House of Garcia

New Craft & Home Blog

2011-07-20T00:17:00.000-05:00

Hi Guys,

I thought it would be good to make a blog entirely to craft and home, instead of using my family blog. I hope you check it out. Let me know what you think.

http://lorigarcia.blogspot.com/

A New Kind of Chalkboard

2011-06-21T15:24:00.006-05:00

Seven years ago I had this fabulous mirror above my dresser. I got it half price at Hobby Lobby, and then I negotiated 25% more off (I'm not comfortable negotiating, but I did it anyway) because it had the smallest of cracks in the glass. Fast forward a few years and the mirror's crack got bigger and bigger (thanks to two crazy boys jumping on the bed?!) and we had to throw the mirror away. I begged my hubby to let us keep the frame (who knew what I could do with it in the future?!) and reluctantly he left me store it in the garage. He tried to throw it away a couple of times (I had to go get it off the curb once...) Now, seven years later we move into our new house, and I needed a new menu board. Thus, the fancy menu board was born (or reborn if you count it's former life as a mirror.)

What you need:
- frame
- tape measure
- Chalkboard paint (I like the spray can one because it's quick and easy)
- Bistro Markers (if you're fancy) or regular chalk if you're not

Step by Step:

1. Find an old frame or pick one up at a thrift or discount store. Clean it and decided whether it needs a nice coat of spray paint. (I like mine the way it was, so no painting required.)

2. Flip the frame over and measure the length and width of the inside. Write it down, go to your local hardware store of choice -- mine is our local Home Depot. Pick up a piece of MDF. It's pretty inexpensive since essentially it is paper-based.

3. This is where your measurements come in. At my Home Depot, they will make up to two cuts for free (or if you smile pretty, they make as many as you need :o)Have them cut the MDF to your measurements.

4. Lay out your MDF in a well-ventilated place on newspaper or drop cloth and spray with chalkboard paint. It will most likely need 2-3 coats before you are satisfied.

5. Place MDF in frame and secure it.

6. Decorate with Bistro Markers or chalk. (PS. Most craft stores sell Bistro Markers for about $10. I bought mine with a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby)If you do choose Bistro Markers, you will most likely need a damp cloth to remove it each time you change your chalkboard.

Now, whenever we have guests (or even the air conditioner man) in our house, one of the first things they mention is how much they like the chalkboard in our kitchen.... hmmm,good thing I didn't let my hubby throw the old frame away!

Valentines Cards

2010-02-16T22:05:00.002-06:00

My friend Kristine had this great idea (okay, so she found it on the Internet, it's her's right?!) and we decided to do them for our kiddos for Valentine's Day. Enjoy!

My Baby is 4!

2010-01-02T16:20:00.006-06:00

I can't believe my baby boy is 4 years old today! I seriously remember "just having him," and we still call him "baby" half of the time. Oh how time has flown by!

He is a sweet, fun-loving child, who worships his brother, wants to be around his dad all the time, and always has hugs (but not kisses anymore...."remember, I don't like kisses," he says now) all the time.

He's a huge fan of batman, the Hudson Hornet, backagun and all things boy. I love his energy (except during scripture study) and his enthusiasm, and his big heart that is always filled with "best friends." He likes order and neatness and always has to finish whether it's closing the door, putting all the "batman guys" in their cars, or get the glue lid screwed on tight.

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

What's a Mormon Church like? This is a good explanation

2009-10-27T06:50:00.004-05:00

First of all.... I know, I know, many of you are like, "what?! a post?" We actually had an awesome day yesterday of which I will post more on later this week.

When I saw this article on LDS.org I thought it was worth sharing, especially for those friends of mine who always want to know more about the Mormon Church. I thought you might find it interesting:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/what-you-will-find-when-you-step-inside-a-mormon-chapel

Enjoy!

Lori

Spring Photo Session with my Favorite Clients

2009-05-04T22:26:00.004-05:00

Bishop Daddy?

2009-04-26T23:48:00.003-05:00

I am excited and humbled to announce my husband's new responsibility at our church. For the next few years, he will be volunteering his time as the Bishop in our congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (He will serve as the preacher of our congregation. All positions at our church are filled by volunteers with outside jobs and responsibilities.)

