Let the Gifting Begin

Now that my work party has hit I can share what I made for the girls. Not that they look at this blog or anything, I just wanted to make sure no one knew what I was making.

Found the fantastic idea for a picture holder over at Shanty 2 Chic. Seriously, those girls are brilliant with some of the things they come up with. Total cost was around $8 maybe and I made 4. Found the 2x8 in the leftover wood bin for $2 and I think I had a good 4 feet of it. So I had five 9" pieces cut. The finials were in a 2-pack for $1.99 each. The girls loved them. I suggested they could use them in their kitchen to hold recipe cards, a picture or whatever you want to clip up.

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

Luke has become very aware of Christmas this year. When he saw Santa at the ward party he was so excited. Quite a huge difference from last year. (see photo) I had to literally run after him and carry off the stage before he bulldozed some other kid of Santa's lap. As we were walking to the end of the line he yelled, "Santa! I'm Luke!" I'm guessing he's been a bit over exposed by the many holiday movies my husband, Chris, has been watching. When our turn came Luke went right up to Santa and sat on his lap. I was really shocked he even talked to him. He asked for a train for Christmas. On our way home he talked so much about seeing Santa. It was really cute.

For My Husband the Gamer

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? For everyone to be happy and healthy.

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition? The past two years, which we will now continue forevermore, I've made a delicious Ham Puff breakfast and drank hot chocolate. It would be nice if it also snowed Christmas morning, but that's up to "Old Man Winter".

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? A nice long uninterrupted nap.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? Spend time with family and friends watching Christmas movies (we have quite a large selection), singing carols, and even driving around neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights at night.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? We loved playing Pictionary and laughing at each others drawings. After awhile everyone discovered that my twin sister and I couldn't be on the same team since we seemed to read each others minds.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? We always got new pajamas on Christmas eve and before bed we'd read the nativity story. Christ is the reason for the season.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip? America's winter playground - Vermont!

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? 1. The hubs wants to up his skills with Rock Band 3 and the killer drum-set. 2. A Wii Fit has been on the wishlist the last two years. 3. I don't think anyone would complain if we had a DSi.

A First

I took Luke to his first theater movie over Thanksgiving weekend. My sister-in-law was taking her kids to see Tangled so we went along too. Because I am sheltered with no regular cable I had no idea what this movie was about except it was the story of Rapunzel. Luke had free admission, but I was nervous having to pay for a show I might not see. I know Luke can sit through a whole animated film (I've lost count at how many times he's watched Cars), but in the dark, with other kids I wasn't certain he'd sit still for that long. Oh happy day - Luke sat and watched the whole show! What a relief that was. There was 5 minutes of restlessness near the end, but he settled back down on my lap. I thought Tangled was great and I know the boy did too because I heard him laugh a bunch. Plus he loved having popcorn and sharing mom's soda. No more "taking a young child to the movies" fear for this family.

Passing

Almost 2 weeks ago, Chris's grandpa passed away. We made two sudden trips to Umatilla, Oregon to be with grandma and the family in a weeks time. Down for the weekend and then back home. Down again for the funeral 2 days later and then back home. I am so glad Luke is a good traveler. He had a slight cold when we first left, but by the time everything we got home the last time it had gone to a full-blown ear infection. Poor little lamb.

Unfortunately, I did not know this grandpa very well. Chris grew up with him, but wasn't as close when he was older (why we didn't see him much). When we went to grandpa's house in La Grande I saw pictures of all the other great-grandkids, but Luke was not among them. I guess that's my fault not sending any and I feel really bad about it. Reflecting on this I'm going to make a better attempt at making sure all family near and far is updated on this Walchli family. More picture taking and delivering is going to take place so I don't miss anyone. My immediate family members live close to us, but growing up I did not see my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, but only once a year. Now that I don't travel with my parents to visit these people yearly like I did when I was young, I am now realizing it is my responsibility to keep in touch and not rely on my parents to do it. So, with my new understanding, I'll need to get on the ball. First up: Christmas cards! One thing I did not get done last year.

