Crazy Creations

I walked into the kitchen and found the dinosaurs all lined up like this and said,
Me: "Whitney what are the dinosaurs doing?
Whitney: "Migrating."



Whitney made this vest for her doll and even added a little flower bin to the lapel. She has no real interest playing dolls, she mostly likes to make clothes for them.


This is another one of Whitney's creations made from my old pair of tights. She will NOT be wearing this one to school.

**Any dinosaur migration at your house?
Should I let her wear the tights hat to school?**

Follow-Up--Oh My Goodness

Thanks for all the great comments on my good mail post yesterday. I used Random.org (so cool, thanks for the info Amy) to select the 5 winners. The winners were commenters 5-Hannah, 10-Kate, 24-Wende, 26-Robyn and 30-Kristine. Congratulations, something will be coming your way this week!

After posting yesterday I realized I hadn't taken photos of a few things I'd received, plus I ended up getting a couple things in the mail yesterday as well so here's what should have been in yesterday's post.


Michelle sent me this gorgeous photo thank you note for the birthday gifts I gave her.


Kim Sue sent me this nice thank you note for a card I sent her.


Rachelle sent me this thank you note for the birthday stationery I sent her.


Kate sent me these awesome cards she designed and a thank you note for the good mail labels I sent her recently.


I took this close-up of this picture Kate drew on the envelope she sent me. Whitney was particularly impressed with this.


Jane sent me a card I'd sent to her, along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope so I could send it back to her (funny right?). She also sent me a note with a funny story along the lines of Landon's "sticks" story last week.


Here's a shot of my make-shift good mail photo studio. I used to set things on the black table in the family room, but the light proved to be unreliable. So I taped some black cardstock together and started taking the pictures on my dryer.


The window in the laundry room provides nice light at all times of the day, so this works for me. (Notice the busted lint guard, it mocks me so.)

**Have you seen Random.org?
Can you draw like Kate?
How do you document your good mail?
What do you think of my make-shift studio?**

Oh My Goodness

I haven't posted any good mail since March 2nd, so I'm way behind. This has been a good month for me that has brought a card in the mail almost every day (woohoo).


This envelope from Claudia was filled with quotes written on little notepad paper. I think it's cute that when she loves a notepad or stationery a lot she makes sure she uses it. I have never written a note on a notepad like that before, I'm way too much of an "in the box" thinker and would only use it for notes.


Jessie sent me this thank you card back in January for the baby gifts I sent her, but somehow it didn't get posted until now.


Lori sent this note to thank me and the kids for "heart attacking" her apartment for Valentine's Day.


This is another little note from Claudia, check out the envelope. I sometimes wonder how her letters make it to me at all.


Shannon sent me a copy of the magazine her home and garden were featured in this month. She had posted about this honor on her blog and I asked where I could get a copy of the magazine, so she sent me one. The photos are gorgeous, so I'm dying to visit her home and garden in real life. Wow, wow, wow!


Cheryl sent me this thank you note for the good mail labels she ordered from me. It was totally unnecessary and yet so nice.


Natalie sent me this thank you note for the good mail labels I sent her as part of my Pay It Forward post. She always has nice things to say about me and my blog, and I must say I really enjoy that about her. Ha.


Claudia always thanks me for the letters I write her even when they're full of blunt advice. I've sent her some things this year (I write her weekly) that I've been afraid might push her over the edge of friendship, but even when she bristles at something I say she still ends up thanking me for caring enough to say it. What a great quality to have, I need to be better about this myself!


Jenn (who started blogging again after a 7 month absence) sent me this thank you note for the birthday stationery I sent her. I always call her Jenn, but she signs her name Jennifer, so now I'm wondering if I should switch, though I'm not sure if I can.


Ann sent me this postcard, and cracked me up by pointing to where she lives in the picture. She wrote, "Can you see me waving?"


This is one of Claudia's signature swirling text cards. I don't know how she writes these notes without getting dizzy because I definitely have a problem when I read them. Notes from her are never boring, that's for sure.


