken at the ward party. Can you guess what Kiel and I were?? I'll give you hint: Kiel wore leaves on his jacket and I wore a chunky chain necklace. Yeah...no one else got it either. He was Pres. Bush and I was VP Cheney. Get it? HAHA! I thought the idea was hysterical but after telling some people who we were they asked, "who's Bush and Cheney?" Umok. Maybe not so creative...

Although I might not receive the Best Mom Award for Caleb's costume, he did win the Most Original Costume award at the party. Go us and our originalityyyy! I'm actually not even sure what that means...no one else had one like his because they all had cool, real spiderman and superman costumes?? Whatever. We got a necklace full of M&Ms. So there shnazzy pants.

Caleb played the cake walk game at least 46 times I kid you not. The poor boy has no matter of luck at all.

But eventually the nice lady in charge took pity on him and found his chair number and called it out. He won a cupcake.

And shared it with Parks. Cause he's the best brother like that. See the frosting on his nose?? hehe

What are ya'll gunna be for Halloween?? I think Kiel and I should mix things up for Halloween day and come up with a different idea that people who are politically and citizenly challenged will still get. Also, am I the only one is getting shakey with excitement at the thought of all the yummy things my kids will bring home from trick-or-treating for me? Yeah? I'm pathetic? Ok.

Happy Halloween!

3 ingredient pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

2011-10-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

These pumpkin cookies are the easiest ever. And the most delicious ever. So moist and rich...Mmm! I'm suddenly wishing I hadn't eaten them all yesterday...then I could eat one right now instead of just salivating at the memory.

K here's how ya make em.

Gather your 3 ingredients: 16 oz can of pumpkin, spice cake mix, 2 cups of chocolate chips

Pour cake mix and pumpkin into a bowl

Blend.

Reward the helper with egg-less cookie batter. WIN.

Stir in chocolate chips

Plop on greased cookie sheet. These babes tend to stay fluffy so if you want them more flat squash them.

Cook at 350 for about 14 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes (like 3ish) then transfer them to a cooling rack. Taste one and then do a happy dance for your success

If you want a real wowzer- dress em up in a tasty cream cheese frosting.

Cream cheese frosting is the simplest thing ever. Blend 1/4 cup of butter and 8 oz package of cream cheese (both at room temp) until creamy. Add 1 cup of powder sugar. Finally, add 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Baddabang!

I guarantee you a whole new level of popularity...as long as you can muster up enough self control to share some of these before you eat them all!

Thoughtful Thursday

2011-10-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

I love traditions. They make me happy. So I'm starting a new tradition on my blog called Thoughtful Thursday. Basically I'll just post a thought, quote, scripture, epiphany -something that stood out to me and touched my heart over the week. Without further ado, here's todays~

This is a season to be strong. It is a time to move forward without hesitation, knowing well the meaning, the breadth, and the importance of our mission. It is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow. It is a time to be found keeping the commandments. It is a season to reach out with kindness and love to those in distress and to those who are wandering in darkness and pain. It is a time to be considerate and good, decent and courteous toward one another in all of our relationships. In other words, to become more like Christ.

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Yo hot bags!

2011-10-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Setting: Winter distinguished the sun, dropping our home temp to 50 degrees.

Kiel: I'm freezing. My toes are numb.

Me: Mine too. My joints are frozen and I can't move.

This is where I had a light bulb moment as a distant memory popped into my head. My mom made us some heating bags when I was little and I would use mine all the time.

I would heat mine up and hold it on my lap with my hands under it and stay so nice and toasty warm during the Idaho winters. At night I would warm it up and put it at the bottom of my bed over my feet. Mmm. Cozy.

This is basically the solution to all my problems. And they're stinking easy to make. It seriously took me about 30 minutes to make two of them. And they.are.wonderful! Also they are cheap and very useful. In other words, these would make a GREAT Christmas present. Just sayin.

Here's how its done:

1. Cut out two squares of fabric. This will be your bag.

B. Place the fabric so the printed sides are facing each other.

C. Sew around your square leaving a 3 inch opening so you can pour in your filling. Be sure to backstitch at the beginning and end so your bag is nice and strong!

D. Trim the corners. This makes it so your corners are poiky. Like sharpish. You know what I mean.

E. Using your small opening, pull your bag inside out so the print is now on the outside.

F. Make the corners sharp lookin. Pencils are great for this.

You will want a funnel for filling the bag. If you don't already have one, Trader Joe ads work great. Just tape it in a cone shape.

G. Now fill er up! I had my side-kick help me with this part. He had so much fun! Yeah, it made a little mess but his huge smile and careful shakey hands were worth it.

Parks Man didn't help at all. He just sat there and watched. And then pulled everything out of the cupboards and tried to throw it in the bag too.

Fill the bag a little more than half full. You don't want it over stuffed!

At this point I broke out my essential oils. Lavender calms and relaxes so now every time I heat up my bag I also infuse peace into my home. Love!

H. I sprinkled a few drops of oil into my bag.

I. Fold over the sides in the opening.

J. Yup. Pinch together.

K. Sew that holla sucka up!

L. Nuke for 3-5 minutes and warm up those frosty fingers and toes!

Fabric:

You can use anything COTTON. I used some of that snuggle flannel fabric from Joanns.

Filling options:

Rice -not instant!- I used brown rice because that's what I had on hand

oats

wheat

feed corn

beans

flax seed

barley

Hot bag purposes:

heat and place on aches and pains for a soothing effect

place on tummy to relieve menstrual cramps

place on hands or toes to warm em up!

place at the bottom so its toasty warm when you get in

As you can see these things are totally awesome! And you totally don't know how you've lived so long without one. Well you've been freezing and aching. That's how. But now you don't have to anymore cuz you can totally make your own in no time! =0)

Maybe just smile

2011-10-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

My boys are sick today so I stayed home from church since Kiel is teaching the Priesthood lesson. After wasting a lil bit (Ok fine! A lot!) of time on pinterest I decided to dedicate at least some of the time I would have been at church to strengthening my spiritual self at home. I looked up the latest General Conference talks and decided to read You Matter to Him by Pres. Uchtdorf. What a blessing.

My life has been simply craptastic lately. Ok maybe not so much my life as my attitude. And that's crappy with a capital K. If you don't get that then you don't know my Grandma. Don't worry about it. Just move on.

Granted, there are some crappy things in my life that I've blown up into a generalization of the above sentence: I have a crappy life. The reality is I don't have a crappy life. I have a wonderful, blessed life! I just needed a reminder. Isn't God so good like that?? When you feel so slow, cold, emotionless, lost, weak...our Savior sends a little love note saying, "Hey, I'm still here. I still love you. I remember your name. I know personally what your going through and how deeply it hurts. But you know what? You still have all these beautiful things around you. Open your eyes and see them. Feel the love of your family and friends- they're there...I promise. But sometimes you have to pick up the phone and call them. And maybe this moment is actually really crappy. And that's OK. But there's a whole life time ahead of you that is unwritten. It can be as beautiful and happy as you make it. And I'll be cheering you on! Go make a happy life!"

Ok, maybe God doesn't use words like "crappy" but I seriously felt all that. Sometimes, and especially when Kiel is so consumed with school and I become a single and (quite literally due to a lack of transportation) stay-at-home mom 24/7 and I get tired of it. Yes I believe that being a mother is God's greatest calling for women. I believe that it can be the most fulfilling experience if you put your whole heart into it. But I would not be honest if I didn't say that sometimes it.just.sucks. There are times when my wonderful calling of wife and mother feels like one long day that is repeated over and over. That day is filled with little tantrums, soggy diapers, laundry that is flung around the house instead of tidy stacks in drawers, and dishes piled around the counters splattered with evolving food that could constitute as its own developing race. That sucks. There are times when kids are cranky and I'm cranky and naps are cried through and dinner is pushed around the plate or thrown at the walls instead of eaten. That kinda sucks too. There are times when my best friend/eternal spouse and I can't manage to say a single nice, positive, and encouraging thing to each other all day- and the things we do say are several decimals above normal. That really sucks. The bottom line is sometimes life sucks and we sink in those moments thinking that our whole life is comprised of discouraging, failing moments.

And then my Savior throws me the life-line and pulls me in. And wraps His arms around me and warms me up. I had one of those experience today. Yesterday, today, and maybe even tomorrow might be difficult, painful even. But Christ is with me through all of it. I can choose to face the bad with an optimistic attitude while embracing the good. I can even see a glimmer of lights in my future (those lights look suspiciously like Christmas lights!). Life is good- even when it sucks. If you're feeling on top of the world go help someone who's not feel more on up there with ya. If you're feeling down maybe helping someone else is still a good idea...who knows, it might be the solution you've been looking for. I'm going to go take my own advice now that I've found the motivation and courage to do so. Thanks Pres. Uchtdorf for the sweet reminder :)

Here is Pres. Uchtdorf's full message.

elimen-oh! peas!!

2011-10-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

This little monkey is sooo grown up now. I know because he started school. Now he's a student just like his daddy. This makes the monkey very happy!