With this added responsibilty and time to serve our God and our friends, I will have to take on more responsibilities at home. With this being said, I am going to cut back a bit on my photography sessions. I am limiting my availability to Saturdays, with one appointment a week.

There will some exceptions for rain-out appointments and emergencies.
Thanks to my dad for snapping this impromptu photo.

Lori

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-12T01:44:00.002-06:00

It feels like we were just doing the big Christmas Card rush - tons of photo sessions, last minute print jobs and getting them to clients in time to be mailed - and now it's time for Valentines Day. I love doing sessions with my kiddos, but it's always harder than I anticipate being mom and the photographer at the same time. Lollie pops, pleading and lots of goofy smiles later, I think we did suprisingly good. The boys favorite part was jumping...those didn't make the cut, but I'll post some here later. I hope Daddy likes his cards as much as the boys do!

The Birthday Party

2008-10-12T18:07:00.006-05:00

The kiddos before the treasure hunt, dressed, armed and ready to go!

Rudi was their guide --- gotta love the hat!

Lining up to feel the Monkey Brains, Guts and Eyeballs

Blowing out the candle

And the invite

Indiana Ethan was the theme of Ethan's 6th Birthday Party! They had such a good time! We're grateful there are such good friends in his kindergarden class.

Happy 6th Birthday Ethan!

2008-10-12T18:00:00.003-05:00

We can't believe our Ethan is 6 years old today! He's growing up so fast! We love you, Ethan! You're growing into such a fun young man. You'll always be our little boy!

Mother's Day Pictures

2008-09-01T11:14:00.002-05:00

Just a few from our Mother's Day photo session.

Better late than never!

Not So Random Things Around the House

2008-09-01T10:52:00.004-05:00

Here are some random, and not so random, things around our house. I'm such a copy cat. I saw this sort of thing on someone else's blog, and I thought I'd do it too.

My headboard

Stuff from the mantel...the flask is from Rudi's trip to Germany a few years back. He has such a hard job! Poor thing!
I think these flowers give me tranquility
Rudi brought this Buda back from Bangcok (again, what an awful job he has!). I think it's funny that he put it here on our entry table with the pass-along cards....It's since been relocated :o)
Oddly, I think the table itself is also from Bangcok, by way of Hobby Lobby, of course :o)
Still in PJs, nice face, Ash. Note, the cool sweatshirt. I think I found it at a garage sale once for $1. How could they let this go?!

Like I said, still in PJs. (and we obviously need a haircut!) My boys, always the hams. I guess it's my fault, as they have grown up with a lens in their faces.
The candelier sans the cobwebs -- thank you Dish TV guy.
Sis Flanagan (my favorite seminary teacher) gave me this picture (she owned a frame shop) and I have kept it close to my heart ever since. Thanks!

Storybook Exhibit at Downtown Library

2008-09-01T10:26:00.002-05:00

The big downtown library was once a bank is is just a beautiful place. Today they had an traveling story book exhibit that Ethan and Ashton and I went to for his preschool. We liked it so much, we took Daddy back on Saturday.

Cinderella's carriage

Ethan's an elephant...I thought this was a clever way of making an Elephant costume.
Ethan posing for me (he's such a trooper) on the balcony of at the Beauty and the Beast exhibit

Ashton climbing up the beanstalk And both boys sliding downAshton stuffed himself into one of Cinderella's buckets at the cinder.
I love the door to this old bank turned library. I see some senior photos here... Lots of fun downtown urban stuff.

Sticky After Pancakes!

2008-09-01T10:07:00.002-05:00

This is an impromptu photo session, as I was still experimenting with natural light and the boys had just eaten pancakes and were sticky. They started to take off their sticky pj shirts and were dancing around the room to a little Beasty Boys, and I grabed the camera. My favorite one is where Ethan has his hand on Dad's head, and Ashton is laughing kissing dad's cheek and Rudi looks trapped!

Getting Caught Up!

2008-09-01T10:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay, enough already! I know I've been a loser not updating my pictures, so now you're going to get too many!