Patsy sent me this thank you note for sending her a double set of good mail labels when I sent her order. She is great at sending good mail so I really wanted to make sure she had a good supply.


I got this note from Claudia complete with a napkin diagram of a little car accident/incident she was in.


Jen M. sent a super nice letter in this card. It has been a blessing to get to know her through blogging, and I love that we have become good friends.


Amanda L. sent me this darling card to thank me for some 3x5 cards I sent her awhile ago. She uses them for everything, so when I saw a colorful pack of them one day I got them for her.

A pretty card from Missy Claudia.

Kathleen sent me this nice thank you note for the good mail labels I made her, even though she ordered them from me. That was a nice thing to do, and it's always great to get feedback and find out that someone likes what I made for them.


Darlene sent me a thank you note for these notecards I sent her. She was one of my Pay It Forward winners from the last time I posted about good mail. Maybe I should Pay It Forward every time.

Claudia sent me this lovely card.

Robyn sent this thank you note for the birthday gifts we gave Ashley and Jared.


Esther sent me this nice thank you card for some good mail I recently sent her. She's Claudia's best friend so she calls me "Missy" too.


My sister-in-law Amy M. sent me one of her gorgeous photo thank you cards for going in on the birthday outfit we gave her as a family.


Kim Sue recently sent me a thick envelope of printed responses to comments I'd made on her blog posts (so sweet!). All this time she's been replying to things I've said or asked, and just recently found out that I wasn't getting any of them so she went back and printed them out. Wow. I don't know how to change my settings so that people can reply to my comments, does anyone know how to do this?


Amie (aka The Coupon Lady) has become the Queen of Rebates and has taken to passing some of them on to me. I was so surprised to get this check for $7.50 in the mail one day (from Coors Light no less) and thought it was hilarious that the day I took it to the bank to cash it I was also cashing two reimbursement checks from the church. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of them, and I wonder what the cashier thought. (FYI--Mormons don't drink, hence the humor.)


Tasha sent me this nice thank you note for the birthday stationery I sent her. She liked the cards so much she ordered another set of them through my Etsy shop, how nice!


Natasha sent me this rather creepy postcard last week. She's still not blogging because she gave it up for Lent, but hasn't forgotten her blogging friends. I am so NOT a Mardi Gras kind of girl, it totally freaks me out.

I am going to start Paying It Forward on all my good mail catch-up posts like this. So 5 commenters chosen randomly will be getting something from me.

**Have you gotten a swirling text note from Claudia?
Do you give friends blunt advice
when you're worried about them?
Do you have Good Mail Labels?
Are you a Mardi Gras kind of gal?**

Sunday Thoughts

Today has been a great Sunday thus far and I'm feeling so grateful. Each week I pray to feel the Spirit and to hear what I need to hear, and I always come away being glad I went to church and grateful for the things I've learned. But today was one of those days where I felt like I was positively beaming with the Spirit.


I shared my testimony in Sacrament Meeting, which I haven't done in over a year. I talked about my testimony of obedience and that by doing the things we've been asked to do we find true happiness. I truly believe this and have felt such an increase in faith and spiritual strength over these past 2 years of daily scripture reading with the family and by myself, and through our consistency with family prayers morning and night and weekly Family Home Evenings.


I have learned that these things are NOT hard to do once we commit to doing them. I don't know why I thought they were hard for so long. I guess I didn't really want to do them and wasn't committed to doing what was asked of us. But now that we have, I KNOW we are blessed daily.


Like everything in life, it is our personal experience with things that teaches us. We can be inspired by the things other people do, but ultimately we have to do them ourselves if we want to test God's promises and know without a doubt that things are true.


Sometimes it feels like there is just too much to do, too many obligations, too many "shoulds" in life, but I think this is one of Satan's ways of running interference and keeping us from doing the things that will bring true peace and happiness. We filter out the nonsense and focus on the things we know will have the most impact and take us where we want to go.

