Hobby Lobby.. need I say more?

Hobby Lobby.  It's like the greatest store ever.  I seem to find myself there a lot lately getting scrapbook materials, cake decorating necessities, acylic paints, art canvases, Christmas ribbon, picture frames, etc.  I LOVE that place!

I've been having fun making crafty projects lately.  I'm not that great at them, but I enjoy having a hobby.  I'm currently working on a dry erase board made with scrapbook paper.  I'm super excited about it and have been searching for the perfect color combinations.  I'm making a few as gifts so I'll have to wait until I make my own to show pictures.

Here are a few projects I've made....

I used an "expression" from Uppercase Living and created this cute sign to showcase Gavin's art work!

 
A friend of mine held a Fall Workshop and had several projects for us to choose from and create.  I selected a double sided chip board that could be used in the fall and for Christmas.  We cut scrapbook paper and used spray adhesive to help it stick to the chip board.  Then we used thin ribbon to connect the boards.  It can stand up on its own by alternating each section just a little. 

Front:

Back: (it says Noel, but the "E" is hard to see).  It looks really cute on our mantle next to our stocking holders (yes, our house is decorated for Christmas already... and we even have a few presents wrapped)

I really liked the way this sign turned out using a metalic silver paint! 

I made a door sign for some friends of ours who had a little boy a few months ago.  The theme in his bedroom is "safari/animal" so I "attempted" to make it look like it had animal stripes.  I was happy with this for being my first one.  I'm currently working on another one of these signs that is cowboy/ranch style.

Last but, not least, a few weeks ago my sweet, talented friend, Deeann Carson (actually as of this coming Saturday....will be Deeann Rieves), came down to Houston and held a Painting Workshop with some of my closest friends.  Deeann is a gifted artist, check out her paintings hehttp://www.joydeeann.com/re.  She taught us painting techniques and showed us how to create a work of art.  I just realized I never posted those pictures.  I'm making a note to do that soon.  It was a really neat experience.  Anyways, Deeann had painted several pieces for us that are all around our house with pictures from our wedding, pictures of Gavin, a piece from her Women of the Bible series, and a representation of David and Goliath.  So, I took advantage of learning how to make an abstract painting and here is what I created.  It's funny because starting out, I painted my canvas BRIGHT pink and put hints of neon green, and this is how it turned out:

Playing football.. sort of

Gavin LOVES his friend Cade.  They are able to play together a lot now that Gavin is walking, running, and throwing things.  Cade LOVES Gavin too.  They are buddies.  On Sundays, we always have lunch with Cade and his parents.  This past Sunday, we ate outside at a restaurant and so they played some "football". 

**Don't forget to go to the bottom of the page and click pause on the music playlist so you can hear the boys giggle!!

Boys will be Boys!

We've noticed over the past month that Gavin has become a lot more independent, willing to try new things, likes to explore his surroundings, and believes that every object serves a purpose and he wants to figure that out, as well as determine how to work it. 

Now, here, he knows that Mommy and Daddy take things out of the dishwasher so he wanted to help.  I was standing right there at the sink and never even heard him climb up. 

Sometime, a while back, Brooks put Gavin on Maggie to help him ride her like a horse (while Brooks was holding onto him, of course).  Gavin has now decided that he should be able to do it himself.  This is the beginning stage.  I had to put the camera down immediately as step 2 was in progress. 

If you know Gavin, you know he tends to drool a little bit (okay that's an understatement, but still) and he likes to eat.  It seems that for some reason his drool and something he ate didn't go well together, thus, creating a small blister on the bottom of his chin.  This was not caused by any "act" that Gavin did.  We have been trying to help it to go away. 

Let's get back to Gavin enjoying exploring his surroundings. The other day, Brooks and I were diligently Christmas shopping trying to knock out our list for all the men in our family.  Gavin was doing amazing sitting in the shopping cart, strapped in, and taking in all the colors, sounds, etc.  Until he decided that he wanted to play with something we had inside the cart.  Because we didn't want to risk him dropping it over the cart, we decided to let him SIT inside the basket with all the gifts and play with them.  At some point, Gavin stood up, which we were okay with becasue we were holding his hands. Then this happened.....