Projects galore

I know it's not yet October, but let's fast forward to the next major holiday...Halloween. I saw this kit for making countdown calendars on howdoesshe.com. I actually had all the supplies on hand except the halloween paper so I asked my sister, Christina, if she wanted to make them ourselves. We cut the 4x4's at her place (my bro, her roommie, has major power tools) and spraypainted them black. I thought they turned out pretty good. Instead of vinyl we used blackcard stock instead which worked just as good.

Next up. I just had a friend get married and I wanted to do something different. I found this fun temple idea here, unfortunately, they didn't have the Seattle Temple. I remembered Christina took some pictures of the temple a while back so I got a copy of one and played around with it until it looked aged and also personalized. I printed it out at work on the colored laser printer (shh..don't tell), mated and framed it. Sorry I didn't take any good pictures of the finished project. I do hope they like it. I need to make one for myself now.

My younger brother recently became a dad. They named him Hunter James Miller-Hall. He's such a cute little thing. Born 17 days early weighing in at 5lbs 8oz.

In the spirit of a friend I know and new babies I made a set of blocks for the mom and bouncing baby boy. Forgive the picture quality...I used my cellphone to take the picture.


That's it for now. I am working on a couple more things, but they require sewing and my machine decided to spaz out on me. Ugh... I haven't wanted to sit down with it again as I wasted a whole evening earlier this week and I needed to get to my other things. Stay tuned for more craftiness.

Yahoo! Summer Vacation

Oh, how I love vacations. Getting away from everyday life is always worth the travel and the money spent getting there. Our summer destination this year was St. George, Utah. It was crazy hot, but it was so much fun. We drove down and with a toddler, all road trips require the most entertaining toys, childrens music cds (non-parent-annoying kind), the right snacks and a portable DVD player. Only two minor meltdowns on the way down and that was it. Luke was a great little traveler.

Here are a few photos from our trip:

Family photo at the Logan Temple grounds - turned out pretty good I think.

Snow Canyon - St. George area


Took a trip up north to Bryce Canyon one day. If you haven't gone, it's pretty cool. My parents have this Golden Age Pass so all national parks are free. A perk of being a senior citizen.


Toured the church history sites in town. Here is a neat picture taken at the St. George Tabernacle by one of the senior missionaries.

Spent a day at Zions National Park. Here is a picture of the Court of the Patriarchs. Chris took a bunch of landscape pictures at the parks we visited.

To cut back on congestion and preserve nature the park has a free shuttle. Luke's favorite part of the day was riding the bus.

Hiking a trail at Zions. Luke was tired of walking so we took advantage of his cuteness while on my dad's shoulders.

The wildlife of Southern Utah. Lizards a fast little things and Luke loved chasing them.
Our batteries died a lot so there are other cute photos to come, but I've got to wait until my mom and dad get back from vacation because they are on their camera.

My Lil' Guy Tie

With Luke getting older I wanted to start dressing him like a little man. So I've been on the hunt for a cute tie pattern and I've found one here. Hooray! I actually made them all before church a few weeks ago (we meet at 12:30pm). That's how easy this tie is.

Busy As A Bee

Last week was a busy one, but it was great as it was well spent with family, friends and I even got in a really fun date with my ultimate main squeeze - Chris!

Monday - Early Father's Day Celebration
My dad wanted to celebrate the fathers with the whole family, but didn't want to do it on Father's Day because my mom was having knee replacement surgery the following day. So we all got together nearly a week before at Red Robin. My 5 siblings, plus those with spouses were all there. We had a blast sitting and talking. Luke is just like his dad and loves hamburgers.

(a few of the fathers: bro-in-law Chris, Todd and one of my niece's dad Mike)

Tuesday - Cirque Du Soleil : Kooza
Back in February I had purchased tickets to see Cirque Du Soleil as a gift for Chris on Valentine's Day. Since it was in Redmond and didn't start until 8pm we made arrangements for Luke to have his first sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
The show was amazing and so much fun. I'd seen one on t.v. before, but it was 100 times better to be there. The music was fantastic, the clowns were hysterical, the acrobatics and dancing were amazing. We even got to witness dare devil stunts. If you ever get the chance to go, you wouldn't regret it.

