Easter Printable: Death is Conquered

"He is Risen, He is Risen!

Tell it out with joyful voice.

He hath burst His three days prison,

Let the whole wide earth rejoice.

Death is conquered, Man is free.

Christ hath won the victory!"

LDS Hymns No. 199

Happy Easter time all and happy first day of Spring!

I've had these words from an Easter hymn milling around in my head for a printable.

Crazy, but I'll lie in bed at night when I should be asleep

and think of different typography designs or of pieces of songs

that would make interesting and useful prints- nuts, I know!

Quotes from movies or lyrics from songs always seem to be my fav :)

I love Easter time!

Filling the boys' Easter baskets is one of my favorite, favorite things all year!

I love getting them duded up for Easter Sunday,

love egg dying and hiding, love freshening things up with bright colors again.

And love that for us this holiday is esteemed, protected.

I'm pretty happy with how it looks on my mantle, which is certainly still a work in progress!
See that fun wreath?!? I'll have more to share on it before too long too :)

I hope these printables will be some you can enjoy during this special holiday!
I liked picking colors that were brighter and using fonts that were more pretty and swirly :)

Followers can click the link below to get to the color desired in Google Docs,

then download and print at 8 x 10- Enjoy!

Death is Conquered, Easter Print : daisy yellow

Death is Conquered, Easter Print : spring green

Death is Conquered, Easter Print : soft purple

Death is Conquered, Easter Print : sky blue

Death is Conquered, Easter Print : peachy keen 

Happy Birthday, my Love!

Stephen is turning 39 again today! ;)

He is just about always stronger than me, more optimistic and more capable- he is my everything!


Yesterday Cooper went around the house compiling things into a present for Dad.
Well, when Stephen needed his headlamp to do chores last night,
we were both getting frustrated that it wasn't where we remembered.
Suddenly I knew that it must be inside the present box and indeed it was!
We were both so heart-warmed at his sense of giving and how he knows his Dad!
The present ended up being a little love treasure hunt :)

Happy Happy Birthday, babe! We love you and appreciate you so much!

Hope it's a great day- I know you will make it that way!

And our yummy dinner and birthday cake will hopefully help ;)

Happy Birthday!!

The Everyday Games

"Where are Cooper and Ryder? ;) Where have my sqeaky clean boys gone? There's these big rocks on the floor, but I don't see my boys??"  This is what I say after almost every bath- to which the "rocks" immediately start squirming and laughing, even pop up and become the boys again! :)

What on earth?? That's what you're thinking, eh? :) All this menagerie was actually a fixture in the living room for a day known as Cooper's Store. He gathered up all sorts of things across the house and then we got to come along and buy them! I found an old stash of change in my drawer that I used to shop and shop. I tried to talk him into playing with play money, but he wouldn't even hear of it! He's no dummy :)

Another fun little thing we tried recently was a simple little play dough fossils game- I flattened several small mounds of dough and then punched a mark in them with different objects while Coop wasn't looking. Then the items I'd used went into a basket and he matched them up with the marks in the dough! Really simple and fun- he did some for me after he figured these out on his own.:) Here's a few examples that were favs:

And check the flowers that my thoughtful husband sent to me on our temple anniversary!

They were the highlight of the day for sure!

I'm so blessed and grateful to get to spend eternity with you, Stephen!

Little Fabric Bucket

Awhile back I saw this fabric bucket (above) on Pinterest. Why it sunk in with me more than some other project, I don't know, but it did and I set out to make one. I just think they are super cute and useful too! The first one I made was sent as a gift, so I went through my fabric scraps to make another this past weekend. This Mary Engelbreit fabric is some that my Mom made an apron for me out of when I was in college! Now the leftovers are a new little thread bin for my sewing table :)

You can find a nice tutorial for this bucket HERE, but I did make a few alterations, so I'll share them too...

