Christmas Cards

If you're like me, the whole Christmas card thing is kind of an ordeal. I always procrastinate on taking our family picture, then take forever looking for the cutest card with the best price and before I know it, it's January and no one has heard from us yet! But not this year. This year I took that bull by the horns and my cards are DONE! Ok, not in the mail or anything but printed at least. And the best part? I spent a whopping $28 for 200 photo cards! Yes, you read that right. Here's what I did....

We took a family outing about a month ago and bribed the kids with ice cream if they behaved and smiled for the camera when I asked them to etc. Sadly, they did NOT earn their ice cream...they were complete turkeys - yes, I'm the kind of mean mom who follows through on things like that. I was very unhappy at the end of the experience and we ended up taking our screaming clan home without their ice cream. Ugh. But, that's not the whole story. Here in SLC we have such beautiful fall colors and I wanted to capture them. I decided taking the clan up to the foothills of the Wasatch front would be ideal. There we found a kind biker who volunteered to snap some pics for us while we posed (did I mention we are CHEAP and don't pay to have our pictures taken? Yes, we use the self-timer and a tripod). Anyway, this is the kind of thing we ended up with:
 

Ya, turkeys right? And what the heck am I thinking with those two huge white power poles in the background? I thought that the wagon would be a fun prop but it ended up being a death trap for the tiny tot who wouldn't sit down to save his life.


So, we got into the car and headed off in search of a better location. I remembered a little bridge, tucked away in the middle of the city next to Old Navy. It is a little piece of nature inside the city. So, that's where we ended up. Really, I couldn't believe we actually got any 1/2 decent pics out of the day but I did end up with one that was "editable" enough to use (since I'm not about to subject us to that kind of torture again).

Next, I took said image and imported it into Picnik. I have photoshop on my computer but it takes so long to open and use on my 4 year old ancient laptop that I prefer to use something quick and easy like Picnik. If you haven't found it yet it will change your life! I am addicted. It's so easy to boost color and edit photos with fun effects! You'll love it. Here is the photo that we started with:

No one would sit still. But I guess it kind of captures our life right now! So, I then headed on over to picnik.com and made it black and white, boosted the contrast and faded the effect a little so that some of the green showed through and then I added text to make it our Christmas card. They have a ton of fun fonts you can use and it's all FREE! Here's the finished product:

No bad eh? So THEN I got online and sent the sucker to Costco's 1-hour printing service (I've searched around a bit and have found that Costco really does have superior quality compared with the other brick and mortar businesses I've tried). I ordered 200 copies, matte finished with a white border for $.13 each and picked them up 1 hour later! Yahoo! Anyway, I'm supposed to be printing out my envelopes right now but instead I'm blogging about my great deal. Again, I'm a procrastinator. Happy holidays! 



Happy Birthday Baby Bug!

We've celebrated two birthdays this month at our house.  November has turned into quite a busy month for us!  My birthday is the first week and then we have Jasper's on the 21st then Thanksgiving.  I can't believe he's already 1!  This year has gone by so quickly.  I know everyone always says that, but it's true!  And it's also true that the older you get the quicker time flies. 

Instead of adding to our already over populated toy collection (and really, what 1 year old cares about new toys anyway?:)  I decided to referbish our old grimy carseat since he has officially graduated from his infant seat.  We've had this seat since Jack was 1, it still has some life left before it has to head to the dump (carseats expire!  Can you believe it? Ugh.  What a racket!).  So, instead of putting up with that barf encrusted seat cover for the next few years I wanted to give it a nice little facelift.  Let's face it, the third boy doesn't get many new luxuries. 

This project was not for the faint of heart.  It began by disassembling the existing cover with my dandy seam ripper.  There's something so satisfying about taking that little knife to a seam and just ripping away!  I took off all the existing binding etc. and turned it into four separate pieces.  Then I washed the pieces in the washer to get the years of barf build up and snacks off, then dried it by the fire all night.  At this point, Mark looked at me sideways, wondering if we would be able to leave the house for the next week. 

