Homemade Playdough

I know it has been a while since my last post.  Things have been busy!  We have moved to an awesome place ( Kodiak, AK) and found out we are having another baby in late April!  Now that we are in our new home, which is totally awesome, I am hoping to be able to blog more frequently! 

Since the beginning of this week Boyd Thomas has had a runny nose and our weather has not been the greatest, so we have been indoors.  Luckily Kodiak does not get as cold as Wasilla does so we are able to go out a lot more!  I thought playdough would be something new and fun for us to do inside.  Much to my dismay our Wal-Mart does not carry playdough.  I know...crazy! In their defense they aren't a Super Wal-Mart, but Wal-Mart is Wal-Mart, and I will take it!!  Thankfully I found a super easy recipe for playdough, and I figured if Boyd Thomas tried to eat it at least I would know what he was eating.  I thought I would share because I was so pleased and excited with the outcome!!  It is so soft and doesn't smell, so I am loving it, probably just as much if not more than Boyd Thomas! : )

1 cup Water

                 1 cup All Purpose Flour

1/4 cup Salt 

               2 tspn Cream of Tartar

              1 Tblspn Vegetable Oil

  Food Coloring

Dump all ingredients into a medium pot and stir until blended together.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it forms a large ball.

Remove from heat and place on wax paper.

Knead several times and let cool.

This is what it looks like once you start stirring..

 Playdough!!

 Boyd Thomas picking out some cookie cutters to play with ..

This kept Boyd Thomas entertained for almost an hour!  That is a lot at our house because it is rare that the boy is still!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!!

Things I've Been Busy With....

 In my past few posts I have mentioned a few things we have been doing around here, so I just wanted to share some pictures to go along with our activities! : )

We have been cooking a lot!  This is a homemade oreo we made! : )

We have been gardening!! Nothing is actually planted outside yet!

Our chickens live right beside the garden, but they look kind of ugly awkward right now!

 We started all our plants inside this year! Hopefully our outcome will be better this time!

We finally got our hot tub out of the garage and in the yard! Boyd built a platform for it to go on!

 ( I helped a little bit!)

I have been crafting it up!!

 A pillow I am making for my crazy sister! : )

Stepford Wife?? Let's Get Serious Here!

Tonight after getting back to our house....after I drove up and noticed the garage door was open for all of Alaska to walk into.  I of course drove around until my super trooper husband came and gave me the "all clear!"  HE was the one who left the door open, but I just gave him the stink eye, gave him the ole baseball butt slap, and sent him back on his way to work!  Ok..now back to my original story!  I rarely ever, ever get on Twitter, but I do have a Twitter account.  I think in the two years I have had the account I have tweeted 2 times.  haha I do get on my Twitter to check the news and see what is going on in the world. ( I will let you in on a little secret, my husband will deny it, but I catch him checking my Twitter all the time! haha )  Some of the people I am "following" on Twitter are Proverbs 31 Ministries and several ladies that are associated with that ministry.  I love their tweets as well as their facebook posts!

Well tonight I decided to look at my profile and see who was following me on Twitter.  Don't be overwhelmed when I tell you that only a whopping 6 people follow my tweets! haha Only three of those six I actually know!  It makes me laugh!  One of my followers user names caught my eye...."FakeProv31Women"??? When I read their profile it says, " Parodying the stable of religous Stepford Wives(with a couple of non-airbrushed types thrown in for good meausre) from Matthews, NC."  Granted I am from North Carolina (and proud of it!) I was confused as to why this person is following me and my 2 tweets.  After looking at their recent posts to Twitter it was very easy to see that they follow people who follow Proverbs31 or Lysa TerKeurst.  Then they mock you for your tweets about your faith.  At first I was extremely offended and upset that this person was on my Twitter and I began trying to figure out how I could get them off my page.  Then I thought why in the world would I do that???  Instead I should be using this as an opportunity to show my love for my God and how awesome He is!  Infact I hope they retweet this blog post ( I dare you!)   : )

Once I got in bed I read Proverbs 31 again (as I do not know it by heart.)  As times are changing I tried reading it with today in mind....

10 A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.

12 She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.

13 She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.

14 She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.

15 She gets up while it is still night;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her female servants.

16 She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17 She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.

18 She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.

19 In her hand she holds the distaff

and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20 She opens her arms to the poor

and extends her hands to the needy.

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22 She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

29 “Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all.”