So, here's the thing: Math and I don't get along all that well. I'm capable of dealing with numbers, just not necessarily willing. :P (My engineering-Masters-degree-brother got those genes!) So, I didn't actually do the equation to figure out circumference/ length of my sides.  Instead, I just wrapped my measuring tape around the bowl I used for the bottom! Ta da... solved... kinda... you'll see what I mean in a sec.

I also used the medium weight interfacing I had on both the lining and the outside wall pieces, rather than heavyweight on one side. Mine was fusible, so I didn't baste either. Then I clipped around the bottom like she says to, only without the stitching steps. Pin to the circle: (I like how the pins look for some silly reason!)

And here's what I mean about my dodge-the-equation trick only kinda worked:

Maybe I was just too generous in my measuring, but I did end up having to re-stitch and trim the outside tube portion after I got it pinned. No skin off my nose- I admit, I'd still do it this way over the equation! :P

Another thing I altered on my bucket was adding some coordinating trim to the top, where the edge would be turned over- at this stage above, where the sides and bottom are ready to be attached to the lining. I just cut a small, thin strip the same length as the side pieces...

 ...and pinned it, right sides together, to the top of the outer tube piece. When the lining and the outside are put together, ready to make the combining stitches, it'll look like this:

And once it's turned and ready to be folded down, all done:

Ta da! All finished. I actually topstitched around the turned edge, like this:

But then I decided it took away some dimension from the bucket or something, so I picked the seam and after all. My sewing skills are pretty hodge podge, I know. :P

I think I could make a lot of these in the future- they would make fun, re-usable baskets for giving gifts. I'd also like to try adding a handle for the boy's Easter baskets. :) Tons of uses for these simple little baskets!

The Weekend Eventful

Weekends when Taron and Keaton are with us I would say are generally rather eventful.

Nothing grand or out of the ordinary, just more involved and productive I guess...

Maybe it's Cooper and Ryder's excitement level that makes it feel eventful!

This last weekend, during the day before Stephen left to go get them, he changed out a blown lightbulb in the  laundry room for me. Cooper was intrigued by the old bulb and really wanted it as a treasure to keep and play with! Anything is a treasure to this little dude! Well, of course we can't let him play with a lightbulb, so to ease the anxiety, I set to work crafting a lightbulb out of paper... could've turned out worse I daresay :} And then Ryder needed to have his picture taken too- with his favorite, trusty treasure, "black guy." :)

 Taron and Keaton were super excited about the puppies this trip- they seemed to want to soak them up all they could. Four boys and seven puppies= fun for sure :} 

Friday night we had some friends over to join in the fray and I made these sugar cookie bars I had seen on Pinterest. Verdict: Awesome! I might not ever roll out and cut sugar cookies again ;) Not really, of course, but these really were divine with much less work! I like that I didn't have to douse the dough in flour first.

Saturday everyone seemed discontent inside, so, even though it was rather nasty out, Stephen loaded up all four boys and headed into the desert for some exploring and shooting. Little Ry wanted so badly to go- he is forever getting left behind- so I sent him with. Well, of course, while they are all out there, they get stuck in the mud and had to be rescued by Stephen's wonderful friend, Brad... The older boys are capable, but I was nervous for my little guys for sure! None of them seemed too flustered in the end, though... :) Such is a boy's life!

On Sunday after Church, Cooper decided it was time he took his money making endeavors to new heights. He asked if he could set up a lemonade stand (as he's digging cups out of the cupboard). When I said it was too cold for that yet, he immediately suggested that he do a cocoa stand! Cute, but still, no. So he set up an indoor stand for his brothers. He put a few chips inside these little mini cups and set them out for grabs. No sign or even a full size table- he didn't even think about the details, other than the collection cup. :) Taron and Keaton scoured the couch cushions and raided Dad's pockets for change- it was pretty darn cute and clever!