Next morning I headed out in search of fabric (coupons in hand of course!).  I found this fun owl print at the local quilt shop and the minky at Joanns.  I washed it all when I got home.  Then I just layed my old padding on the fabric and cut around it (I'm a lazy seamstress).  I then serged the new fabric to the outside of each of the old pieces.  For the center I just cut slits and then zig zagged the edges to make buttonholes for the straps.  Then I sewed the pieces back together and bound the whole thing with FOE (my new favorite sewing essential - Fold Over Elastic:).  All I had was yellow so that's what I used....I think it turned out quite nice!  In fact, I'm pretty proud of it.  It fits like a glove and online you can't find these for less than $75.  So there ya go!  A referbished, homemade job...not so bad for homemade huh? 

On his birthday, the poor baby guy had a horrible fever and cold.  He was miserable...so sad.  So, we celebrated as a family a day late.  The party was complete with elmo hats (that I've actually had since Jack turned 2) and little marionberry hand pies. 

I'm obsessed with pie....I love it.  And particularly hand pies....they're just perfect, a little heaven in your hand.  You can eat them for breakfast or dessert or whatever!  Ever since I got my new Cuisenart last year for my birthday I can't help but make a pie crust once a month at least!  I just love it...and so does he as it turns out. 

Earlier in the day I noticed Jack went missing.  I finally heard him yell "Mom!  How do you spell happy?"  I then discovered him making a birthday card for Jasper, all on his own!  What a precious memory for the scrapbook (that is...if I ever get it to it...).  This little guy has the best big brothers EVER! Not to mention one fine Daddy.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  We enjoyed a wonderful smoked turkey courtesy of our fabulous friends.  We also had one of our students over who had no place to go.  That's one of the best things about Thanksgiving, spending it with friends, and actually just seeing who ends up showing up!  Our little house fills up quickly I have to admit, and we run out of counter space easily.  But, that makes it all the more cozy!  This year it was super cold out.  All last week we've been building up to a super big storm, actually they were calling it a blizzard on the news so when Tuesday night came we were all braced for the storm of the century.  Anyone who has lived here for more than just a year should know that whenever there is that much hype...nothing usually happens.  Tuesday night 'Snowpocalypse 2010' hit us with very disappointing results.  Ok, we do have a few inches of snow to show for it but really, we were looking forward to 4' snow drifts, power outages and the whole nine yards...Bummer!  All we have left is some frozen snow and super cold temperatures.  Oh well.  It makes for great powder - Mark is out skiing today - so that's one bonus I suppose!  I think we'll take the kids skiing tomorrow for the first time this season.

Anyway,  back to Thanksgiving.  A few years ago my parents had a bunch of wild turkeys (like a dozen or so) perched up in their hawthorn tree right outside their front window.  How strange is that?  They're not small birds and to see a small tree FULL of them was quite a site!  Anyway, my dad couldn't pass up the chance to shoot one.  So, a little while later I ended up with a bag full of fabulous turkey feathers!  I had no idea what to do with them....still don't really.  But, I had to hang onto them because they're just spectacular!  Finally this year they've finally made their way out of the craft room.  Jack made an indian headress out of some and took it to school.  Everyone else had to wear their headresses they made at school with one colored feather on a little paper strip, but he got to wear his very own, genuine turkey feather headress - and boy was he proud of it!  He's been painting his face with washable markers and he finally pinned down Noah and painted his face too.  He has made headresses for each member of the family.  And the most fun of all was taking a few feathers to his teacher at school!  He got to stand up in front of the class and show off the cool feathers and then present his teacher with her own collection to keep.  He's one proud boy:)

Well, on the homefront the feathers graced our Thanksgiving table as a centerpiece this year - a turkey feather bouquet actually.  I thought it made a unique and fun, whimsical table for us to eat at.  Each place setting was also marked by it's own smaller feather.  I think next year I'll make a wreath or something out of these.  They're just so beautiful!

