Short posts

These posts are short because one of my daily goals now is to post on here, but my time to do it is kind of random...

30!

Wow...30 years old today!! I have no problem with turning 30...I have accomplished so much in my first 30 years- especially my precious boys, girl, and a great marriage. I want to write an "In my next 30 years..." post similar to the Tim McGraw song. Now headed up to Spokane!

My sweet new baby

In July of 2012, we were excited to find out our third little critter would be a girl! In the same ultrasound appointment, we found out she had a cleft lip and cleft palate. This news was pretty emotional and we had a lot to do to prepare for her arrival!

Starting again!

I plan to get started posting on here again, to check in about goals and things. I did end up finishing the felt playhouse, for Christmas 2012. Evelyn helped a LOT to get it finished. Our family of four is now a family of five! Baby Katherine McKenzie came along on December 2nd, 2012. So much more to say, but I will say that for now.

Anticipation!

I know that I said I'm not going to focus so much on the future that I forget to appreciate the here and now BUT there are some things in the near future that I'm very excited about!

Friday, June 10th - Nathan finishes his last final of his first year and summer begins!
Saturday, June 11th - Going to see Cirque Du Soleil in Eugene with my sweetie!
Tuesday, June 14th - Going up to Seattle to see Geoff and his girlfriend and my grandma
Wednesday, June 15th - A quick visit to Tall Timber Ranch and Leavenworth, then making the drive to Moscow, Idaho to see Mom and Dad until the 20th!!

Other things this summer I'm very excited about: Seeing Tawnia, Mindy, and Aaron when they come to visit us in Oregon, going on hikes, the 4th of July, going backpacking, and getting Joshy ready and excited for pre-school! Yay!

So much to look forward to. Somewhere in there, I should also finish the playhouse - gotta get it done before the boys are in middle school!!

Well tonight Nathan won't be home until late - he is proctoring for a final exam that doesn't start until 8pm, so he'll be home sometime around 10:30. While I do miss him, and bedtime routines are a bit more hectic, I tend to be much more productive after dinner when he's not there. I think that's partly because I can't hang out with him, but since he is usually studying much of the evening anyway, a big part of it is that I don't have the feeling of accomplishment knowing he's coming home to a nice clean home, so I'm not quite as motivated.

A "Can-Do" List

I've always been a big fan of To-Do lists - I LOVE checking things off, though when the list seems neverending or some things stay on it for weeks and weeks...I don't love it as much. Part of my advice to myself (see my last post) was to think of all the things I can do in a regular day that make me happy, so I listed a bunch of them. Then I made a check-off list. I'm not going to do this forever, but for awhile at least, I'm going to keep track of how many of the things on my "Happy List" or "Can-do List" that I do each day. The things on it are not always things I enjoy doing, like taking out the garbage or scrubbing the toilet, but they are things that I feel happier when I have finished them. When I look at my list at the end of the day, and see that I have played pretend, read stories, exercised, cleaned up my home, read my scriptures, said my prayers, cooked a good meal, called a good friend, gone to the park, etc. that is when I feel contented. When I haven't checked many of those things off my list, that's when I feel grumpy or low or negative. So the point of this list is to visually give me ideas of what will leave me feeling happy at the end of the day, and what will make me happy throughout the day. My assumption is that I won't NEED the visual reminder for long, but it is very helpful for now.

This way, I don't think to myself, "Well, I'll be happy when Nathan graduates and we move out," but instead I think, "Well, I'll be happy when I've exercised and had fun with my boys and got my home in order and went on a date with my sweetie, or went on a hike, or wrote in my journal, or posted on my blog, or worked on the playhouse..." If I focus on a year from now, I'll miss THIS year. If I focus on all that is good and wonderful and new and fleeting about THIS year, I'll be happy.

At church a couple weeks ago, at a women's conference, I went to a class about finding Joy within. The wonderful teacher described that to be joyful is a choice...things might make you happy, but you must choose joy. She said that some of her most profound joy was found in some of the most difficult times in her life, and it is all about making those choices within yourself, not being a passive recipient of the good or bad or boring or monotonous or fun or easy things that life throws at you, but truly seeking out and finding joy however you can.