The Never Bored book {um, the most awesome activity book ever...in case you were wondering} came from costco and the other two books came from the dollar store. The foot is courtesy of Caleb.

The craft and learning supplies and all the containers came from the dollar store as well. Crayons, pompoms (awesome for so many things!! sort by color, number, or make crafts with them!), googly eyes, fabric paint, buttons, glitter glue.

All these learning tools fit right inside a plastic tote that I got at the dollar store.

With the start of school, I have had to get things a little more organized. Or rather, Caleb is now more organized. Here is what his new schedule looks like:

Yeah. We like music. For music time we sing all the songs Caleb knows. That's Caleb's favorite. For dance time we blast up pandora Disney and dance like there's no tomorrow. That is my favorite. Join us anytime.

For "explore your world" we usually go outside- weather permitting- and look for bugs, or certain plants, or colors, or we count things. Ya know, whatever.

And every Wednesday we go to story time at the library and then get a bag of books to bring home.

Basically, it adds positive, educational structure to our days and we all love it! No I don't stick to it like glue. I'm way too ~~lazy~~ spontaneous for that but it gives us something to work at, especially when a day is getting particularly wild or boring.

Is this teacher not the luckiest in the world?!

Acorn treats

2011-10-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

I started a book group and for our meeting yesterday I wanted to make something fun and fall-ish so I found a picture of these super cute acorn treats and decided to make them. They are so easy, cheap, and fun to make! Seriously took me 13 minutes from start to finish. Perfect right?!

Wanna make em for your book club? or fall party or a fun after school snack or for you to devour in your closet or...so many delicious possibilities!

Gather your ingredients:

Pour chocolate chips in a little glass bowl {a quarter of bag makes about a dozen acorns}

Nuke em for 15 seconds, stir, another 15 seconds, stir...until the chips are melted.

Dip half a donut hole {I used plain and cinnamon} in the chocolate...

...immediately roll the chocolate half in sprinkles...

...break a pretzel stick in half and stick in the top of the acorn...

...place a sheet of wax paper on a cookies sheet and plop your acorn next to your 27 other acorns...

...stick your pan of acorns into the fridge for just a few minutes and WHALLA! Finemos! Delicioso!

This is the really hard part. Exercise some serious self control and transfer them to a serving tray {without eating each before it reaches its destination} covered in a festive fall tea towel.

And if you're shooting for a sensory overload, place them right next to the tray of warm bite sized cinnamon rolls you just made. And a basket of plums. In case everyone isn't as weak as I.

Acorn idea stolen from someone somewhere off the internet who stole it from someone else who stole it from someone else. If you are the original acorn creativist shoot me an email and I will be happy to give credit where credit is due. Because you deserve it. This is a super cute and easy foodie craft!

Why, hello Fall! So nice to see you again.

2011-10-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

My husband and I stepped outside several days again and the cool crispness of the air took my breath away. We looked at each other and smiled. Time to break out the fall decor! I love this time of the year. So cozy. Every day is a perfect excuse to dress up in my skinny jeans, boots, and scarf and go out or {the more popular option around here} just stay home in my lounge-ies with a big ol fleece blanket wrapped around me while I watch Pride and Prejudice for the the umpteenth time. Yes I am watching it right now. Don't judge me.

My boys and I went on a walk and collected gold leaves, vibrant berries, and pine cones of all sizes and placed them around our home. Forgive the picture overload, I just heart all the colors and shapes of fall!

This fireplace just needs a warm glowing fire to complete the effect.

Welcome fall! Please stay awhile and make yourself at home.

Didn't your momma ever tell you not to play with your food??

2011-10-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

For dinner I made chili rellenos and bean dip. The beans were a big hit, especially with Parks. He enjoyed eating it...here and there... But mostly he just enjoyed playing in it- drawing pictures in it with his fingers, applying it as makeup, flinging it across the room and beating his record distance over and over again. Turns out, beans are fun stuff.

Caleb loved watching Parker play with his food...and he was probably wondering, "how could I get away with that and have mom and dad laughing and taking pictures??" Don'tcha even think about it Mr!

checking out the pile of beans he just launched over the side of his chair.

I hope this hasn't made you lose your appetite. I think its darling. But I am his mom so I suppose I could be slightly biased.......Bon appetit!

Doin' the Puyallup

2011-09-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

The next town over has this crazy huge fair every year that everyone and their dog goes to. You kinda have to...I mean, everyone goes. Unless you hate food, fun, and life you'd want to go. Its called the Puyallup Fair and its so big and takes so long to walk through and see everything that people say, "I'm doing the Puyallup." You do it. Its that big.

So we did the Puyallup over the weekend, just so we could keep our normal status in society. And it was kinda fun. Actually really fun. I didn't take many pictures but check out the few I got. They'll convince you of how much fun it was.

They had this drum set for the kids that was built out of all these recycled items. Buckets, rakes, metal bars, cans, lids, pipes, pans...everything you can think of! It.was.awesome!! I kinda want to build one in my garage...I mean, it kept the boys entertained for hours! At least it would have if we'd let them stay that long.

Hahahaha! I love his face in this pic!

After experiencing pure psychedelic joy at the bum bums (that's what Caleb calls drums) we let Caleb go on one ride. I was totally against the idea (3 bucks for 30 seconds on a race car?? Really?!?) but Kiel insisted so I decided to make it worth it by taking a hundred dollars worth of pictures. And I did. And the expressions I captured were so worth the 3 dollars. Good job on being right Babe!

I added this picture, not because of my adorable son who I could look at for hours, but because of the awesome kid behind him showin 'em who's man enough to drive without hands while throwing around gangs signs. Haha so cute!

Yeah. Our weekend rocked.

Now on to bigger and worser things. Kiel started school today so back to being a single parent for me. Anyone want to be my friend??

I love your junk.

2011-09-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

I never was a yard-saler until this year. Boy have I been missing out! You can get things dirt cheap (yeah, even free! Can't beat that!) and its not all junk. In fact garage sale items are a lot like people. Most of it has been well used but is still fully functionable...just a little scratched up. But with a lot of spit and polish and a little love and adoration that old used item can look young and fresh again! (Ok...horrible analogy.)

Here are some of my finds from the past two weeks and what I've done to help those ~~people~~ items look their best.

This sad ugly mirror was screaming for attention so I took it home

and dressed it up in white spray paint and some big fabric rosettes. It is very happy now and feeling at home in my entry way. And its got my back making sure nothings running down my face or frizzing off my head when I'm off to somewhere important where I need to impress. Like Winco.

I found this glass plate and cup and had seen some inspiration I knew I wanted to try. Totally worth the 25 cents.
Paint the cup and bottom of the plate (don't paint the top, it makes it hard to wash off!) and let it dry a few hours. Then glue the cup to the plate (I used Gorilla glue) and then stick some dictionaries on top and let it sit over night. Then stack delicious things on top.

I have a giant plain jane wall in my kitchen that wasn't being utilized. This hook thing was the perfect solution . It still had the $13 tag on it and I snagged it for a buck. I spray painted it white and there it hangs displaying my favorite aprons. I just started this wall yesterday so its not finished...I'm thinking move the left apron over and add a thick white framed chalkboard under the hooks? Yes, I think so.

I've been collecting picture frames for awhile now so I could make a photo wall in my bedroom. Its done now but I couldn't get any good pics so I'll post about that later. But here's my Main Man Helper that took all the garage sale tags off and sprayed window cleaner on them for me (I previously spray painted them). For all you who have 3 year old helpers you know how helpful they can be. Like they totally re-define helper.

I admit. He is worth every penny.

I have always wanted a little reading nook in my bedroom but in the past have barely had room for our bed. Finally a little reading space! And this $7 chair was just what I was looking for. It was in perfect condition but yes, I spray-painted it white. Watch out kids! I might just spray paint you next!

You can catch a glimpse of my photo wall! This is not complete either. I want to put some white floater shelves above the chair for those books I'm going to read while I cozy up in my new reading chair.

Well that's all folks! I have a few more items in my garage that are just waiting to be sanded and painted. Cute things. I can hardly wait to get on those projects!
Do you love or hate yard sales?? I've been on both ends of the fence but I'm discovering the potential behind
1)You can't go wrong with solid wood furniture. It can be sanded, refinished, painted and made to look like new. Just don't get the imitation wood laminate or plywood unless you don't plan on doing anything with it. Not the best to paint and you can't sand it.
2) Make sure its in workable condition...meaning you can make it look good again. No cracks, tears, stains (if you're not going to cover it in new fabric or paint), or weak joints that you can't fix.
3) Go yard-saling with an idea of what you need and then find things that can be a solution. If you just go to see what you can find you might get something too big, too small, or impractical for your needs. Then you end up just storing junk. No fun!
4) Lots of people price items higher than they expect to sell it for because people tend to haggle (is that even a word??) at yard sales so don't be afraid to offer a few bucks less than the tag says. Unless the item is only 2 bucks. Then try to add a few other items and take a few bucks off it all :)

I'm not claiming to be an expert yard-saler or anything (although that is what I want to be when I grow up) but these pointers have helped me get a little more bang for my ~~cents~~ buck.

