happy halloween

Jammies and Treats

Trains, trains, trains! Dallin was so excited to get a package in the mail from his Grandma and Grandpa Duncan that had TRAIN jammies in it! He loves trains lately. He will line up his frosted mini wheats on the table and "CHOO CHOO" them along like it is a long train. Baby girl also got some jammies too, so we took a group picture. Dallin wasn't too interested. Thanks for the jammies G&G Duncan!
Yesterday we had a ward FHE trunk-or-treat activity. We had so much fun. Paul was Dr. McDreamy (haha), Dallin was a pretty scary tiger, and I was a Geisha. Okay, I wasn't really, but I had my oriental robe on and that is what everyone kept calling me.
Here are friends Tigger and Pooh! They were so funny together.
Here is the whole 100 Acre Woods crew! Have you ever seen the Tigger movie where Tigger is in search of his family? He found one of his relatives tonight. We had so much fun tonight passing out candy from our car and begging for candy for Dallin, which we have now hidden and will probably keep a lot of it for ourselves.... NEVER, right??

What's this?

So what is this, you ask. First, I am the most indecisive person in the world. I was determined to buy crib bedding for my little girl. And I want to thank those of you who commented (and called me) to tell me which one you liked the best! THANKS! I was leaning towards the second one, then the first, then the first, then the second... you get the picture. I just couldn't decide. So today, when we were in Lexington, I got to step into the fabric store. And guess what I did. I bought fabric to make my own crib bedding. The funny thing is that: 1- It is nothing like the ones I had picked out previously, and 2- it is not even pink, or green, like I originally wanted. I thought these colors were so cute and I love the patterns. But don't be surprised if I change my mind and make something else out of this fabric and buy the crib bedding. I guess I could say, "to be continued".

P.S. Thanks to everyone who called me to wish me a "Happy Birthday". I forgot my phone, and we were gone all day, sorry I didn't get a lot of your calls, but thanks for the messages!

Sweet Deal

I found a pretty cool blog, Baby Cheapskate, recently. It has all sorts of deals posted on baby deals and steals. This one http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/2007/10/reader-tips-85-off.html is worth looking into! Seriously, click on the link right now and found out what I am talking about! I found these super cute pink cowgirl boots! They are listed as $18.95. So with the deal of 85% off, they should come out to $2.85, right?! One of every size and color please!

Chili and Mini Cheddar Biscuits

I LOVE the fall. I love the chilly nights and falling leaves. I love mountains full of red, orange and yellow. I love throwing on a sweater. I love cuddling up in a blanket and sipping hot chocolate. I love turning on my oven and using my stove. I love making soup and stew and chili and biscuits. I love the sound and smell of my heater turning on. It brings memories of my childhood at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. I love fall for all the things it brings to me.

Baby Shower

I have the coolest Young Women at church. They, along with a few other amazing friends in my ward, threw me a baby shower tonight. I took my camera with me, hoping it would take some good pictures, but it only takes fuzzy ones in our church building. I needed Paul there to fix it. Anywho--- There are the most amazing people in my ward! Thank you everyone for coming and supporting me! My young women decided that that they would be in charge of all the games and prizes. They passed out little napkin diapers and we all opened them and the people who got the "peepee" and the "poopy" diapers won a prize. Then they had us sit in a circle and we played the LEFT, RIGHT game. Here's the story that Rachel (13) and Nicole (14) made up, they are hilarious!

Once upon a time, in a land far far away of green jello (Utah), there was a family consisting of a woman named Kristen, a man named Paul, and a super baby named Dallin. They suddenly LEFT Utah because they heard rumors that the awesome young women in Winchester, Kentucky were needing another assistant, since the other one LEFT. RIGHT at that moment, she knew she should come and help make them scarves and soap. A year seemed to have LEFT so quickly, because now she’s RIGHT here with us. But what you don’t know is that at night, she becomes a super hero/bounty hunter. Her shoe phone rang, RIGHT in front of Paul, who had no idea of her secret identity. She fled her house to of to the crime scene. As she flew in, she crashed RIGHT into the bank owner. It took him half an hour to explain that they had $6000 and all that’s LEFT is $0.48 now. The witnesses were shouting out directions how to get the criminals: “LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT, straight ahead and your there.” Kristen tried to follow those directions, but RIGHT before she got there, the criminals had already LEFT. As soon as Kristen relocates them, they’re hanging from the top of the Ale-8 factory tied up. “Who did this?” she wondered, as she turned to her LEFT to discover that Dallin the super baby had been the one to capture the criminals. Before she knew it, the police showed up, RIGHT in front of her. As the police LEFT with the criminals, Dallin the super baby and Kristen looked LEFT, looked RIGHT, and gave a sigh of relief knowing the job was done. LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT. The END.