C.S. Lewis also wrote a book called Surprised by Joy. I studied it in college, and I own it...I think it would be a great time for me to read it again. Right now I'm finishing up the Chronicles of Narnia...I think I'm on book 5 of 6 now. Sounds like Joshy is fighting bed time, so I should go attend to that now.

Good advice

Ever since having Joshua, which threw us for a loop in terms of schedule of big life events (meaning that we'd planned for Nathan to finish school and me to work for another year or two before we started having children), I've had a lot of clarifying moments... Times like when I realized that life would never be the same, would never go back to "normal," that this was normal now, or when I've had to change my attitude to be more grateful or just times when someone puts things in perspective for me. Those kind of times. I've been doing ok at sorting out my thoughts in my journal sometimes, which does help, but not enough.

Sooo, I came up with an idea that seems to have been incredibly helpful to me. Instead of musing about what's going on...or summarizing or describing, or whatever, I tried something else. I gave myself advice, like as though I was someone else. Maybe it seems silly, but I was literally like, "Ok, Amanda - here's what you need to do," and then lectured myself in writing. It was great! All I had to do was think of it in terms of what I would say if someone else had just been telling me about where they're at. I love giving advice...well most of the time...and it is a lot easier to give advice about other people's lives than actually to get your own stuff together, you know? So I gave myself some good concrete advice and I've followed through with it.

Very psychological, I guess...cuz really I do know that it's just me telling me stuff, but it made a big difference and I highly recommend it.

Oh blog...

It's been awhile. I love it when the sun is shining.

Playhouse progress

Here are some of the pictures of my recent playhouse creations, though there are a TON of things I've made that I haven't photographed them yet. I'll try to get them up here this week.


This is the apple/orange/pear tree. I have a million leaves for it, but I haven't quite decided if I'm going to sew them on before or after it is already sewn to the playhouse. I'm thinking before, cuz i need to put on velcro patches.


A volcano to go with the dinosaurs!

This little piggy got in a fight, but when I offered to change how the eyes look, Joshy freaked out and wanted it to stay the same...so stay the same it will.

Baaa!

A basket made in the same style as the corn - it will be sewed on. Behind it there will be a hole so that the fruits or vegetables can go into the playhouse. It is kinda fun now to carry stuff in it already!

See?

A mail bag - Mr. Delivery Man sure loves it!

A package to deliver - we have decided it is a box of chocolates, which is always well received.

For a very long time, there have been three letters - one for Joshua, Henry, and Dada. Mr. Delivery Man was thrilled when there became four letters, so that now Mama wouldn't have to be disappointed anymore.

A nice set of four - all with our favorite color of stamps, though the lighting isn't very good so you can't tell very well.

The mail bag nice and full!

A fence for one of the sides. When I started measuring out where things would go, I actually had to cut off a section of the fence to be able to fit it where I wanted it.

I've been realizing some things with the playhouse now, like that I can't have a window next to the front door like I thought I could, so I'm having to figure out a new place for the window with window box, and I'm actually really filling up all the sides now - it's exciting!

I think I'll be going up to Nathan's parents' to get some help with the sewing machine part of it in a few weeks, and I definitely am still planning on having it completely done by their birthdays. The crazy part about getting the outside to almost be done is that Joshy has all sorts of ideas for the inside - a fridge with food, an oven, a bed, a vanity mirror, a fireplace, etc etc etc. Off I go!

the playhouse is in progress once again!

Well now we're living in Albany! Didn't end up moving to Corvallis, though we lost our $400 deposit...that sucks. We're managing again - a much smaller, less stressful complex, so that's good.

I'll post more about the boys soon, but I wanted to post that I'm working on the playhouse again and I'm really excited about that! Since the last set of pictures, I completed a woven basket, a mailbag, a package - I don't think I posted pictures of that one, a volcano, a fence, a large tree, a million leaves, and today I finished a letter for Mama (there was already one for Joshua, Henry, and Dada), and "Mr. Delivery Man" kept getting disappointed that he could never deliver a letter to Mama. I think that's all I've worked on lately, but I'll get some pictures posted in the next couple days.

Testing...testing...

Is this thing on?

Yikes - it's been a long time. So what has happened since April? Well, about a billion things!!