Did you go yard-saling this weekend?? What did you score?

It only gets better

2011-09-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

PART 2 OF EPIC SUMMER AWESOMENESS

I left you last at the end of our lonely 3 weeks of just our little family.

At the end of the 3 weeks of camping, running, bbqing, and house prepping for more guests on my return, my little men and I hitched a ride to Utah with my perfect cousin (no really, she is) Angie and her equally perfect family.

Between the 8 seats in the car there were 5 cars seats. lol. You would have thought that to be an insane adventure but it turns out my perfect cousin has equally perfect children. While my cousin (she is actually like my 2nd cousin twice removed...or something like that. Unfortunately we aren't closely enough related for me to have shared her perfect genes) and her husband read scriptures, listened to conference talks, chatted and napped, her darling girls entertained themselves with snacks, coloring, toys and movies. I've never seen anything like it. And honestly I didn't get to see much of it as I was bouncing between my two crazies stuffing their mouths and keeping them entertained. I'm still trying to figure out how our families can be so different.

We had a wonderful time in Utah. My brother and sister-in-law blessed their sweet new baby and my beautiful cousin married the man of her dreams and I was able to attend the sealing. Does it get any better than that my friends?! I submit it does not!

Movie + Cuddling = Happy Caleb and sleepy Gramma

We were in Utah for a week and then I drove back to AZ with my Mom and Dad and Melissa and Mary. What an eezy breezy trip! Caleb sat with my sisters so I had to do very little entertaining. LOVE!

The day after I got to AZ I had this crazy idea to do something I've never done before. That's never happened. My ambition never gets me into a mess that I don't know what to do with. Never. But I guess I've had enough success stories (and here) to make me think I could do it again. But this is the biggest project I've tackled by far.

Mom has been wanting to do something about her family room. Something a little more organized. Something a little more her and a little less did-ten-kids-and-a-dog-just-run-through-here-and-dump-all-their-belongings?they-did?I-can-tell.

So true to Gretchen Form I decided to repaint the walls and trim. And my mom has been wanting to paint the kitchen a soft, happy yellow so we decided to do that too while we were at it. We picked out a lovely tan/light brown to paint the walls and a crisp white as an accent for the trim. I couldn't be more thrilled with how it all turned out. My Mommy says she loves it too...I sure hope so! HUGE thanks to Melissa, Mary, and Michelle for all their help!! It would have taken me ions to do it all myself!

Dang I have the hottest sisters!! Even when their all grody from painting and sweating for a week. Amazing.

Ready. Set. Reveal!

Oh my Geez!! I have the cutest Padre EVER!

See this Ugly Sucker??

Amazing how happy a little paint can make someone!
Now I know it wasn't just the fumes cuz I'm still happy :)

This armoir that's housing the TV is the only thing besides paint supplies that we bought for the makeover. Are you crushing on it as much as I am??! The excellent condition of the wood is beautiful. The details of the molding says, "I'm upscale". The incredible storage space made it a must have (I wish I had taken a picture of it...there's another cabinet inside the bottom cabinets, so its double layered. Holds TONS of DVDs, VHS's, and CDs), but the price is what made this beauty irresistible. Are you ready for it? Wait for it...............................
...................................
...................................
50 BUCKS!
Yup. It was a killer craigslist find. Oh craigslist, how I love thee!!
So the total cost of the room: $60 in paint
$20 for paint rollers
$50 for armoir
Total cost of makeover: $130
The look of satisfaction and appreciation on my Mother's face: Priceless

It took us several days from start to finish but by the time we finished all the painting, rearranging and hanging we were ready to kick back and relax! The rest of my time there was spent eating, reading, going to the Temple with my beautiful Mother, and chatting until 2am.

These little boys could not get enough of their Gramma! And Gramma soaked in every minute of it. Its times like these that I wish I had a really nice camera and mad photography skills so I could capture all these special moments they have with their Gramma...Christmas what?! ;)

I returned home on the August 30th and we were so lucky to have Kiel's parents, sister and grandma come visit us on the 31st. They stayed and played through labor day (I was a poet in a prior life)...It was totally boring. I mean, we did to Pike Place Market, spent a day in Victoria, Canada admiring the Butchart Gardens, watched The Help (GREAT movie!), Kung Fu Panda 2, and the BYU game, ate fudge, sipped bubble tea, and slurped noodles. Seriously, what more could you desire in life?? I mean...we're talking BUBBLE TEA people!! If you don't know what it is, find the nearest Asian restaurant and try it. Its not against the word of wisdom. Promise.
(NOTE: All future pictures were taken by the very photographically talented Natalie Bennion. You all lucked out that I forgot my camera...these are way better than I could have taken!)

Getting to Victoria
The ferry ride

The approaching view of Victoria is so breathtaking!

Victoria, Canada

When we saw all the little shops of home-made goodness we were like, "We just spent hours at Pike Place and surveyed 100 little shops just like these...we are so shopped out"....NOT!

The Butchart Gardens

We also rode to the top of the Space Needle and watched a crazy 80 year old with biceps and back like a 20 year dance a crazy dance. Epic.

The Space Needle

The said crazy salsa dancer

Pike Place Market

The seriously talented bands- One of my favorite
things at Pike Place Market.

LOVE the farm fresh fruits, veggies, honeys, and jams!

My Monkeys were champs through it all!

Totally boring stuff.
You'd hate it.
Come find out for yourself.
I'm very lonely now that we have no visitors for the first time in 5 months.

Thanks Other Willmores for visiting and bringing all your funness! We enjoyed!

We are now accepting requests for ~~entertainers~~ visitors for the next few months that Kiel's at school. Friends of all cooking, babysitting, cleaning, pampering abilities welcome. We are pro at giving you LOTS of practice in all those areas and you will leave a well-rounded Pro.

Ya can't OD on family!

2011-09-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

PART 1 OF EPIC SUMMER AWESOMENESS

July and August were wonderful. My dream come true really. After reading this post some of you will think I should be admitted to The Home for the Crazies because I do love it. Pretty much every minute of the chaos. Anybody else out there love family induced chaos as much as I do? Please don't start dialing The Home's number until you've read me out. Maybe you'll even try to finagle a way to fit in one more family visit before the summers over :)

My family is special. And by special I mean that we spend every bored minute conniving ways to get to some other state to visit family, or to get family to come visit us. Sister? Brother? Other sister? Parents? It doesn't really matter...we're all pretty fun:) Although Mom is the jackpot. I have endured literally a few hundred hours driving in some very patient person's backseat with one or two screaming babies while smiling all the way because I get to spend a few weeks with my family. Totally worth it.

I know you're saying, "your poor husband! He probably feel so second rate". Not so my friends! My man married me knowing full well that he's my priority but if by chance he is working/studying around the clock and the opportunity provides itself to send me home for a few weeks of provided childcare (compliments of doting Grandparents and Aunties and Uncles), music concerts, art projects {ya know, like painting a house!}, and good food I'm gunna take it! He also appreciates the fact that I come back much more relaxed and able to once again shoulder the non-stop responsibilities of a single mother (Thank you very much law school! I really hate you.) So really its a win win for every one.

Ready. Set. GO!

My sister, Jana, and her husband, Bret, and 3 kids and my two little sisters, Katie and Michelle, came to stay the entire month of June with us. We have 3 bedrooms so Kiel and I and Parker had our bedroom, Jana and Bret and their baby had the guest bedroom, and all the rest of the kids slept in the kids room. We had a pack n play, extra mattress on the floor and the bunk bed in the kids room. It was amazing.

And we all had so much fun. Mostly laughing at each other, playing games, and trying to get the kids to quite laughing and go to sleep.

Special thanks to an amazing husband who was not raised with such unheard of practices but is still so patient and understanding of my ways!

{Unfortunately I didn't have my camera for this part...I will steal the pictures from my Grandma and post them later...don't hold me to that.}

My whole entire family joined the partay the end of June. We had a Petramalo family reunion (not quite the Hawaiian experience we had last year, but still fun) and then the boys went on a few-day fishing trip while the ladies meandered around Leavenworth and Cle Elum. {Mindy, you're amazing for putting up with us!! This is true folks, I have a pretty awesome sis-in-law}.

This party went on for a week and then they all went back from whence they came.

Except Michelle.

Michelle is my miniature only 100x smarter/talented/mature than I ever was. We were so lucky to have her stay with us for almost a whole month! We gallivanted around Washington and played a few hundred games of cards. Dang that girl is smart! Maybe devious is more fitting.

This is Michelle in all her cuteness in front of Seattle.

Are you paying attention?!

We rode a steam train while Michelle was with us. She took the picture.

Michelle and I parasailing for her birthday

Michelle left us end of July and Kiel and I were left to fend for ourselves for a solid 3 weeks. No live-in babysitters/cooks/cleaners. NOTHING. Yikes. I was so out of awesome-housewife practice.

During that 3 weeks we went to the ward youth camp out. FUN! Caleb still talks about it.

Our awesome Bishop and youth leaders

Caleb loved hangin with the gang!

Cool swings!

I keep telling Kiel how awesome he looks doing his interpretive dance...

