I am the Winner!

[I need addresses so that I can send of some fun mail. Please send me a message melanienielson@shaw.ca so that I can send you some great stuff!]

I just won my very first Blog contest! Jordan of course rolled his eyes and asked my how many hours I spent reading blogs to win something, but fun non the less.

The contest is called Pay it forward. since I won, I get to have a contest on my Blog, and if you win, I will send you some good mail! I will use a randomizer, and 3 people will win, but if you win, then just pay it forward and see who really reads your Blog.

I got this amazing manicure in a bottle type thing from Kalina
and just got to use it... oh so nice.

I am super excited about coming up with some good mail to send off.

I want to know what your favorite kids book is, and why. Leave a comment and maybe I will be sending you some good mail!

I will go to randomizer Next Friday!

as if I am not even there...

I love watching my boys when they do not know that I am there. I love to see Skylers concern for Ethan, and often the mean things that he does (which don't seem to bother Ethan) I love to see them play together, or on their own. The hugs and cuddles, and laughter and tears. I just love it! sometimes I wish I were invisible so that I could just observe and not change what the result might be...

New Growth

I am grateful for my small garden, if you can call it that.
this is all that we have room for in our tiny backyard after the shed, BBQ, slides, kids picnic table, gigantic riding tractor, with trailer that Skyler got for his birthday from my parents last year, bucket of toys... you get the point. My back yard belongs to my son, with a small portion designated to my grilling husband. This is my pride and joy for the past 2 years. I have a few small planters that line the edge of my patio, and I am grateful for them. They bring forth great fresh food for my family to enjoy, and I find such satisfaction in growing my own food.
This one is growing my herbs. Cilantro which is one of Jordan's favorite herbs, and basil for all of my summer fresh bruschetta! I am grateful each spring for the new growth, and the opportunity that I have to watch things grow!

Something Borrowed??

So again, going along with the month long theme, of something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. This week we are on something borrowed. This one is easy for me. My husband and I have owned our home for just over a year, and there are many things that we do not own ourselves yet, like rakes, special tools for developing our basement, power washers, and vacuums for the vehicles (ours constantly rotates on the bottom, so it can't be used outside)
this is something that we borrowed recently, we spent many hours on Saturday cleaning out our vehicle, both in side and out, and this is the all in one machine that helped us do it. Our cars do look really pretty, at least for today!

But, my favorite thing to borrow is my brother!
I know he may look a little young, but he is 16, and loves spending time with his friends, but is always willing to help out. I am the mission home cook, so every couple of weeks when big meals come up I "borrow" my brother to play with my too munchkins and keep them busy until my husband is done his work day. What wonderful siblings I have!

Family Time

Blessing number 8
I am so grateful for lazy family time. Typically late in the evening (relatively speaking) We, as a family end up in the family room, or our bedroom, and Jordan and the boys wrestle, and work hard to get me involved. I feel so blessed to have the time to spend with my family enjoying the small things, and moments like this!

Best Friends

Everyday, sometime multiple times a day Skyler tells me that I am his best friend, and that he loves me. It just melts my heart, and makes me soo happy. oh how I wish he would always feel this way!
He is my buddy, and I am his, this makes me happier than words can describe

Motherhood

I read a blog last night that so fully captured everything that I was feeling as my day was coming to an end. I have already said that I find my children to be a blessing in my life, but I am also grateful for the opportunity to be their mother. They have taught me so much about love, and how full my life can be. they find a way to make me smile when I seem to be having a bad day, and they are so very sensitive to my mood and know when I need an extra hug.

I love being a mother, and think it is the most fulfilling thing that I could ever choose to do. What a wonderful blessing that my children get to be with me for Eternity!

Mothers Day

SPT This week is something new, and I am glad it was after mother's day! Our family had a great Mother's day Since both my mom, and my mother in law live only minutes away it is sometimes hard to decide where to spend our time on special occasions. This year we decided that we would host a meal for each. When I got up I was expecting to go and get started on breakfast for my mother in law when I found this on the counter.
I love my husband, and the small things he does, it's the note that always makes me melt. so my day started off with my something new, a new watch! it was much needed. here has my last 3 watches
the middle one is the most recent, and the face plate is broken, and the band does not stay done up as well. I love my new watch!

Then we went on with breakfast for my mother in law, but my husband took charge, and I got to sit and enjoy
I didn't get a picture of breakfast, but Jordan made eggs Benedict (with homemade hollandaise sauce) and it was delicious. Our gift to her was the decorated paint can in the middle of the table. I made pampering kit's which I filled with fun little pampering things for her.

Unfortunately we had another meal to do that day for my mom, so as soon as we were finished with one we were working on the other. I must have been too busy with dinner to take any pictures, because I do not have a single one of my mom yesterday.
I made my mom a pampering kit as well, and helped one of my brother with the flowers in a vase full of Jelly beans.

Jordan and I stuffed and put on the turkey, peeled and cut potatoes, and then rushed to get our family ready for church. afterwards we raced home to finish dinner off with Yorkshires, gravy, broccoli and cheese sauce, and the cheese cake that my brother had brought over. Dinner was delicious, and then all of the men in my life (I have 4 brothers) cleaned up while my mom and I talked. It was a busy, but wonderful day!

