Nativity Blocks

I saw this idea online and my mom and I decided to make them last year for each of my siblings, my husbands sister, my best friend and of course a set for ourselves.

We thought it would be the perfect craft that kids can play with and their moms won’t tell them not to touch. It isn’t fancy or anything, but cute!

My dad cut the blocks out and my mom and I painted and mod podged the characters on. The characters are stickers from the Me & My Big Idea collection which i do believe is discontinued now (I found my set on eBay). But new sticker designs are coming out all the time. I would recommend finding a digital set you can print as many times as you would like and cut out. 

Here is my set, sitting on my ugly fireplace... apartment is a rental so nothing I can do about the fireplace. Maybe if you look close enough you can see where previous renters used the wood as a nice place to put their dart board!

Here is my mom's display.

Here is a picture from my best friend Breanne's display. She is renovating her house and doing an amazing job at it. Check her out here.

My sister-in-law kids lost the Jesus block this year. It was a big joke in the family that they were trying to find Jesus this Christmas. So far, Jesus is yet to be found in the Simpson household ;)

Days Till Christmas Blocks

I know these blocks can be found everywhere from blogs to super saturdays (google super saturday crafts if you don't know what it is), but I thought I would share my version.

My sister who claims to not be crafty, did one with me. Here she is hard at work.

The supplies:

• 2 wood cubes measuring 3.5 inches
• 1 wood block measuring 7.5 inches long, 3.5 inches deep and 1 inch tall
• 12 pieces of christmas scrapbook paper measuring 3 inches square
• Mod Podge
• White Paint (or any color you choose)
• Sponge brush
• Letters that read "Days Till Christmas" (I got my vinyl lady to cut it for us)
• Numbers for block 1 - 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (I used my cricut to cut these out)
• Numbers for block 2 - 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 (make sure your 6 can also be a 9)

The finished product!

Christmas Tree Decorating

I was watching CityLine on Monday and they had Debbie Travis on. She was talking about decorating Christmas trees. 

Here is the link to the whole episode.

The best part of the show was when she was talking about how many ornaments you should be putting on a tree. She said that for every foot of height on the tree you should have 10 ornaments. 5 of the 10 are the "core" ordainments which are basic balls. 3 of the 10 should be the "accent" ornaments which are decorative balls and different shaped balls. The last 2 should be the "theme" ornaments. Which I would consider the fun and very different ornaments.

Check out more Debbie Travis tips on the Canadian Tire Website. She can explain better than I can.

I know everyone is different, I think my tree follows this slightly but next year I will try and follow it more closely and see how I feel about the tips. Sadly this year we didn't set up our tree since we were away for all of December. My husband had 4 weeks off school and we picked up and left to spend 2 weeks with my parents and 2 weeks with his parents.

Here are a few pictures from my tree last Christmas.

I Love Christmas!

Winter Poem

Scott's grandpa sent him this poem and i thought i would share.
It is dedicated to my two and only two friends back in Regina (we are currently in Alberta enjoying a 4 week holiday)!

t's winter in Regina, Saskatchewan

And the gentle breezes blow …

Seventy miles an hour ,

At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Regina

When the snow's up to your butt …

You take a breath of winter.

And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful

So I guess I'll hang around …

I could never leave Regina,

Cuz I'm frozen to the ground!!

Request

As per the constant request from my family here is a few pictures of our apartment. My list of things to do to the place is still huge... so here are just a few pictures to give you idea of where i spend 99% of my time!
Our hallway. The mirror at the end of the hallway is where we get ready. Since the bathroom only has one plug and it razor only, hair is done in the hallway!

Boston's room. Well half of it... still working on a few parts of the other half. Including sewing a change table cover and lining the back of his bookcase. I just ordered his chair from csnstores.com. It didn't cost that much, same price as if i went to Home Sense and found it. BUT could never find one at Home Sense i liked.

Our dining area and behind that screen is my desk, bookcase and craft area. At the condo we had a separate room/den, but not here. I decided to use the dining room as my den and push the table into the living room. Its tight but it works.