Part 2 where I drive to Utah and Arizona on a whim and Kiel's family visit comin right up!

Firsts

2011-08-01T09:36:00.001-07:00

Parker reached his first birthday last month and with that special day came the dreaded reality that it was definitely time for his first haircut. His hair was so much a part of his personality- it stuck out in all directions and he had the most awesome bed head. It was crazy and cute and just so...Parker! I had been successfully ignoring the fact that we had to tuck his hair behind his ears to keep it out of his face for several months and could not face the fact that it was time. I had shrugged off harassment from well-intending friends and family joking that his hair would look best in a ponytail, curled so the back wouldn't stick an inch over his collar, or feathered in the front so his sideburns wouldn't look so thick and long over his ears. I smiled at the pointed comments then ruffled my Parker's soft, long, baby locks, loving every strand.

Because once you cut the baby locks they are gone.

No more excuse for letting it grow and grow and grow. No more silky softness. No more golden wisps. No more baby for me. Once that first haircut takes place baby boys take on a new look; they look less baby and more little boy...and I already have a little boy that brings me all the joy a little boy can.

I want to keep my baby.

When people would ask me when I would cut it I would say, "he's not even one yet! He's still a baby!" So with the arrival of his first birthday I had no more excuses and broke down, collected all my courage, and pulled out the clippers.

As his locks fell away a part of me died. I know that sounds a little melodramatic but its true. Because of certain circumstances a new baby is not in our near future- at least not as near as I'd like it to be. I have treasured every second of this sweet baby's existence, loving every noise, movement, and expression he's made. I love him with all my heart. And a lot of his baby-ness left with his hair.

He now looks like a darling little boy- a lot like big brother Caleb! He has entered a new phase of life, as have I. The phase where I have two little boys to love rather than a little boy and a baby. And after all is said and done {and cut}, I love this phase too.

The evidence of a baby in need of a haircut:

And so it begins...

You...you...you...cut my hair???!

Hair in the eyes! I hate that part!

It is done. Granted- I get that his hair is too short. This length has always worked for Caleb and Kiel and I didn't even think of modifying my method but now I know. The shorter look is not for Parks. Next time I'll leave it a little bit longer....maybe a lot longer.