Get ready....

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

2008-04-07T23:07:00.004-05:00

This NCAA Championship is 20 years in the making. I remember I was in junior high when the last Kansas team won. (I got to meet them at my local high school when Danny Manning won.) Here's to you, Crimson and Blue!

http://kualthletics.com

Eliza & Abby

2008-04-02T23:06:00.002-05:00

Since my photography blog is still fairly new (and not updated as often as I'd like) I thought I would let my friends and family know I updated it with some super cute pictures of Eliza and Abby. Aren't they adorable?

http://lgstudios.blogspot.com/

Easter Pictures

2008-03-25T22:03:00.004-05:00

Just some quick Easter Pictures. I can't wait till it's warmer and we can take some nice spring shots with the boys and their Easter clothes. Maybe we'll fake some at Crown Center this Saturday....with the waterfall hotel.

The boys in their favorite colors - Ashton, blue; Ethan, green; (by the way Ashton's other favorite color is pink! Sorry Dad!)

Knock on wood, but we're happy to announce that Ashton is officially potty trained. He's been wearing big boy underwear since January, but since March, he's been realitively accident-free. The boys spent all day Saturday with my parents so we could go to the temple, and he didn't have an accident with Grandma or Papa, so I'm calling it official! Ethan was potty-trained by 2 1/2, so 2 and 2 months isn't bad for babe #2.

These outdoor shots are from the playgroup Easter Egg Hunt. It was so cold and we didn't have jackets. When the hunt got moved outside at the last minute, Ash wore one of Ethan's coats that was accidently left in the Honda.

Some of these got mixed up. This is from Easter Morning and Grandma and Papa Tubbs' House. They just got new carpet in the living room, and with the missionaries living downstairs, we were left with the kitchen and dining room for our Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Morning :o)

The Easter Bunny - Not so cute and cuddly?!

2008-03-20T10:28:00.002-05:00

My friend Jenny (from the South side of the city :o) and I got together this week since school was out and the kids were anxious for playmates. We decided to go to the mall to visit the Easter bunny and ride the Merry-go-Round. We let the boys play around in the old playground area (minus the playground equipt because it's under construction, but the kids didn't mind) and waited until the line was short. As we stood in line, Jenny and I wondered if we could take pictures ourselves instead of buying theirs at $20 for a wallet. We noticed the other parents were taking pictures, so we felt safe to do so as well.

Unfortunately, the Easter Bunny (of which I have on good authority is a girl) and who is not as soft and cuddly on the inside as first believed, came over to me and curtly declared I would only get one shot (we're guessing this is because I had a professional camera.) Since the Bunny wasn't feeling the Easter love, we did our best. (See the two pictures below with the infamous bunny!)

The boys. I'm glad they are all close in age and love to play together!

Her cheerful vest, with its school-bus-yellow flower buttons, and her warm and fuzzy exterior are only a ploy, as her inside is icy....

I Love to Build the Temple

2008-03-03T17:11:00.002-06:00

Ethan and Ashton love blocks, like any kid (these are from China, note the Asian looking faces on Moroni) Ethan probably loves blocks more than most, and can usually be found building anything, anywhere. The other day he brought this large regular of blocks. Here's how the conversation went...

Ethan - "Look Mom, I made it really tight."

Mom - "Is it hollow? Are their men in there?" (I inferred this from buildings he had constructed in the past)

Ethan - "No, Mom, it's solid. Look" He takes off the top layer and shows me that this time there are no men, or weapons, hiding inside.

Mom - "Ethan, this looks like a foundation, like of a building."

Ethan - "Yeah, I built it nice and tight so the building wouln't fall down."

Like any good mom, I took this opportunity to talk to him about firm, sturdy foundations and how they are important in buildings and in life. I concluded with the antedote about how the Salt Lake City Temple had a crack in its original foundation and they had to rebuild it.

He then look at me with bright eyes and said, "Well, hold on a minute, Mom"

He returned in two seconds flat to have added a steple and Angel Moroni. Then announced it was a temple. He then, told me to hold on and raced back to the bucket of blocks, only to return with four more people, saying, "Mom, that's our family. We're going to the temple."