Sunday night we tried plying Words with Friends old school, but it lasted only a few rounds before Stephen  decided it was too slow and the little boys sealed the decision for everyone :} We opted for Bingo instead :)

The older boys didn't have school Monday, so we got to have them an extra day! It was finally nice out and we all went on a walk up the street. As always, Coop and Ry wanted their scooters, but abandon them just a few houses down... usually I'm stuck dragging them both on each side, but the older boys got a ride in too after all this time :)

Meanwhile Coop gathered treasure like this sweet dried flower and Ryder made sure he didn't have to wear the same clothes all day... :)

Simple, good times!

Selflessness

Not too long ago I got to give a little talk during our ward's monthly Relief Society meeting on the topic of 'Overcoming the Winter Blues.' Guess I needed to hear it most, cause sure as sure I'm not the expert on the topic!

Toward the end of the talk, someone asked a question: Really, HOW do you force yourself to do things like go out for a walk when you simply don't feel like doing anything at all? HOW do you honestly shake a sense of depression? Well, the answer I gave and some others kinda chimed in on as well, was about as lame as it gets: You Just DO. You find it inside somewhere, somehow and you just DO.

I've thought a lot about my lack of answer since then. And if I could go back to that moment again, I think I'd say something to the extent of this:

When you don't feel like doing anything, what is it that motivates you to move from that point eventually? When I've had two hours of sleep for three nights in a row and I want to do about anything but build another block tower or accomplish the housework, sometimes, yes, the yuckiness prevails and we watch Netflix non-stop. But more often, the fact that I care more about my husband not coming home to a war zone and a smelly wife; about my boys being fulfilled and taught to the degree they deserve; about life getting at least a bit closer to the ideals I once had, than I do about how tired I am, gets me to accomplish more and shake the negative. I can overcome when I'm not focused on ME.

And the more I think about it, I really think, indeed, it could be said, Selflessness Solves Everything; the Solution if Selflessness, across the board in life. Of course I could go on and on, but the point is really to think about it for yourself I guess... The next time you contend with depression or with conflict or dis-ease, test it out: what is it that you care more about than yourself, that will motivate you to move?

You can click on these images and then right click to save and print an 8 x10 :)
Mine's going on my bathroom mirror.

Broth and Stuff

Awhile back, I saw THIS post about making chicken broth at Momnivore's Dilemma.

For some reason, her posts about real food are intriguing to me-

I already cook from scratch, but if I can just change my process a little to have

the foods I serve be even healthier, then super!

And Nicolette is down-to-earth about how to cook "old school."

Anyhow, I decided I would try it out and make my own broth!

I actually made turkey broth, since I cooked a turkey one Sunday and had a turkey carcass to work with. Above is what I started out with- onions, celery, carrots, a few cloves of garlic, all chopped coarsely and tossed in with my turkey carcass and a gallon of water...

I cooked it on medium for half an hour or so and then turned it to low. I started not too long before I went to bed and this (above) is what it looked like when I woke up in the morning! It sat there all day, cooking for a total of just barely under 24 hours. I read some other recipes that said to cook only four to six hours , but I trust Nicolette that 24 hours is better and it was no skin off my nose to just let it cook. It looked like this after I had strained all the liquid off:

And here's my broth! I wish I would've had a smaller, wire strainer to make it even cleaner, but oh well. This tasted like pure comfort! So much more flavor that store bought. And more than anything, I just liked how I felt knowing that I had made my own broth! Two nights later, I made homemade egg noodles and used it for turkey noodle soup- yum! All I know, is I will never toss a carcass again!

And as for other stuff... we recently had my sisters and their families over for dinner and games. The boys love playing with their cousins! They put on a fashion show (wherein, I realized how sad my selection of dress up gear is :/) and packed onto the bed to watch a movie... for a few minutes, until they got bored and needed some other entertainment! :)

And guess who recently won 2 yards of fabric from fabricworm on SewCanShe?!? There is just about nothing I love more than new fabric! Aren't these ones so fun?!