Movies, popcorn, snuggling, and pajamas.

What does that sound like? A SLUMBER PARTY. yes, we are having a slumber party this very minute. Curt, Ryan and I are cuddling in a bed while Breanna, Carli, and Logi are in the other bed. And Curt rotates beds every so often. I LOVE it. It's the best.

Craft of the day.

I don't know about you, but I have been feeling very crafty these days. I think it's the weather and all of the Christmas decor coloring the world. And when I get all these ideas in my head, I get all excited and anxious. I can't do anything else unless I do the crafts in my head. This one happens to be a wreath. I chose icy colors like blue and purple, but really any color can work. Red would be great or a more earthy green perhaps. Anyways, what you need for this project:

1. wooden wreath/ twig wreathe

2. baby's breathe faux flowers (any color may work)

3. Decorative accents

4. ribbon

5. glue gun

I don't think you can get more simple than that. I used about 4 branches or baby breathe flowers, this can also be altered to more or less. To begin, cut the flowers from the stem. I chose flowers that had a similar stem color to the wood to allow blending. You then begin attaching the flowers all going in a specific direction. To attach you would weave the access stems through the wooden wreath. To secure the stems, apply glue to the stem and surrounding wood.

When completed, you can apply the decorative accents to the wreathe. I used Faux berries, red and brown, to accent mine. You can use anything from flowers to holly. Once that is complete, You can tie your ribbon onto the wreathe. and VOILA, you have a wreathe to hang on your door.

I just like to smile, smiling's my favorite.

I mean, who wouldn't like smiling during this fabulous Christmas season. It's like peanut butter and jelly -- smiling and Christmas go hand in hand.

This weekend we did a lot of smiling and a lot of Christmasing (yes, it is now a verb). Friday, we made it to the last few minutes of our ward Christmas party. The main reason we went was to show off the great Christmas sweaters we had (thanks to Lynn Isenbarger and her many assortments of holiday clothing). After the Christmas party, we went over to some friends place and watched ELF (probably one of the best Christmas movies made) while sipping on some Hot Cocoa (which Rachel microwaved for FIVE minutes). And that is only the beginning of our weekend.
Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early to a snow storm and four inches of snow in my car. I was not very happy, and Curt was really not very happy. But it's all apart of the Holiday spirit right? Besides, Christmas lights look 10 times better when theres snow on them.
Anyways, it was a perfect day to cuddle in bed and watch Home Alone. That movie is a classic holiday movie. Your Christmas isn't complete without it.

After the movie (and a much needed nap), we put on some Christmas Jazz (Vince Guaraldi Trio) and put lights on our Christmas tree. We are slowly, but surely, decorating our tree. No ornaments yet though. After that, we went to the Purdue PMO Christmas show. That was also great. There were beauitful songs and great sets. It made me want to carol for the rest of my life.
Sunday was a happy day. It always is. It was also a very VERY cold day. I'm not sure if you know this, but Lafayette is the Christmas CAPITOL of the mid-west. Pretty impressive. So, obviously we had to celebrate Christmas at the Christmas Parade! Who cares that it was 9 degrees out and I was only wearing a skirt? No big deal. It was worth it. Actually, let me tell you a secret. I think we MADE the parade. We are the reason Lafayette is the Capitol of Christmas. No one cheers louder for Ice Princesses or Boy Scouts troup 421. That is a fact. And what better way to end our very Christmasy weekend than to listen to the MoTab and our beloved Prophet Thomas S. Monson at the Christmas Devotional. Nothin gets better than that. The true meaning of Christmas is testified by the spirit. Serving others is the reason this holiday season is so grand. It is a time to forget ourselves and bask in the love of Christ for all of his sons and daughters.


And by the way, Christmas was mentioned 19 times. Welp, now 20.

We are His hands.

Today my dad worked through lunch. It's been pretty busy at the Y. So he decided to grab something to eat around 2:00. It just so happens that as he was driving to Wendy's, he saw the missionaries walking. This is not unusual, missionaries are always walking this way and that. But today was unusual because these missionaries actually have a car. My dad pulled up next to them and asked what they are up to. This was there response:

"A tire blew out on our car and we've been walking  for two hours, we have another hour and a half to go to get home."