It's hard to keep dry eyes when you realize how lessons actually do sometimes sink in.

They boys are so used to being the subject of my photography (and test projects) that they immediately posed for this picture all on their own. I had to take it, of course :o)

Kaleidoscope Fun

2008-03-03T17:09:00.002-06:00

I can't believe we had never been to Kaleidoscope before, but it was great fun (and craziness!) The kids enjoyed the craft projects and the cave, but I think their favs was the black lit room. Sadly, I don't have many pictures from that day because it was so hectic. Here's the closing shot, though. We love our friends the Staggs and were really glad they invited us along!

Ethan's Valentines Party at PreK

2008-03-03T17:02:00.002-06:00

Thanks to my good friend Stacy, I was able to go to Ethan's Valentine's party at PreK. They made cute picture frames, exchanged valentines, and ate cookies. I will look for one of Ethan's valentines and post it that he gave out. We wanted to do a star wars theme, of course, so it was interesting writing valentines like Yoda would talk. Ethan misses his best friend Parker who moved away to Utah who was also in his class. He tells me he likes Will, Cole and Owen the best now.

Making the frames.

The lady in the very appropriate valentines heart sweater is his teacher. She's retiring after this year...Hmmmmm...I wonder if this is a coincidence.

What's valentines without treats?

In this candid, Ethan, Will and Owen are discussing transformers. Look how excited he is.

Old Pals Playdate

2008-03-03T16:41:00.003-06:00

It's strange how one minute you're a junior in high school and spelling your friends names out of pretzels in the journalism room, and next minute you're past 30 and have kids spilling pretzels all over your journals.

It was so fun to have my friends from Leavenworth High School over back in January (I know, I know, it takes me forever to post pictures!) We get together once or twice a year and have so much fun reminising about old times and old boyfriends and old teachers and sharing the difficulty of potty training, teething, and being pregnant (with a toddler). My only regret this time, was that Julie and her little Trevor couldn't make it. We missed you, Julie!

Lauren holding Tania's little Otto...what a charmer (and the baby's cute too!)

Natalie and her little Charlie. I think Emma and Ethan were running around too much to get them still enough for a picture :o)

Ethan, Emma, Claire are swallowed by the ball pit. Charlie....do you dare?

Tania with her two adorable little ones, Otto and the newly potty training champ, Gretchen. Tania, thanks for the tip about Steve and Barry's. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!

Charlie and Hayden ejoyed the slide. Trust me, Hayden did love the slide, he was just annoyed with Aunt Lori and the camera in his face. What little heartbreakers!

Shhhhh.....Don't tell Claire and Ashton that they're cords aren't connected... Ashton was potty training, that's why he's sans pants.

Making Mr. Naismith Proud

2008-03-02T17:37:00.002-06:00

In January Ethan played a session of community basketball. This was his first experience in basketball and he liked it a lot. There were some better dribblers and shooters out there, but when it came to the game, Ethan was the most engergetic and stole the ball the most times. He had more than 10 steals.

New Photography Blog

2008-02-24T08:40:00.003-06:00

Many of you know that I started my own photography business a while back. I'm working on reworking my website with new pictures from this past year -- it's fun to review all of the photoshoots :o)

In the meantime, I've still been shooting a lot and I wanted to share a few pictures from those shoots. Like many photographers before me, I've decided to create a blog to post a few pictures from recent shoots. Here is the link:

http://lgstudios.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

President Elmo?

2008-02-18T00:47:00.002-06:00

Today our church was cancelled due to the inclement weather, like many other churches in the area. Our Stake President suggested that we hold sacrament services in our homes with our families.

Rudi was cute. He repositioned our antique radio to serve as the pulpit, and used our FHE/Game Room's folding chairs as the pews. Ethan volunteered to serve as Bishop, with Rudi of course on piano, me as chorister and Ashton all over the place. We opened with a song and a prayer and then Bishop Ethan conducted the meeting. He and Rudi gave talks and Ash and I bore our testimonies of the gospel. As Ashton was bearing his testimony, I whispered what he should say. It went something like this...

Mommy whispers into his ear: "I want to bear my testimony..."