The girls also brought Dallin a bag full of presents to open. He has not left that shiny gold bag out of his sight since then. I laughed so hard tonight. What funny, amazing girls I get to work with every Sunday! Thanks for an amazing shower, yummy food, and all the pink that now fills my home!

**Ale-8-one is soft drink. It is made right here in Winchester. It is like GOLD here, everyone drinks it. It tastes like watered down Gingerale.**

b l o g

I am sure that we all love to blog travel, or "stalk" as most people call it. I prefer "traveling". It sounds less obsessive. There are so many people's blogs that I like to look at. Some people I know, some that I don't. And with all the trackers that people have on their blogs, I feel like a stalker that knows their being watched stalking. Why can't I just write a comment on their blog that says, "Hi, I really like your blog. I look at it all the time. So when you see me on your tracker, you know that it's me, and that I am just enjoying the words that you write." Maybe I could make some new friends doing this. I recently looked at a blog of a girl that I knew from high school. I wasn't friends with her, but I knew who she was. I came across her blog in my "travels", recognized her, love reading her blog, but I am just to shy to comment. "What if she thinks that I am stupid?" I think. She even has a post where she asks everyone to comment, even if you don't know her. What did I do when I read this? I got out of there. I got nervous. Phoooeee! I should have commented. Maybe I will go back to her blog and do just that. I have gotten brave a couple times and commented on blogs, whether acquaintances or strangers. So maybe you are reading this and wondering if I have been looking at your blog...probably. You make me laugh, you make me cry, YOU entertain me!

Please Help Me Decide!

Paul thinks it is unnecessary to even get something like this. My argument: "What if her head gets stuck between the bars because she doesn't have bumber pads?" and "Poor Dallin didn't even sleep in a crib until he was 15 months old, poor kid is still traumatized over it!" Both really have no merit, but a girl's gotta do what a girls gotta do. He wants me to make them, but what it will cost to get what I really want, I can save time, money, and sanity by buying. I am leaning towards one of these....

this one?

this one?

this one?

***UPDATE***

These are all under $100 and from Wal-Mart. Trust me, there are a billion other ones out there that I like, but they are all $300+. I have expensive taste and an empty wallet!

Happy Halloween!!

I get an news letter email from Lion Brand yarns weekly/monthly?? They had this project on it. I want to make this cute felted bowl. How do I felt Amy???? You are a pro at it. I am so scared to try! It is a beginner level project. I can easily crochet the thing, but the felting is so intimidating to me!

On the other hand, this little project might not get started. I have just started a blanket for someone for Christmas. Granny squares! I might give you a sneak peak......

Onslaught

You may be wondering, "Holy cow, Kristen, why are you posting like mad?" The answer to your question:

I have a goal to reach 100 posts before this baby comes. I am 9 away (not including this one) from reaching that goal. When I do hit that mark, I am going to get everything published into a book for Paul and me and our posterity. I am so excited! I just have to start looking for a place to get this book done! So sorry if you get sick of reading a billion posts a day!

P.S. This morning, my friend called, worried that we had been hit by a tornado. Nope, we are fine and slept relatively fine through the "warning alarm" and storm. We sure are grateful for the rain it brought to our yellow, crusty lawn! Thanks for your concern, Tashina.

3 Day Weekend

Paul had Monday off this week, wahoo! We love long weekends! We drove into Lexington with no plans, so when we passed the Parkette Drive-In, we pulled in for some greasy 50's Drive in food. Here is the cool "servus-fone" that we ordered from. It's definitely an original!
Yummy onion rings! Dallin loved to pull out the onion and eat the outside, dipped in ketchup, of course!
Later, we went to a really cool bookstore and fed the ducks at their pond outside. And for dinner...
I can't remember what Paul and I ate, but we do remember that Dallin didn't eat it with us. He likes to "cook" now at every meal time. He grabbed the sour cream and scooped some in his bowl. He then took his apple sauce and little by little he mixed it in with the sour cream.
Then, he figured that his new recipe had amazing healing and moisturizing qualities so he rubbed it all over his arms. When Paul mentioned getting in the bath, Dallin started "washing" his hair with the goo. We don't mind letting him make fun messes like this because he is really good about helping clean up afterwards. He is always picking up garbage, putting away his toys, and wiping off the table.He had a grand old time in the bathtub later! We keep all of his bath toys in this basket when they are not being used. He dragged his toys in the tub this time and the basket came too!