Note to self: children can stumble on their own feet while standing still on a flat, non moving service.  Boxes have corners that can scratch up your child's nose.  Gavin fell and landed directly on a box and it got it pretty good.  He only cried for a minute then was fine.  NEVER once did he act upset that his nose hurt him.  He's tough!  He was nicknamed Rudolph at church yesterday.  Just one more reason Brooks and I deserve the Parents of the Year award. 

If that's not enough, on our way out of the restaurant yesterday, Gavin wanted to walk ahead of us and ended up tripping on a small ramp that Brooks and I didn't see.  Gavin fell and landed on his forehead.  Thus, creating a small knot on his head.  He cried for a few minutes and then was fine. 

 
Brooks and I have accepted that these things are going to happen.  We just wish they weren't all in the same week.  Gavin is still his happy self, though.  Nothing stops this kid from doing ANYTHING!!

Okay people, with the new settings, how in the world do you do a spell check??? can anyone help, please?!

From disaster to delicious

What do you do when you bake 2 SETS of cake and they ALL fall apart?!?!?

You give some to your 14 month old child, of course....

He wanted more!!  He really liked the cake!

OR, you make Cake Balls!  Yummy!  Sorry, they aren't pretty, but I had a LARGE bowl of crumbled up cake to use. 

Fall Fun

FALL is here and the weather has been amazing.  Gavin and I took advantage of it and went to the park the other day.  He absolutly LOVED being outside, getting to run around, and sliding down the slides as well as climbing up the slides.  He really liked playing and I was amazed to see how independent he was trying out all the equipment. 

Friday night, we went to a BBQ for all the families who are going to Saudi to give everyone an opportunity to get to know one another on a more personal level.  I got to meet lots of the wives and talk about all of our "feelings" about moving.  We were able to discuss things with couples who have already been to Saudi and learn more about the lifestyle.  One of the main purposes for the BBQ was to allow all the kids to meet so they could feel more comfortable with the move.  Gavin had a blast watching all the "older" kids playing and running around.  He chased them around and was in awe of them.  He laughed and giggled at them.  He even participated in the game Twister with them.  It was hilarious and beyond words, precious.  He was so into the kids that he lasted until 10:30pm playing and hanging out.  There is another little boy who is a month younger than Gavin and they hung out too.  They shared each other's sippy cups, pacifiers, and snacks.  They even took turns tearing apart napkins and throwing the shredded pieces on the floor.  We didn't mind since it was entertaining them. 

Here are some pics from our week!

Chocolate, please?!!?

It seems Gavin has the same love for chocolate as me!  I was baking brownies for a party we were going to and had some batter left in the bowl and then decided that Gavin needed a taste.  We do not normally give Gavin chocolate, and I think this was only his 3rd time to have chocolate in OUR presence, but he REALLY likes it.  We figured since it was Halloween day and he doesn't eat candy that he at least deserved something sweet.  It's pretty obvious he appreciated it! 

YUMMY!!!

Halloween 2009

We had a BLAST this Halloween.  Gavin was a dinosaur, although many people kept refering to him as a dragon, but he was a CUTE dinosaur.  Brooks and I spent the last few weeks putting Gavin's costume on him every day, so he could get use to it, since he wasn't too excited to wear it.  Needless to say, we weren't sure whether he was going to keep it on for an evening, but he actually didn't mind it.  We put it on him and he walked around the entire time without complaining once! 

Gavin woke up at Captain and Kimmie's house Saturday morning to a special Halloween treat filled with lots of goodies.  Thanks mom for the cute Christmas pajamas and cereal bars!  Gavin loves them!

Brooks and Gavin just hanging out before we went trick or treating.

We went trick or treating with some friends, who have a 3 year old named Cade. Cade and Gavin are true buddies and they loved hanging out together.

Here we are walking down the street with Gavin.  I was trying to help Gavin hold his Elmo bucket. 

Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?!?!  What a night of fun memories!

Oh yea, after we took the boys trick or treating, the adults went to a Halloween party.  We dressed up as the gang from Scooby Doo.  We won 2nd place in the costume contest, so everyone else thought we looked good, too! 

It was a fun filled Halloween night!

PS: I fixed the comment section on the blog, so it should be much easier for you to write us a short note, if you want to.  Try it!