The view of our couch and fireplace (which doesn't work). I am trying to find a beveled mirror for the fireplace but haven't found one yet at Home Sense. I saw the perfect one all the time in Calgary and Edmonton but not in Regina!

The front entrance and a view of my pretty curtains i just sewed last week. My goal for after Christmas is to recover those 2 stools below (which i am nervous about). I bought this bold flower fabric online when i ordered my curtain fabric and cant wait to see how it looks.

Take a look at my previous post. 
http://scottyandtara.blogspot.com/2010/09/finally-pictures.html
The kitchen looks the same, other than a few items on the counter and all my serving trays and plates on the top of the cabinets to add some color.
The bathroom also looks the same, just add some clutter to the counter.
I would take a picture of my bedroom but it is a mess right now... it's full of decorations for our Ward Christmas Party on the 3rd.


Hope you like it Alyssa!

Clock

My sister showed me this cute clock she wanted to buy and the crafter in me said, "We can easily make that ourselves".
We got our 40% off coupons for Michael's and went to look at clock hands. They seems too much money even with the coupon. Walmart Super Center was right next door and we found these for only $5.

Alyssa bought a piece of scrapbook paper and i used one i had at home. We have been blessed with a very talented father and got him to cut us our round base. Then using some other supplies I already had (vinyl, Mod Podge, Spray Adhesive, Sponge brush, sandpaper and paint) we made our clocks! 

Here is the finished product!

The things i learned from doing this project are:

1. Use spray adhesive to glue down large piece of paper and not mod podge. I didn't have the spray adhesive with me the day we started the clocks and my sister used mod podge and it bubbled! Once it dried it flattened but that might have been just lucky.
2. After gluing down the paper, use sandpaper and gently sand down the edges. This step blends the paper better into the wood for a more even look.


I love being crafty!

7 Months

Boston will be 7 months on Friday. When he turned 6 months i didn't really think anything of it other than the fact i could start him on solids. But for some reason as he is turning 7 months i am finding it shocking! I cant believe its been 7 months! Where has the time gone?!?!
We took these pictures of our "pioneer" before church today (the outfit makes him look like he is from Utah in the 1800s).
We just love this kid!

Banana

I gave Boston Banana today... this was his reaction.

I was trying out iMovie... so don't judge the video. Boston was on my lap the whole time and i have NO idea how to use that thing.

Happy Halloween

Being a Mom Sucked

I had my first moment as a mom when i didn't enjoy it! I know there will be plenty more of these moments especially since Boston is only 6 months old.

It all happened on the way back from Edmonton a couple of days ago. The flight to Edmonton was completely fine. Nothing too drastic happened, BUT on the way back to Regina that was a different story.

Everything was going fine, my parents came into the airport with me, helped me check in and then we had a nice lunch. We said our goodbyes and i proceeded to go though customs. The guy told me to break down the stroller and put it on the track thing to go under the scanner.

I told him it wouldn't fit and he said it will. A nice lady behind me offered to hold Boston and i folded down the stroller and lifted it on the table. Sure enough, it didn't fit! The guy was so confused on what to do! He stood there for a few seconds thinking. Finally i said, i can take off the wheels and then it will fit BUT they are a pain and hard to put back on! He thought about it, but hopefully got my "Don't make me take them off" tone. He called someone over, they told me to put it back up and they will go through it manually. I told the guy, that is what they did at the Regina airport! I was about to walk though the body scanner thing with Boston and the guy i had been dealing with said, you need to take off your sweater and the babies sweater. Okay... took off the sweaters.

I then got called over to the person checking the bags that didn't pass the scanner thing. He started to go thought my bag... one item at a time. I had some liquids in there i forgot about (baby lotion, unopened baby food). Then the lady checking over my stroller came up to me and said, this was suppose to go on the track scanner thing (it was my baby bjorn). She then walked it to the front of the line and put it in the bucket. Finally they let me go!
I was fluster at this point, sat down at my gate and checked my phone for the time. Had enough time to change baby and then pre-board with the other 7 babies on my flight. As i was walking to the bathroom, i heard this lady calling and i turned around and this lady said, you dropped this when you got up. WOW THANKS LADY! It was my iPhone! Glad i didn't loose that!