Ash: "I want to bear my testimony..."

Mommy: "I know the church is true."

Ash: "I know the church is true."

Mommy: "I know the Book of Mormon is true."

Ash: "I know the Book of Mormon is true."

Mommy: "I believe in the prophet, President Monson."

Ash: "I believe in the prophet, President MONSTER."

Anyone that knows Ashton knows he has a love of all things Elmo, but I would never pegg Elmo as a prophet of God. How funny!

Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T14:02:00.002-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day from the Garcias! We love you all!

The Mother of Invention

2008-02-01T09:41:00.000-06:00

As a mother, there are a few devices I wish someone would invent to make my life easier...

- The Lego Vaccumm - It's a special vaccuum that only picks up Legos and would be a miracle savor when the 2-year-old dumps the whole box over right after clean-up is over. There would also be an alternative model called the Barbie Shoe Vaccuum.

- Bath Color Tablets with a Purpose - You know the tablets you can put in the bath water to tint it blue or green or whatever, I wish they had these that helped you determine if your two-year-old was about to poop in the water.

-Splash Proof Glass - Okay, so we've all heard of bullet-proof glass...why not splash proof glass for the bath tub that would prevent the kiddos from turning the bathroom floor into the 6th Great Lake. It could come up from the side of the tub with a touch of a button that would go six feet high. This is especially needful when the builder of your house puts carpet around the tub....yeah, he doesn't have kids, does he?

- Control "Z" for Moms - You know, the short cut that allows you to "undo" on your computer. I wish they had one that would work in life....like let's "control z" the fact that you just took the Sharpie and drew over the 100-year-old quilt. (Thanks Dad for leaving the Sharpie out)

- Sticky Proof Soap - If they can make tooth paste that will put a protective barrier on your teeth for 12 hours, and soap scum remover for the tub that has teflon that put a barrier against future soap scum, then why not a soap for kids that puts a protective barrier that they won't become sticky minutes after you've washed them?

- Cookie-Colored Glasses - Special glasses (similar to their Rose-colored version) that when worn by your child, would make any and all foods -- including vegetables -- look and taste like cookies. Maybe my boys would actually touch their salad!

Just some venting from a mom who picked up a large container of Legos three times yesterday. (with some kid supervision and help)

Happy 2nd Birthday Ashton

2008-01-17T15:07:00.000-06:00

Can you believe our "baby" is 2?! I guess I should stop referring to him as "Baby." Sometimes I think he must think it's his name.

Ash's birthday always sneaks up on us and it's hard to get excited about it since Christmas has just past. We had a good time celebrating his birthday -- on his actual birthday -- with Papa and Grandma Tubbs. They came up and had homemade pizza, cake and ice cream with us. It was a fun time.

Ash gives Papa a "thank you" hug for the play dough. He loves Papa so much. He's one of Ashton's favorite people.

Okay, so I wanted to make a special cake for his birthday, but it didn't turn out exactly (or even remotely) like I pictured. I made a sugar cookie train with cookie cutters Rudi found in the after-Christmas bin at Wal-Mart and iced them with royal frosting. I used the "flooding" method and it was a bit tricky, so it didn't quite work out like a train. Oops! I didn't remember to give the cake part of it much thought, so as I decorated it, I just started adding candy. Then it came to me the song that Shirley Temple sings about "Big Rock Candy Mountian," so I told everyone the train was coming 'round Big Rock Candy Mountain, as if I planned it. I think it turned out okay, but now I know more about royal frosting....next time, royal frosting....it's a rematch... and you're going down.

The whole gang!

It's not a birthday without horns!

Blowing out the candles.

New Years Eve Day with the Garcias

2008-01-17T14:45:00.000-06:00

We spent New Years Eve Day with Rudi's family in Topeka. We opened Christmas gifts (and birthday gifts for Ashton) and had yummy Mexican food. It was a fun day for everyone.

Cousin Amanda and Uncle Mario help Ashton find a birthday present to open.

Brothers - Jeffery, Mario and Rudi at the top. Rudi is the oldest by one year.

Uncle Jeff giving Ashton a hug. Ashton is a world-class hugger.

