The Weekend of Water

The Canada Day long weekend could probably be summed up in one word...WATER! We had so much fun in Lethbridge (minus the throwing up boy on Deerfoot Tr in Calgary on the way there)! Isaac got to visit and play with lots of aunts, uncles and cousins! While everyone else in the Ellingson family slept in the house, Mark, Isaac and I toughed it out in our tent in the backyard! (We also had to try out our new sleeping bags before our YW/YM camps the next week.)

In the morning after all the family arrived, we headed out to the Kimball River near Cardston for some rafting. The water was pretty high and flowing fast, but most of us thought it would be ok. It quickly turned out NOT SO OK. The babies were safe, sitting in the middle with life jackets held tightly by their mommas, but some of the older ones were scared. It was when an aunt went overboard, and was pulled back in by a niece five years younger that we decided to send the little kids packing (with some adults of course). Ironically, after that, there was basically no more rapids and it only took about 20 min to get to the end. Ha ha. I'm not sure if that ordeal beats the time we went exactly a year ago and got out of the river at 8:30pm in the pitch black.

That evening we relaxed with the nieces and nephews in the backyard pool and watched the fireworks. Mark has so much fun rough housing with his nephews! The next day we went water-skiing. Everyone had their chance to show off and even try for the first time! (Except for me. Poo, poo.) All in all, it was a great weekened and an awesome excuse to break in my new maternity bathing suit! (Baby's due in November, btw.) Here are a couple pictures we took of our adventures:

So this wasn't from the long wknd, but its related to water?
We found the perfect rain suit for Isaac! He had fun dancing in it when
he tried it on for the first time.  

The family ready for their rafting trip!

Everyone who braved the waters in the 10 man raft!

Chillin' in the pool!

Isaac at the lake. No he didn't water-ski, but he sure had
fun throwing rocks!

The Animal Avoider

So Isaac is getting USED to animals. Several months ago we were at a house with a cat. It was just sitting there, probably just looking at Isaac and he FREAKED OUT! He was so terrified! So we thought we'd better get him acclimatized to animals. We walk up to kitties and puppies when we see them. He's pretty good now, but as soon as they start making any moves towards him, he slowly steps away. I thought it would be fun to take him to a petting zoo at a neighborhood party in Edmonton. I went in with him into the pen and he followed all the animals and tried to pet them. Once they started getting a little friendly he did his usual back away slowly. He's come a long way from screaming bloody murder, and we're happy about that!

This bunny was not too wild for him.

This miniature pony, however, was eating just a little
too ferociously for Isaac

The Baker with the Belly

Day off + clean house = Baking day! I tried out 2 recipes, Apple spice muffins and a new whole wheat bread recipe from a friend in my ward. I bought a stake cookbook several months ago and haven't really looked in it. The bread recipe was in it and so I thought I'd peruse the rest of the recipes to find something for apples. I found a spiced apple muffin recipe that even asked for whole wheat flour. Next time I'll fill the cups a little more with batter.

Of course I had to show off my growing belly. Betcha didn't know I was pregnant! It looks pretty good under a stylish apron doesn't it?

For dinner I had to make a great soup to have with our fresh bread. I found a SUPER easy Vegetable Chowder - boiled H20 and veggies, added some white sauce and get this - a can of creamed corn. It was super good to! It'll probably be my go-to soup recipe from now on! Well, happy baking/cooking to y'all!

The Giveaway

If you know me at all, you know that I can't resist a giveaway...or sales, or coupons. If I lived in the US I would probably devote a lot of time to coupon-ing and hunting for sales. Well there's this giveaway that I can't resist for a FABULOUS clothing company...did I mention they look vintage and are...MODEST! Darling, dresses, and skirts you just can't wait until Sunday to wear! Check it out!

 Shabby Apple Giveaway



A favorite I found while getting lost in the miriad uniquely
named dresses...this one's West Coast Swing



The RS Dream

 I know that today's St. Patty's Day, and I admit, I'm not wearing green. I think it's the holiday I like the least. Just because I forgot to wear green, that gives people the right to PINCH me! Actually, growing up I was the one to wear green socks, or some random green thing so that if someone were to pinch me I could say "Nice try...I'm wearing this tiny green thing!" I did buy a Shamrock plant. I love those things. I was so sad when they didn't have any last year and jumped on the opportunity when I saw them sold this year. That makes 2 shamrock plants I own. I have one with pink flowers and one with white flowers. I recently found out that the species name is Oxalis Regnelli, so if we ever have a girl named Nellie, that will be her plant!