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Ok!  So regardless of how you read this, who wouldn't want to be these things???  Married, single, age 5, or 87; who would not want to be more precious than rubies,  opening your arms to those who need them, strong, dignified, wise, and among many other things she even has a green thumb!   God wants us to be these things, and we should do them in His name!  I do have to say that verse 30 is my favorite though..."Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting' but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."  When I think about this verse after being married for two years, my charm is gone.  Every little wierd or gross thing I do; Boyd knows it and sees it.  After having a child some of my "beauty" is gone! haha NO matter what though my love and relationship with Jesus will bring me through! I will praise Him always in every circumstance, and will strive daily to be the things written so beautifully above. 

As for those who may think I am an airbrushed religious stepford wife.... I have to let you in on a secret...

My life is messy! 

 Dinner is not always hot and on the table.  ( I don't even own an apron)
 The plants in my garden rarely actually grow!
My face still breaks out.
 I don't brush my hair everyday.  
Sometimes we miss church on Sundays.
 I probably should be more involved in our church and community.
 I forget to do laundry and my husband has to wear white socks to work. 
Then I have to hear about how he gets made fun of for wearing white socks.ha 
We don't always agree. 
We don't always like each other.
 We ( my husband and I) along with many others are not perfect , nor do we come anywhere close to it.
That is why I am so thankful for the love of Jesus and the sacrifices he has made for me.  I continously fall short and always will, but He is there to save me.  I am so thankful for that.  There is no such thing a a cookie cutter world, and at end of the day, the only way to get through is to lay it at the feet of Jesus!

Beautiful Weather=Fun Filled Weekend!

It has been a week of beautiful weather here in Alaska! It is so nice to finally be able to wear my rainbows and pack away the jackets!  We have spent most of Boyd's time off this week outside!  Boyd Thomas loves playing outside and putting dirt/sticks in his mouth ( lovely and nutritious..I know)! Boyd just keeps saying " Don't you remember??? God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt!" haha

Earlier this week we left Boyd Thomas with a sitter, and Boyd and I went on a bear hunt! : )  We hiked all the way to the tippy top of a mountain, we had to take several breaks for me!  Once we got to the very top I realized I lost my jacket somewhere along the climb. haha Boyd went back down and found it for me! : )   We saw lots of bear and moose poop, bear tracks, but NO bears.  Oh well! The view from the mountain top was amazing, and I am now convinced we need either a four wheeler or a boat so I don't have to hike that much again to not kill anything!

The next day decided to venture out and take Boyd Thomas fishing!  We drove north towards Talkeetna.  We stopped at the Subway their to get sandwiches for a picnic.  There was a little old lady working behind the counter.  When Boyd walked up she said, " Oh my Lord!  I could just crawl over this counter and squeeze on you and kiss your face!!!" HAHAHAHA No, she was not talking about Baby Boyd.
She barely even noticed him! She was much too enthralled with my good looking husband! I am pretty sure she made Boyd's day, which is a good thing since we didn't catch any fish!  We hiked down the creek and fished our way back up, but had no luck!  And what would the day be if I didn't make a fool out of myself!?! I tried to be tough while hiking back, .....and I slipped in the mud and fell right on my rear!! It made for a good laugh!   Good thing the weather was amazing and I did get a little bit of sun!

Saturday we went yard saling, and I found a treasure!!!!  I finally got a jogging stroller/bike trailer, and I got a pretty amazing deal on it! Now.....I need a bike. haha Cart before the horse...yes that would be me at the moment! : )

Now that I have bored you all with our weekend events, let me move onto something much more interesting... Boyd Thomas! Every day he is amazing me with what he does! 

• He is crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything. 
• I just got finished decorating all the sharp corners, coffee table, and fireplace with lovely neon green floaty noodles! haha We will address him eating the noodles when the time comes, but hopefully it will be awhile before we have to tackle that! 
• He loves wrestling with his Dad, and I love watching them!
• He says "Hat!"  We are still working on actually associating it with things that go on your head, but a word is a word! I'll take it! :)
• The other day I fed him lasagna and he spit it out.  He basically refused to eat it.  I tasted it, and it wasn't the greatest.  We go outside and he eats a stick!!  Seriously, can a stick taste better than baby lasagna??? My child clearly thinks so!
• He also likes to try and eat toilet paper....
• He has his 2 front bottom teeth and the 2 front top teeth are slowly coming in as well!
• If I hear the boinnnggggg from the door stopper once....I hear it at least 50 times!
• He claps his hands!
• He crawls into his room to go poop!  So funny!
• I love to watch Law and Order.  When the theme song comes on Boyd Thomas stops everything, and watches the theme song part of the show until it is over.  Then all activities resume until the next episode comes on! haha

I am so grateful to live in such a beautiful place with my amazing little family!  Thanks for letting me share it with you all!!