Here's a summary: end of May - moved to Amber Park Apartments; mid-June - Nathan graduated from Western Oregon; some time during the summer - went backpacking twice with the Langfords, which was mostly awesome; beginning of August - bought a van; mid-September - drove to Idaho to see Mom and Dad's new house; end of September - Nathan started school at Oregon State to get his M.S. in Statistics; beginning of October - planned to move to Corvallis; end of October - reserved an apartment in Corvallis and will move there the beginning of December.

Well, that's all you needed to know, right? What's that you ask - the boys?? You want to know about THEM? Hmm...I suppose that makes sense!

Well, Henry has been taking his sweet little time every step of the way, and stubbornly waited until he was 18 months old to start walking, but he is loving it now - still hesitant and not walking very far - but he'll get there. He's also talking up a storm, which is so fun! Obviously there is more to update about...but that's a little teeny bit.

Joshua is busy being Joshua...he spends his days pretending - going through all his different personas - lately the most common are Mr. Chief, Mr. Fireman, The Cookie Man, Norman the Cowboy, and The Guy with the Screwdriver. He cracks me up. He's a very good sport with all the busy-ness since Nathan went back to school, though I know it's hard on him. He's not so sure about moving, but I think he'll like being in our new home where Mama won't have to WORK anymore...we are all excited about that. He's still stubbornly avoiding new foods, and starting to reject a lot of the usual foods he'd eat every day. And potty training is a battle...which is so frustrating. Once we move and I have more uninterrupted time during the day, it's going to be more drastic measure time. Just taking away the diapers except for nap time and bed time, and sitting on the toilet every half hour or so...and seeing what happens. I'm tired of changing his diapers, but he's perfectly happy with it. *sigh*

The playhouse has been put on hold since we moved here in May...so sad!! All I've done since we moved is cut out the patterns for some pears. That's IT!! My new goal is to have the playhouse completely done by their birthdays (March 30th/April 3rd). I think they will love it, and hopefully by then Henry won't want to rip the googly eyes off the little animals. But if he does, maybe I'll just change them to felt eyes.

One question for everyone - those name letters that I made...do you think anyone would be willing to pay for me to make them? Not necessarily you...but anyone? They really turned out great, and they were my first try. They're hand stitched - I still don't know how to use a sewing machine. They're about the size of the 9x12 sheets of felt that you can buy in a bunch of different colors, then stuffed, and with decorative ribbon loops for hanging. Joshy's are rainbow colors, while Henry's are light blue, purple, dark green, gray, and I think...a teal-ish color. The boys are sleeping and there's no way I'll go in their room to check on that!

Annnyway - life is busy and super stressful. When I'm "just" a stay-at-home mom (which I'm super excited about!!), I hope to post more pictures on facebook and my blog, to finish my playhouse, finish some scrapbooks (all I have right now is Joshua's first year), clean the apartment more than once every...hmm...maybe I shouldn't say, and learn to cook more creative things. Also, take the boys OUT places more - there are a ton of parks in Corvallis, and I'm sure there are other cool things to do, too!

Ok I really should go. The mess in our bedroom right now is quite terrible. I was trying to work on sorting out things to be packed/stored/tossed etc., so the boys were playing with whatever they could find, and Penelope's (for those of you who know Penelope, you'll understand why this is a big, though I promise not gruesome mess) tummy came apart completely...and everything inside came out. Wow, that sounds super gross. I promise it isn't.

I'm starving. Sorry no pictures or videos. Patience and they will come! Have a wonderful day and thanks for sticking with my blog even after all this time :c)

Mail bag

Oh, and I'm almost finished with my first playhouse project post-birthdays: A messenger mail bag. I'm excited!

Name letters

The name letters for Joshua and Henry turned out really well! I don't have a picture of Henry's letters on this computer yet, but here is Joshy with his letters on his 3rd birthday.

baskets and birthdays

Well, last night, I made a basket that will be sewed on to the playhouse. The boys will be able to put things in it, and there will be a secret slit in the back so that when they put fruits/vegetables/rodents into it, they will then magically be inside the playhouse. I used the same weaving idea from the corn on jill's playhouse, but this was my original idea.

Also, I went and bought the fabric to make the whole slipcover for the table. I decided not to do felt - it is a thinner, more breathable fabric, because I want to do some stuff on the inside, so I'll need to make it two layers of fabric, and two layers of felt would get too hot and stuffy. It is a light blue - I'm going to have a LOT of scraps left over from it. I had a 50% off one item, so I got 11 yards or so of this fabric, and I think it cost me like $60. It seems to be really good quality fabric - I hope it was a good choice. It'll be awhile before I get around to actually sewing stuff on there with the machine.