Think about the prayers they must have been saying. If I was in there position, I would have been pleading with the Lord for help. They were walking for miles and miles, and at this point thought they would have to walk several more miles. But the Lord intervened, as he always does. He knew that my father would eat lunch late and he placed the missionaries in his path. Because my dad loves serving and buying meals for people, he told them to hop in the car and bought them lunch at Wendy's (the missionaries hadn;t had lunch yet either).

I find it amazing how our Heavenly Father has a hand in everything. He answers our prayers if we have faith in Him. It is so important for us to follow His promptings because we are His hands. We are here to serve His children in need.

The Dangers of Basketball.

The lastest news with Curt involves sports and injury -- not an uncommon combination.

Curt is a very active individual. He is all about running, playing, sweating, competing, winning. So naturally, when given the opportunity to play any sport, for example basketball, he jumps right on it. Every Wednesday night there's a group of guys that get together and play some church ball. One would assume that because you are playing basketball at a church, it would be clean and peaceful and safe. On the contrary, it is vicious, intense, and dangerous. People leave the court wounded and bleeding. Two weeks ago, Curt came home with a bloodied shirt and cuts all over his hands. These cuts were from a player's nails! That is a bad sign. That either means someone's nails need to be trimmed badly or clawing the competition is a new tactic. But anyways, THIS Wednesday Curt came home two hours earlier than he normally does. Not a good sign. But this time he couldn't talk! He was guarding this guy, who at times may get a little carried away, when he slugged him in the jaw with his elbow. Hiw tongue got busted up and was bleeding everywhere. Another shirt with blood all over it. Now, Curt can barely talk and it took him a half an hour to eat a BANANA. Looks like his diet will consist of pudding for a while.

Now you are warned of what really happens at Church Ball.

Needles and Frozen Windows

Today is December 1st. November is gone (what a great month, we will miss you dearly). And December wanted Lafayette to announce his arrival with snow. How sweet of him. So today, I wanted to thank December for the many great things he does for me. Thank you December, for giving me a reason to wear my mix-matched mittens. Thank you for inspiring holiday music, which I believe should only be played when there is snow outside. Thank you for making hot chocolate ten times more valuable in my life. December, even though Curt seems to dislike you (along with lots and lots of other people) mostly because you are paired with freezing temperatures and shortened days, I think you bring a wonderful element to the year.

ALSO. I have never ever gotten a real tree for Christmas. Crazy, I know. But my family has always chosen the easier, cost efficient way -- by using a fake tree. I don't mind this at all, don't get me wrong. We would always find the correct color branches and fluff them out together as a family. Good times. But I always wanted to experience picking a real live tree. And so we did. Curt and I went on an adventure to Ace Hardware store. Here we found trees of all sizes. Big trees, teeny trees, fat trees, perfect trees. Of course, we picked the perfect tree, which is fluffy and about 6 ft tall. I love it. We stuck it in the back of my Accord and hauled it away. It now sits in our living room, tall and beautiful. All it needs are some lights and ornaments. We will get to that another time.

a BLOG i love.

http://kristinandkayla.blogspot.com/

I can't wait until I have children and can take pictures of them whenever I want.

We will teach you how to jerk.

All you out there, wanting to develop your dancing abilities, you can learn from the best. The Isenbargers and the Olsens...or your can invest in the Kinect (which is so awesome and I want one).

But this is the more cost efficient way:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimdavis/sets/72157625434904520/


Anyways. Some of our good friends recently bought the Kinect (trademark) and invited us over to play with it. IT WAS SO AWESOME. There is no remote used because you  ARE the remote. And let me tell you, we were doing the dancing game, and I was sweating like crazy. We did some techno crazy dance, we did some Basement Jaxx, we did not Poker Face, we did some Jerkin. It was intense. And on top of that, we all played volleyball right before -- it was an extreme night. I loved it. 