**BEFORE**

**AFTER**

```Happy Birthday America```

2011-07-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

In honor of it being the 24th of July, I thought I'd get my act together and blog about the 4th of July.

We went to my Aunt Cathi & Uncle Tom's home to celebrate the 4th of July. And when I say celebrate I'm not talking about waiting up til 10 to watch some rinkydink fireworks- we celebrated ALL.DAY.LONG.

For those who are familiar with the Tacoma area, their home is situated right above the Ruston walkway with a lovely view of the Puget Sound. So basically we had front row seats to the amazing flight show that boasted ginormous planes that could hover in midair and even go forward and backward slowly. Crazy stuff. And there were Jets that were deafening, and trick planes, and colored smoke planes...this went on for about 45 minutes while we were munching on chips and salsa and guac and chatting up a storm and tanning. I did have pictures of the flight show but they are MIA :(

After the flight show we meandered down to the walkway where there were tons of venders selling everything you could imagine and hords of people buying the crap. If you are claustrophobic, this was not for you.

The crazy Gospel clown that had Caleb thinking...Weirdo!

...even after the clown made him a balloon

There were also massive bubbles to be blown

U. Tom is a pro and showed em how its done

This is Malina- my cousin's darling little girl and one of Caleb's best friends in the whole wide world and as you will see they are practically inseparable. They spent most of the day in this swimming pool watching the flight show and munching on soggy chips.

After the clams, salmon, and burger bbq, we enjoyed some s'mores dessert

When it got dark some people set off some flying lanterns...just like in Tangled! So cool!

Caleb and Melina waiting for fireworks to start...

These are so cute I couldn't pick just one! They have so much fun together.

So we cuddled in the yard and watched the fireworks explode right in front of us. But the amazing part was, because of our elevated location, we could see the fireworks going off in Federal Way, Seattle, and all over the Puget Sound. It was a beautiful view and we are so glad the Petramalo's invited us out for the fun filled day!

Oregon coast

2011-07-14T15:41:00.001-07:00

My sister and her little family and my two younger sisters came and stayed with us for the month of June. So naturally we took full advantage of the fact that we had lots of babysitters and house sitters and Kiel and I took off for a scenic trip down the Oregon coast for a few days.

This is where we stayed. It comes highly recommended by me...if for no other reason than for their breakfast which was a nice selection of hot food off the griddle, my favorite being the belgian waffles with cream cheese and fresh marrionberry syrup on top. Shockingly enough I still had plenty of room for the all you can eat salt water taffys, tillamook cheese, sausage and crackers, and cucumber mint water that was always well stocked in the lobby.

And this is where we ate. Turns out all the restaurants in small towns close at 5. What the...?!?!

And this is what we ate. Very fresh fish and chips.

Even though this is what we wanted to eat. Unfortunately we found out a little too late that all the crab joints close at 5 :( So this is as close as I got to my crab dinner.

There were sooo many lovely beaches to hold hands and leave a trail of footprints in

Since we stayed in Tillamook, naturally we had to visit what they are most known for:

And we visited a jerky factory so we could stock up on protein before our big hike.

This is the hike we chose:

We did that trail zig zagging through the left finger...all 5 miles of it.

And this is one of the more famous Oregon beaches, Cannon Beach.

This was SO cool...it was a little treasure trove of sea life filled with crabs, sea urchins and some other things I can't pronounce that were pink and feathery and lovely

Oregon is for mountain huggers.

All in all it was a very relaxing trip full of walks, chats, hot tubbing, food, and beautiful scenery.

And the moral of the story is if you are ever thinking of coming to stay with us don't expect a cooshy vacation. Any takers??

I feel...validated?? :) :/ :(

2011-04-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

My camera is MIA again so in the mean time I wanted to ask all you Wise Women what you think about validating your childrens' feelings. I was recently at a conference and there was a focus on this topic and I never really thought about it but now I'm intrigued.
I grew up in a home where I was told if someone offended me, GET OVER IT. If I'm just having a bad day, GET OVER IT. If my sister made me mad and called me a fat piece of crap, GET OVER IT. Basically I wasn't allowed to have a bad day and if I did I was supposed to keep it to myself and fake everyone out that it was the best day ever!!
Do I feel like this made me a recluse, confused, unable to own my feelings and control them?
Quite the opposite.
I am actually very grateful that my parents took this approach with me. I feel like I don't waste a lot of time trying to decide if so or so meant offense and how I am going to deal with that. I just GET OVER IT. There's a lot more time to be happy when you aren't worrying about being worried.
And lets be honest, who enjoys being with someone who is constantly down or saying negative things about themselves or others and how someone offended them (again!!)? I sure don't. It makes me want to say just GET OVER IT!! So what if that person said/did/meant that?? Are you really going to let it ruin your day when chances are they didn't even mean it that way? I guess some people just need the drama...
So you can imagine my surprise when I was told that I need to sit my child down every time he throws a tantrum or says he's mad about something or at someone or someone hurt his feelings and talk out his feelings with him. Doesn't the regular practice of exploring one's feelings make one an emotional hypochondriac?? Isn't it so much easier and, well, happier, just being happy? I get that its not easy just getting over every negative thing in your life, and sometime its not even possible without professional help, but in the little day to day crisis' isn't it just better to try to GET OVER IT?
Unfortunately, the just GET OVER IT method isn't working so hot with my almost-3-year-old. So I'm thinking maybe the feelings validating method might be the answer.

Here are some pros of validating I see:

it helps children and parents understand the real emotion and issue.
the child is more honest and open.
they take responsibility for their emotions so they can fix it.

I feel I have already discussed the cons. Which brings me to one more point. Although I think the GET OVER IT method worked great for me as a child and I still apply it to myself when I'm feeling particularly irked or offended about something (gretchen, your over-reacting. Just GET OVER IT and salvage the rest of your day) but I need my husband to validate my feelings. When he has said or done something to hurt me I expect him to own up to it and apologize. I think marriage would be the worse if spouses didn't validate each other's feelings. And if we expect our feelings to be validated, don't you think our children deserve our validation as well? Isn't that the respectful and appropriate thing to do in a family?
So, if I haven't totally confused and offended you yet, I want to know what YOU think about all this. Do you think its better to validate your children's feelings or just GET OVER IT? And why? Are there certain circumstances that would call for one or the other? How were you raised and what has worked in your own homes with your children?? Feel free to throw out suggestions, stories, theories, threats for offending you (at me only please), opinions...I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

you + me =

2011-01-18T12:43:00.001-08:00

konichi-what?!?!

2010-11-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

Watching this kid eat his gyoza you would never know he spent a quarter of his life in Japan.

Serious lack of chopstick skills but I admire his effort!

Ah what the heck. Thats what fingers are for anyway.

Future Missionaries

2010-11-29T23:01:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for church...and missions

These boys make their mama proud.

Let it snow * Let it snow * Let it snow

2010-11-29T22:34:00.001-08:00

I'll be honest, one of the deciding factors for me when we were trying to decide whether we should move to Washington was the fact that there's "no snow." Being an Arizona girl I worship the sun and HATE the snow. Looks like I was lied to.

But there's one little man that is not disappointed.

Parker camped out in the warm garage while Caleb went snow crazy

Those rosey cheeks and the hot chocolate that followed made this snow fall totally worth it.

Besties

2010-11-22T21:14:00.000-08:00

Kiel's gone....alot.

HUGE thank you to these amazing ladies who make my life so much more enjoyable!

Mimy and Jen at our caramel apple halloween party.

Sadly missing is Carmine...basically the Grishams are awesome.

You girls are fun, BEAUTIFUL, talented, and I love that I can always call one of you to pass the time with! Thanks ;)

An organized office space surprise.

2010-10-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not pregnant. Don't even think like that.

My poor husband is up at 5:30 and studies until 11 or 12 or 5:30 the next morning (like last night...) We love to have him home as much as possible, even if he is in the spare room studying.

But the spare room was more of a junk room and craft room... hardly the place for a highly intellectual thinker to think. So I thought I'd surprise my Love with something more functional for his needs.

Yikes...right??

A little trip to Ikea and a lot of creative upcycling and organizing later and

WHALAH! an office for kiel to call his own.

{Don't mind the very unorganized pile of backpacks under the desk...Eeeek!}

A little clearance fabric + ugly chair + a sewing machine =

A BRAND NEW-ISH CHAIR!

That conveniently match the curtains...

Kiel is a HUGE Dave Mathews Band fan...hence the theme of the room. On the left wall there is a big DMB poster too...The frames came with the house :)

So for the price of a little fabric, a few boxes from ikea and a white board for 6 bucks, Kiel got a functional space to help him reach his highest goals.

You can do it Love!

Bad habits

2010-10-29T15:30:00.001-07:00

Take a good look at this little guy...

looks harmless right?? Maybe even innocent??

Wait for it...

There he goes again! Sticking his tongue out at anything and everything...totally unprovoked I might add. I have caught him sticking his tongue at me approximately 73 hours in the past three days.

Do you think he is sorry for his naughtiness?? I submit he is not. The evidence? A smile that goes straight to his eyes.

What a naughty little boy.

My Goodness!

2010-10-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

I just LOVE these 2 little boys! I can always count on their smiles to brighten my day.

So sweet

innocent

and eager to please.

I'm one lucky mama to be mama to these 2

BEST BUDS

Recent Going Ons

2010-09-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

What have we been up to you ask?? Now that the 3 boys are sleeping soundly I shall tell you. Mostly with pictures.

James, my practically 4th brother, flew down for a visit and while he was here

we took a ferry over to Victoria Canada.

And visited the Buchart Gardens...the most beautiful place in the world

Kiel and James spent a day sailing around Orcas Island

And walked Pike Place Market in Seattle while stuffing our faces with donuts the size of our faces

And went to a Mariners baseball game

while, again, stuffing our faces with nachos.

Caleb started swim lessons yesterday. I snagged these two pictures when he was just kicking...not kicking and screaming

Isn't my little Parker Love looking so grown up??

We inherited a grill with our house and I have been putting it to use grilling up anything and everything I can find! These tex-mex stuffed peppers were MIGHTY FINE.

The past few days have been dedicated to getting Kiel ready to start law school. Orientation starts next week and school starts the 27th. He's just a little excited.

In addition to all this evidence of fun, some of my favorite people- my family - came up for a visit and a family wedding. Although things didn't turn out exactly as planned, we had alotta fun! Like always!

And there has been something else exciting and taking up a lot of my time lately...but I don't have pictures yet so I will blog about it soon!

