catching up

wow....can you remember the last time i posted on this blog?  i can't, unless i look, which i'm not going to do.  :)  for any readers left....how about an update?  (and a blog post riddled with links just for the fun of it?)

life here in the cornnut household is pretty crazy.  princess just turned two (which is insane....remember when i couldn't figure out what the heck was wrong with me...and i ended up being pregnant?)  little buddy is three and a half now and in preschool.  (ALSO hard to believe he was only six months old when i started this blog.)

i am in school, hooray, and have officially been cleared for graduation in may.  i will be graduating with my associates in general studies, which is a nice way of saying i got all of my crappy general ed classes finished in community college so i can take the fun classes at a university.  i'm so stinking excited to have that piece of paper that says i did something with my education.  i've worked hard and so far have a 4.0.  yay me :)  too bad i left my math classes for my last two semesters.  i hate math.

hubby got a new job, he is now a forensic investigator with the local police department.  real-life CSI, which means i refuse to watch CSI with him now.  apparently TV is nothing like real life.  sheesh.  i'm so proud of him...new job, and he graduated with his bachelor of psychology degree in june, and he's just kicking butt all around.

i'm working too...as a photographer.  for lifetouch, in one of their JC Penny portrait studios.  people pay me to hold their adorable babies.  so if you live in my area and need a photographer, look me up.

hubby and i celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in august.  hard to believe we've been married five years....we've had a lot of ups and downs, but we're still here, still working together to overcome the downs.  we've been through and dealt with a lot.  thanks babe...for sticking with it and helping me do the same.  i love you.

for those of you who remember...i've made peace with my parents.  some really tough stuff happened a few months ago and we were able to reconnect and overcome our issues because of it.  i'm really grateful to have a good relationship with them again, and for everything they have done for me.  my kids love being around them too.  we were able to spend some time with them yesterday, and i am just so glad we've worked things out and have been able to move forward.

my baby brother (who really isn't a baby anymore, so i should probably stop calling him that) is currently in the MTC (missionary training center).  he is serving a mission for the LDS church, and will shortly be headed to Peru.  i can't believe how grown up he is.  it's kind of giving me an identity crisis, because it makes me feel so OLD.  i'm only 25, you know....even if i look 30...and feel 50.

my youngest sister is a STAR and plays volleyball for a pac12 team!  i'd tell you which one but since this blog is supposed to be anonymous to anyone who doesn't actually know me in real life i'm not telling.  :)  if you do know me, you've already heard be brag about her, so i'm pretty sure you know where she plays.  she is aiming for the olympics...rio de janeiro, baby!  guess i better start putting my pennies in a jar.

new obsession: pinterest.  holy cow, is that thing awesome or what?  love love love finding new inspiration and fun projects to do.  (and i've actually done them, not just pinned them!  accomplishment!)  plus facebook and saving tons of money shopping....i'm a couponer!  (NOT like extreme couponing on TLC.)  i do save anywhere from $100-$200 on my monthly shopping trips, which is pretty darn cool.  i am teaching classes on how to do it, too, so if you know me and want to host a class....you should!

next month we are moving again.  same city, new place.  we got new management in our apartment complex and things have really gone downhill, plus we've had issues with our neighbors and our rent is pretty ridiculous.  we are moving into a townhome that is nicer and $300 a month cheaper.  i'm really excited, even though i hate packing, and unpacking, and moving, and the mess that is associated with it.  we are also downsizing to a two bedroom so the kids will be sharing...that will be interesting.

as many of you know.....halloween is coming, and it is my favorite-est holiday EVER.  this year's costumes are fun.  hubby is a banana again, mostly because he's not into dressing up the way i am, we don't have a lot of money, and we have a banana costume.  i got a snow white costume from freecycle (freecycle=awesomeness, find the one near you!) that fits perfectly and looks pretty cool, if i say so myself.  (in fact, we took the kids to a halloween festival our city puts on and i had moms stopping me to take pictures with their little girls....kind of surreal.)  little buddy is super why, and i made his costume myself.  while i am a perfectionist and will accept the quality of the costume, he loves it.  that's all that matters.  princess is a pirate.  why?  because my little two year old loves pirates.  she is the cutest little buccaneer the world ever did see.  she goes around saying, "arrrrr, matey" in her adorable toddler voice, only she does it deeper and gravely and sounds just like a pirate toddler should.  everyone fawns all over it, including her mama.  the kids are falling in love with halloween, probably thanks to me, and think witches and ghosts and skeletons and bats are the coolest things ever.

and, for your viewing pleasure, the pretty awesome sign my mom helped me make yesterday:

i saw a sign similar to this at Michael's for $20.  it was on a stake.  i loved the concept (i do have my own little monsters, after all) but flat out refuse to spend $20 on something like that.  and i wanted one to hang on my door, since i don't have a yard.  so....with three pieces of scrap wood (my mom had them and cut them for me), a little acrylic and puff paint, wire and ribbon (also all thanks to mom's supply), i have an adorable sign for my front door.  it's about a thousand times cuter than the one at Michael's, and we added the hands to it. that was also mom's idea.  we traced little buddy's and princess's hands and turned them into monster hands.  so not only is it cute, but in ten years when i pull it out for halloween i'll get to see how small their little hands were when i made the sign.  i really love it!