It's been a long long time since I've memorized your face

I know you have all been DYING to know about the wonderful Sufjan Stevens. It is no mystery to me, which is why I have prolonged this blog post for quite some time. It had nothing to do with the lack of time on my hands at all. Well, maybe.

Let's begin. The venue was a lot smaller than I expected. I was more like a local amphitheater and fit about 500 people there. So we were nice and cozy. I liked it. It felt like a bunch of people coming together around a campfire to sing songs- in a way.

This concert was very different from his past concerts. This is mainly because of his most recent album (The Age of Adz). This album is a completely different genre. Instead of being a folk, acoustic artist, he transitioned into the more electronic genre. I, personally, thought it was amazing. I think a true artist is one who is continually experimenting, expounding, and  developing a personal style. I also think that an artist is someone who has the ability to go excel in other aspects or genres. Sufjan does exactly that. Curt quoted his swim coach which better expresses what I am trying to say.

"You aren't a good swimmer unless you perfect every single stroke."

I feel that The Age of Adz is a progressive step for this artist. He is pushing his musical talent farther than he ever has before. I am in love with his powerful and captivating voice and his ability to express his emotions with such vigor. I experienced the anger, frustration, longing, and selfishness he expressed in his compositions. Not many artists can evoke such passion within the audience.

I had to put this one up. it is hilarious. Check our the texting/ facebooking mom and her not very happy son.

I will find you, and stick stickers on YOUR car.

Today I walked out to my car to find this big yellow sticker on my window. It said:

WARNING: YOUR ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PARK HERE AND YOUR CAR HAS BEEN NOTED. NEXT TIME WILL BE TOWED.

Obviously, this wasn't a very professional and well thought out idea at all. I mean, it was a STICKER. Not a window sticker, a sticker that doesn't come off. Like the ones your doctor gives you after a shot. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is vandalism. I don't care that I parked in your dumb lot. Write me a polite note, I would be more than happy to move- Don't put a dang yellow sticker on my window and not have the decency to remove it yourself! What happened to paper slips or tickets? They must have missed this memo. But I know one thing, whoever put that sticker on my car is not nice. We are not friends.

more edits of Logan.

Bows and Belts. Craft Fair Extravaganza

If you guys were wondering, there is a craft fair THIS WEEKEND (November 6, 2010) and I, along with several other women, am participating in it. This means I am selling a plethora or crafts (which I love). This craft fair I am focusing on belts (which was a new challenge for me), clips, and earrings. It has been so fun. Below are some pictures of belts I have been working on. If you like what you see, come to the craft fair!

 

Made from a recycled belt and beautiful flowers left over from my wedding. I <3 it.

This is a velcro belt with hand stitched flowers as an accent.

Made from an awesome tie I found.

White velcro belt with white flower accents.

Another beautiful tie I found and recreated into a belt. It is adorable.

This is one of my favorites. It is hand stitched ribbon and fabric accented with hand stitched flowers.

 

The Nightmare on Halloween...

This is my brother, Ryan. He is awesome. This Halloween he decided to be the one and only Harry Potter.

This is my darling sister, Breanna, and my wonderful husband, Curt. Curt has a keen eye for hair color, not to mention great deliverance.

So happy. Her being a goth girl. (I feel like everyone goes through this phase in their lifetime)

This is my adorable sister, Carli. She was Red Riding Hood. I think she pulled it off dang well.

I have fun taking pictures of her. She is quite photogenic.

That is my husband again, and my great brother, Logan. These two are my favorite men in the world. I mean look at them, so happy, loving, inviting, and polite.

Great poses.

Up close and personal.

I wish I had the entire night on video. It was highly amusing. You would have laughed out loud. Logan, Curt, and I were performing Halloween musicals the entire night.This is a photo of children flocking to our door, mostly to see what the heck was going on. All the brave souls who dared to come over definitely were rewarded. Curt gave them handfuls!

Alex: he is evil.

Their true colors.

Want some candy?

 

 

 

 

So all in all, this Halloween was one of the best. I keep thinking about it, running the weekend through my head. I can't get over how wonderful it was. Starting with Friday night, Curt DJ'd for a Halloween party. So fun. I absolutely love dance parties. Then on Saturday, Curt and I were asked to participate in a haunted JAIL. Picture this with me, okay?