Wednesday - Card Class
Made some really cute cards with my friend Keri. I don't get the free time alone at home to sit and get creative, so I've got to rely on the wonderful talents of others. I do make original stuff too, but only on demand.

Thursday - High School Graduation
My niece Kairin graduated class of 2010 from Snohomish High School. She's going to Boise State University this fall. This is her with her proud parents. They held it at the Everett Events Center and we were in and out in record time : 1 hour 15 minutes.


Friday - Costco
Got to stock up on the basics when you have a child : diapers! I read this article about how Costco is really good at product placement which is why you can never leave the place without spending at least $100. Everything looks like it is such a great deal...am I right?

Saturday - Graduation Party
I made some decorations for the party. A banner and the table centerpieces. I thought my memory card was full because I wasn't seeing any of the pictures I was taking so this is all I got from the party. Just the cake and one picture of the banner. Anyway, the school colors for Snohomish are Red and white. The black comes for the black panther which is the mascot. I only spent a totally of $8 dollars which were on the red and white flowers I bought at Michael's. The paper I had on hand for everything else.



There was even karaoke. Christina and I sang Abba : Take A Chance On Me. No way was I singing by myself.

So there you have it.....AND I put in 40 hours at work. I'm beat....

The Hiding Place

Behind this door is our bedroom closet. Nothing much in there except Chris's and my clothes, shoes, bed linens and bath towels. It has also become a hiding place for a particular little boy I know and love. How it came to be I'm unsure. I do know he has watched me stand in this very closet while I figure out what I'm going to wear for the day because he usually comes in and shuts the door behind him. But, his use of this space is very much different than mine.



He loves to open and close the door while saying "Hi, Mom!" But, when he has the door shut for a little longer I know he is now using the room for another purpose and usually emerges smelling not so cute and cuddly anymore. If Luke has become quiet and I don't know where he is, my first thought is to check the bedroom closet. Not only do I find Luke, I also find a diaper change waiting for me. Now you know why I have dubbed it the hiding place.

Headboard

I know this is not in any way an awesome reveal, but I finally have the headboard done and I needed to put up a picture. We've had it complete for about a month, but I've wanted to paint our bedroom and get a new bedspread and fun throw pillows before I post about it. When I get there I'll do another post and include pictures of Christina and I using power tools.

Mothering Moments

I wish I had a lot of great advice and things to say about being a mom. I'm still pretty new and getting the hang of the whole thing.

I don't get to observe the way my child learns and discovers new things on a daily basis because I am at work. It does make me sad that I have to hear about it second-hand, but I would not change how much I enjoy being a mom.

Luke is getting so much better at talking. Although he can't describe everything he's done during the day, he does come running to give me big hug as soon as I get home during the week. And sometimes, when he feels like it, he will say "I love you, Mom". Those are the moments that are brightest in my day. The ones I love and enjoy.

What are some of yours?

Zippa-dee-ay and Heidi-ho

As usual I’m posting weeks after the event – Luke’s 2^nd Birthday. I can’t believe it has been two years already. I remember after he was born going through his baby clothes and seeing size 18 months and thinking my child is never going to fit into this. He is such a loveable guy. One of my favorite phrases he says is "Mom, I hold ya". He says this to me when he wants to be picked up. I'm glad Luke is a cuddle-bug and will let me hold and squeeze him tight still.

Luke's party theme was Disney’s “Cars”. He loves Lightening McQueen which he calls Ka-Chow. I ordered a cake from TOP Foods bakery with Lightening and Mader on it. It was a bit spendy,but Luke LOVED it and I must say it was quite delicious.

High points of the party:

Luke received a Matchbox Cars Carwash. Oh, how he loves his cars. It came with a schoolbus which he likes to carry around.

He loaded up on clothes for the spring and summer growing into a size 3T.

Luke got his very own Lightenting McQueen flashlight.

Stating the Obvious

I color my hair not only to perk up my drab natural color, but to cover up the gray I have. There is a lot, especially my temple area…it’s frightening how much I have. If you have met my mom you know where I'll be in 20 years. I think her hair is lovely, but I’m not ready for that right now - so colored it is!

