My little helper

 Ok, maybe not helping. But so dang CUTE!

M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S! ! ! !

Sugar Plums...

 We made 50 of these last night! Fun and Yum! Thanks for the great idea eighteen25!! The boys are taking them to some of their friends at school today and this evening we're delivering our Christmas card and a CD to our family and some friends with these attached for each child in the family! ENJOY!!

Walker Family Photo shoot

 My uncle Richard and his wife Kathy are leaving on a mission in January so they wanted do have some family pictures taken before they leave. They turned out great! It was fun to take all these photos!! The top and the bottom are the same photo, with different effects added ti it. ( Have I mentioned how much I love Photo Shop Elements??)

 And of course I had to add some silly ones of Matt...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Cute Wrap and I-Spy

 I saw this darling idea on a friends blog...You wrap gifts in newspaper and add holiday twine or yarn around it. Super easy and cute. We made a bunch of the Nativity 4x4's for friends and family. The entire family helped wrap them up while watching football this afternoon. (Go Colts!!)

 I made I-Spy bags for two of my boys this year. One is Safari animals and the other is ocean animals. They were pretty easy to make, and I know they'll love them! I found this cute idea here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Chior Performance

Will and Jackson are in the Rosecrest choir and they had their first performance on Wednesday night at Evergreen Jr. High.

 The choir sang a few songs with the Jr. High choirs. (Yes, choirS! The Jr. High has 3! Amazing!)Everyone sounded wonderful and it turned out to be a very enjoyable evening!

Every time I'd take a picture, Brigham would pose and want a shot of himself. Silly boy!!

Holiday Card Garland

I found this cute idea for Holiday Card Garland here. How fun is this idea! We have taped cards to the back of our door or on the wall in the form of a tree, but this year we wanted to display them a little differently.
I painted the clothespins (I found them at wal-mart .97 cents for 50!!) Then, I modge podge cute Christmas paper and glued on a button. I hung the cards onto this red with green polka dot ribbon. So, so cute!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

AW-Some Teacher gift!

I try to do cute, easy gift for the boys teachers when school starts, for a Christmas gift, and at the end of the school year.
I found some CUTE ideas here.

I will add a little bag of holiday candy and a note from each student. Cute, easy, and fun!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Chores, the NEW way!!

I had a NEW idea for chores (this is how the boys earn their allowance each week).  We tried it out last Saturday and it was AWE-some!


We used to have this huge magnetic board with the chores on each little magnet and the chores changed every week. But on the move here, the board got all scraped up and some of the magnets broke. I was planning on making a new one, but we really don't have any room for a huge board in this house.


So here is the NEW plan. I took a few different ideas I heard out there in BLOG-Land and came up with this:


I typed up a list with ALL the chores with a few blanks at the bottom of the paper.  Each chore was assigned a different price. I placed the page in a sheet protector and we held a family meeting. The boys have to choose 4 different chores on the list, any of the ones that they want that are worth different amounts of money. Next, they can choose to do more chores for more money. Example: Sweep the front porch 50 cents; Take all the trash out 50 cents; Lysol 25 cents...If two or more boys want the same chore, then they make bids on it. If the chore is for $1.00 and Jack and Will both want it, I give it to whomever offers the least amount of money.


It was fun bidding and having the boys choose their own jobs to work on. They made more money than normal, but they're okay with that! (We usually pay our boys half their age. Will gets about $5.50, Jackson $4.50 and so on.)


We also can take away 25 cents or add 25 cents throughout the morning (and week) If the boys say a chore is complete and it's not...minus 25 cents. If one of the boys does a little extra...plus 25cents.


We write all these notes on the sheet protector with a dry-eraser marker.


Here is a copy of our CHORE CHART.


Amount        Chore                                                                      Who?                Minus?
$1.50           Will's Bedroom (closet, drawers, desk, books) 
$1.50            Jack/Ty's Bedroom (closet, drawers, desk, books) 
$1.50            Nursery/Upstairs Bathroom (counters, mirrors, floors)
$1.00            Gavin's Bedroom (closet, drawers, desk, books)
$1.00            Collect all toys/clothing/trash around yard
$1.00            Sweep/mop kitchen
$1.00            Vacuum upstairs/stairs
$1.00            Vacuum downstairs/stairs
$1.00            Downstairs Bathroom (counters, mirrors, floors)
$1.00            Dishes (unload/load)
$1.00            Clean Garage
$0.75            Mom's car (trash, wipe down)
$0.50            Dad's car (trash, wipe down)
$0.50            Middle Bathroom (counters, mirrors, floors)
$0.50            Wash out Trash Cans/Add liners
$0.50            Walls in Kitchen
$0.50            Walls on Stairs going up
$0.50            Walls on Stairs going down
$0.50            Wipe Kitchen counters/stools/refr/ovens/micro
$0.25            All Trash/Recycle out
$0.25            All Laundry
$0.25            Sweep Patio/Deck
$0.25            Sweep Porch
$0.25            Lysol
$0.25            Windex (TV's and Computers)
$0.25            Disinfectant wipes (Clickers and Phones)