Although we miss our Monday, Friday, and Saturday game nights with Joseph and Mindy and Sunday dinners with Kiel's family and seeing our friends here and there, we are absolutely loving it here and are excited to start this new era of our lives. Kiel is going to do great in law school and I am enjoying every moment with my boys. Life is good!

Parker's first photoshoot

2010-08-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

My week has been total chaos and its not even about to end. We have been packing like mad, packed up the truck today, cleaning tomorrow and driving to washington saturday and then unpacking. But even with all the madness I just couldn't wait to show the world these precious pictures of my little sweetheart.

Enjoy.

Special thanks to Parker's Aunt Natalie for capturing these sweet moments!

The happiest weekend. Ever.

2010-08-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

That's what you get when you go with your whole family to the happiest place on earth! Disneyland! We had our first ever Petramalo family reunion this past weekend and made the very fun drive (8 people-4 kids in carseats no less- in an 8 seat minivan) from Provo to LA to attend it.
The drive was totally worth it.

Thursday
Here we are headed to Disneyland. Our hotel was literally a 2 minute drive so we just crammed 28 people into a 15 passanger van. That's a new record for the van.

My bro-in-law even got to sit in Caleb's carseat

Toy Story! Caleb's favorite ride EVER.

How cute is my family??! I just love them to death!Although I got to spend a few fun hours at Disneyland, I spent most of my time at our hotel just lovin on my baby

Friday
A fun day at the beach

What would be a post without one of Kiel's classic poses?

Swimming at our hotel

Swim lessons

Aren't family reunions great? ANY excuse to get together :)

We are moving to Seattle WA on Saturday and we won't have internet once we get there so if I drop out of the blogosphere for awhile you know why :(

Hooded towel backpack

2010-07-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

How cute and functional are these little hooded towel backpacks?! And just in time for all this super hot weather!

We are taking a little family trip to LA to play at the beach and Disneyland and I think I'll make one of these for my sister's two girls that will be there with us as well as one for my little man. Anything to lesson the amount I have to carry!For full instructions on making these cuties visit the very creative blog The Train to Crazy found here.

Introducing Parker Michael Willmore: Unsencored

2010-07-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

About 476 pictures have been sent to family via cell phone pics but those just aren't very good quality and Parker is just too cute to not see in quality detail!

WARNING: Some of these pics may not be for the faint of heart! (or those close to labor and delivery themselves :) Babies are born naked and NOT clean.

After walking and walking and walking with few contractions to show for it, I suddenly started have inconsistent contractions on July 5th and toward the afternoon they started coming more frequently and more intense. We went to the hospital and I was dilated to a 4 and 80% effaced (Babies come at 10 dilated and 100% effaced). They monitored me for an hour and sure nuff! I was definitely in labor. So I was transferred to my delivery room where they gave me a blessed epideral and 4 hours later Parker was born kicking and screaming.

Parker's zombie picture...LOVE it!

with Grandma W.

1st bath. What a good boy!

with Grandma P.

Ready to go home

This is typical Parker...he is always wide awake!

Doesn't Parker have the cutest older brother?!

Caleb just loves "Pawka". So many kisses!

Rewind to the 4th of July

We had a blast at the freedom festival...

...Petting 10 foot snakes...

...Playing with vender goods...

...learning how colonials sharpened sticks...

...and squinting for the camera :)

Restaurant Wrap-up: Thai Mango

2010-06-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Feeling extremely exhausted and short on time had us visiting this new little restaurant that just opened up in the Buy Low/Cafe Rio/Shopko (know where I'm talking about??) Provo shopping complex on University Parkway. Thai Mango was pretty busy when we got there so we figured it must be pretty good...can I just say FANTASTIC?!? It was SO GOOD.
The prices are around $7-9 and each plate was probably enough for two (I'm already excited for my lunch leftovers tomorrow!). However, they have a lunch special for $6 that includes an entree and an appetizer...just get there before 3pm!
Everything looked sooo good but I ended up going with the something wooshen (I think thats what it was called!) and Kiel got the shrimp dish--both under the Noodle entrees.

I give mine a DEFINITE 5 stars
Kiel gives his a 4 1/2 stars

This place is one of the best places I've been in a while. The sauce was awesome, the veggies were cooked perfect, and I didn't feel like everything was dripping in oil like most Asian food.
I am definitely hitting this place up again!
and again and again and again...

Washington

2010-06-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I last blogged and there is too much on my mind to take a nap right now so I shall blog while the little man is sleeping!

Reverse time back to a month ago...

Kiel and I went to check out Washington and we were delighted to have kiel's parents there partying with us. We loved everything about Washington! It is such a beautiful state and at this point rain doesn't bother me at all. I hear the weather is fairly temperate so wahoo! My cousins own a condo that they fixed up really nice a year ago and then decided to buy a house so they are letting us stay in their condo while we are there. Kiel will have a 30 minute commute but it will be so worth it staying in a nice, safe neighborhood in a place that has LOTS of space (I have never experienced that before in my married life). We are so happy and take it as a good omen that everything is working out so wonderfully.

While we were there we checked out the Seattle zoo...

See the Grizzly??

Went to just one of the hundreds of beautiful gardens there...

Visited the Space Needle...

And watched airplanes fly in and out of the SeaTac airport.We definitely made each minute count during our 4 day vacation! We are very excited to start a new era of our life there but are going to seriously miss all the family and friends we have so close here!

Cancun, Mexico

2010-05-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

I have about 12 things I wanted to blog about before I got to Cancun but now I'm too excited and I'm going to jump right to my Cancun post and blog about the other things later...okydoky?

For weeks we had been checking out the weather forcasts for Cancun and much to our dismay the forcast was rainy and stormy the entire 10 days we were to be there. But once we got there the weather was PERFECT!! It could seriously not have been any better. It was sunny with a nice breeze that made laying outside all day very comfortable.
Our resort was lovely as could be, with an awesome beach, plenty of places to layout in the sun or shade, massive pools, and tasty food! This resort comes highly recommended by me! When we first got there, we were greeted by this:Everyone thought we were on our honeymoon! Giant baby bump and all!

One of the first things we did when we got there was take "before" pictures of our suntanless selves. We took "after" pics on our last day...can you see a difference?? Don't you just love Kiel's convict face?? :)
After sitting through a time share thing (and me dragging Kiel out before he signed on the deal) we got 2 for 1 tickets to an all-inclusive day trip to Tulum and Xel-ha- SUPER fun!!
Tulum was a village-y place that had a bunch of little temples and ruins. The sun was h-o-t that day and we got a little toasty!

After Tulum, we spent the rest of the day at Xel-ha where we watched these cute dolphins do tricks, snorkled, went on a nature hike, tubed the Caribbean, ate ourselves sick, and tried not to touch the killer crabs!

(The resemblance of this picture to a giant seal laying on the beach is uncanny)

My first virgin strawberry daiquiri experience...mmm!

Kiel got a little carried away with the parrot pictures, no?
Another day we did the Isle de Mujeres trip. That was tons of fun too...it was all-inclusive as well so there was a boat load of drunk people for entertainment, shopping, kayaking, snorkling, lounging in hammocks with a good book, and lunch.
Oh, and a shark.

We did a lot of walking around the shops, reading on the beach, playing cards in our room when we'd had enough sun, seeking out cheap yummy tacos and horchata and flan, and swimming.
Some of the other particularly fun things we did were water aerobics hosted by our resort, water volleyball also hosted by the resort, I got a spa manicure that consisted of getting my nails done, a massage, and chocolate wrap-thats right, my arms and back was smoothered in real chocolate...I wanted to eat myself! and a 4 hour walk on the beach that was a result of miscalculated distance. Here are some random pictures comprising the rest of our stay.

Us having fun with some shop murals

Kiel doing the Mosquito Dance down the mosquito walkway. Guaranteed to get 10 bites or more in under 10 seconds

The entryway to our resort

These 3 foot iguanas were everywhere! You had to be careful not to step on them!

Cancun was amazing. Being alone with Kiel doing whatever the heck we wanted for 10 days was amazing. We made lots of memories that will be fun to look back on when we go on 2 month streaks of not seeing each other in law school. But at the end of the day we really missed our little man and couldn't wait to see this face-

Picture Fest

2010-04-21T16:53:00.001-07:00

I just found my camera charger and was finally able to download the last of our pictures from Japan. There's alot but I know my family would like to see them...Enjoy!

The view of Tokyo from our hotel

Kiel the Samarai

My birthday dinner and the best meal I ate in Japan!

The day we left...I miss you Yukarisan!

At an aquarium...

Look how fat he used to be! I miss that baby fat!

The whole Igarashi family

Kiel taught the lady on the right...she is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met!

Yes, those are Japanese flipflops

The takaido drums...one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life. I'll post a video of it.

So these are pretty long videos but they do get better as they go! Sorry the quality isn't awesome...I was using our small camera and sometimes it catches the wind...The first two videos are at the Takaido festival and the last one is at the Matsumoto Bon Bon festival.

For all my fellow pregger ladies

2010-04-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the weather waiting to freeze me at first contact, I have spent way too much time and money trying to find a good work out video that I can do in the warmth of my apt. I have tried the neon workout spandex 80's video (seriously, who can take that seriously??), some crazy turban-and-dress-wearing yoga lady, yadayadayada.

I finally found one that works!

It works out every part of you and contains yoga, palates, and aerobic exercises...just a little of each.
She's not too fast and she's not too slow.
She's not boring but she doesn't talk to much.
She's wearing normal workout clothes!

All these add up to a great workout session that can be tailored to any fitness level unless you're my neighbor that ran 20 miles a day until she went into labor. So if you've also been trying to find a good prenatal workout video to keep that weight gain minimal, this one comes recommended by me.

I bought mine at Barnes and Noble for $25 but it comes with two DVD's- a prenatal and postnatal workout DVD.
The workout is 40 minutes with a 20 minute partner session that you can do with your hubby, preggo friend...
Maybe you recognize her husband from Desperate Housewives??

If you have any other prenatal workout ideas/tips I'd love to hear them...working out can get so monotonous, especially when you still put on the lbs!

A big hello from our little Angel (...lets be honest...he's two)

2010-04-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

Waa haa -my new favorite word.

2010-04-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

I have had some amazingly busy busy weeks! Behind and ahead of me... A few weeks ago my aunt called late one night and said she needed someone to drive to AZ with her the next morning early. Could I say PICK ME fast enough???! So I packed and got a few hours of sleep and then Caleb and I were off to Arizona to enjoy family, food, and the wonderful sun that is partial to AZ during these winter months. My unplanned vacay did not disappoint! I had babysitters galore, plenty of Pico tutorials {Joe Pico is our family's personal chef. That's right. He happens to adore us for some strange reason and comes over just about every day to make us some of his professional culinary delights}, sun tanning, and lots of time with my mommy.