We can choose to have hope, choose to have faith, choose to be obedient, and put those things into practice then see what will happen. The Lord keeps ALL of His promises, we're the ones who complicate things.

**Thoughts??**

Viva Familia!

Last night, the whole family (except Jared who had a rugby commitment and Andrew who was with a baby sitter at home) gathered at our house to celebrate Bella's 9th birthday. I had spent a good portion of the day cleaning and preparing for the gathering (since there was no Creative Friday this week) and was so weary by 5:00 I feared I wasn't feeling very partyish and sociable.


I gave myself 15 minutes (but thought I had 30) of reading time in the cozy before my dad arrived (he's always early when he's coming from work) but it proved to be enough time relaxing horizontally (sometimes gravity feels heavier than other times so I need a break) and I recovered nicely.


Everyone else arrived at 5:30, so my very clean house turned into a people-filled mess quickly. I knew that was going to happen, so most of the cleaning I'd done was for my own state of mind. No one checked behind the couch or under the cushions, but those were cleaned anyway. (How do Cheez-its get back there in the first place??)


Randy was on panini-making duty, and Adam brought pizza for the kids. We shewed them outside even though it was rather chilly.


Our house is getting smaller and smaller as the kids get bigger, and they each seem to take up twice as much space as their little bodies should actually take. It's funny and annoying at the same time.


Landon is at the age where he's not quite one of the kids and definitely not one of the adults, so he tried to stay in the kitchen even though we were shewing the rest of the kids out. He tried to claim sanctuary by using his status as the oldest cousin, but I still gave him the boot.


Since giving up diet Coke 3 years ago, I struggle with having drinks stocked for guests. I want to be a good hostess so I was very happy when Lori opened the fridge and delightedly found her beloved beverage on hand. We even had regular Coke for Jared, but he wasn't here to enjoy it.


We had chocolate-chip cookies and ice cream for dessert (and cupcakes for the kids). It doesn't take much to please this group, as long as it's all tasty. All the adults sat around the table for 3 hours talking and laughing as Adam entertained us with story after story. He has a gift for being hilarious and had most of us bent over with laughter. (I really need to take video of him more often.)


Bella spent the night here, and Landon spent the night with Austin so we just had Whitney and Bella here for the night. I let them stay up until midnight playing Game Cube together. They're never here alone, so this was a particular treat for them and they were screaming with laughter and excitement as they played. This morning they've played together nicely and are just so cute together. I hope they stay "best cousins" forever.

**Do you ever clean so much
you're too tired to be sociable?
Do you shew the kids out of the kitchen too?
Do you have one family member who entertains the group?
Did you ever have a "best cousin"?**

Five for Friday--Spring Shming Edition

1. Remember the beautiful, happy, spring-delight crocus picture from last week? Well, this is what happened to those poor flowers this week...Mother Nature is a cruel mistress!


2. Yesterday I had to take Whitney out of school early and drive her to Sandy for Bella's skating birthday party (Bella had early-out yesterday). I had all of Whitney's sleepover stuff ready and only needed to bring her scooter for the party so I left myself this note, but still managed to forget the scooter (#$@!). Luckily, I remembered as soon as I picked up Whitney from school, so we weren't far from home and were able to get the scooter, but still.


3. Whitney and I made cookies the other night (not the best time of day for me patience-wise) and I realized how hard everything is for her because she's left-handed. She doesn't think things are hard for her, but as I watch her maneuvering with the baking tools it all seemed more challenging and off. It's a right-handed world.

4. I found this video on my camera this morning, and it delights me to no end. It's only 17 seconds long because the memory card filled up, but it's classic Landini and I love it.


5. Whitney rediscovered Tinker Toys this week and has amused us by creating this hair dryer, a shopping cart, a scooter, and a propeller gun. The girl has got skills.

**What season is it at your house?
Do you forget things even when you leave yourself a note?
Is late-day baking a bad idea for you too?
Are you left-handed?
Did Landon's video make you laugh?
What do you think of the tinker toy creation?**