Day out with Thomas

My mom and I took the boys to Heritage Park today for a Day out with Thomas, and Skyler loved it! I think he was really the prefect age, Ethan was obviously too small to really enjoy, and I think any older would get a little bored with the activities that were planned.
of course Skyler got to ride on Thomas, who looked pretty funny if you ask me. There was a conductor on each car who was dressed to play the part.
Skyler got his face painted like Thomas. I think it looks pretty creepy!
We got Thomas tattoos for our hands, and of course one to take home for later
Skyler rode the merry-go-round (something which has terrified him in the past)
and a ferrous wheel all by himself. This again really surprised me. My little boy is getting a lot braver.
and Ethan fell asleep in the wagon with his new blanket.

There were lots more activities, and I took a lot of pictures, but Skyler loved it, and it was so fun to see him get involved. He is growing up so fast!

The many faces of Skyler

I thought this was so funny. For the last couple of days Skyler has been repeating his many "smiles" as he calls him, so I finaly got out the camera and had Jordan and Skyler pose the smiles
we have our happy smile...
our mad smile...
our silly smile...
and of course everyone has to have a sad smile.

Something old

Lelly thinks of May as wedding month and has challenged everyone to come up with tings that match the saying
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

It is crazy how hard I found it to come up with something old. I have only been married 3 1/2 years, so all of those wedding gifts aren't really old, the old car that we did have - wrote off in a car accident, the old house that we did live in - moved to a new city. It took me a while but I did finally come up with this.
Our lawn mower is old, it spent about 10 years with it's previous owner who sold it to me for $9 at a garage sale last year. I can't even get the baby started, I need my husband to do that , but she works and will buy us a few years before we become proud owners of a new lawn mower.

sleeping easy

So, I am convinced that there is something simple, and notable stupid that has the ability to ruin everybody's mood. Mine is dirty dishes. I cannot stand waking up in the morning knowing that I have a kitchen full of dirty dishes. I really do not like a messy house, but I can live with toys on the floor, but dishes on my counter and beware my mood is about to get really dark. This week I am so grateful for my dishwasher, to me this is a huge blessing.
It is sometimes run every day, and if I host a dinner maybe a few times a day. I love having a dishwasher. My parents always told us that they had 5 dishwashers (referring to me and my 4 brothers) I too have a little dishwasher, but at this stage when he washes dishes, I spend 20 minutes cleaning up the mess he made before I wash the dishes...someday

Skyler's Point of View

I thought this was so fun, although not really intentional. Apparently 2 year old Skyler thinks that he is big enough to be the one taking the pictures now. This is soo cute, I might actually repeat it (although I think a more child proof camera is in the cards.
Not a bad shot by a 2 year old, in fact I really like this, yes, Ethan is a little funny looking, and this captures it all, but he is soo dang cute!
oops... this is just what was on the camera, what do you think he was trying to get a picture of? Your guess is as good as mine.
not so good at centering a picture, but this a an airplane that Jordan made in jr. high school
I am assuming he is trying to capture the mounds of toys that inhabit our living room, I can't wait for the basement to be finished!

sad, I know but it was important to him that he capture what he was watching on television, this happens to be Care Bears!
and, yes this is yours truly early morning, bad hair, bad breath and all!

None of these (except maybe Ethan) are things that I would take pictures of, but in Skylers world, they are what matters!

52 Blessings

52 Blessings, Blessing Number 5

I am grateful for kindness, friendship, love, fun, creativeness, acceptance, beauty...I am grateful for my sister's, ok, so actually I do not have any sisters, but my husband has 3, and I am grateful for them. I think that dealing with your own family who you were raised, by and with is often struggle, and naturally a whole other family thrown into the mix when you get married is not always easy to deal with either. I think that I am very blessed to have in-laws who care so much, and are willing to help wherever possible, but today I am grateful for Sisters.

My sister in law Tamara (the one in the middle) has always been willing to help, this week I was struggling to make a crafty little project (I am great at copying, but can never come up with things on my own) and I called on her in a moment of frustration. She willing helped, and I am very pleased with the result! Tamara was the first to bring a meal over after I returned home from the hospital with Ethan, something that I am sure Jordan is very grateful for too! She is a beautiful mom of 3 beautiful children, and we love to spend time with their family.

My sister in law Jocelyn (the one on the right) recently moved up to Canada from Idaho, and it is great to see her more often. She is a talented photographer, who is great with kids! Skyler is always asking for Dep and Doce, who would be Jeff (her husband) and Joce. She has a beautiful porcelain doll of a baby who Ethan love to push around, because he is just a little older. Jocelyn always has a smile on her face, and looks for the best is any situation. I am grateful for her!

My sister in law Ashlyn (the one on the left) is the baby in the family, and is currently living in Edmonton where she is attending school. My kids love to grab her hand and drag her around the house to play with this toy, or look at that one, and she goes, and makes them feel like it is important. We don't see Ashlyn as often as we would like, but I am grateful that I can call her my sister as well!