A Recap - January to April!

Ok, so Jake tells me I am the worst blogger ever. I do a great job keeping up my Krafty Blog, but when it comes to the family one I kind of suck! ;) So while he's out enjoying 18 holes of golf with the guys, I thought I would surprise him that I finally got our blog-o updated! So this is seriously PICTURE HEAVY, but so fun going back through everything! Enjoy!

So, recap of the last few months!

January

Brady turned 7 on the 21st!

Brady got a new bike

Skateboard, helmet and pads (along with some clothes and toys)

Brady's actual birthday fell on a Thursday, which happened to be Senior Night for the wrestlers! So, the other coaches arranged for the Cheerleaders to sing to Brady! It was so cute, but he told me he was so embarrassed after! ;) (PS - the one side where its not full is the visiting team, the other side of the stands was packed of course!)

Here are a few pics of Jake coaching that night. Man, he is such a hottie! Love my cute husband!

Then there was the Little League wrestling club the high school hosted. They only did one tournament, but it was sure fun!



February

State Wrestling! Just one pic of the arena Jake took. He was gone for three days and we missed him a ton! They had I think 6 or 7 kids qualify for State, and their Freshman 103 pounder was the only one to place. He took 6th. They had a blast though and are really excited for next season.





Jake had a fancy work party that was a Black Tie Event, so we got all dressed up and had a blast!





Monster Trucks! After State Wrestling was over we took the kids to Monster Jam. It was kind of their reward for being such awesome kids through everything!

I forgot to take a pic (bad me!), but Gwynie did her Science Fair Project on lava lamps, and how they work, and the experiment, etc. She did incredible on it! Her teacher even asked if he could keep her board as an example to show future classes what it should look like! ;) I helped a little, but it really was all her! Just helps to have a crafty momma right? I do have pics though that we put on her board, this is one showing the bubbling. (Oil, water, food coloring and alka seltzer)

March

Disney on Ice! Grandma Deb and Poppa Wayne bought all the grandkids tickets (except for Sydney, she's too little still) to go to Disney on Ice! Gwynie and Hannah did't plan on wearing their twiner shirts, but it was too cute!

Deb and Wayne got Brady a bow for his birthday, so once it finally warmed up he got to practice in the front yard!

April

Snow! BOOO SNOW!!! April 1st - not kidding!!

Easter! The kids love dying eggs, their baskets and egg hunts. Just booooo snow!!

And our doofy dog Bridger. He has gotten HUGE since December! His paws are bigger than Brecken's already! Breck turned 3 this year too, crazy! So our little pup will be bigger than his big brother soon! This is one of his typical positions on the couch, weirdo.

And, I chopped off lots of hair again! ;) Super short, but I'm getting used to it! Gwyn also chopped her hair, I'll have to get a pic of her cut to post soon!

I also started a new job! I wasn't looking to leave, but an opportunity came up at Jake's work, and one thing led to another. Within a matter of a few days I had a brand new job! I gave my two weeks notice, and started my new job last Thursday.

Freestyle Wrestling Club

So the other thing that's been going on is the Freestyle Club. Jake is the chairperson for the club and has been running everything!! Since mid February we've had 3 day a week practices (Tues-Thurs) and then Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon tournaments. Next week is our last tournament, and its State for both Freestyle and Folkstyle. Jake has been coaching not only Brady, but their other kids that signed up. So nice that a few of the highschool kids came and did it, too. They will definitely have an advantage next year! I have a folder where I'm putting all those pictures (and videos). Not counting this weeks tournament, I have 1079 photos!!! I have picked out 25 so far to post to the blog. I have a feeling I will be scrapbooking those for ages. ;)

Speaking of scrapbooking...I have fun news in that area, too!

Kandi's Addiction, erm Hobby

I was so excited to have a some fun opportunities come my way! Not sure if I'd mentioned it or not on the blog before, but I was choosen to be on a Design Team for Skipping Stones Design. I get free stamps (can't beat that), and create cards with them weekly. I LOVE their stamps, so funny and sassy! I've been doing that since December.

