new years, new resolutions...

every new year is followed new resolutions...
to do better, to be better...
striving to improve myself, but sometimes (ahem...most times) not following all the way through.

so this year, I have three general areas I wish to improve upon...
1. reading.
i want to read a lot this year! everything from food & nutrition to history & the constitution to classical literature and beyond. so i have ordered a pile of books from amazon to get started. i will try to keep you updated on those as i go:)
2. organization.
this is something i absolutely LOVE to do. it's a weird quirk, i know;) but i always love learning new ways to organize and having to roll up my sleeves to purge out all my old junk, and after all that hard work having a shining, clean, fresh organized area to show for it! so i am taking the "8 weeks to a less cluttered home" challenge from stephanie over @ keeper of the home! join me!
3. photography.
this is one thing, that if i had more time i would devote myself to, but i can never seem to find that extra time...hmm...please let me know if you come across some;) but this simple challenge over @ peanut blossom called "365 in 2013" looked like a lot of fun. basically you take a picture everyday. capture a moment and learn through the experience.

so this year, i am trying to keep my resolutions a bit more general in the hopes that i will really accomplish improving myself and not feel down that i didn't attain a specific unrealistic goal.

what are your new years resolutions? do you make any?

happy 2013! may 2013 be a better year than 2012.

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

sorry I have been MIA lately! life has been busy! here is a quick look at what we have been up to the last few months...

fall burlap and fabric wreath, we kind of used the tutorial here using the foam tubing tip from here

ghost pancakes!

road trip to grandma's!

visit to the Tillamook factory! yum!

making cookies with grandma!

happy 28 to me!

best present = josi s kilpack's new book!

garden harvest!

silly lunch date at one of our favorite eateries: flour girls & dough boys!

field trip to the zoo!

this little man loves chess! and he's good too!

play dough thanksgiving pies!

my baby turns one!

 

miss sis lost her first tooth!

which brings us to today...

trying to stay on top of school amidst the holiday madness!

love this little corner of my home: snowflake garland, seasonal holiday book display, and our new family pictures in wrapped canvas!

this is the book we are currently reading--love this version of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens!

new stockings this year! i was tired of the mismatched ones we had and needed a new one for miss hayley anyway. i made them from this pattern by the lovely & talented miss camille roskelley over at thimble blossoms. i LOVE how they turned out! i just need to figure where to hang them. I don't have a mantel of any sort...

and my kids love these easy christmas treats! we made them with cousins!

so glad the holiday season is here! it is such a wonderful time of year, where we can be reminded of love, serving others, being grateful and celebrating the birth of our Savior! everywhere i turn this season is filled with warm, happy traditions! i love, love, love it! 

until the next post...follow us on instagram (errsuz) where i will try to do a better job of keeping up with recent happenings!

happy holidays!!

raspberries

we took the morning off and picked raspberries, lots of raspberries, at a u-pick berry farm called the raspberry patch in payson, ut!

yum! we picked about 8 lbs. and i plan on freezing 2/3 and using the last 1/3 to make the raspberry pie recipe on their website!

so fun for kids! u-pick farms are awesome! it teaches kids so much about how their food gets to the table, and good old-fashioned hard work! plus they had fun running around with cousins:)

these days...

so lately, my time has been totally consumed with this...

this is our classroom:) we have so much fun! i love it! if anyone out there is interested in homeschooling, but is unsure about it, just ask, and i will talk for days;)

but the other day, some friends and i snuck in a very fun craft!...here it is...

                

earrings!!! the colors are off because i instagrammed these... but they're so easy to make and sooo cute on!! here is the how to:

hand painted filigree earrings

you need:

ear wires- i used kidney ear wires from hobby lobby

acrylic paint

primer spray paint

clear spray paint

filigree wrap connectors (below-basically the earring part) ordered from etsy.

1. spray primer on both side of earrings. let dry.

2. paint a few coats of acrylic on each side and let dry in between. (i used foil to dry them on, because it didn't stick).

3. spray clear, 1 coat on each side, to finish. let dry.

4. attach ear wires....and whoa laa!! go out into the world with cute earrings!

hope you all have a lovely weekend!

summer and blueberry muffins

our summer has been lovely and fast...too fast. we haven't crossed off everything on our summer list, but who does? it's just fun to have some goals to try and accomplish, but of course nothing ever goes as planned, and so throw in some game changers and everything goes right out the window!

at least that's how our summer was. have you ever seen "Dan in Real Life"? it is one of my absolute FAVORITE movies of all time. at the end, dan says "prepare to be surprised." i have incorporated that into my life. my life functions much more smoothly that way, because i'm not freaking out at every bump in the road. I have learned to let go and let God. have you ever heard that saying? i love it.

 i am a control freak by nature, and so to give it up was hard, but when i realized, i never had control of anything anyway, it was a relief to let that go. now, i trust in my heavenly father and savior, jesus christ, and i choose believe that they are guiding my life for my good. anything that happens after that is what they put in my path to teach me something.

