isn't she lovely...

There's no one quite like Audrey....

places i'd love to go someday....

despair....

Today, I ate the last of my thin mints. Life no longer has meaning or purpose.

just pondering....

If you are mother you are going to have a bad day every now and again. And if you think about it, that's just like any other job really. But I was thinking (after one of my bad days) that my little boy is the cutest and sweetest when I'm tucking him in at night. When I look at him our bad day just fades away. And then that made me think about our Heavenly Father. When He looks down on us as we're sleeping, does He feel the same way? I think He does.......

friday funnies...

does anyone else think this has to be a missionary??? hahahahaha

gonna miss 'em...

Michael's little brother and his family moved out west today....can't believe we won't be seeing them very often (not often = once a year). I'm going to really miss my lil nephew, Andrew especially! Good luck on your new adventure, we will miss you!

blaine turns 5...

Well technically, not until tomorrow. He is no longer toddler....he is kid! For his birthday surprise we went to the Museum of Science and History (the MOSH). It was so much fun! But the really special part was the planetarium. Blaine loved it but was at first disappointed when he realized we weren't really going to the moon lol. Today we had a miniature birthday party, just us and the grandparents. It's just been a really great weekend and I feel so blessed to have, know and love Blaine!

really?

It has been mentioned before (like a gazillion times) that Blaine looks like the kid from Home Alone 3. Only 5 and already has a celebrity doppelganger lol! I don't know though...I can kind of see it....what do you think?

i do believe in fairies.....

the circus was a bust!

Blaine and I have been counting down the days until the circus came to town. We both wanted to go so badly! But I did a terrible thing and never looked at the ticket prices all the while making promises. BIG MISTAKE! The circus is an expensive show folks and there are no children's prices. Everyone has to pay almost $25 smackaroos a piece. I am NOT paying a mint to watch a show through binoculars in the nosebleed seats. But I'd promised Blaine we would go......what a dilemma. So Michael puts on his excited daddy voice and says, "Blaine, how about we go go-karting tomorrow instead of the circus?". I was anxiously awaiting some kind of tantrum (like the one that little brat threw on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) but none came. Whoosh!!!! Disaster avoided!!!! He just looked up at us and said, "Can we? This is awesome!" So the moral of this story is....never make a promise unless you've done your research. And never spoil your kids (unless it's with love) unless you want them to turn out like Veruca Salt.

the girl in me.....

So maybe I've just realized that I'm a girl and that I love girly things sometimes. And since I hit a big milestone this year (it's something that rhymes with flirty but is not nearly as cute) I've been trying to take better care of myself. I'm also cheap. I'd like to take better care of myself and my wallet. So here's a really great facial scrub recipe that I came across.



you're going to need a half of a lemon (or some lemon juice)
a teaspoon of granulated sugar.
and 2 cotton face pads

First you squeeze the lemon juice onto your stacked cotton pads. Then you will sprinkle the sugar on top of that. Any excess sugar on your fingertips, just rub that onto your face. I like to wet my face with water first. In gentle circles massage the lemon juice/sugar/cotton pads onto your face until all of the sugar dissolves. Your skin will be a little red (I recommend doing this before you go to bed rather than in the morning). Rinse your face and let it rest for a minute before applying your moisturizer. This will brighten your skin as well as lighten acne scars, sun or age spots. I've been doing this about every 2 or 3 days for 3 weeks now and I can see a difference. It's an inexpensive and effective home micro-dermabrasion. Hope you guys like it!

odds and ends....

unwrapping our gingerbread house.....it was fun!



blaine pretending to be a sith lord.....scary this is....



blaine first waking up on christmas morning....



an inability to contain enthusiasm over pop-up tent.....

friday funnies.....

Couldn't resist this.

Merry Christmas from the Vorwallers~

One of my absolute favorite heroine's. I just love this pictorial representation of her. Toodles!

our beloved pumpkin who has since returned to mother earth....



us actually "hitting" the streets....



blaine on parade at the trunk-or-treat....

I'm really behind on these Halloween pictures...pray, forgive me :). So Blaine was a tractor (Papa Dennis has a blue one). Or rather, he was a farmer in a tractor lol. And the whole cardboard box/duct tape/straps/spray paint/push lights held together until the very end where it all gave out at once. But it was fun while it lasted! So a belated Happy Halloween from us to you and a hope that your days are filled with candy delights and the absence of cavities!

Um, Studio Ghibli does the Borrower's?????? Yes, please! Definitely watching this when it comes out at around Blaine's birthday........definitely.

School update! We're into our second month of homeschooling and we're still loving it! This week we've been studying the letter E, the number 5 and we've been learning about pirates. Blaine's also nailed the 1st article of faith, so we're definitely making progress! Today we finished making our nest (scavenged twigs and grass glued together) and our eggs to go in it (cardstock and crushed eggshells). We also made our own pirate maps...taking regular printer paper and lighting the edges on fire to make it look "old" and tied up with some yarn. Tomorrow for our combined craft, we're making telescopes out of paper towel rolls. So much exciting stuff happening here!!!!

I've only ever been to about 3 concerts in my life. One was Harry Connick Jr (swoon) and the other two were Celtic Woman. But I've never been to one of those, sit in the grass or standing room only concerts. So here's my list of bands I'd love to see live (because I know that you're just dying to know :):

Band of Horses
The Decemberists
Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo
Phil Collins (have ALWAYS loved him)
Sting (yeah, him too)
Allison Krauss (best female vocalist ever)

Any other bands you guys think I would like? Please share!!

I know, I know....I am shameless at plugging books and movies. But I couldn't help myself. Just read the above book and LOOOOOVED it. It's more of a juvenile book (juvenile meaning for young readers, not immature readers). However, as you all know, "juvenile fiction" is some of the best kind of reading there is (Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, The Grimm Detectives). So thumbs up from me, especially seeing as this is his first novel. You will not be disappointed!!