so i'm pretty sure that's about it...at least i hope so.  :)  i kind of miss my blog, even though its purpose (to help me heal and hopefully help others) has been mostly served, at least on my end.  i hope i still have new readers coming across the blog and finding some kind of inspiration and maybe comfort in knowing they aren't alone.  i definitely don't want to start over with a new one.  after three years with this blog, and several hundred posts, it's hard to imagine a new one.  i've probably lost most of my readers, though---if you're still there, still reading, let me know you're here, and how you're doing.  it would be nice to kind of catch up with a lot of you.

until next time!

leaves are falling, falling down

it's that time of year again.

my FAVORITE time of year. the leaves are changing colors and falling off the trees. while it's still monstrously hot during the day, the mornings are cooler, the sun is coming up later and my house smells like delicious pumpkin pie. (gotta love scented candles!) our local mountains are turning more red, orange and yellow as we speak. and you know what else fall brings?

that's right, HALLOWEEN!
when the ghoulies and ghosties come out to play, when pumpkins with big grins and scary faces are lit up, bats and witches fly through the night air and tricks and treats abound. i am so excited i put up my halloween decorations more than a week ago. i made a new wreath out of fall leaves for my door and put up our halloween countdown that i made a few years ago. we even came up with our costumes--the kids and i are going to be bumblebees and hubby is going to be a beekeeper. my little bees are going to be so stinkin' adorable. i'm really looking forward to trick or treating this year too, because little buddy will really understand the concept! and he'll be able to actually say "trick or treat."

and what comes with halloween?
one of my most favorite movies of all time...the nightmare before christmas.

one of life's little thrills of joy.

sick sick sick halloween sick sick sick

i feel like i've been neglecting my blog foreverrrrrr....but it's only been a few days. i opened my google reader today and was blasted by almost 50 unread items. 50! needless to say...i didn't read them all.

i have been sick. sick, sick, sick, and for awhile there i thought i was going to diiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. okay, i was being dramatic. food poisioning or some kind of bug or something. but miserable. i woke up about 5 am halloween morning sicker than a dog. spent almost all day in bed moaning and complaining. hubby came home from work early to help take care of the baby and take care of me. sweet man, he is. i missed my work party...we missed taking the baby in his costume to hubby's work, and all in all it was a pretty disappointing day. we made an appearance at a party some friend's of ours had that night because i was feeling a little better, and since it was little buddy's first halloween (and we bought costumes) we wanted to show him off. poor hubby, i know he was disappointed. so was i. halloween is, after all, my favorite holiday of the year, and i spent it wishing i could be put out of my misery.

but on the plus side, hubby as a banana and little baby as a monkey were the cutest things in the world! i went as a zookeeper (harhar) and although i was pale and dehydrated and falling over i think the three of us were pretty darn good looking. but can you seriously believe it's november already? i sure can't. time has gone by so freaking quickly.

well, i'm back off to bed. it's 2:30 in the afternoon. little buddy is napping and i will be shortly. (still feel like i got hit with a truck, although i can actually keep big people food down. yay!)

just a little sidenote--kathleen who blogs at so grateful to be mormon has gone missing. her family has no idea where she is or what happened to her. at this point she has been gone nearly a week. she is a sweet and kind woman. please pray for her. even if you don't believe in prayer--it couldn't hurt. send all of your good vibes to her and her family. we are all hoping they will find her safe.

blah blah blah me talking about my life

halloween updates:
less than two weeks! me=freak out i'm so excited.

bought hubby's costume yesterday. yep, it's a banana. and yep, he looks freaking hilarious. i'm so excited. how endearing that the man will wear a bright yellow banana suit because the baby is a monkey.

me? nope, still no costume. i'm sure i can come up with something. right?

two upcoming halloween themed festivals. one for scarecrows and one for witches. whoo hoo! family fun with a spooky theme. my favorite.

hubby is currently on his way to a job interview. prayers would be very appreciated. if he gets this job we're on our way to not-so-hard-we-feel-like-we're-going-to-fall-over-the-edge-at-any-moment street. (not quite easy street. but a step in that direction.)

poor little buddy is cranky today, again. he's cut two teeth in the last month, yesterday fell while pulling himself up on the coffee table and busted his head pretty good. lovely welt. then he didn't sleep so hot last night. poor kid. he's asleep right now, thank heaven. he needs like twenty naps today.

started re-reading crime and punishment last night. yeah, it's like one of my all-time favorite books ever. if you haven't read it, you totally should. the human psyche is so interesting.

well. i'm going to reeeee-laxxxx for a bit while little buddy snoozes. maybe i'll take a snooze myself before i have to get ready for work.

happy monday everyone!

my new function as a mother:

i am a jungle gym. i get climbed on, played on, grabbed, pinched, hit, kicked, stood on, used as entertainment.

which is why my son is going to be a monkey for halloween.

isn't this costume adorable? he is going to be the cutest monkey ever!