My last coloring was in January so my grow out is pretty scary. No one can see my graying temples if I wear my hair down, but when I pull it back you can see the grays in all their glory. Now, I’m confident enough to not worry about it and wear my hair however, but when my husband points it out?

Scene:

Eating dinner with my parents on a Sunday evening.

Chris: “Tam, you’ve got quite a bit of gray hair there on the sides.”

Me: “I know – thanks for pointing it out.”

Chris: “It’s not that bad.”

Me: “It must be if you can see it from across the table.”

Yikes people! I think it's time to take action.

Happy Easter

March swept on by like nobody's business, don't you think? Here is a little picture post of our Easter. Like always, I didn't pull out the camera for everything.


In his basket, Luke received a Thomas the Train shirt and shorts, a bubble blowing gun, a Lightning McQueen sticker book(he calls him Ka-Chow), foam alphabet and numbers for the bath and peeps which he called ducks. The picture he didn't look to excited about it, but Chris had just started a show and so Luke would not look at the camera. Luke's grandpa and grandma Miller gave him a new Lightning McQueen car and Mader and he loved playing with those. In between conference sessions Luke, his dad and grandpa went for a walk. If you look closely, you can see him holding his new Mader truck. He loves his cars.

Coffee Filter Wreath

I usually don't make or hang wreaths except at Christmas time. I've just seen so many fantastic ones in the blog world lately I'd hate not to give them a try. This one I worked on last week and gave to Christina for our birthday. I saw someone use coffee filters as a heart center on a wreath here so I thought why not do a whole wreath using them. Did you know you can buy them in brown? Not being a coffee drinker I was unaware. Before my office at work had it's fancy coffee making machine they just used white filters.

I started by folding the filters in half, then in half again and smooshed it together a little and then hot glued it to the wreath. I started on the outside and worked my way inward. It took me two evenings (after Luke was to bed) to complete. I'd recommend wrapping the wreath first with fabric strips or ribbon because the Styrofoam did not like the hot glue very much.


I was so excited to see a tutorial on how to make some really cute paper flowers on a site I frequent: Little Birdie Secrets. I got out my trusty Cricut and lucky for me I had a cartridge that had a flower in the dimensions they suggested. Yippee!! The flowers were just the thing to give this wreath an added touch cuz I thought it was a bit boring before.

I think it turned out pretty good for my first attempt. I'm going to make another for myself after my blisters heal from the glue gun burns. I got two this time - ouch!

Mommy's makeup

Most weekday mornings Luke is up at the crack of dawn watching me get ready for work. Some days he'll sit on our bed and eye me from a distance while drinking a sippy cup of milk and other times he's in the bathroom standing on the toilet seat cover wanting to go through my makeup bag. I tell him that it's mommy's makeup and it's for girls, but I do find it cute when he gets a hold of my foundation sponge and pats his cheeks. Chris doesn't find it as cute.

One evening last week when I got home from work Luke was watching Cars with his dad, but followed me around while I was putting things away. I sat at the computer for a moment in the front bedroom and than got up and went down the hall to our room to sort and file some papers. Luke stayed in that room happily talking and than all went quiet. I called to him a few times and then figured he went back to the movie with his dad. I'd say 5 or 10 minutes went by and then Luke came in with this stuck on his finger sayings "mommy more".

The tube was hallowed out and his face and hands were covered. My first thoughts were, "What else has been covered in lipstick besides Luke?!?!" I knew where he got it so I went straight to the front bedroom to find the disaster, but there wasn't one. Just one small hand print on my fleece jacket and a few smudges on the desk. That was it - what a relief!

Later that evening I did find a small line of lipstick in the carpet. Thanks to the trusty Internet I found a product (Goo Gone) that took it right out. Another relief. All I can think is that Luke ate the lipstick since his clothes nor anything else was covered in plum (the shade name). Hopefully the makeup thing is a phase he'll grow out of, but now I know not to leave any lipstick tubes out in plain sight. Lip gloss is okay since he can't unscrew the wand yet.

Luke let me take pictures before I washed him down - got to capture the moment!