$0.50            Extra
$0.50            Extra
$0.25            Extra
$0.25            Extra


$20.00           TOTAL

Initial Ornament Craft

 I made these tonight with the boys...They turned out real cute and they were super easy and inexpensive to make.
I bought the plastic clear bulbs at Michael's for .79 cents (but they were 60% off!!, I had a bunch of Christmas ribbon already, I added vinyl initials (or you could use stickers, and i bought some of that crackled paper for a buck at Wal-Mart. We made ornaments for each of us including my mom and Bill.

Look who came to visit!!

In Gavin's preschool class SANTA came to visit!! I brought in Brigham and Nathan for the holiday party. It was fun to see the boys reactions to Santa. It's been a log time since they have seen him! Gavin went up, with no problem, sat on his lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas. Brig's was a little hesitant, but then hopped up and said something about Buzz and Woody. Now, Nathan on the other hand would have nothing to do with St. Nick! It was pretty cute.
It was a fun party!
One of the kids asked where his sleigh and reindeer were and Santa told the children that they were on the roof waiting for him. About 45 minutes later, after Santa had left, and were walking out to the car Gavin starts looking at the school's rooftop. He quickly realizes there are NO reindeer up there. He asks me to drive around to the back of the school, just in case! As were driving around searching for the sleigh and reindeer, another mom tells Gavin that we just missed him. Apparently he had to leave for his lunch break. "Oh, darn!" was Gavin's reply!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

Temple Square Lights

 Last night we went with 17 cousins to BEAUTIFUL temple square. It was pretty crowded, but worth the trip. There are so many lights and other decorations. We had a blast. Here is Schmitty (Greg) wearing his son's coat as a hat!

 The Thompson clan snappin' a shot in fron the temple where Scott and I were sealed! WHat a wonderful experience to share with the boys last night!

 Now he's wearing one of the GIRL cousin's head warmer. He is so much fun!

It was Alison's 13th birthday, so of course we all embarrassed her and sand "Happy Birthday" like 5 times!

We are so lucky to live close st so many temples here in the Salt Lake valley. It is a true blessing we live here and are able to share this with our children.

Dog Tags

Warning!! Warning!! Terrible picture!! SORRY!!!

I made Will this dog tag necklace. I pounded words into both sides that mean a little extra something to him. On one side it says CALL OF DUTY and the other side it says BLACK OPS. He loves the Call of Duty DS and Wii games, he also loves anything military or camo. This was super easy and inexpensive. He will love that he can wear it and feel like a military dude!

Buzz Book

 Here is what a made sweet Brigham. He and Gavin are totally into Toy Story...ANYTHING! This came as a pattern, so it was pretty easy to sew together. He'll love it!

Cowboy Pillow

 I make the boys and my mom gifts every year. Jackson (my 9 year old) LOVES anything cowboy. So, I thought I'd make him a cute little western pillow. I got the idea for this fun little pillow HERE.

 I made side strips that match the star. and the back is another fun print. It was easy and fun to make. I can't wait till he sees it. I know he'll just LOVE it!!

Christmas Decorations....

in my NEW home! It has been so much fun decorating and preparing for "the most wonderful time....of the year!"

Here is right when you walk into my home. A few nativities, the "Joy" sign I made last year, and Christmas blocks.

 Our REAL tree! This is the very first time our family has ever gotten a REAL tree, and it smells amazing! I decorated it in gold, Santa Claus, and burgundy berries. (I change the theme ever year!!)

 On the piano I have our Snowman collection, with a couple more nativities.

 The children's tree is up as well in front of another large window in our living room. It has on a bunch of ornaments from my Gram's Christmas shop and some other cute things the boys have made.

 And we have a fireplace to hang our stockings! How wonderful!!

 On the kitchen table to jazz up the eating area a bit.

          

And our new addition, the Little People Nativity set. We have it behind the couch where some other toys are located for Brigham and Nathan to play with.

The house looks great. I love this time of year. Nathan hasn't even pulled at any of the decorations or the tree!! Now, that is a Christmas miracle!