What I love about March 17, is that it's the birthday of the oldest and largest women's organization in the world, Relief Society! We're celebrating 169 years today! Last month while talking to sisters in my ward, I realized how amazing Relief Society is! It can improve every facet of our lives from homemaking to spirituality. I guess in a way I learned everything in Relief Society because I learned everything from my mother, and she learned everything as a new mother from attending Relief Society meetings.

What really got me thinking of this was sitting down at the piano and playing some of my favorite songs. Most of them are from my Women of Destiny songbook, which has songs that highlight the Relief Society declaration. I've had the dream for a while of organizing a stake fireside where sisters sang these songs and then spoke on the the RS declaration. I think this would really be a perfect way to celebrate the birthday of Relief Society! As I think of the RS declaration, I get the same feelings as when I recite the Young Women's theme. I know that both organizations were divinely inspired of God and teach strong values to women of all ages.

For those of you who didn't know, the following is the Relief Society declaration:

We are beloved spirit daughters of God,
and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction.
As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion
to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar.
We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:

Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ
through prayer and scripture study.

Seek spiritual strength by following the
promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Dedicate ourselves to strengthening
marriages, families, and homes.

Find nobility in motherhood
and joy in womanhood.

Delight in service and good works.

Love life and learning.

Stand for truth and righteousness.

Sustain the priesthood
as the authority of God on earth.

Rejoice in the blessings of the temple,
understand our divine destiny,
and strive for exaltation.

The Future Fix-it Man

I've got a little boy who LOVES tools! He "helps" his daddy with projects and loves to try out/chew his tools. Mark brings his tools inside the house after work and if ever the house is TOO quiet, we usually discover Isaac taking out all of his daddy's tools from his tote. He especially loves zip-ties. He'll bypass all the other screwdrivers/flashlights/wire snippers and pull out the whole pile of zip-ties.

A couple days ago Isaac was playing at Grandma Jana's house while I was doing my taxes and it was so cute to hear him playing with her little plastic tool set (and not have to get upset at him for playing with them). We really need to buy him a plastic tool set, maybe earlier than his birthday!

The cutest thing by far is his little Carhart overalls! We got them from a family at church, they also came with a matching jacket. When Mark and I tile in our bathroom, we dress up Isaac in his Carharts to match his daddy and let him assist, or rather play in the vicinity while preventing him from eating the tile spacers or thinset.

Isaac and Daddy wearing their Carharts.

I'm sure Isaac will become a great assistant when he grows up, until then, we'll just try to keep him out of trouble!

The Ode to Isaac

I love my little boy! It's been over a year and he's grown and developed so much! Could you imagine if we developed at the same rate a baby does for our whole lives? We'd be huge! Here are a couple things I love about my Sir Isaac:

• his huge bright blue eyes
• how he smiles and bounces a little when you say "NO" (well, maybe I don't like it, but it's sure cute)
• he is such a great cuddler!
• his little bum chin
• his never ending curiousity
• he's strong and can climb anything
• how he takes off the heat vents and sticks his legs down
• he's a stair master!
• how he took a while to really start walking because he had to know he could run to get to places fast
• how he makes noises with his tongue
• his puffy face and curly hair after a nap
• his hugs
• how he plays with his or my hair

The Hair Affair

Unlike many children his age, Isaac doesn't have a blankie or a deeply cherished stuffy. He doesn't suck his thumb or fingers either.

To relax and soothe himself, Isaac plays with his HAIR..or the hair of his momma or dada whichever is most accessible. I think this began when I would hold and nurse him, and I'd brush my hair on his face to soothe him. Since then, whenever he's tired he immediately begins playing with his hair. Several months ago, I told this to my mom - she was kind of skeptical, but a couple hours later, he did it! She was pretty amazed! When we lay him down in his crib to go to sleep, he rolls over on his tummy and puts his hands up to play with his hair. It's so cute to watch, it's just like clockworks.