The Giant Doughnut

It's been quite the week here at the Lovejoy household.  Just busyness...our schedule is close to unbarable.  I feel like we've been transitioning to our fall routine now for about a month!  This week was really the first that gave me a taste of what is in store for the next year and wow!  It's really crazy!  I feel like this parenting thing just keeps getting busier and busier.  At first, when I became a mom and had one little infant I thought it was sooo difficult to manage...lack of sleep, loss of my independance...but if I only knew then what I know now!  I would appreciate all those naps.  I could really use them NOW. 

Last weekend Mark did an outreach with some military guys (our military movement is called Valor for those of you who aren't familiar).  He took them out in the desert and played paintball - it's always a huge win.  He was exhausted when he left here at 7 a.m. on Saturday, but hopeful.  He came home with a great report (4 guys who had never heard the gospel got to hear it for the first time) and felt really encouraged!  That's always great.  The Valor movement has been slowing picking up speed over the past few years as we've seen some really key leaders surface. 

The next day, Mark took Jack and two other guys (one student and one graduate - Jake) up to the mountains to get firewood.  He's got this deal with Jack who wants to buy a lego x-wing fighter.  He has to go on a certain number of woodcutting adventures and also stack wood at home to save up and earn enough to buy it.  He's VERY motivated.  In fact, our neighbor has said that he will hire him as well.  They have it all figured out, how much he has to save in order to tithe, and then have enough to pay tax and buy the legos he wants.  It's been interesting to talk him through his purchases...he's had some things in hand at Target and then reconsidered when I reminded him what he's saving for...and that Darth Vador umbrella is probably not really what he wants. 

Well, this last week I think I realized that I CANNOT do it all.  I can't play taxi all day long, make lunch, pack lunch to eat in the car on the way to pick someone up and drop someone off, wake my napping baby twice a day to do all this, have dinner on the table and homemade snacks for Bible study, all with a smile on my face and a clean bathroom.  I'm not sure what has to give (well, the clean bathroom is really just a pipe dream anyway)...maybe the Bible study snacks?  Thank goodness my kids love peanut butter sandwiches. 

Over the past year, God has blessed me out of the blue two times with heaven sent snacks for Bible study.  Each week Mark has several college guys come over and they meet in our garage for small group.  I used to love making them treats, they're so appreciative and I love to bake.  One week Mark even made a lesson out of making bread and had me show them my method, then they got to eat fresh homemade bread as their snack.  They still talk about it now, after two years!  Well, I will never forget one day last year when I was feeling particularly UNmotivated to make them a treat...I was standing in the kitchen pondering what I had in the cupboards to throw together-quickly-becuase they were going to be here in about an hour.  Then the doorbell rang, I remember being kind of annoyed since I didn't have the time to answer the door!!  But, as I opened the door, there was our next door neighbor holding a perfectly beautiful chocolate cake (the double layer kind with truffle frosting-yum!) and a smile on his face.  He had just taught a cake making class at the gourmet cooking store he worked at (as a chef instructor) and had this leftover...would I like it?  Hm...let's see...WOULD I??!  To this day, I wonder at how God can use my athiest neighbor to show me He loves me! 

Well, I tell you all this just to set up yesterday's scenario.  As you can guess..something very similar happened.  I was sitting in my dining room writing my grocery list and thinking about what I was going to make for dinner and Bible study snack later that evening as my friend pulled up and ran up to the front door with a lovely coffee cake in hand...for no apparent reason.  She said she just felt compelled to buy it for me at the local bakery!  It makes me laugh out loud at how God cares for such trivial details in my life (and it reminds me of how important those Bible study snacks really are...), things like cake for heaven's sake.  So cool!  Oh, and in case you're wondering, the boys thought it was a giant doughnut....the Bible study guys loved it and this is all that's left. 

