Bathroom quotes

When I was a little kid, the mirror in the kid bathroom had a ton of good quotes on it, from apostles and the Prophet.  We read them when we brushed our teeth, went to the bathroom, took a bath, and eventually we had them all memorized!  I really liked that Mom did that. Soooo I've started putting some up around our bathroom.

They're pretty fun to make, so I can see myself covering our bathroom eventually!

My own little tutorial

I wrote a tutorial for the first time ever!  It's over at Kyle's life coaching blog.  He's NEVER let me guest post (although I've offered a couple times because I am quite benevolent in my wisdom) so this is quite exciting :)

Here's the link:

http://blog.vaughnlifecoaching.com/2011/09/diy-magnetic-spice-rack.html

And while you're there, enter his giveaway for $50 for dinner and a movie.  I can't win (laaaame) so I want someone I like to win! It could be you!

Jumpin' Jacks & Making Friends

We had a really fun weekend!

On Saturday, we invited some of our friends to go to Jumpin' Jacks with us.  It is a place with bouncy house toys to play on, it is way cheaper than Kangaroo Zoo, and it is right here in Springville!  I recommend it.  Ruby LOVES being bounced so we had a blast.  My favorite was going down the giant slide--without Ruby.

Then we went to dinner with the Broadbents and watched the second half of the BYU game.  BIG MISTAKE.  (Watching the game, not going to dinner. Dinner was delicious.) It seems like every time we actually watch a BYU game, we lose.  Things go a lot better for them when Kyle and I are oblivious.

Sunday was awesome!  Ruby was really good all the way through stake conference (I thought it would be horrible with her).  She totally crashed and burned at the very, very end.  Here she is looking grumpy on our way out.

And....we made friends in our ward!  Guys, this is a big deal.  Kyle and I cling to our old friends--we pretty much don't know how to make new ones!  We still don't know ANYONE in our ward--until yesterday.  We went to dinner at our upstairs neighbors' home, and had an awesome time.  Then we went to the ward walk-around--an activitiy designed to force people to get to know each other--and talked for a while with our downstairs neighbors.  And THEN our upstairs neighbors came over to play games.  (If you know Kyle, this is pretty funny.)  They introduced us to a couple fun games and we had a great time.  I went to bed so happy that we were being social in the ward and were making friends with the people in our complex.  It is going to make me enjoy living in Springville so much more!

Cute phone pic of Ruby in the bath:

kitchen organization, i am doing it!

It is rare, but sometimes Kyle and I get in a crazy organizing mood AT THE SAME TIME.  In such times, we can move mountains.  Or at least crazy organize our fridge!  This is what we did over the weekend.  We had the time of our lives.

I wish I had a before picture. It was bad.  Those large empty sections are there because we need to go grocery shopping. The cheese section next to the eggs section is BARREN.


And the freezer.

Good thing I bought that label maker with a gift certificate last year. And Kyle said I'd never use it, psh.

We've also made some exciting food storage changes!  But Kyle claimed first blogging rights.  Again, I say PSH.

Real exciting, huh?

Aaaaand here's a picture of Nieman about to stomp on Kyle's face.

Done and done.

11 Months

11 months! Oh my gosh!

Reading has replaced eating as Ruby's favorite thing.  She has tons of books from her kindergarten teacher grandma, and she could sit and read them all day.  Over and over.  Unfortunately, I have to be there to read them to her. Over and over.  I don't really mind though!  I just sit down on the ground and she brings me books to read.

Reading after bath time.

She's getting more and more teeth all of the sudden.  She is handling teething really well and we don't even notice a difference in her behavior. Sweet girl.  Having more teeth completely changes her look. Her two front teeth have a little gap (just like me) and I love it.

Those teeth!

Oh, her eyes.

She can now clap!  It is adorable and she is SO proud of herself. You can tell by her smug little grin.

FINALLY I got a picture of her Funny Face.  I looooove it.  She knows I do--so she does it to me all the time to make me laugh.

It kills me.

Little shot of our matchy Toms.

Thank you Aunt Diana!

She loves her toys.  She hugs and kisses them frequently.  Mostly Bunny, who is unfortunately not pictured.

Life with Ruby is wonderful.

Elmo CD

This is awesome!

You can get a free personalized Elmo song for your kid! Just go to this link.  It is SO CUTE.  The way he says "Ruby" just kills me.

In fact, I thought it was so cute that I went ahead and bought the whole downloadable cd.  Ruby doesn't even know who Elmo is yet, but I LOVE Elmo.  I can't wait for her to love him too.  He is the sweetest little guy.  My whole family fell in love with Elmo when Lucy was obsessed with him.

When I got to the last track and he says "Ruby, remember, Elmo loves you very very much"--I cried.  I know, I'm pathetic.  He's just so darling.

When I play it in the car (which is all the time now!) Ruby definitely perks up and even laughs sometimes.  We've never listened to kid music in the car, but I think this is the beginning of a new stage in our parental life!

I can't decide when to let Ruby watch tv.  But when she does, SHE WILL LOVE ELMO.

Serious stuff

Instead of fun baby pics...

This week we found out that a sex offender recently moved out of our neighborhood.  Not our immediate neighborhood, but close enough to make me very uncomfortable.  Thank heavens he moved OUT. 

Kyle and I then checked out crimereports.com.  Just input your zip code and you can see if there are any sex offenders nearby.  I was shocked to see how many live in Springville.  Luckily, we live in a very safe neighborhood.  But I decided not to leave it when I go on walks with Ruby, because once you cross the tracks in either direction there are lots of scary people!  I then checked my old neighborhood in California, and Christy's area, etc.  This is crazy business, people!   The website shows their picture and gives their name and the severity of their crime.  I highly recommend checking your area if you haven't already, just to be aware.