The boys modeling the restaurant's somberos....pss....don't tell the manager. I don't think we were really supposed to do this....oops! We had a private room, so things happen.

Grandma Juju with her favorite Christmas gift - a picture of her grandchildren that I took at a local park.

Ethan making a Star Wars Lego ship with his favorite cousin Jake. He's very nice to Ethan...and patient :o)

Christmas Cookies with the Staggs

2008-01-17T14:13:00.000-06:00

I still have a few Christmas/New Years pictures to post, so bear with me :o)

These are some pictures from when the Staggs came over the weekend after Christmas. We always have so much fun with the Staggs and often say, "Why don't we do this more often!" I know they are bummed about not moving, but we are ESTATIC about them staying in town -- 30 minutes away from us is far enough!

I know Jenny already posted their pictures from that day -- Darn it, you beat me! -- but here are our pictures from the fun day of cookies and cards.

-Lori

Ashton rolling out flour?

Chris and Jenny :o)

Messy boys making cookies. Ethan isn't really the tallest. He's wearing "lifts." Eli isn't on a stool like everyone else.

Eli showing us his Macadamia nut cookies.

Making gingerbread hearts?!....okay, so it seems like this should be a Valentines' activity, but they are using the cookie cutters that our boys got in their cooking sets from Christmas.

"Christmas P. Stan" is always good for a funny face :o)

Rudi was the brains of the operation, helping the little hands put their oh-so-yummy cookies on the pan to bake.

I Almost Forgot Christmas Morning!

2008-01-16T09:10:00.000-06:00

I almost forgot to blog Christmas Morning. Here are a couple of shots with the boys playing with their toys from Santa. We were lucky enough this year to find Ethan's Batman stuff on Craig's List and save a ton of money for us, I mean Santa!

Ethan was excited about his Batman house and batmobile. He'll never know I got a huge lot from Craigs List and cleaned them up! I got to take his $50 present back and got this lot of Batman stuff for $15. Little did I know the previous owners had a cat, and when I cleaned up the stuff, I touched my eye and it swelled up for Christmas morning. Fun, fun! He also got a few more Star Wars guys and I finally framed some artwork we found for his room.

Ashton's favorite Christmas gift was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He loves Mickey Mouse, so he was in heaven. This thing was deceptively hard to put together. The stickers were kind of a guess. We went over to our friends the Flodens the other day and they too got their little girl this toy for Christmas. I noticed my stickers were in a different place than Stacy's....oops!

Ethan gives Ashton a hug after he unwrapped the gift Ashton picked out for him -- A Memory Game with Superheros.

Christmas Day with the Schoavers

2008-01-14T22:20:00.000-06:00

We spent Christmas Day with our Best Good Friends the Schoavers. It was so fun to catch up with them and their adorable little boy. We had so much fun playing the Wii, eating Christmas dinner, watching the kids jump in the ball pit and playing the Guillotine game. If you're not familiar, you'd love it.

Ethan shows off his jumping skills into the ball pitt.

Ashton can't let Ethan have all the fun.

Another reason to not take your eye off of the 5-year-old and the crystal.

This is Dan the Dog. I've been wanting to make a sock dog ever since I read the article in Martha Stewart Living five or six years ago. I was happy to finally complete this craft project for this Christmas. Dan the Dog has a brother Pepe the Puppy, but he has mysteriously disappeared after our firends the Schoavers left...... hmmm.... I wonder?! Pepe, if you're reading, Come home. We miss you! Bark twice if Jenn stole you!

Ashton and T play with his new Mickey Mouse Club House that Santa (thanks Mom & Dad) gave to him. He LOVES it.... and so does T.

T looking cute in the ball pitt. Hey, did T sneak Woody into the ball pitt?

T finally decides he's going to throw the balls.

How cute is T ?!

J is testing the crystal! Yes, it's real....

Who doesn't love Uncle S? We do, we do! In fact, we were watching a Disney Movie (Cadet Kelly) last night and Ethan said one of the Army men looked like Uncle S. I think he thinks Uncle S is a super hero!

Feeding time!

Rudi is our resident turkey carver. I don't think I'd know what to do if I got this job?