Garden Bounty

Every year we plant a garden.  Even though we leave for several weeks throughout the summer, it has worked for us.  We come home to a tangled mass of weeds and some dead plants but after two days of weeding and pruning we are usually able to finish out the summer with a fun variety of plants that suppliment our summer diet.  Through the years I've branched out in my selection and tried some new things and I've also planted several things that stick around for multiple years without much tending to.  We planted raspberries and an apple tree last year.  We have yet to see ANY raspberries and the one apple we had fell off in a wind storm so we ate it as a family - it wasn't quite ripe but it came off OUR tree!  Anyway, those things where kind of a flop this year (I know apple trees take a few years so I'm patient, but the raspberries - come on!).  But the rest of the garden has been great!  We've had tomatoes, zhuccini, corn, strawberries, beets, carrots, radishes, pumpkin (by accident, it came from our compost) and potatoes.  The kids and I pulled several goodies out of the ground the other day and made some baby food for Jasper - totally homegrown.  Take that Gerber! 

We Did It!

We made it through the first week of school!  It was super fun and Jack loves it.  His teacher is wonderful, we are so thankful that we chose the right school for us!  We are loving the charter school so far.  yesterday when Mark was out climbing with a group of students he ran into a teacher who said she had applied to work at this school.  She said it was a great place to be!  That's reassuring. 

Doesn't he look cute in his school clothes? 

So now we are just need to nail down our schedule.  I am already feeling like a taxi...if I'm not in the car on my way to take someone somewhere, I'm sitting in the car waiting for someone to get done with something so we can go to the next activity.  I don't know how parents do it, and then add the extras like soccer or karate to the schedule!?  That just seems impossible. 

In other news, LarryBoy has resurfaced.  This is acutally another milestone that we met this summer (not LarryBoy, but the bike).  Noah started riding his two wheeler!  I got to be the one who was there for it too.  Usually Dad gets to witness these things but on this particular day I was hanging out with a friend outside our hotel in Crested Butte when Noah just decided it was time to start peddling and go for it! 

It's funny when people come and ask us how old he is...'isn't he young to be riding a two wheeler?'  Yes, he's only 3.  Mark is very opinionated when it comes to training wheels, the ones that came with this bike have never been used.  I was a skeptic at first but it has worked for two kids so far!  Now they're both buzzing around the neighborhood on their bikes. 

It's beginning to feel like fall again

And that means that it's time for school.  Oh what a pain this process has been...picking a kindergarten that is.  A year ago we decided that it was best for Jack to wait till he was 6 to go to school.  Either way, he'll be the youngest or the oldest.  That was a hard decision at the time since he has some friends who will now be in first grade but, we felt confident that it was best and would give him a leg up when he's older (I'd rather him be a little more mature in high school when he's making important decisions!).  Putting off school also gave me a little more time to explore my (our) options which seemed daunting.  And, it has been. Daunting that is. 

I started out in the fall of last year, September, looking into my options.  Our neighborhood school is located practically in the middle of a super busy street, I see the kids out at recess playing in clouds of exhaust and it makes my stomach turn.  So, that was out.  Which means we had to apply for 'open enrollment' for anything else.  I set out on a quest to find out my options and found a couple of good ones not far from our house.  One is a charter school and the other is just a regular public elementary school that I've heard good things about.  The charter school had an open house in October where I signed up for the lottery.  It seemed SO EARLY at the time!  Anyway, then I applied for open enrollement as early as I could down at the district office the first of December.  Man you can't waste any time!  Then, we waited.  For four months.  Yes, we can't waste time but they sure to wait a long time to give you answers! 

Then in March we got the answers.  I was hoping that we would be turned down by one of them and thus the decision would be easy.  I guess being there early paid off though and we were accepted to both schools.  Argh!!!!  Why the frustration you say?  Well, this has made my life sooooo difficult for 6 months now!  Both are good options with lots of potential....and I have had a heck of a time making up my mind. 

A few weeks ago, we thought we had it figured out and had chosen the regular school.  The basis for the decision was that we are wanting to invest in our neighborhood while we are here and keep us close to home.  It's also on the way to the preschool that Noah goes to so that makes pick up and drop off easy.  Yes, we had made up our minds.  Then while at VBS at church, I talked with one of my friends who told me if she had the opportunity she would probably try to go to the charter school....hmmm...that got me thinking again.  Maybe we had a good opportunity and were just throwing it in the garbage??  Back to the drawing board.  Within 2 days my mind had shifted and we were going to the charter school. 