When we hold him in our arms, he also wraps his arms around our necks and plays with our hair at the nape of our neck, with his head on our shoulder. (He gets a little frustrated when I have my hair in a ponytail.) I guess it's a great thing to be attached to. It doesn't have any long lasting physical problems or result in any tantrums if lost. I guess the only drawback would be no buzz-cuts in the summer.

So there you have it. If ever he's cranky and puts his hands to his hair, you know he's tired.

The Love of the Gain

Many people say that the sense of smell evokes memories the way no other sense does. Smelling Isaac today brought me back to memories from years ago, memories of standing on my doorstep hugging Mark goodnight. Yes, you guessed it. Isaac smelled like Gain. 

When I started dating Mark, I fell in love with the smell of Gain. His mother used Gain detergent and as a result, ensured my love for her son. I could spend hours cuddling him, smelling him. (Of course I fail to mention another partner in the scent combination...Old Spice Pure Sport. Mark lent me his hoodie one night and I said "Wow, this smells so good!". He replied, "That's the armpit." Well, it was an incredible smelling armpit at that!)

When Mark went on his mission I'd visit his family sometimes and once I entered their house/car I'd be on cloud nine again. "It smells like Mark," I'd say. You would probably say it was fitting for Mark's mother to give me a jug of Gain detergent for a gag gift at our wedding reception. When we bought our new washer & dryer, we couldn't use it, and to complete the nightmare I couldn't find HE Gain. I was devastated! Finally, I found it. And bought two. I've been saving it for months until we finished our other detergent. 

Yesterday I did my first load of Isaac's clothes. Now whenever I smell him a wave of memories flood my mind and put a smile on my face. 

The House That Mark Wants

The Ellingson Army has a favorite pastime...looking at houses on MLS.

This addiction may be a bit harmful because of dissatisfaction of our own home that occurs afterwards and the high hopes we have of owning homes out of our reach. It's not that they're too out of our reach, they're just not right for us right now, with ONE child. We did find one house that we loved...enough to look at. I know, I know, we shouldn't have done it, but now Mark is in LOVE. I was in love too, more like "in like", but the voice of reason was far too loud in my head to pursue anything more.

It was a charming little house originally built in 1949, but has recently been rebuilt from the studs. The builders kept a lot of the original fixtures and baseboards to keep the character of the original home. They even picked brand new tiling/laminate that looked aged and fit with the charm of the rest of the house. It had a claw footed tub, and a great upstairs play area for kids!

Mark's dream house

The kitchen with the coolest floor tiles,
yes, that design is tile!

The dining room featuring the original fireplace

The most charming stairwell
in the living room

So the voice of reason told me that the 6.5' ceiling in the basement would be a pain and the small fenced yard with no space for a garden would not be practical for a family. The kitchen was charming, but was lacking great counter space, and of course for an Ellingson, it lacked the necessary island with bar stools. Ok, ok, so it was basically a brand new house, but I guess I just wanted to keep our house and renovate it the way we want. We've got a huge yard and garden and we don't live on a corner (which in the winter would be a pain!). Of course, we live right close to the Ellingsons and just walk over for a cup of sugar or for babysitting.

I recently watched a House Hunters show where this young couple were on the search for their first home. I was appalled at how particular they were about what they wanted. How much space do you need for 2 people? They were most particular about the yard. They were upset with small sized deck (which I thought was huge!), and the yard with tons of grass, but the nice looking shed was in the middle of the yard...not the right spot for this young couple. When Mark and I were looking for our first home, we definitely didn't have many specifics. We looked past the ugly carpet and the creepy bathroom ceiling and saw what we could make of our first home!

So for you future young, first home buyers, keep your dream house in mind for buying your SECOND home

The Day Home Dramas

Well, it's been a while since I blogged. I haven't forgotten about my blog, but who's really following anyways?

I've taken over my sister in law's day home while she's away for a month. Each day I have 2-6 kids including Isaac. After school sometimes I have an additional three. Needless to say, things can get a little hectic! I'm so exhausted by the end of the day, I'm unmotivated to clean my own house, let alone BLOG! I'm constantly thinking of new games to play and all I can think about are "What time is it Mr. Wolf" and "Red Light, Green Light". The only games I remember playing when I was a very young girl, waiting for the big kids to get out of Ukrainian Dance class. Any help in that department would be great!