Which brings me to this, can I please just brag about how amazing my mom is for just one minute?? SHE IS AMAZING!! My mom is a profesh cake decorator and has made lots of wedding cakes but never with fondant. My cousin found himself a winner and they tied the knot while I was there and the bride wanted this cute fondant cake so my mom said no problem! She learned and practiced how to make fondant cuteness. If any of you have tried to work with fondant you know it can be very difficult because it dries and cracks and is just not easy to create into cuteness. But everyone and most importantly the bride LOVED the result...
isn't it so so cute?? Isn't my mom just so amazing?!?!
Don't you just LOVE her?!?!?!

(forgive the cell phone pics)
You have no idea the work that went into this bow...We made it home to spend a lovely Easter with Kiel and Willmores. Call us procrastinators, bad parents, or just plain losers, but we didn't do anything real special. We decided we better get a little basket and eggs for Caleb at about 9:30 the night before so we drove to Macey's, bought a $1 basket and 88 cent eggs and filled them with the free smarties they give you at check out. We also swung by DI and found a few still-readable Thomas the Train books and sing along movies for 50 cents.
Can I tell you how much Caleb loved his {pathetic} Easter basket?? He went straight for the choo choo books and then discovered the eggs had smarties and fruit loops in them and about when to heaven. Yeah...we're pretty awesome parents. Awesomely frugal. Oh well, Caleb didn't notice.

So the plan is tour all Washington has to offer next week {we are checkin out UofWA as our most likely law school choice} and maybe we'll swing by Forks?? Anyone want me to drop off a lust letter to Edward while I'm there?? Seriously though, Edward?? When there's Jacob?? Nuf said.

And then we'll come back and enjoy relaxing and repacking for 6 days.

And then we are off to CANCUN!!! The oh so long awaited vacation is almost here and I can hardly wait!! I have some swim suits {thank YOU to all who gave me great maternity swim suit suggestions!}, wraps, sunscreen, passport and sunglasses... do I need anything else? Maybe I'll take an outfit or two...

I'll let you know how the blur of April goes! Hopefully with some fun, sunkissed photos to boot.

For the crafty- inclined

2010-02-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

I was on the search for a cute car trash bag tutorial when I came across this adorable blog that has changed my life.

No really, I'm inspired.

Make it and Love it

Hello tax return...

2010-02-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

goodbye snow!! Well, I don't know if there will be snow or not at the end of April but either way we are escaping Provo for some serious R&R on the beautiful beaches of Cancun. We feel that graduating, last summer before law school and debts go through the roof, lovely tax return, and a random check from BYU were all good reasons to take this much needed vaca.
After we drop Caleb off in AZ during our layover we are heading straight to this resort that has promised to take away all my worries and stress for 10 blissful days.

Now if only I can last another two months...

Any suggestions on where to get a maternity swimsuit??

Restaurant Wrap-up: Rubio's

2010-01-30T10:55:00.000-08:00

For dinner yesterday, Kiel and I decided to hit up a place we'd never been before,

We had been watching the Foodnetwork channel a few days prior and they had a whole segment on Rubio's fish tacos. That didn't pull my heart strings of course but Kiel loves fish tacos and I figured they had to have other good food if their fish tacos were that awesome.
So we found out the nearest one is 20 minutes away in American Fork and we made the journey.
Was it worth it??
Kiel gave it 4 out of 5 stars and I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.
Kiel ordered a World Famous fish taco and a chili lime salmon taco.
Its hard to describe Kiel's tacos since I didn't try them but he said next time he goes back he is just going to get several of the World Famous tacos. Apparently they're
AMAZING!
(and on Tuesdays they are only $1.50!!)
I ordered the steak burrito and smothered it in their salsa verde and cilantro.
I liked how they have a salsa bar...I got my money's worth there!! Lets just say...Kiel wasn't dying to kiss me after... :)
The burrito was so-so. It was only kinda warm which was weird but I did like how it had sour cream and guacamole in it...yumm!!! It also had black beans, steak and rice in it.
My steak burrito was 6.50 and Kiel got the fish plate which came with 2 fish tacos and two sides for 6.50.
Conclusion: if you like sea food you'll probably like Rubio's. If you don't, you might be better to stick with Cafe Rio or your personal favorite Mexican restaurant.

Side question, is anyone else having a pain of a time getting your posts publish in the font and size you put it in??? Mines going all crazy!! And its making me crazy!!!!

Call me CRAZY but...

2010-01-25T10:58:00.000-08:00

We find out what Baby's gender is on Wednesday and I think that is the second most exciting part of pregnancy- the most exciting being seeing the "positive" on the pregnancy test.
In case of it turning out to be a boy, I have to tell my current all time favorite girl name as of right now. For the past 4 months I have been set on Gracie and I still love love LOVE it, but

call me crazy, my new favorite is
Apple Charlotte

Kiel already nixed it so now I just get to enjoy the thought of naming my baby's first doll Apple Charlotte instead. Luckily he likes Gracie. I think Gracie is such a cute little girlie name but perfectly feminine for when my little girl grows up.

Now if we have another boy...we're in trouble name-wise...On Wednesday, if it is necessary, feel free to start throwing out suggestions!

Shaved Legs Therapy

2010-01-24T20:08:00.000-08:00

As I was getting dressed for church this morning and thinking about the miserable snow I was going to have to drudge through to get to church and then remembering that I hadn't shaved my pasty white legs in a week, I wore my knee high boots and my past knee length skirt.

Have I mentioned I HATE snow??
sure, it has its amazing aesthetic qualities but its just not worth the pain of bundling up and wiping off the car and praying the minute I get in the car that I'll make it to my destination in one, un-compact piece and finding the shoes with extra tred anytime I want to relieve some cabin fever.
Its just NOT worth it.
And it makes me k-r-o-s.

My one demand when we were filling out law school apps was that we end up going somewhere with no snow. I don't care if the summers are 120 degrees. I'd rather wipe off sweat from the scorching sun than sweat from bundling up to survive the freezing walk to the car only to suddenly burst into flames the minute the heater kicks into gear.

So what does this have to do with Shaved Legs Therapy??
Well, as I was contemplating my miserable lot in life being stuck in this snow wrecked state, I thought about flowers, and green growing things, and swimming, and feeling thin and sexy in a swim suit.
These thoughts might have also stemmed from feeling particularly fat and pregnant and white and hairy as well...
Anywho, I suddenly had the urge to feel smooth and sexy and swimsuit ready! Danged if I was going sit in bed while my legs that once made me proud grew forests amid white flakiness!!!
So I took a bath and did the best shave job I've had in 3 years.
I mean, I shaved in all those little ankle grooves that are scarred from dozens of unfortunate razor accidents,
I shaved all the way up my legs and behind my knees and the little tendon parts on both sides that always make me nervous.
I really vented my pregnant winter frustrations into this and I can honestly say I have rarely had a cleaner shave or a more peaceful set of mind.

Ah the therapeutic qualities of shaved legs.

Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?

2010-01-16T20:45:00.000-08:00

Whenever time is short and the blood pressure's high, we methodically pick from our favorites for dinner.

if we're feeling mexican,for pizza,

for burgers or sandwiches,

for anything else.

Today we realized that this is a boring and lazy habit and that there is so much more to the Provo world of food that has yet to be discovered by the Willmores. So we have taken it upon ourselves to become food connoisseurs of the Provo area {and if we really branch out on occasion, Salt Lake or where ever we happen to be that is not Provo}. No longer will I push speed dial 4 on my cell phone and order the convenient and yummy pork barbequoa salad!

We will try the hole-in-the-wall joints and if needs be the raccoons-off-the-street-burritos from Albertos or Pedros or Joses or whatever the current name is. And then I shall share our findings with you. If we find some awesome bbq shop you will be the first to know about it. If we are sick for 3 days after eating from who-knows-where you will also be the first to know about it. Sounds kinda fun right??
...I wonder if I can write this off as a tax reduction somehow...

Tonight we set out to try a new place we had never been. On the menu:
Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches

I ordered the Beach Club (#12)
turkey,
provolone,
avocado spread,
sliced cucumber,
sprouts,
lettuce,
tomato,
and mayo.

Kiel ordered the Hunter's Club (#10)
1/4 lb sliced medium rare roast beef,
provolone,
lettuce,
tomato,
and mayo.

Caleb threw up.

After a deep conversation on the intricacy of the flavors and vibrancy of the colors, Kiel and I gave them a 3 out of 5 stars. The subs were good but they were just lacking originality. It was pretty much the same as any other sub shop. There were also not a lot of options as far as how you wanted your sandwich...each of them came in a package deal. Call me spoiled but I like the Subway approach to choosing my bread, toppings, and seasonings.
The prices were reasonable, 4.50-5.50 for an 8 inch. They also have their own "Jimmy chips" and "Jimmy cookies" that might be interesting, we didn't try em.
So there ya go! Try it if your feeling like a sandwich...nothing special but still yummy!

Back for the long haul

2010-01-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

I've thought long and hard about it and decided to take my blog out of hiding. Maybe now I will blog more?? There's lots of exciting things going on in my life right now so I'd love to channel some of the excitement into my blog! Don't expect too many pictures though; my camera charger is still missing from the summer :( Maybe its time to invest in one of those Nikkons that make pictures still look good even when you are a self-proclaimed pathetic photographer.
In any case, I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and I'm excited to get back on here and leave a little trail of my life!

Doodadoodadoo...

2009-11-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

Isn't he so handsome??

I feel like I spend so much time over at my other blog that I'm neglecting this one! So hmmm...what to write about!
I'll write about Kiel! He's come down with a cold but that only stopped him for one day. Some of the things hes been working on...He received an orca grant of $1,500 to create a resume workshop for single mothers who need a job but don't have the skills, education, or background to make a resume. The workshop will be held Dec. 12th and right now we are working on fliers to send out to pediatricians, WIC, shelters, and other places where there might be single mothers.
Kiel is also studying HARD for the LSAT that is coming up Dec. 6th. He has been doing really good on his practice tests...but is it good enough for Kiel?? We'll see!
Kiel was nominated for the overall best internship from BYU. All the teachers could nominate someone from their class who did an internship over the summer. Kiel was nominated a few months ago and then found out about 2 weeks ago that he was nominated as BYU's overall intern. What does this mean?? I'm not sure...maybe a trip to Boston next year and a little $$!

So I have a question. I have a been thinking about sending out Christmas newsletters this year...is that lame?? Its not like we lead super exciting lives at this point, but there is a lot of family on my dad's side that I don't ever talk to so it might be nice for them...what do you think? Wait a few more years or just start a tradition?

(Sorry about the slightly long and boring post! I'll try to do something fun and exciting to write about!)

Christmas Wish List

2009-11-03T09:11:00.001-08:00

hEY fAMILY!!! {aND sUPER aWESOME fRIENDS :}

i kNOW wE sTILL hAVE a mONTH uNTIL tHANKSGIVING bUT tO mAKE tHINGS eASIER tHIS yEAR fOR eVERYONE {nO mORE 1000 "wHAT dO yOU wANT fOR cHRISTMAS?!?"} i dECIDED tO mAKE a cHRISTMAS wISH lIST fOR aLL oF uS. nOW yOU dON'T hAVE tO aSK, gUESS, oR eVEN tHINK aBOUT iT! i wILL kEEP tHE lIST iN tHE rIGHT cOLUMN aND wILL pROBABLY aDD tO iT oVER tHE nEXT fEW wEEKS :) {tHIS iS mOSTLY fOR gRANDMAS aND gRANDPAS} xOxO!