Got on the airplane, sat down, Boston started crying, a few people commented and was really nice and said, don't worry we have all been there. Baby had some food. Baby was happy. About 30 minutes into the flight, he started to freak out. Freak out like he normally never does. I cant do anything to make him happy. Finally he calmed down by me signing softly into ear and him watching the tv on the seat. Okay... good. Did i mention that i was sitting mostly all by business men. The guy next to me was super nice, had tons of kids and grandkids. Talked to him and his business partner a few times. Oh and luckily no one was in the middle seat. I was at the window and he was at the aisle. About 10 minutes before we landed Boston freaked out again. I thought the first time was bad, but this was even worse. I didn't know what to do. Nothing helped. I wanted to cry.

This whole time, the other 7 babies on the flight didn't make a single sound!

When we landed, he just started to fuss but stopped screaming. Everyone was getting up to wait to get off and this lady came over to me and offered to hold Boston. I gladly gave him up! She was nice and told me don't worry about it. She carried him off the plane for me and handed him off when i got to my stroller.

Okay... its all over i thought. NOPE!

Regina airport is small, i think one plane lands every couple hours. I phoned Scott once i got to the baggage area wondering were he was. He was a good 10 minutes away. At this point a tear finally came. The bags started to come, i put Boston in the stroller and he screamed! Everyone once again looked at me and knew now the faces to the annoyance on the plane. One lady came up to me and asked me how i was doing! I was like.... ummmm okay? She was super nice and encouraging and said how she told her husband on the plane, i should go hold the baby, wait, i should go hold the mother! (But seatbelt sign was on almost the whole flight.) We both laughed and said, well i wont see any of these people again.

I was holding Boston, pushing the stroller and trying to push the baggage cart. I waited till the area had almost cleared and started loading our bags and car seat. Pushed both items towards the front doors, while holding Boston and waited. Scott finally came, told me he had walked up and down the airport a few times but didn't see us. I was mad, didn't talk to him for the whole ride home. (The ride is only 10 minutes.)

Here is Boston on his first plane ride. I obviously didn't get any pictures on his second plane ride.

But don't worry, I still love being a mom!

Pie

We had the missionaries over for dinner last night. I loved baking so i decided to make a dessert. 

http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/sunshine-pie-118569.aspx

Doesn't it look yummy!

Unfortunately we never had a chance to partake of this goodness...

I was so sad. Not only was it a waste of money but i broke the glass dish too! There was a plus side of dropping it on the floor, i saved myself eating all those extra calories i obliviously don't need.

The funny thing is, this wasn't the first time i dropped a pie/cake on the floor. I made this yummy cheesecake back many years ago for my roommates.

Maybe i should stay away from making cakes and pies????

A Semi-Unhappy Post

The other day Scott and I were trying to write the little "about us" thing on the right side of the blog. It took us forever because Scott said everything i would write sounded depressing!
That inspired me to write a depressing post ;)

What I miss about Calgary:
1. Seeing family (Scott's parents once a week and mine a couple times a month) and Friends
2. My Job (I honestly miss working)
3. Evergreen Ward
4. My calling (I know I said I couldn't wait to get out of primary... it was almost 4 years, but I miss my primary ladies and knowing what calling they asked me to do, i am scared)
5. The home decor shopping (so far all i can find here is Home Sense and Walmart) Online shopping here i come!
6. Hanging out with my husband (he hasn't been coming home till 11pm every night)
7. Color on my walls
8. Boston's best friend and his mommy
I know this post is depressing but knowing me, in one years time i will write a post that says, what i am going to miss about Regina!