Last month I also found out I'd gotten a spot on the Staff Reporter team for Craft Critique! I've had one article published so far, and have a few in the queue. I have assignments based on what I currently have, or plan on buying, to write my articles on. I've also been fortunate enough to be selected to review products, and have them sent to me by the vendors! Woot! :)

I've had a few more cards picked up for publication as well, and have loved seeing my cards in an actual book! It was kind of surreal, walking into my scrapbook store and seeing my two cards and MY NAME in a book! Then, next month I was in Hobby Lobby and saw that months mag with a card of mine. Wow, talk about cool!

And the end...

Ok, well I think that's about it! My plan (HA!) is to get a post ready after next week of all the Freestyle Wrestling stuff going on and a recap of that. After that, well I think we are MORE THAN READY for a break! We felt like we've been going a million miles an hour...wrestling 5 days a week, working, kids homework/school stuff, then just trying to have fun every now and then. ;) Spring Baseball/Softball starts mid May though for the kids (Jake's team starts next week), so I'm sure we will be ready after three weeks of boring-ness and nothing to do. ;)

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

Yes, yes, I know. You are feeling neglected. However, Blog, you need to realize that so many things are going on and making REAL LIFE busy for our little family. Yes, I know you understand, and that you are all for us having a great time making memories and taking fun pictures so that I can then upload them here for you, Blog.

What is that you ask? What have we been so busy doing that I've been neglecting you so harshly? Well, let me tell you.....

First, there have been the day to day things.

Gardening:

(and earning $$ for allowance!)

Catching up with friends:

(George's going away party)

BBQ at the neighbor's house:

Work:

(no pictures, sorry Blog)

Kandi was promoted at work and now works in the Finance Dept. processing the Accounts Payables. Its a very busy and a bit stressful of a job, but she loves the work and the company she's called home for 2 years now.

And then there are always the funny random things that make us laugh each day and appreciate our funny kids.

This, dear Blog, is what happens when a train goes over a "cliff". Just ask Brady! ;) His track went from his bedroom, down the hall, and then down the stairs...to the demise of all the trains you see here.

Then there have been a few road trips we've taken.

First was to Colorado Springs for Lauren's graduation. Unfortunately we were having too much fun just hanging out so there weren't many pictures. Mainly just the scenery, and a visit to Garden of the Gods for a few prime pictures before it was a massive downpour on us! But, I do have some funny hotel pictures! The kids love hotels, and think hotels are the coolest things ever. Guess we know we'll never have a problem traveling with them!

And this quite possibly (according to the kids) was the COOLEST SHOWER EVER! It was just very cool looking so they kept talking about the shower so much that I took a picture of them with it.

Then it was off to Cedar City so Jake could wrestle in the Summer Games. This was during his warm up, when he didn't know I was snapping pics!

Also, there's been a fair amount of hard work going on at the Phillips house. Jake has lost 34 pounds so far this year, and Kandi has lost 15. Both are committed to healthier eating, better focus on staying fit, and staying active and busy with the kids. However, neither is quite done yet and will continue down this road!

Gwynie has worked very hard on her grades all year long and ALMOST has straight A's. Math is the only grade at a B! We couldn't be more proud of her and her hard work, and dilligence to homework and classwork.

Brady's also been working VERY hard on lecturing to all of us about all the different animals that inhabit this planet. Brady has become quite the Animal Planet buff and can recall endless (and I mean ENDLESS!) facts about all sorts of animals.

The other hard work has been on Kandi's part and can hardly be classified as work, but more of working the creative juices! Kandi will have her very first published card appear in the CARDS Magazine in November! Its very exciting and such a sweet sense of accomplishment for a hobby she's passionate about. But, you can't see the card until December, a month after the book has been out....so there Blog!

So Blog, are you happy now? Of course there are other things that will need to be posted later, like Brady's Kindergarten Program (no pics but video - too dark in the gym!), funny stories and things the kids have said recently, and Gwynie's birthday this weekend! But Blog, I will definately try not to leave a month gap again! Hopefully by that next time I post, you can expect more frequent updates like you've enjoyed in the past.

The Phillips Family

An Update!