Then came the backyard party at my friend's house.  She sends her kids to the charter school so I wanted to pick her brain about it.  She said she LOVED the kindergarten teacher that they had last year, but the school was pretty normal otherwise.  Ugh.  If that's the case, I thought, maybe we should opt for convenience and go with the closer 'normal' school.  Afterall, a good friend of mine is the president of the PTA there...I know I'll be plugged in socially and that will help Jack to plug in as well right?  Yes, that's what we should do.  Our minds were made up, we were going to the other school. 

Then, about a week later, my friend came over for coffee (the one who goes to the regular school).  She told me about some possible changes coming down the pike this year for them (not for sure yet) and it was enough for me to think, yes, this is the confirmation that I needed.  God is finally closing a door and telling us that the charter school is right.  When Mark got home that day I told him, we had our minds made up, we're going to the charter school. 

Later that day, our neighbor came over and was chatting with us while the kids played on the front lawn.  He mentioned that the kids on our street are going to school in all different places...and it turned out that there are two boys moving onto the street who are going to the 'regular' school we were thinking of going to....my how handy it would be to carpool...and have neighbor friends who go there as well...no.  We had our minds made up. 

Then came a letter in the mail from the charter school.  It turned out that they had assigned us to the fabulous teacher my friend had recommended...however in the AFTERNOON!  Argh!!!  We can't possibly do that!  Was my initial reaction.  This was a clear sign from God.  I talked it over with Mark who agreed, we had to change our minds once again and go with the 'regular' school in our neighborhood.  The next day I got a phone call from my friend who sends her kids to the charter school.  She was so excited that we had been assigned to her favorite teacher and was suprised to hear we had changed our minds.  Oh well, she said, Jack would have had a wonderful experience with this particular teacher, but the schedule thing is hard. 

Alright.  We were getting used to the idea of the regular school and gearing up for the kindergarted assessments this week.  All the while, I'm not able to let go of the other option.  Selfishly I have been hanging onto both options, knowing that there are other kids out there who would likely jump in as soon as our spot opened up. 

Yesterday I took Jasper to the doctor for his 9 month checkup.  I decided to ask our wonderful doctor to weigh in on my school choice.  He sited this article and said there really is something to be said about a good kindergarten experience.  A good teacher is pretty important.  Yes, he's right, I thought.  I promptly came home and called a good friend for advice.  She graciously spent time on the phone with me deliberating over the small details of this decision.  Bringing a few new details to light and reminding me of my priorities.  I felt much more peace after getting off the phone with her.  I then went on a walk and talked with some of my neighbors (we have several young families on our street, 5 boys who are either in kindergarten or 1st grade this year).  They had some good things to say as well.  After all this I think we have come to a conclusion.   There are so many factors that come into play on this decision.  One of the ones I've been ignoring all along is the fact that I don't think I'm ready to send him to school!  I think I'm having a hard time accepting that we are moving on to the next phase of life, whether I like it or not.  This also explains why I got choked up when he lost his first tooth this summer! 

I have learned so much about us during this process.  I have so much more respect for parents who have their kids in school.  I know God has been growing us through this experience and preparing us for the future somehow.  Although it was grueling I think by next week we will be glad to be starting school and moving forward.  Am I the only one in the world who has been so fickle?  Maybe, but it's for the sake of my kids.  I want the best for them and can't stand the thought of making a mistake.  I am so thankful to be able to trust God with them and know that He is in control.  Thank you to all who have provided a listening ear for me these past few months! 

I'm a junk junkie...

Yard sales are in full bloom around here and the little old lady inside me is beside herself with giddiness!  I found this little beauty this morning and it's going to be my new knitting basket!!  I could hardly believe my luck and for only $1. 

I bribe my boys by promising them cheap toys and they gladly come along with me with piggy banks in tow.  It's become sort of a fun saturday morning bonding time.  I also got some lovely blue jars to add to my set...I can always use more jars right?  Oh and Jack found a fabulous trampoline for $5 along with a new bike for the same price.  Mark's first words were 'oh great, more garbage to store in my garage' when he spotted the prized trampoline...oh well, you win some you lose some. 
 

