Overwhelmed!

On Sunday, I was called to be the 2nd counselor in our Young Women's Presidency. It came as a huge surprise and I can't help but feel overwhelmed. I've never been in Young Women's before, but I have nothing but great memories of my own experience in YW's. We had our first activity on Tuesday and it eased a lot of my fears. The girls are amazing and have been really open about the change. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of the girls. I have heard from so many people in the ward how amazing our youth are. I am also really excited to be working with the other ladies in the presidency. We are all at similar points in our life and it will be fun to become better friends with each of them. They will be great to work with. I have to say how thankful I am for the interent--sugardoodle has been my best friend this past week.

I'm going to miss teaching with Jeff--that has been my favorite calling so far. We had such a great class and it was fun to be together during class and sharing time. I will miss hearing the cute things the kids say and laughing at the funny things the kids do. (ok so maybe I laughed a little too much sometimes and I'm sure the primary will not miss me being irreverent!) The one bright side about leaving primary is that I will get all the girls who were in my class in beehives this year.

I will keep you posted on how it's going. Please share any great ideas you have...I'll need them!!

Book Blog

I am grateful to my dad for instilling in me a love for reading. He always encouraged me to read and made sure that I had the next book in whatever series I was reading. I love being taken away into a different world created by the author. It is also something that Jeff and I share. A vacation is not a vacation for us without a good book to read.

I've always wanted to keep track of the books I've read, but have never found a good system. I'm going to see how it works with doing a post after I have finished a book. I'm always looking for new books to read so let me know if you have any recommendations.

The last books that I read were Freakonomics and The Giver.

Freakonomics is the first non-fiction book I've read in a long time. I'm trying to add more non-fiction to my reading and this was a good one to start with. It talks about different studies and stats and correlations they can make with those stats. The most important thing that I took away from the book is to be a less stressed parent. I worry about things that really are not worth worrying about. There was a whole section on how names affect our kids which was really interesting. I enjoyed the book and felt like it gave me a new perspective on life.

The Giver is a book I've always wanted to read. It's a young adult fiction which tend to be some of my favorites. It talks about a town with no diversity, no choices, and no real feelings. Everyone in the town has a specific role. They only know life one way. One boy is given an assignment that changes his life and the way he sees everything. This book is a great read especially if you are looking for something quick. It made me grateful that we are able to experience happiness and freedom. I really enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it.

Jaxon's 4th Birthday!

We celebrated Jaxon's birthday on February 12th. How I love love my little boy who I probably shouldn't be calling little anymore. He might be one of the few kids who was a little apprehensive about his birthday. He wanted to stay 3 because he always wants to be a kid. He is always asking me if he has to grow up and I don't have the heart to tell him that he will because I know the day will come too soon when he will be grown up. It makes me happy that he enjoys being a kid as much as he does. That's what childhood is all about. He keeps me company in the day and I love that we can have real conversations. He is a huge help, mainly in the kitchen. I'm hoping he will be a good cook with all the things he already knows about cooking.

This last year was a big year for him. He started preschool and has done so well. He loves his teachers and has made some good friends. He also started sunbeams. He knew his teacher before which made it that much easier. He really enjoys her as well and is always telling me stories and things that he has learned. I think Jaxon would say the highlight of the year would be getting a dog for Christmas. Toby has made one happy boy even happier.

We had a few different parties and celebrations throughout the week. My mom was able to come up the week of his birthday. They have always had a special relationship and it made Jaxon's week to have her here. We had a party for both of the kids at Jungle Jim's Playland. Both of our families and some of our close friends were invited.

Jaxon talked me into going on the ride below, but all the dizziness was worth hearing him laugh and think it was the coolest thing that we were all on the ride together.

The kids loved hitting the pinata:
At first, Jaxon really wanted the carrot cake again, but he changed his mind when he saw the football cake. His cake choices make me laugh, but at least it's always what he wants.

Here are the boys waiting in line for the bumper cars:

We are so grateful to all of our families and friends who came and supported the kids. They have so many people who love and care for them.

Jaxon kept asking me if he could have a sleepover with his Grandma and his cousins. So, Jeff and I took Claire and stayed at his parent's house for the night. His other cousins all had school so it was just him and McKay. They went to the Training Table, played hide-n-go seek, and watched a show. He had so much fun and has asked if he can do it when my mom comes up again. We may just have to make it a tradition.

Here is Jaxon on his actual birthday opening his presents:

We try to let the kids pick where they want to eat for their birthday and like last year, Jaxon picked the Mayan. Jeff's parent's came with us and we had a great time. We love Jaxon and are so lucky he's a part of our family!!

Craft Day

Back in October, my sister-in-law asked if I wanted to be in a craft group. There are 13 people in the group and everyone makes a 3-5 dollar craft. You meet together and exchange the crafts. I wasn't going to do it since I don't consider myself to be very crafty. I figured I would be trying to come up with something the week before and would be stressed out about it. But on a whim I decided to do it-I figured I would at least get another 12 crafts that would make it worth it. The date for the exchange was February so I had a good 4 months to come up with an idea and complete it. I started searching the internet for inexpensive craft ideas and realized how many great ideas there are. I tried two different crafts before finding the one I wanted to make. There were many other ideas that I want to go back and make some time soon. I finally decided on making some XO frames for Valentine's Day. The hardest part about my craft was finding frames. I had to get them at the dollar store, but each dollar store only had one or two frames. This meant a lot of trips around town, but once I had the frames they went fairly quickly. The only other things I needed were marble beads, scrap paper, and E6000 glue. Here are some pictures of the complete project. In true Amy fashion, I was finishing up the night before the exchange, but I got them done and I was happy with the result. I found the idea at tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com.

It was so much fun exchanging them and I was so glad I decided to be a part of it. One of the ladies said it's like Christmas morning. I came away with homemade vanilla, JOY letters, a cake plate, an America and a Love banner, four different V-day decorations, a pancake bowl w/kitchen towel, cookie holders, and hair accessories. The best part was coming home and decorating my house with new V-day decorations! I am looking forward to doing it again next year!