Isaac sure has fun, and it's a challenge to get him down for a nap each day. Today I decided to try only ONE nap. Sure enough, it's on the day he wakes up at 6:30AM! It was a challenge to get him to noon, for sure! He's going to be very bored when this is all over. I think I've fallen more in love with Isaac because I'm not playing with him as much anymore. I steal more kisses when I put him to sleep and think he's even CUTER!

What I've learned for sure is that you have to STAND YOUR GROUND! There's a particular girl who, if you give her an inch, she takes a mile! I also found that I have no patience for kids who cry for no reason...I usually say, "I know you're not crying for any reason, so if you want to stop crying, you can come and play ______ with us!" I think I'm converted to having an all BOY family for that very reason! It's so interesting to see how kids develop. I love to see the stories they make up and how they "read" books (make up the story from looking at the pictures). They have great made up games and now I know I'm not the only one who gets upset when Isaac wrecks my towers!

Now for a little photographic update!

Isaac had his first hair cut on Christmas Eve Day. I almost cried seeing those curly whisps on the floor! Mark wanted it shorter, but I insisted on keeping what little was left of the curls!

Before

Before. He REALLY needed a hair cut!

After. My Dapper Dan!

Doesn't it look SO CUTE!?

Isaac's new fascination. Heat vents. He takes them off and puts his legsdown them, gets out, goes back in, etc. I've also found a couples toys stuck down their too! ...AND SO IT BEGINS!

Isaac learned how to drink out of a straw and now enjoys smoothies so much! 

Yet again, Isaac has the most fun with non-toys. 

He was playing with these toys in the cart in the grocery store and people came up and said,
"You can't play with those, it's WINTER". Stupid people! It keeps him happy!

The Catch Up!

So it's been a LONG time since I posted anything of note...I can blame my camera on that! I haven't been able to upload my pictures, and as a result have had nothing motivating to blog about! It seems like that last month has FLOWN by!

Here is an photo update of the latest happenings of the Ellingson Army:

Isaac discovered new hiding places

We went to Opening Night of Harry Potter
Mark - Percy
Brookyn - Luna
Isaac - The Boy Who Lived

Isaac had his first drum session

After 3 hours in Home Depot, we bought tile for our bathroom!

We went sledding many times with family

Isaac & Gwen had their first shared bubble bath!

The Red Love Affair

 I LOVE the color RED!

I think this fascination all started during a Young Women in Excellence night when a beloved sister in our stake shared her story of her Red Love Affair. She loved everything about the color RED! She showed us some of her favorite RED fabric, some of her favorite RED clothes, and of course her favorite fruit, strawberries (which of course are RED). I think I was inspired by that talk! I don't remember what it had to do with Young Women, or Excellence, other than the color RED is EXCELLENT!

Now, my love affair isn't with just any RED, but deep, dark RED. Wow!

When I visited Arizona a few years ago for my cousin's wedding, I found these incredible RED shoes for $15 at Target. I LOVE them! Months later I found this awesome RED purse at a 10 Cent Sale. It was, to my surprise the same brand as my shoes and a perfect match! I love anything that gives a great RED punch, like my RED pashmina! My bridesmaid dresses were RED, and the flowers were RED, when I saw my bouquet I almost cried I loved it so much! I finally painted a wall in my house RED. It was the same color as my sister-in-law's dining room, which I'm a total fan of! I was a little scared of the paint chip on the can lid...it looked kind of purple to me, and opening the can I discovered a color unlike the one I wanted. With fear I started painting a a little leery at first, but with a second coat the color was do DIE for! I bought some RED dish towels and dish rags recently and am looking forward to putting up my RED Christmas decorations (Our Christmas theme is RED, gold and green.) This weekend Mark and I bought new winter jackets...mine of course is RED. How lucky am I? I am on the hunt for some awesome RED throws for my living/family rooms. Unfortunately the ones I desperately want that my mother-in-law has are no longer sold!

So long live my passion and love (how fitting) for RED!

These are a few of my favorite (RED) things!

My bridesmaids and me!



RASPBERRIES...of course!



My beautiful red wall!



My favorite pair of shoes!