Scrap Friday?

So I'm not attempting to scrapbook every Friday like some of you more scrap-faithful diligenters, but these things had to be documented, and what better day to do it then Friday? If you click on the page it will enlarge it.

Innocent Mess

The other day I was making some rolls, and while the dough was rising I was working on laundry. I left the flour on the counter so that I could kneed the dough out when it was ready. Noah was taking a nap and Hyrum was playing with play-do at the table. . . life was calm and good. I came out of the laundry room to find Hyrum standing on a chair pushed up to the counter, with flour ALL over the kitchen floor, counters, cabinets, etc. My initial reaction was serious frustration at Hyrum. It took me a moment to process how to best handle the situation. . .then he turned and saw me. He had a big innocent smile on his excited face and he exclaimed; "Mom, look! Hyrum make dust! Look! Look!" as he clapped the dust in his hands and then tried to catch it. He was so proud of himself for his discovery. My heart melted and my punishment plan changed slightly. . .I first let him show me how he made the dust and praised him for his discovery, but then I told him why it was not a good idea to make dust this way. We made dust for a little bit and then we both cleaned it all up together. Sometimes it's just so hard to be mad at such innocence. . . now if it happens again - I don't think it will be so hard:)

I love it when Brett plays piano after we finish dinner. It brings a nice atmosphere in the house. . and the boys like joining in, which gives me a chance to do dishes.

ONE! - ONE! - ONE!

I can't believe that our handsome, funny, walking, hugging, kissing, teething, wrestling, laughing, flirting little baby boy is now ONE YEAR OLD!!! We had his birthday party on Saturday, and were SO happy to have so much family there to celebrate with us!Instead of a cake I made cake balls covered in chocolate. It was my first time making them and they turned out delicious. . . they are now a new family favorite dessert. For entertainment:
Basement=Rockband
Spare Room=Ball room (basically a lot of balls, balloons, and forts for the too-young-to-rock)I think this picture sums the day up:
We love Noah so much and his cute little personality. He and Hyrum are great little buddies. . . when they're not killing each other:)

I love Brett. . . he gets a hint

About 3 weeks ago I said: "This Valentines Day I don't want flowers I want an edible bouquet."

Brett, thank you for always getting my hints. I love you oodles and poodles! !
In other news. I have two very sick boys. Both have very sad sounding coughs and Hyrum's temperature has been going off and on for the past 4 days up to 102.5! My poor babies. Luckily they still manage to be cute.Hyrum wanted to feed Noah earlier this week. This is him saying: "Noah. Ahhhhh. Eat it!" At first he liked feeding him, but eventually he got really frustrated when Noah wouldn't open his mouth or when he'd spit it out. . . I know exactly how he feels.A lot of times when we open the fridge Noah comes running. This time it was during a diaper changing, and off he went.

Play Date

In preperation for Valentines we had a little sugar cookie decorating play date. Hyrum had a lot of fun playing with his friend from nursery. They were all so diligent at 'squishing' the frosting on the cookies. And here's a big shout out to Pampered Chef's Decorator Bottle Sets which I LOVE!!!!This is Hyrum's "I'm busy, but I'll smile just because I have to" look

No more ignorance

. . ."S" is a really cute 13 year old that I was really impressed with because of her outgoing personality, cute smile, and all around nice nature. She babysat for us a while ago when Brett and I went to see a late showing of Harry Potter. I had no problem trusting her. Even though she was so young, I knew that our boys were in good hands. (Of course the fact that they were asleep the whole time helped too).
. . .We tried to get her to come over this weekend so Brett and I could go on an early Valentines date. I was visiting with another lady and mentioned my struggles in getting "S". She had an obvious uncomfortable look on her face and froze. After I asked her if she was okay she just said, "Don't ever have 'S' babysit." I asked her why and she didn't want to tell me and be 'gossipy'. I was concerned that maybe she had been stealing things or something, so I insisted that she tell me why, because she had already been in our home babysitting. I was shocked and disgusted to find out that my friend used to use her all the time until they came home an hour early one night from their date. They discovered that "S" was using their bedroom for immoral extra-curricular activities with her boyfriend. In disgust she mentioned it to a neighbor of hers, who also used her to babysit, and they said they had strong suspicions but no real proof of the same thing happening in their home, and so they stopped calling her.
. . .I had a hard time sleeping that night. I kept running through the night that she babysat for us in my head. The comment I made to her when she got here was that she looked so cute and (teasingly) didn't have to get dressed up just to come babysit. The fact that when we got home she was clumsily flipping through a book and said that she had been reading the whole time (in a badly lit room) Everything just made me sick! I NEVER would have suspected anything. This sweet little Beehive may have allowed evil to come into our home, and I didn't know. It makes me so sad for this little girl and the woman she is becoming. My family is to important to me to ever have this happen again. I've learned a few things that I hope will help you too:

1. Never tell your babysitter when you'll be home. (Surprise is your best alliance - be vague: "We know we'll be home before 11, but we haven't decided what we'll do yet, so we may only be gone for a little bit"
2. Call while you're out to check in. Ask specific questions and be listening for any cue's that something may be up.
3. Get people to babysit that have been referred (that's still not a guarantee since "S" was referred to us, but it's a start)
4. Set clear rules for the babysitter. "No one else is allowed in this house. Please stay off the phone until the kids are in bed, etc.)

I will do anything to keep these boys safe and pure for as long as possible:

Here it is

Welcome to my day. . . this is what it looked like:self inflicted time out (you know he's sick when he gets on the stool and cries until you set the timer for two minutes.) Feel better soon, because you're driving me crazy. . . do I whine this much when I'm sick? (Don't answer that question, Brett:)This little project has been keeping me sane. I'm making an alphabet book for the boys. Thank you scrabble!