Happy Friday/Halloween!

2009-10-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

Today I...

have this song stuck in my head
am looking for this and this {for a cheaper price}
am reading this
am working on this
am cooking this
and watching this
and doing this

Have a spook-tacular weekend!!

Worldly Inspiration

2009-10-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

I have finally set up my interior design blog! I am launching a small scale interior design buisness, Worldly Inspiration, and basing it out of this blog. I'm so excited for it and the experience that {I hope} it will give me! I just got it put together so don't expect too much right now...but hopefully in the future it will be filled with lots of fun and helpful posts on decorating your home beautifully as well as some of the decorating services I will be offering. To view this lovely new blog, go here.

i'M pUmPEd.

2009-10-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

I was thinking long term this morning and it struck me that I am in the long term already! Hopefully my life isn't half over yet but I've got 22 years behind me...that's a lot of time. And I've gotten a bit done in that time...I moved away from home, found the man of my dreams and started a family, I got my BA {unofficially} a year ago, and....its pretty much stopped. My life is still hectic with the little man running around wrecking havoc in his path but I find myself watching a lot of TV while browsing the internet, talking on the phone and on chat, and coming up with ways to spend my time {and most often my money} so I'm not bored when Caleb is sleeping or playing by himself. I realized today that I need a GAME PLAN so I can use my spare time to continue to progress and learn new things rather than thinking back on my week and realizing that the only thing I learned was Opera's new favorite book. So here it is.
After I finish my stats class this December I will officially be graduated from BYU. That's when I'm going to enroll in Sheffield Interior Design school online and I will be graduated from that WITH a business plan that I can work where ever Kiel's school/work takes us. I also want to come up with a new and fresh marketing idea for creating small and {relatively} inexpensive beautiful spaces. Such as apartments. My completion date for this goal is 2012. I'll be 25. That's a good age to have a little family and a small business underway.
I also want to start an interior design blog. This is very daunting. There are so many other beautiful and inspiring decorating blogs out there that I feel I have NOTHING to contribute. But having a blog and a following seems to give you authenticity. I'll have to think about that one. My completion date for my blog goal is Dec. 2010.
My final goal is to learn how to create beautiful, tasty, healthy meals. I want to learn how to really cook. I find that meals in my home get put on the backburner (ha) a lot and its hard for me to think of yummy things to make. So I'm going to master the art of thinking up and creating wonderful meals. I want to learn to cook gourmet! I watch plenty of the cooking channel and know many many people around me that have that talent so I can become proficient as well. My completion date for this goal Dec. 2010.
I'm excited for my future!! It makes me excited that I can keep learning and making myself better while Kiel is doing the same thing at school. We really are given so much time and even though it feels that I am up to my neck in "stuff" I could use my time so much better to get so much more done. Cheers to my goals and the future!

Excuses Excuses!

2009-10-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hi ya'll (I'm watching Paula on the cooking channel at the moment...)! I'm sad that I haven't blogged for awhile but there's a few reasons for that. The first one being that all the posts I want to write include pictures that I want to take and my camera charger is MIA! There will be some blogging overload once I find that charger...
The second reason I haven't blogged in awhile is that I feel that no one reads my blog now that I have gone private so I don't quite feel the same excitement as before to get on here and muse and vent and babble and post pictures because I don't feel like I'm being heard anyway.
My third reason for not blogging is that things have been crazier than usual around here. We had some fam come for General Conference and we did a lot of hanging out and now my two little sisters are staying with me for the next two weeks so we have just been...watching TV.
Which leads me to my fourth and final reason. I have been sick. Very very sick. I just have the basic flu/cold (I hope!) that has been going around and my sister and Kiel now have it as well. So we have been watching movies and TV around the clock. Granted, all these excuses only apply to the past week but thats how far back I can remember these days anyway.
However, while I have been watching TV 24/7 I have been reading and rereading all your blog posts so keep them coming! Don't follow my bad example...I love to hear how all my friends and family are doing and what you are up to these days!

Its Magic!

2009-09-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

I think this is seriously one of the coolest things ever!!

Faves of the Day

2009-09-21T18:10:00.000-07:00

Today's Faves

1. Joannes finally got in my fabric and it was on sale!
2. Finished my living room curtains
3. Applejacks
4. Decorated a cake for a Birthday Party tonight
5. No dirty dishes
6. A cute text from my sweetheart
7. Black poka dot scarf
8. Little baby giggles
9. Anticipated package in the mail
10. Marshmellows

Saturday

2009-09-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

Note: This post is a little outdated. I wrote it a week ago but wanted to wait until I got the pics from the faithful picture-taker Natalie. I got them today so here is the post from last week...

This past Saturday was a riot! Very busy and very fun. The day started out just as everyday should start out...with yoga! My sis-in-law Natalie came from Salt Lake and we went together...definitely the preferred method. I stretched and worked some muscles that have been lazy for too long and now I'm feeling the burn! What a good feeling.
After an hour and a half power work out we ate some yummy german pancakes, gathered our husbands and Caleb, and headed out to 7 Peaks (luckly the weather decided to cooperate!). We spent 4 hours gathering courage, riding slides, screaming, swimming, and being proud of ourselves for actually riding the giant blue and orange slides.

This was Caleb's first time going to a water park and he loved it! {obviously}

The water was heated which was nice and he loved just walking in the shallow part and splashing around! It was really fun to watch and play with him.

The bird man was a hit with us too.
After we were all so worn out from 7 Peaks we went and got lunch at where else but Cafe Rio! Then we showered, got ready, and went to Mom and Dad Willmore's to watch the BYU/OK game. Sadly they didn't even get to watch it because on their way back from Idaho they were rear-ended on the freeway and got back after the game was done. Luckly no one was hurt.
What a day! And what better way to end it than BYU winning the #3rd team??! GO COUGS!

Predicaments

2009-09-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

{Despite what I have said in the past} I officially HATE shopping!!!

~rewind a few hours~

I decided, with the encouragement of my husband, that it was high time I updated my wardrobe. I just love fall and the cozy chicness of fall fashion. The last two falls/winters I was pregnant, nursing, and overall uncomfortable with my body...aka not out shopping for new clothes. Now that things have settled down more into a routine and I've had a while to work off some of that baby weight I decided the time had come to update and add some modern flair to my style! So I set out with confidence, credit card, and shopping buddy/mentor (my very cute and fashionable sis-in-law Natalie!) to find all the perfect pieces to make me feel and look fabulous!! However, those pieces eluded me. I searched just about every rack and found a strollerfull of lovely tops but none of them fit me! They all just looked awkward on me! I left the first store with just one pair of rockin brown boots that I absolutely love but no tops. I felt my confidence droop a little but I still had hope for the next store, Forever 21. Love that store!! And when has it not delivered?? I was sure to find something there.
Natalie and I divided (took seperate racks and threw everything cute into the stroller) and conquered. That is to say, after trying on a dozen tops I finally found ONE, just one shirt that fit me and looked so cute. And the best part about it? It was on sale for 3.99! So I gave up on shirt shopping and instead stocked up on some belts and jewelry.

I love that one shirt I got but...3 hours?? How depressing. Maybe I should put my money towards a gym pass and get serious about that and then go shopping. But I think I'm done with the cruel reality of new shirts, sizes and dressing room mirrors for awhile! Maybe if I cinch up the waist on some of my bigger shirts with belts that will work for awhile.
So, goodbye shopping! Hello gym!

Note: I know I've fallen terribly behind on blogging while touring Japan, moving into my new apartment, and getting my house in order but I have several posts I've been excited about coming up!...as soon as I can find some of that precious, never there when you need it time.

Farewell to Matsumoto

2009-08-11T03:57:00.000-07:00

Our stay in Matsumoto has officially ended. Tomorrow morning we will take the 2 hour train ride to Tokyo where we will spend the next two days site-seeing, swimming (my one requirement was that our hotel have a swimming pool), and shopping! I have been really looking forward to this part of our trip and I'm sure I will not be disappointed! There is a lot to look forward to in my near future (meeting everyone that means a lot to Kiel from his mission, returning to America, seeing my mom and the rest of my family (that includes Kiel's family, of course!), and decorating my new apt!) and it makes me feel that really, life is beautiful!

Mom's blood test results

2009-08-10T02:49:00.000-07:00

Mom had some blood work done and a CT scan taken to see what her cancer has been doing the past few months. Unfortunately her tumors have continued to grow and there are also a few new tumors that weren't there before. Mom has decided to start the sandostatin shots which is a "kinder" type of chemo. The horrible thing about those are (besides the negative side affects they can have) is she has to give them to herself! I don't know how anyone does that...my mom is a very strong person.
The {extremely} positive news is that her blood is 100% normal. The drs don't know how that can be since her liver obviously can function well but we are very grateful for that news nonetheless.
So now you all know about as much as I do...I wish the news was better but we'll hope and pray for that for the next test results.

Emails please!

2009-08-07T05:22:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about it for over a year now but the time has come to take my blog private. It makes me really sad because I love it when old friends find me on here and send me a message and we meet up again! But the risks aren't worth it. I'll be going private in two weeks so if you want to see our blog after that send me your email addy and I'll send you an invite. You can give me your email on here, on facebook, or email it to me: krasavitsa87@gmail.com. Thanks peeps!

Things I miss about America

2009-08-02T03:58:00.000-07:00

~Mattresses
~Different food nationalities (I mostly miss mexican food)
~My car
~Breakfast cereal
~Subs, or any sandwich for that matter
~Phone calls
~HOUSE the TV show
~The library
~Sally Hansen wax strips
~Movies
~Caleb sleeping in a different room
~Yards with grass
~Iggie's...yeah, they really are THAT good!
~Law and Order
~Pepsi
~My CD's
~Chocolate chip cookies
~Couches (I haven't seen a single couch since I've been here! Crazy ne?!)
~Stores like Burlington and Kohls...cheap clothes!
~English

16 days and I'll be eating to my hearts content a pork barbecoa burrito with a cookie in my other hand while sitting on the couch watching HOUSE re-runs and taking sips of pepsi while feeling completely secure knowing Caleb's in the other room sound asleep in his crib and at the same time looking forward to falling into my bed and dreaming of eating Golden Grahams the next morning and then hitting the malls in my Lexus with Regina Spector singing to me in the background. Ahhhhhhh the good life!