we're also going to a ward halloween party on the 25th, and since we also have this costume, i'm thinking maybe he can wear this one. (it's also pretty fitting for him.) it was a gift from grandma when he was still a-bakin in my belly last year.

as for daddy, he is going to be a banana. not only because little buddy is going to be a monkey, but because then he can get some maracas and do the "peanut butter jelly time" dance. that is his ringtone and our baby just loves it when his daddy sings that song.

i, on the other hand, have NO IDEA what i'm going to be. which is sad and weird considering i typically have my costume planned out two months ahead of time. i hate repeating costumes. halloween is my favorite day of the year. i look forward to it. i have an internal countdown that looks like the one in nightmare before christmas, and it starts ticking on november 1. i have a coworker that offered to let me borrow one of her old costumes, so hopefully i'll be able to find something! money is tight so i can't buy one and normally i'm uber creative but i've head a creative block when it comes to costuming myself.

i've had some really awesome costumes in the past. my senior year of high school i sewed my own dress and made my own wig from yarn and was sally from the nightmare before christmas. it was sweet, i tell you. in 5th grade i wore a really old dress that my mom converted to look colonial era, used cornstarch and food coloring to create a yucky goop, smeared it all over my face, and was a zombie. my sophomore year of college my roomies and i came up with this awesome idea to be a chess set--becca was a bishop (our bishop, in a suit with a nametag), katie was a pawn (a pawn shop owner, complete with green visor and miscellaneous wares), michelle was a knight ("night," in black clothing with felt stars and a moon pinned to her clothing), i was the queen (a rodeo queen) and hubby who was then boyfriend was the king (wore a burger king crown). since we didn't have someone to be a rook, we all pinned rook cards (from the card game) to our costumes. i've been a witch (last year a pregger witch), a vampire, a butterfly, a prom queen, a leopard, a devil, a greek goddess, and a princess.

i wonder what i will end up being this year....

fun halloween craft project

i saw this adorable advent calendar on tv and really wanted to try it. it was so easy to put together and looks so fun on our piano. go to this website for the instructions. they tell you to buy their paper products, which are really cute, but i used things i already had from my scrapbooking supplies. i enjoyed doing it, and thinking up a new little theme for each day. it only took a few hours to do. (i spread it out over two days.)

this is the whole calendar, finished. i kept the background sheets black instead of adding orange paper on the top the way they did in the original. it saved paper and i think it looks better. but i like black better than orange anyway.

the individual panels for the days are below. instead of using stick-on lettering like the pattern says to, i used my printer and printed the numbers (and also the title, HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN) onto orange cardstock. i made it so that when they printed out i could cut them in a way that the numbers would be in a different place on each square, the way they are in the original pattern. as far as the little designs on each one goes, i drew my own and cut out my own embellishments. i didn't buy any of them. (i used the newest stampin' up catalogue as a reference for some of the drawings. i also used the original pattern as a reference.) i had three or four sheets of 12x12 patterned scrapbook paper that i cut pieces of to use as well. i darkened the edges of each square (and the cardboard sections) with a plain black ink pad. the pattern suggested doing this with the cardboard, but i thought it looked awesome on the little squares and gave it a more finished feel.

i used their print-out of the haunted house and drew my own monsters for the windows. to connect the cardboard pieces i just poked holes in them with my scissors and used pipe cleaners. i think the pattern has you use ribbon and eyelets. i stink at those eyelets because i don't have the right equipment for them. this was much easier, much faster, and i think it looks just fine.

the only thing i had to buy was velcro. the pattern says to use 1/2" pieces of the strip velcro, but i got the little round ones. there were 20 in a package and i think it ended up being about $4.50 for two packages at wal-mart.

after you pull off a panel for each day, they are stored in an envelope on the fourth section. the pattern called for an office supply envelope for this part. i didn't have one and didn't want to buy one so i made one, really easy.

things i love:

the noises my baby is learning to make. "bababababa" is lots of fun when interesting faces accompany it. (along with raspberries and flying spit.)

my sweet hubby who loves me even though i'm crazy/unstable/a total nut. and i'm really not kidding here--i'm a crazy unstable nut. a basket case. :)

being used as a jungle gym for little buddy, who would rather climb on me than anything else.

driving the car with the windows rolled down, the sunroof open, music turned up loud, singing at the top of your lungs (offkey, mind you) while other drivers stare at you....that's the best. man, i miss being a teenager. (sometimes.) (rarely.) (okay, only when it comes to being a responsible driver.)

getting caught singing to my mp3 player while at work. (again offkey.) (in my defense, i was in the hole of a file room, by myself. i can't help it that a secretary snuck up on me!)

turning a post-it into a work of art while waiting on hold.

the powerball, which gives my husband fantasies of what to do with 15 million dollars. cross your fingers for us, they draw on wednesday...

the fact that i can officially fit in to EVERY PAIR of pre-pregger pants i freaking own! woo hoo! (they don't look the same, but i can zip them up!)

adorable halloween costumes. one of which was purchased this evening by my hubby for our little buddy's first halloween. i guarantee he will be the most precious infant out there this year.