I also got some transparent thread because I decided that would work best for sewing all those many many things that already have stitches on them.

For the boys' birthdays, I'm going to make stuffed felt letters spelling their names to hang on their walls. I finished an O today. I wish it looked more perfect, but I think in combination with the other letters, it will look a lot better. Right now, one lonely O isn't looking like the greatest birthday present!

almost done!

As of about 12:30, I had finished fixing three oranges and two apples! Just one more apple to fix and I can get back to creating NEW things again!

Oh, and Joshua had a TON of fun pulling out almost all of the fluffy filler stuff from the pillow sized bag of it, and covering our dining room floor with it, sliding in it, throwing snowballs with it, rolling in it...it was so funny. And made a huge mess that was amazingly easy to clean up! Good times :c)

And I just heard from my mom that my grandma Norma fell and broke her hip. She could use any and all prayers.

::::
4:35 - finished the last apple!!!

finished fixing...

...the squirrel, as of 9:45pm. Took the velcro off the bird and the 6 fruits. I figured the squirrel would be hardest, so I did it first. I actually was able to stuff it a lot better than I stuffed it the first time. So that's a good thing. Onward I go.

::::
10:17 finished the bird.

::::
10:55 finished one lettuce leaf.

::::
11:10 finished second lettuce leaf.

Time to watch Lost.

::::
Stinking Lost. We're going to go crazy watching the final season - having to wait a week or more between episodes. Oh well. At least we'll get to watch the first several all at once...I'm not sure how many episodes are in the 6th season. Maybe we'll start watching near the end. We're still near the beginning of the 5th season. Nathan was pushing for us watching an episode starting at midnight, and then he fell asleep after like 15 minutes. I had to keep watching it...and now it's almost 1am. *sigh*

backtracking

So I realized after doing three apples, three oranges, two lettuce leaves, a frog, a squirrel, and a bird...that I should have used the other velcro side...the soft part, not the part that grabs on to everything. I guess at first I was thinking that if I used the catching part that i wouldn't have to put matching velcro on the playhouse. But it catches on everything...all the time. I've just been putting a square of felt over the velcro, but I realized that I should have just done it the other way. So after a lot of grumbling, I started the process.

Today, I clipped the stitches of the velcro on the frog, completely unstitched the frog, sewed on the softer velcro (which was amazingly easy, thank GOODNESS...the other velcro was absolutely awful), resewed it all, and restuffed it. It didn't take too long, but it would be nice if it wasn't necessary. Oh well.

One frog down, at least 8 more things to go...I may not mess with the lettuce leaves...or I might. I guess I might as well, while I'm fixing everything else. This was a pretty significant learn the hard way kind of thing - but I think I'm going to be a lot happier when I change them all, even though it's a ton more work.

something for the grass

I made this quite awhile ago, but I guess I never posted the picture!

it's always greener...

Made some grass today...didn't take very long. I cut out one side and then used the between parts for another line of grass. Two for one! Though I'm not sure which side is actually greener.


I'm trying to figure out what I can do with the small amount of felt I have left...and very excited for whatever felt from Deb is coming tomorrow morning with Nathan's mom! I've been feeling like I want to use up everything I have before buying more...cuz I need a ton more, but we'll see!

Oh, and here is a cute Henry.

If you're ever thinking...

...that making a soccer ball out of felt would be a fun thing to do...think of something else to do instead. It looks really good, but it took several hours. The soccer ball is going to sit by the front door of the playhouse, I think...or maybe go on the side with the river. I'm thinking now I might make a picnic table with some sort of something that I can make food (hot dogs or hamburgers or something) be removable...at Joshy's request. I shouldn't look at the other examples of playhouses online while he's looking! I do veto some of them, though...we can't ALSO fit a library and a princess castle and a train station on to this playhouse. But we could probably fit a picnic table and some hot dogs or something.

And I'm done with the day numbers now, and done with changing the times that I post...so if I'm posting for the first time at 1:00am, as I am right now (yikes!), it'll say that, instead of always saying 11:00pm even if it was posted later. Anyway...probably it wasn't necessary for me to clear all of that up. :c)