Christmas Eve - Fondue Party

2008-01-14T16:53:00.001-06:00

We spent Christmas Eve home alone. It was actually nice to just be our little family. This was our first time. We had a fondue dinner and then read the Christmas story and acted it out with our Little People Nativity.

The boys enjoying acting out the Nativity.

An embarrising picture of me eating fondue.

Ethan's Preschool Christmas Party

2008-01-14T16:33:00.000-06:00

Ethan's preschool has a Christmas party every year. This year, Mom and Ashton attended and helped out.

Ethan's class with his teacher.

Ethan coloring his reindeer food bag. They then put birdseed and red and green sparkles in the food bag and sprinkled over the lawn on Christmas Eve. Ethan asked me why we added the sprinkles and one of the moms replied that it was because it helped the reindeer find the food.

Ashton was a good assistant and helped by handing Ethan markers (and testing them as well of course.)

All the kids brought a five-dollar-gift and drew numbers to see who got which. Ethan got some cool block-like toy. He's a builder, so it was a perfect gift.

Ethan and Ashton hug during the snack portion of the party. Ethan always shares with his little brother.

Christmas at the Tubbs

2008-01-14T16:01:00.000-06:00

We had a Christmas party at the Tubbs' since they were going to my brother's for Christmas. We had a good time eating and exchanging presents and hugs.

Papa Tubbs playing his "flute" we got him for Christmas. It was one of his presents from China.

Ethan and Ashton pose for a picture right after dinner. You can see the remains of dinner on their faces. I think Ashton's beard is made from Oreos.

Unwrapping our presents. Grandma and Papa gave us Disney figures. Ashton got Mickey Mouse and the gang (his favorites) and Ethan got the figures from Meet the Robinsons.

Ashton gives Papa a "thank you" hug after opening his gifts. Papa is one, if not the one, of his favorite people. When he pooped in the potty for the first time, his reward was to go to Cici's Pizza with Papa. Now he constantly talks about eatting pizza with Papa.

Grandma gives Ethan a hug after opening a photo book of the children and grandchildren that we made for her at Walmart.com.

Grandma smiles at Ashton as they share their Christmas gifts.

Ashton's Playgroup Christmas Party

2008-01-14T15:34:00.000-06:00

Ashton and I have not been great attenders of the Ward's playgroup, but we did make it to all the parties this year. Here are pictures from the Christmas party at the church. Ashton's favorite part was the "cake." (It was really a cookie.) He now can't go to the church without asking if there'll be "cake" there. He's funny.

Ethan's Preschool Christmas Program

2008-01-14T14:54:00.000-06:00

These are pictures from Ethan's Christmas program at Gashland Preschool. He is in the top row (and notice he is by the teacher). He did a good job and the one picture is him showing Daddy a Christmas present he made. His teacher this year is Mrs. McMorris. The boys matching sweather vests are from China, of course :)

Daddy Come Home!

2008-01-14T11:16:00.001-06:00

I bought some new shoes (my old black heels kept getting stuck to the carpet at church...ouch!) and Ashton thought he would model them for me. Rudi had been out of town for a week and I thought this was a good plea for Daddy coming home. We need a little masclinity around here.

Gingerbread Houses

2008-01-14T10:40:00.000-06:00

The next couple of posts are from Christmas time. I didn't get them posted as they happened, but late is better than never :o)

We made Gingerbread Houses for FHE. We were supposed to meet up with some friends and have a big FHE Gingerbread making party at the church, but it iced that night.

Thanksgiving Part #4 - The Feast of Roast Beast

2007-12-16T20:33:00.000-06:00

Okay, so by now, you're probably thinking -- enough already of the Thanksgiving pictures -- you shouldn't have asked to see them, huh?!