Lightening up and other projects

I'm working on lightening up our front room. The major obstacle is our large dark green couch. Instead of putting a slip cover over it I thought it would be easier to find or make light colored throw pillows. I found some great fabric at JoAnns. I think it goes rather well with the couch and should brighten it up nicely.

Things I have planned for the front room: Re-paint the front room to a lighter shade of yellow. Build wood mantel for fireplace (already re-painted it back to white) Sew pillows Find fun knick-knacks to pull everything together.

If I didn't have enough to do during my evening and weekend time I ran into another idea for a bed headboard using a interior door which would be less construction than the Knockoff Wood one I had originally wanted to do. Christina and I headed down to Seattle to Second Use and found ourselves a door for $25 each. We had to cut off a panel to make it the right measurement for a queen size bed. We need to use a router for the 4x4's and my brother wasn't home to help with that so it's been pushed to another day to complete and paint. Here is a picture of the door cut to size. Forgot to pull out the camera for the before. Oh well.

The Reveal

I finally found the camera so I could take pictures of Luke's complete shelves. Like I said before....they turned out fantastic. I can't wait to build more stuff!

The striped canvas totes I actually found at the Dollar Tree. (I love that place.)

Another angle of the room.

I used some of the left over wood for an art display. I modge podged fun paper to clothes pins and glued them to the boards.

Updates coming soon

I did finish the bookshelves and they look fantastic! Sadly, I can't find the camera. Chris tells me it's in a drawer in our computer desk, but I've gone through it several times and only found the case. Let's hope it didn't grow legs and run off someplace where it gets used more often.

Anyway, I'm adding some things to dress up the walls in Luke's room this weekend above those shelves. Once I find that camera (or resort to cell phone pics) I'll post the big reveal. Sorry to keep everyone waiting. Hope you've all checked out the knockoff wood sight and have become inspired like me.

Knockoff Wood inspiration

I've always wanted a bookshelf in Luke's room, but I couldn't find any that were a good buy. There are those at Target or Walmart, but I've had those before and wanted something a little more durable. One of my "do it yourself" sites listed on the right is Knockoff Wood and this gal has everything you need down to the size of the nails for building your own furniture. It is amazing! I found these bookshelves that she built that are a knockoff from Potterybarn and thought to myself...I could make those.

Off to Home Depot we went to purchase our materials from the list off the website.

Luke is always a big helper.

This is my brother Dave. He's is a framer/builder by trade and he helped me with my shelves. Plus he has a nail gun which made things go a lot faster, but it still took the whole afternoon on Saturday.

We made two of these bad boys and they turned out fantastic! All they need now is paint.

Once I have them completely done and in Luke's room I'll take a picture. These are going to be one of those items of furniture we'll have for quite a long time. My next woodworking project will be the Farmhouse bed. I don't think it will be for awhile, but it's in my sights of things to accomplish!

Birthday, dogs and another crafty thing...

I have a sister who has children with birthdays that fall very close to major holidays. My nephew Aidan's birthday some years falls on Thanksgiving and his sister Bailey's birthday is two days after Christmas. Note to self: If you have a child with a birthday on or very near a major holiday, remember that they still need a special day just for them and to celebrate their birthday first. The mom of these two, my sister, did try and gather the family together before Christmas, but some of the other family were sick and so it was cancelled. Bummer... We did eventually get together and I took my camera.

They have a little toy Pomeranian that Luke loves to squeeze. I'm so afraid he's going to pop the little things head off.

Here is the wreath I made this weekend. I used squares of red felt and hot glued them to a Styrofoam wreath I bought at Joann's. The felt is supposed to look like red roses, but it didn't turn out as well as the picture I saw. This one did take me a while since I had to cut the felt and then do the whole hot gluing thing (which I got a nasty burn and a huge blister from). I hung it on the front door for the picture because I liked the contract of the black, but it hangs on the wall in the front room near the garland I made last week. These are my first valentine's day decorations. They've been kinda fun and I may just make some more. We'll see what next weekend brings.

Had to throw in a picture of my handsome guy getting ready for church this morning. He was too busy eating the cookie I bribed him with to hold still or he might have smiled after I did his hair.