Flowers...

Crested Butte is known as the wildflower capital of Colorado.  We were just leaving right before the festival was about to begin...but I was amazed by the beauty while we were there!  I've never seen such fantastic natural floral displays.  I became addicted to photographing them!!  Even the town was decked out...

Jack got his nose a little dirty...and decided to put a tatoo on his forhead....this is my plight when trying to capture the perfect photo of my boys...I have a feeling it will continue for the next 10+ years...

Tree climbing...

Lupine

Poppies

Asian poppies (my new favorite flower!)

Mt. Crested Butte

Ahhh....isnt' that just breathtaking?! How could we not come home totally refreshed. 

Crested Butte in July

As usual, we were in charge of the climbing element on project (ok, what I really mean is Mark was in charge of climbing).  I ended up only going out twice with the groups and even then I was only there for a short little while.  So, I only got one climb in all summer!  This was much different than last year.  We did do a 'family climbing day' however, which was really fun with all of our 15 kids!!  It was fun to watch them all attacking the rock with their youthful zeal!

Then, we had some visitors...My parents came to stay for 4 days and brought my Grandma.  It's been so fun to have them come each year (except when we were in Maine).  This year it was a treat to have my spunky 85 year old 'Granny'.  She and I took the boys for a hike on the 'Lower Loop' trail one day.  Looking back, that was an act of bravery on my part...especially realizing that her glaucoma inhibits her vision in a pretty extreme way.  The three boys made for an exciting trek!  It was a really fun day though and is a fond memory.

Then my parents caught up to us on their bikes.....

The next big adventure....Jack lost his first tooth!!  The day before his 6th birthday...

Birthday #6 was shared with another Jack on project.  The other Jack (also known as Johnny) turned 6 on July 2nd so we combined birthdady efforts. 

For some reason I volunteered to make the cakes.  And of course I waited until 10pm the night before the party to start...becuase it overwhelmed me.  I had to make a submarine cake and a Buzz Lightyear cake!  Luckily the boys were pleased with my effort..the party was a success!

And this is the crew of kids we had this summer (two are missing from the picture).  They made a great party!

As part of his birthday, Mark took Jack for a backpacking trip.  They went fishing and ate fish that night and had a blast!!

Then on the 4th we volunteered as a project to help put on the Fourth of July fest downtown.  The staff got to be parade marshalls on Elk Ave. for the main event! 

The boys spent their parade morning fighting for candy in the street...it definatly pays off to have a mom who's a parade marshall, especially when there are big kids snatching up each peice of candy that touches the ground!  It was a dog eat dog situation....

And some of the paraders made it look like some sort of hippy peace march....I'm imagining Adam and Eve here...

After the parade, we got to put on some games in town for the locals.  Our family was in charge of the egg toss (who knew that throwing eggs could be so fun?!  People were running home to bring more so that we could do it over and over again!).  We also helped out with the pie eating contest after the egg toss was done.  I don't think I've ever seen a pie eating contest with real pies before!  And the most disgusting part was that they did it in teams of 3....imagine sticking your face into a pie that had been slobbered on by two other people...GROSS!

Then of course the fireworks....this was our view off our deck. 

As a project fun night, we got to take over the 'Adventure Park' area at the ski hill.  They had a bungee jump trampoline thing (whatever it's called??)...it was a hit!  We all had some good bungee jumping time. 

Noah was a little tentative...

Jack did flips.....and went back for at least two more turns....

I felt sick....and finally was able to do a few back flips after I stopped laughing....

And Mark was the last to go....he did a triple front flip and everyone cheered!  I was dealing with two screeming kids and another one who was running away so didn't get a picture of him.  He was the grand finale though.

And this is Katie.  She has been with us for 4 summers now..and watched our kids since Jack was 1 1/2 when we were in Maine!  This was our last summer with her becuase she just graduated from high school and is going to college next year! 

And that is our Crested Butte summer in a nutshell!  More to come on the student/ministry side of things....