Hello All!

It has been awhile since I my last blog! Life has been just a tiny bit busy! Let me just give you a little update...

We...have...chickens!  Yes, some may say we are starting our own little farm, but they are egg makers!! We built a coop for them, once it is completely done I will post up some pictures!  We also have our garden growing, but it is inside until it warms up a little more! Hopefully we will have better luck than we did last year! 

Boyd Thomas is crawling and into everything! A part of me thinks it is so cool and the other part of me wants to let out a scream ( but partially in joy that he is finally mobile!)  He loves ripping the toilet paper into as many tiny pieces as he possibly can, and if you hear the door stopper "spring" once, you hear it at least another 50 times!  He is loving being outside and he cackles when I blow bubbles for him!

My latest obsession seems to be appliqueing!! I am completely addicted! I am sure one day Boyd Thomas is going to look back at pictures and be like, " Mom, why did you put all that dumb stuff on my clothes?"  I am not great at it yet, but with a little more practice I will get the hang of it (then I will post pictures..haha)!!

Boyd has been bear hunting since last Sunday with his Dad in Hoonah, Alaska.  He will be getting back this Sunday.  I sure have missed him while he was gone, but his Mom and I have had lots of fun!

Today I helped with the Walk for HOPE and it was AMAZING!! You can be expecting a post on it for sure!! Hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day!!

There is Hope...

This week has been so very crazy in all kind of ways! We were at the doctor's office at least 3 different times this week with Boyd Thomas, my laptop has a virus and pretty much is non functional, and because my laptop was hacked so was our credit card information : ).  The crappy list could go on, but the crappy stuff doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things nor is it the focus of this blog post! I will go ahead and warn you that this is a bit of a long post...so go ahead and get comfy!

This week amidst all the craziness I was overwhelmed with the kindness of others and my cup became overflowing with gratefulness, thankfulness, and I was just in complete awe, to the point of tears, of how selfless others can be in big and small ways. 

Part 1:
On Tuesday there was absolutely nothing I could do or Boyd could do, to make Baby Boyd happy.  He basically cried and screamed all day.  We didn't know it at the time, but he had an ear infection on top of already having bronchitis.  Tuesday is a work day for Boyd so I wake him up between 10 and 11 in the morning and then by 3 in the afternoon he is heading out the door for work.  I figured once Baby Boyd and I left the house in the car he would get happier or at least fall asleep.....wrong! To make a long story short I had a meltdown and my Mom helped the only way she could.  She contacted the one lady she knows that lives up here that she met in passing at church.  I know Lisa too, but we just talk to each other in passing, so I figured she would just shoot me a message on facebook to check up on me.

When I was finally on my way home from town, my phone rang.  It was Lisa and she was calling to check on me and make sure I was ok.  She made me promise to call her whether I needed to take a shower or if I needed a break, basically for anything! She told me that since my mom is so far away, and she has a daughter close to my age that also lives on the east coast, that she would just be my Alaska Mom. : )  Before we got off the phone she made me promise again that I would call her day or night if I needed anything.  She made it very clear that she is here for me and willing to help in whatver way she can.

It might not seem like a big deal from the outside looking in, but it was.  Sometimes it is hard to be so far away from everything you are familiar with.  If we lived in North Carolina it would be so easy to get a break or ask for help, but that is not the case.  This woman was nice enough to call me, an almost stranger, and extend her hand.  Afterwards I was so overwhelmed by her sweet words and was touched that she had called.  It was such a blessing to know that there are people in Alaska that are willing to extend their help without thinking twice about it.  I am so grateful for this woman, because she could have so very easily brushed my mom's message off, but she took the time to pick up the phone, call, and check on me. : )


Part 2:
A few weeks ago I became friends with Lauren Marie Graham on facebook.  Afterwards I found out that this is a page for a beautiful little angel.  Lauren had Bohring-Opitz Syndrome, which is a rare genetic disease.  Lauren was 20 months old when she passed away.  Lauren's family received help from an Alaska non-profit organization called HOPE Community Resources.  Hope goes into homes and helps families keep their sweet babies at home, here in Alaska, where they belong and can be loved.  Not until last night did I know that before HOPE came along many children with disabilities or illnesses had to be placed in foster care, or move out of state to get the help they needed.  Could you imagine if you had a precious child and you had to place them with another family so that they could get the help that they needed?  I know I could not!  So then Laurens' mom, Dana, kept posting status updates on the silent auction fundraiser they were doing for HOPE in memory of Lauren. 