These are from the Thanksgiving feast on the big day. Rudi did the turkey, just like every year, Daniel did some killer mash potatoes, Michelle made yummy rolls, and I made Mom's Southern dressing (not stuffing :o) Hmmmm....what did Ken contribute to the meal? A healthy appetite, of course. Enjoy - Lori

Thanksgiving Part #3 - Cousin Candids

2007-12-16T00:16:00.000-06:00

Here are a few candid shots of the cousins during our trip to Utah. Ken's kids -- Anna (almost 3) and Clara (2 in May) are the two girls, the baby is Hollie's newest addition -- Rueben, the blanket head is Joe (Hollie's #2 who is 7) and Ethan's sporting a pull-up on his head (Mr. Poopoo Head -- isn't it obvious he's 5?) and of course our resident Ham, Ashton (almost 2). Enjoy! - Lori

Thanksgiving Part #2 - Cousin Camp

2007-12-15T23:32:00.000-06:00

While we were at Hollie's house in Utah, Hollie and I decided to throw a little "Cousin Camp" for the kids. They did crafts and games -- including painting figurines, making Christmas ornaments and Sadie holding her own little school to teach the cousins (complete with recess time!) and teaching Ethan reading and math.

-- Lori

Thanksgiving Part #1 - Temple Square

2007-12-15T23:07:00.000-06:00

I've gotten several request for Thanksgiving pictures from our trip to Utah, so here goes. This first set is from our day trip to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was a nice time to see the temple, tour the newly renovated Tabernacle, and check out the displays at the church history museums. If you haven't been to temple square, it's an absolute must if you're in Salt Lake City.

Oh, and there's a neat new website about the Mormon church. If you haven't been there already, it's worth a glance over. It's called Mormon.org. FYI :o)

Back to Temple Square...it was a cold day and I felt bad for the missionaries that were standing in the cold, giving tours, in dresses. At least we were lucky enough to sport jeans and bulky jackets. Sadie and Joe (Hollie's two oldest) tagged along with us and we all had a great time.

- Lori

Ice Storm Last Night

2007-12-12T23:49:00.000-06:00

So it was all over the news last that a huge ice storm was rolling into town. Luckily for us, though, we didn't have too much trouble. Here are some icy pictures we took. We are all fine and the roads look good, considering. My parents, though (who live about 30 minutes NW of us) are without electricity this morning. I feel really lucky we are all okay.

Lori

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy!

2007-12-12T23:37:00.000-06:00

A little while back, Ethan's best friend, while chasing his older sister around the church, got his two front teeth knocked out. Ever since then, Ethan has been convinced that his teeth are loose and falling out.

You can imagine my surprise when he came downstairs on Wed morning and announced a tooth was actually loose. But, after careful examination, one of his bottom teeth was actually loose -- really loose! He wiggled it all day and night and announced that it was "annoying" and he wanted it out.

The very next morning, he came running down at 6 am (he usually wakes up at 7:30) and showed me his tooth that had fallen out. I'm sure he woke up wiggling it. Luckily the day before I had rushed making a tooth fairy pillow.

The tooth fairy came that night and (after surveying friends) left Ethan a dollar for his shiny tooth. What do you think about our toothless boy? This happened on Dec 6 -- Papa's 66th birthday. -- Lori

Snow Day!

2007-12-12T23:28:00.000-06:00

We missed the first snow day while we were in Utah for Thanksgiving, so we were thrilled it finally snowed this past week. THe boys had fun playing in the white stuff, but later they had even more fun participating in a snow ball fight with the grade-school neighbors and chasing the next-door-neighbor's dog in his snow suit. (It's too bad I don't have a picture of Bingo in his threads....bummer!) - Lori

Love Sak - Lori Style

2007-12-12T23:24:00.000-06:00

Our friends the Jones have this fun, oversized bean bag called a Love Sak. It's more than a bean bag, though, because it's actually comfortable because there are no annoying beads inside. Instead, it's filled with shredded foam.

After checking Brittany's out for two years now, I decided to make my own version. Our is not as large as hers, but it's just a cozy and it's color is perfect for our FHE room. The boys like to haul it down the stairs and snuggle on it while they watch movies. Here they are snuggling now...It kind of looks like a potato, though, we think.

Old Blog New Tricks

2007-12-12T23:04:00.000-06:00

If you're looking for the stories from our old blog, here's the address:

http://tubbs-garcia.spaces.live.com/

Sorry Uncle Ken, but it was too cluttered with ads.