On a plus side, i see a lot of free time in my future and i have a large list of projects i want to accomplish. Some include:
1. Finish the quilt i started making right before i got pregnant and never found the time to finish it
2. Learn photoshop
3. Scrapbook (haven't done it for over 5 years but still love to buy paper)
4. Do a digital family history scrapbook
5. Figure out something i can do from home to make money (other than the bookkeeping i am already doing)
6. Lose the 30lbs i have gained since we got married almost 4 years ago


AAAAA feel good to write a semi-unhappy post!
Tara

Laughing Bean

Finally Pictures

We are surviving! Life in Regina is good. We are so busy right now with school for Scott and any spare time i have i am busy working at my part time job. Boston barely gives me any spare time, it seems like he doesn't sleep as much as i read babies should. 
Any one have any thoughts? He has a good nap in the morning but lacks a good nap in the afternoon. You would think that would mean he wants to go to bed early but most nights he wont go to bed till 11pm. Any thoughts, any suggestions??!!
We are slowly getting our place together. Here are some pictures of what the place looked like when we first moved in. (Sorry some of the pictures are terrible but it was so humid in the apartment when we got here because they had just cleaned the carpets.)

We went for an afternoon walk today. We have lived her for a few weeks and still haven't taken a walk to the nice lake up the street. I promised my mom i would take a cute picture of Boston wearing this shirt (for those of you who don't know, my maiden name is Woolley).

My Thoughts on Regina and our apartment after Week 1

The drive was better than expected; I was told it was boring and flat. I was surprised that I thought it was pretty and relaxing. But maybe after a few times back and forth my views on the drive will change.

Regina is bigger than I thought.

Regina has decent shopping. The two good things about the shopping is everything I need is right next to each other and not too far from where we live.


The University is a short walk away. Scott took us for a walk their on Saturday to see it and get all his books he needed. 


Scott got 5 books for his Masters program on Saturday and the price of all of them was the same as just one book he would have bought for his degree.

The place we are living in is okay… I said I would rather live here because it is bigger than our condo was, but Scott said he would rather live back in the condo because it is nicer (way nicer).

Scott is surprised about how good the MPA program. He comes home after class and cant stop talking about it.

We hate not having a dishwasher.

I love having no hallway to our apartment. Our door goes straight outside. 

I don’t like that when I open some of the cupboards, all I can smell is cigarette smoke.

Church here was okay. Nothing too exciting but happy to say at least 4 ladies are really nice!

They think Boston has a big head here, well at least one lady at church told me he did.

We get high speed internet on Friday! I will post pictures then… until then, I am enjoying this free slow internet provided to Regina by the government!

Move #1

We are officially out of our condo and moved in with Scott's parents. All our belongings are stored in their garage and their spare bedroom. We had an issue with the paper work for one of the parking stalls but i think it is finally worked out and no money was lost and especially no sale was lost!
It is amazing we went from this...

To this...

Bye bye my first place! I hope the two guys that bought it, enjoy it as much as we did!

I Should Be Packing...

Moving day is Saturday! But only the first move... the big move isn't till September. I am looking forward to moving to out of our disorganized condo and moving to a clean neat place with TV and a couch! Two things that i have messed greatly over the last few weeks. Actually our TV has been broken for at least a month. 

I am sure everyone that cares, will be glad to know i made a decision on what colors to do my new bedroom! YELLOW and GREY! I made a few cheap purchases, mostly from Home Sense and Winners. I also bought a few things that i need to paint and do a few other things to them. Can't wait!

Here is a few items i have purchased


Scott and I got new phones, which i am in LOVE with! Scott stood in line for 6 hours to get a pair of iPhones. I cant stop playing with it and either can Scott. Scott loves the games and I love my 2do app! I love creating list after list (yes i am a nerd).

Boston and I have been hanging out with our friends Koston and Ashley lately. Look how cute they are!



This was what Boston before church on Sunday. I had a hard time getting a picture of him with my phone because he was just so happy and kept moving around! Can't believe my little guy will be 4 months on the 19th of August!