I continued for at least 2 weeks seeing status updates, and thinking to myself that I wanted to get involved.  Finally I sent Dana a message on facebook and asked her what I could do to help.  She emailed back and said that if I wanted to, I could come to the silent auction and take pictures for her, so that she would be able to remember everything about it.  I immediately found a baby sitter!

There were over 200 items donated to the auction, beautiful flowers, and not to mention all kinds of delicious food!  There were also a number of people that donated their time to be there and help with making the event possible.  Throughout the night I was overwhelmed and astonished at the graciousness of people.  Many people there, to include myself, did not know Lauren or her family, but knew that maybe, by donating what they could, whether that be their time or money, that something amazing would come of this.  Something amazing did come of it and it was all in honor of an amazing little girl with an amazing, loving family who care enough to "pay it forward."  There were so many people that came up to Dana last night and said " I don't know you, but HOPE helps our family.  Thank you for what you are doing"  It was astonishing to see all of these people come together for such a wonderful cause.  Words cannot describe the feelings that I felt while standing there watching the home videos of Lauren with her family, and the way people gave to the organization that helped her stay that way for as long as possible.  It was so uplifting and touching to see how passionate the Graham's are for HOPE Community Resources and how their passion for helping others overflows to those ALL around them. 

I am pretty sure while driving home from Anchorage, listening to my K-Love radio : ), I cried most of the way.  I think of my life and how fortunate I am.  Right now in my life we are not experiencing any type of heartache or pain.  While I was in my car I heard a song that said:

"We gotta do better than this 'cause we only got

One chance to make a difference

We gotta do better than this 'cause we only got

One life that we've been given

A little love, a little kindness

A little light in this time of darkness

It'll be what makes us different

It'll be what makes us human"

After I heard this it made me realize how I have just been living inside a bubble and that I need to, and I am going to do better.  I am going to get involved and hopefully I will make a difference in someones life the way these ladies have done for me this week. One of many things I took away from the fundraiser was something that I heard Dana say.  She said " If anything I hope when people go home that they squeeze their kids a little tighter."  When I finally did get home, that is exactly what I did.  I sat and held my sweet baby boy and thanked God that he is healthy and he is here in my arms looking up at me.  I am so thankful that Dana's love for her daughter greatens the love I have for my son.  No one is promised tomorrow and it makes you stop and be thankful for what you have today. 

You can click here to read more of Lauren's story.  On May 7th HOPE Community Resources is having their 42nd Annual Walk & Roll for Hope which I will be attending! To read more about HOPE Community Resources, register to walk, or to make a donation Click Here.

Good Deal Friday! : )

We have been busy bees this week! Boyd Thomas is napping and Boyd has Jim Creek overtime.  For those of you who might be saying "Poor Boyd has to work on his day off," he is getting paid to ride around on a 4-wheeler right now. So Pshh, but yay for overtime,and that Boyd has such a cool job!  Just a little update, my hangy downy thing is doing much better! Therefore we are back into the full swing of things!  We have been spending a lot of time outside because the sun is finally out!  The snow is not gone, but slowly it is getting there.  Last night my friend and I were driving to the store and it was still light out at 8:45, we were excited! Spring is just around the corner here in the Valley! Today it was 45 degrees...I have debated opening our windows! haha

I am all about a good deal, and today I had a change of heart for second hand stores!!  I always go in and just feel overwhelmed and end up leaving.  Today I took the time to look, and it certainly paid off!  I am quite certain that after today's experience I will be checking the second hand stores more frequently!  I have been buying Boyd Thomas pajamas that are 2 for $20.  When your child pees, poops, drools, etc. all over his pjs, and not to mention he is growing like a weed, you need more than 2 pairs.  Today I bought pajamas for 2 dollars! 2 DOLLARS! That is a ginormous difference from 10 bucks a pop! I have also been wanting to get him a walker because he loved the one my mom had for him in NC, but they are at least $50 up here and they didn't even look very fun.  Today I bought a walker, 2 pairs of pajamas, swimming trunks, and 2 outfits for 30 dollars! Amazing! I know to some people this may not be a big deal, but when you stay at home and are on a budget ( not wanting to spend money as frivolously as others may) you get excited! So I just wanted to share my excitedness ( I'm pretty sure that's not a word.) with you all!

Boyd Thomas has been saying da-da-da-da all day long.  Everytime I say "ma-ma" he shakes his head no and says "da-da" back to me.  Hilarious, I know!

There are lots of other things I have planned to blog about, so I figured while I had a little time I would share my day with you all! Hope yours has gone as great as mine has! : )