Refinishing

Ethan and I are working on Refinishing our Table. Do any of my blogger friends have advice for us? We have it sanded and now we are ready to stain it. Please share any advice you have, and of course wish us luck!

Silas' new room

I have been meaning to post pictures of Silas' new bed, I just love these pictures of him. Usually I can't get a great big smile out of him but he has been giving me lots of them lately. Silas loves his Robot bedding and demands to sleep on the robot pillow which is a sham, oh well not a battle worth fighting.

We finally bought enough pieces for Silas' train. He got the Table for his birthday and some random trains. We gave him the train set for Christmas, I had no idea how hard it would be to get the track to fit right LOL. I LOVE that Silas is getting old enough to play with toys. He is starting to use his imagination and gets shy when I catch him pretending.

Words to live by

I saw this on someone else's blog, I loved it so much I had to share!

MARY ELLEN SMOOT
on creation

We each have to say to ourselves, What will I create of my life? My time? My future?

First, go where the Spirit directs. Be still and listen. Your Heavenly Father will guide you as you draw near to Him. Immerse yourself in the holy word of the prophets, both ancient and modern, and the Spirit will speak to you. Be patient, ask in faith, and you will receive guidance in your creative efforts.

Second, don’t be paralyzed from fear of making mistakes. Thrust your hands into the clay of your lives and begin. I love how Rebekah of old responded to Abraham’s servant who came in search of a wife for Isaac. Her answer was simple and direct, “I will go,” 3 she said.

Rebekah could have refused. She could have told the servant to wait until she had the proper send-off, a new wardrobe, until she lost a few pounds, or until the weather was more promising. She could have said, “What’s wrong with Isaac that he can’t find a wife in all of Canaan?” But she didn’t. She acted, and so should we.

The time for procrastination is over. Begin! Don’t be afraid. Do the best you can. Of course you will make mistakes. Everyone does. Learn from them and move forward.

Third, support others along the way. Every person on this earth is unique. We all have varied interests, abilities, and skills. We are each at different levels physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

Finally, rejoice. Creation isn’t drudgery. Creation flows from love. When we do what we love, we rejoice along the way.

If you are unhappy, if you are feeling weary, troubled, or disillusioned, may I ask you to try something? Instead of dwelling on your troubles, focus instead on creating something remarkable, something of eternal significance. Nurture a testimony, strengthen a relationship, write a family history, go to the temple, serve.

now go take on the day!

Baking!

Before Silas was born I spent lots of time day dreaming about the things I would do with my children and the lessons we would learn together. LOL.......... I think I was dreaming about having a doll and not a real child. Life is never exactly what we dream it will be, thankgoodness! I never realized how stressful it would be to try and bake with a 2 year old! Naturally like any 2 year old Silas wants to do everything on his own, he just doesn't understand that there are some things that he cannot do. We made cookies together in this pic, and we had a blast. I have had a good laugh thinking about all the stressful funny things that Silas did when we were making the cookies. For example dumping the cinnamon in after I already added it, grabbing an egg when I wasn't looking (he is sooo fast!) , and making a bit of a mess with the blender. Believe me when we were making the cookies I was a little frustrated, but I really cherish those moments I have with him even if they do not happen the way I thought they would. I LOVE this picture of us and I am so grateful for my determined little boy!

New Table and chairs!!!

We just bought new chairs!!!!!!! I am so happy to be rid of my ugly farmhouse chairs. It is so nice to have new leather chairs they make the clean up from Silas so easy. One of our friends gave us the table, we need to refinish it but I am so happy to have a big table. I LOVe getting new furniture, isn't it fun?

Christmas

We spent Christmas at home with my Sis and our good friends the Zwiefels. We had lots of good food (I can actually make good food) Stuffed mushrooms, spinach artichoke dip....honestly I can't remember everything, LOL. We played moods which is a very fun board game and lots of Rock Band. I am so mad at myself I didn't take very many pictures of our Christmas.....I am so bad about taking pictures ugh!

Si enjoying all the good food!

These are our mice that we make every year, they are so good and fun to make.

The boys playing Rock Band, that's Alisha in the back making the funny face. LOL

We opened presents at Christy's house this year. While we were opening presents our friends the Turley's stopped by with warm muffins! Thanks guys that is an awesome tradition. Silas got a toy laptop among many other presents, we totally spoiled him this year. I said that I never would, so never say never. He didn't even open up his train set till the day after christmas he was having so much fun playing in his new tent on his toy laptop.

Si sporting his new Madagascar pjs and Laptop

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!