There is a large building in the middle of dark woods. This building has high walls, all surrounded by barbed wire. Inside their are padded cells, barred off cells, and isolated cells- for solitary confinement. This jail has only be shut down for six years. It still is very much a jail. All the walls have carvings of names and years and other naughty things. Their are metal toilets and dead rats. This entire thing was legit. It was worse when all the lights were out. You felt so confined, trapped. Curt's character was a crazed plumber, locked down in the cellar who would follow the group around through the night. He was fabulous, and always waited for the perfect moment to drop his massive wrench or bang the walls. I was an inmate. I was actually LOCKED into a cell. Horrible. I hated it. When people would come, I would rock back and forth, mumbling to myself. Or sometimes the door would open, and I would crawl out towards the people. I was creepin myself out! Anyways, it was a neat experience. I can't tell if I liked it or not.


What made Halloween was Sunday, hanging out with the family, helping them get ready for the night. It was hilarious giving candy away. I am pretty sure we scared half the kids in the neighborhood, but we had tons of fun! we sang songs about a lot of the kids costumes, and had little  dances. This one dead vampire came up and BIT curt TWO TIMES! and then when he pretended he was dead, a little wolverine came and body slammed him. It was very funny. It was a great great night.

My little boy is growing up.

So, I am the eldest child in my family. My baby siblings will always be just that --babies to me. It was a very odd experience today taking my younger brother's (Logan's) SENIOR pictures. are you kidding me? When did this happen? When did he grow seven inches taller than me? When did he start growing a scruffy beard? When did he begin to be a man? I must have missed it all, but he's still my baby brother.

Anyways, I had a blast with him today. He is hilarious. I have a bunch of silly pictures of his random acts throughout the day, and it still makes me chuckle. Here are a few of my faves.

Isn't he a stud muffin? I like to think so. Anyways, I have many many more amazing pictures of this good lookin kid that are incredible. Just not edited yet. I'll probably post more later. I love him so much.

50 days vs. 50 years

My grandparents have been married for 50 whole years. That is a lot of years. To celebrate, they made the trip from Madison, WI to the good ol' Lafayette, IN yesterday. After working our little buns off, Curt and I picked them up and went out to dinner, just the four of us. We went to a wonderful Italian place called Spageddies. Not gonna lie, it was ten times better than Olive Garden--no offense to anyone. We talked about everything. They told us how they met, which was during a bio class --while dissecting insects and things of that sort. A perfect place to spark interest. They told us about how they were introduced to the church, which was a very amazing story. One of the elect, I tell ya. All in all, we talked for about an hour and a half and I loved every minute of it. It is amazing how much they have been through and all they know. Not to mention how funny they are! We came back to our apartment after and showed them around. They were so shocked how big it was (which made me feel pretty dang good). They can think that all they want!
They are amazing people and I am so lucky to have them as grandparents. They absolutely adore Curt --who wouldn't? They have given him the "stamp of approval" and think the world of him.
My grandpa actually recently had brain surgery. You wouldn't be able to tell from the picture and how he acts, but a few months ago he had a egg sized tumor in his brain be removed. It was a scary time, but here he is-alive and well! I love him so much.


Words of Wisdom:
Cherish the time you have with your family.

Welcome to the Ymca...

Jadyn: Probably one of my favorites. She is so sweet and nice ALL the time. She loves playing cops and robbers and getting an underdog on the swings.

This is Dylan. He is adorable and pretty dang smart. He just needs a little help once in a while to focus.

This is Kendall. She is crazy and I absolutely love her. We play Memory, and she always wins.

This is Payten and Ron. Payten has down syndrome. She loves to play Sorry everyday. She LOVES Hannah Montana and sings for us all the time. Ron is hilarious and goofy. He says the funniest things. Yesterday he told me that I was pretty cute. I pretended I didn't hear it.

Kerrigan is super hyper. You wouldn't expect it from this teeny girl, but once you get to know her, she wants to play school all day long.

This is Hannah, one of my awesome co-workers. The kids absolutely love her.