school, is about to start...and i have made a big decision...i am homeschooling my kindergartner and my second grader! i am excited, anxious and a little scared, but i feel very confident in my decision, i know it's what is right for us, and i know everything will work out.

made these with the kids this morning, they were DIVINE!
here is the recipe for these delish blueberry muffins over at blueberry octopie!

hope you have a fabulous end of summer and a fantastic start to your school year! love fall time. very much looking forward to it!

summer reading...

so slowly working down my list of summer reads, but new ones just keep creeping into my peripheral:) i am LOVING this one that I am currently reading:

Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family by Kim Brenneman

my family qualifies with four kids and a husband, right?! but there is some seriously great advice for being organized, raising your family, and running a household no matter how big your family is! and i especially love that the author is Christian and ties everything back to scripture and Christ:)

now run to the store, library, amazon...wherever...and get this book!!

have a great weekend!

red, white and blue...

happy fourth of july everyone!! hope you have some fun plans or traditions! i'd love to hear about them!

almost a century...

yesterday, my father in law who was almost 91... passed away.
he will be greatly missed.

he has four children and seventeen grandchildren, who he absolutely adored!
he was their #1 fan
he was a wonderful father, granddad and father-in-law. he was very active in his children's and grandchildren's lives. we lived very close to him, so we were blessed to have him over a few times a week.

he came to baseball and soccer games
he loved to come to church with us, especially for the children's primary programs
he'd come over on saturdays just to hang out
he took the kids on individual dates weekly! and would usually get them some lunch, an ice cream and a toy- my kids were so spoiled, but thats ok;)
he never forgot a birthday, even mine

he was always my first visitor whenever I had a new baby
he supported school events and always encouraged the kids to try their best at school, he valued education
holidays were a sure thing; trick-or-treating at halloween, thanksgiving dinner, reading the story of christ's birth on christmas eve, easter egg hunts at easter...
he attended yearly family reunions
he was always present for baby blessings

and the kids loved to visit him at his home. he always had the best food. the good pre-packaged junk food: totinos pizzas, egg rolls, cheese blintzes, those little packaged pies, cookies and candy, lots of candy. so the kids loved to eat there. we loved to eat there. and he always gave the kids balloons. balloons will forever make me think of him.

  he always told me how much he loved my kids and what a good job i was doing as a mom and wife.

i don't know what we will do without him. it will be hard, he was the life of the party... 

this weekend we will be celebrating his life with a memorial service. it's hard to think about closing that chapter of our life. we won't see him anymore, or hear him anymore, or go visit him at his house.

he was my father-in-law, and friend.

i will miss him.

he was funny even when he didn't mean to be.

he couldn't whisper to save his life.

he was blunt and stubborn.

but he always made me feel good about myself.

he always told me i was a good mother.

that meant something.

there are so many things i wish i could have done or said before he was gone.

so for all you out there, let people know the things you appreciate about them, before you can't anymore.

i believe, with all my heart, that we will see him again. that my kids will yell "granddad!!!", and get to run into his arms and give him a hug and kiss. but until then...

we will miss you

we love you

you were a good dad and granddad.

summer gardening...

so i only have a few minutes to post today... but i wanted to share my latest project with you! i don't know if it's summer and wanting to be outside, or following the guidance our church has given us to try and be more self reliant, but this last weekend i tackled getting my garden planted and beautifying our home with flowers! and i LOVE it! i will outside everyday this summer just soaking in all my hard work!!

i don't have a lot of room for a garden so I opted for garden boxes and this book, square foot gardening, was a lifesaver!

i still want to get more of those awesome adirondack chairs, home depot here i come:)

hope you are loving summer! what are you all up to??

summer is here!!

summer is finally here! we are officially done with school! yay!! and we are celebrating with a 'doughnut party'!

here is the beginning of our summer list...

the summer 2012 list:


lemonade stand
library
trampoline sleepover
camping
movie party
bike rides
sno cones
water balloon fight
hike
swimming
museum
splash pad
zoo
make ice cream
plant flowers
fireworks
make forts
go to grandma's
write letters
make chalk paint
ice cream truck
barbeque
roast marshmallows and have smore's buffet
go to the beach
picnics
music at the park
farmers market
parades
carnival
aunt mali's wedding
and my personal favorite thing to do...
lay in my lawn chair, watching my kids play in the sprinklers while reading a book!


speaking of reading, here is what is on my summer reading list...


summer reading list:


the shoemakers wife by adriana trigiani

edenbrooke by julianne donaldson

olivia (the newport ladies book club series) by julie wright

daisy (the newport ladies book club series) by josi s. kilpack

the flight of gemma hardy by margot livesey

the peach keeper by sarah addison allen

turn of mind by alice laPlante

banana split by josi s. kilpack

(from nest of posies-doesn't it look yummy? definitely making this summer...)