My Mom pointed out to me on Friday that I never posted Gwynie's play or Brady's last wrestling match. Sure, I had plenty of reasons, let me count the ways... Ok well it can all be summed up by a book, or rather several books in a series. Guilty as charged. So, since I'm home with a sick kiddo I figured now was the best time to post! (Poor Gwyner has the stomach flu...ugh!)


Gwynie's play was awesome! The leads were 5th and 6th graders and then the 4th graders were all the Munchkins. It was so cute! The kids did songs and everything, and the scenery was amazing! It was too dark to really get some good pictures during the play, but here are two of her before the play.



The first part of the play was a small part from Wicked, basically showing how the Wicked Witch of the West became wicked. Message! :) She was one of the wizards in the classroom, and then a munchkin after Dorothy comes to Oz, and a dancer in the Emerald City. We were SO proud of her! She put in a lot of time at practices and did an awesome job!


Brady had his last wrestling match that same night as Gwynie's second performance of the play, so I went with her to the play and Jake took Brady to wrestling. Earlier that day they had found Jake's old headgear, so Brady decided he just HAD to wear it! He looks so cute!


They all got medals at the end, and Brady is holding his card they used to match them up with their opponents. All the schools got their own medals, so Jake told Brady because his had a blue ribbon it meant first place. Brady got a kick out of that! He even wore it to school under his hoodie last Friday!! (haha we didn't realize until that night, but it was funny!)

P.S. - This picture is sad because look how nice it was on March 19th! Now, we have snow all over again! :(


Now this picture is just for my own personal amusement. All of the high schools in the area have these banners in their school colors in the gyms.


If you can't quite see it here is what it says:

Welcome to (Insert High School name)
Where Sportsmanship is an expectation

Let the Players Play
Let the Coaches Coach
Let the Officials Officiate
Let the Spectators Be Positive

Hehe, that just cracks me up...you would think it would say, Let the Spectators Spectate! :) Guess I'm just easily amused.


And the next part of this is a plug for me, so I apologize, but I'm interrupting your regular Gwynie/Brady program.

I have made a community on Live Journal for Card Challenges. Each month, on the 5th of the month, a new challenge, or technique challenge will be posted by me. You will have until the 4th of the next month to post your completed cards and/or projects. After all entries are in, a random number (or name from a hat!) will be picked to determine the winner. The winner will get a prize or small RAK from me personally! I'm still figuring out all the details, but I plan on sending out RAKS if you post at least once to the current months challenge, or if we get a lot of entries, I'll draw names for one large monthly prize.

I'm really horrible at making cards. No, really! Unless there is something specific I have to make a card for (a birthday, a swap card, or other occasion), I don't just make cards for fun. Very rarely do I make a "just because" card. I don't try new things. I wait for my Stamp demonstrator to do it first (thanks Sharon!), and then I reproduce the effect, sometimes. I spend hours researching new techniques, new products, and card ideas...yet I never make the card. I download templates, but never make the box. So, I decided the only way that I would try the new techniques I want to do, make cards just to have on hand, or make a new box/project, would be to challenge myself. So I thought, why not make it even more fun, and have a Challenge Community? There are sites that are so large I don't feel that I "belong" or can't make myself at home in those vast sites. I decided to do my own, where I would feel comfortable, have fun, and share my ideas or things I found. I want to interact with other stampers and card makers, and I think this will be small enough, yet fun to meet other crafters.

Alright, so here is the deal, I'll post what I make on my krafty blog as well as the Card Challenges community. If you want to join the community its really easy to sign up for Live Journal. If you do sign up, you will see anyone else that posts to the community and you can see all the entries for the challenges. Or, if you would just rather, you can email me (kandipants21@gmail.com) your submissions for the contest, and I'll post them in the community. If you have any questions about the challenges, the community, or Live Journal in general just let me know! Here is the post I did about the community (lol I mostly copy pasted it here anyways...) with the challenge and the pictures of my completed projects. There are templates to download to make the projects. Ok, sorry for the shameless plug, but I thought if there were people that didn't read my Krafty Blog then I better put it here as well!