Sandbox Substitution

Do you think that Dallin needs a sandbox? This used to be my herb planter.

Here's a fun "taggable" that I found. I made Paul do this as well, so my answers are first and Paul's are second.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Sky Subaru
Missy Lumina

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Rocky Road Chocolate Chip
Cookie Dough Chocolate Chunk

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)**A little stretch**
K-Dunc
P-Dunc

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Green Puppy
Blue Chinchilla

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Steele Provo
Stuart Provo

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Dun-Kr
Dun-Pa

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
The Turquoise Smoothie
The Green Root Beer

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Robert Robert or Bob Que
Clinton Leon

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
Happy Chocolate
Pure Sport Crunch

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
Sue Que
Kay Von

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Vancott Vancouver
Davies Denver

12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Autumn G. Daisy
Memorial Day Pansie

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)Kiwi Gouchosie
Orange Underwarey

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Raisin Magnolia
Water Walnut

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)
The Eating Rain Tour
The Wood Working Snow Tour

Q&A

1. Would you rather have a C-Section or a Root Canal?

My answer: I've had both and I would not want either again. Just has a root canal an hour ago, YUCK!

2. Should Dallin and the baby share a room in 4-5 months?

My answer: I can't decided. Dallin sleeps really well at night. We do have rooms for both of them, but don't want to give up the empty room. But I do want to have a cute, girly nursery...

3. When WILL this baby come?

Fine Dining

Kristen seems to have returned to her crafty self. Yarn, crochet hooks, thread and the sewing machine again abound in our home. Our dining table has become the craft/sewing table, as seen in the photo below:

This has necessitated a new place to eat. Fortunately, Dallin has been very generous with his resources:

Little Baby Jake

Dallin has a new cousin!

Jacob Heath Peters

4 lb 7 oz

17 in long

We love him already!

Ace

We have another RIP. It is October, so we seem to have an animal RIP theme going on. It's kind of funny seeing as I am not the biggest animal person and this will be the third post this month that I have "honored" an animal. This is my brother-in-law's goat Ace. He was so cute and all the kids loved him. Dallin loved it when we were in Utah visiting because he got to play with Ace. The other day, Ace was in his cage, minding his own business, when two hunting dogs running loose came across him. The dogs started attacking Ace's cage and somehow Ace got out. Ace tried to run away, but the dogs got him and killed him. Poor little guy!

**Side story**

Me, being the emotional roller coaster that I am, bawled and bawled when I told Paul about it all. Paul says it's the double hormones in me!

Tag, you're it!

I have been tagged by my friend, Mindy. I am supposed post a bunch of rules and then state 6 facts about myself that people might not know about me and then tag 6 more people. Here's the way I am going to do it, because:

1. I hate following/reading rules/instructions. I usually make Paul do it if it REALLY is necessary.

2. I am addicted to Crystal Light or its respective generic brand. Most people have to wake up and have their Diet Coke, I have to have my Crystal Light. My new favorite flavor: Strawberry, Orange, Banana. A splash of diet Sprite goes nicely in it as well.

3. Paul and I always joke that if we ever got divorced, we would still call each other 10 times a day, usually with nothing much to say.

4. My sister had her baby on Monday. I haven't posted about it because I don't have any pictures of the little 4 lb. 7 oz. guy. (HINT HINT) Okay, that's not about me directly, but like I said, I hate to follow rules.

5. I got so sick of waking up 4 times a night to go to the bathroom, that one night, I revolted, held it all night and ended up wetting the bed. I am now back to waking up 4 times a night.

6. People don't think that I get embarrassed because the way I deal with embarrassment is that I tell everyone about things that normal people wouldn't tell anyone about. Also, the moments that would have been most embarrassing, people usually don't see. Like when I tripped up the stairs in high school or when the back of my skirt was tucked into my underwear after going to the bathroom at church. These things happen and no one else is around.

Now I tag YOU. Yes, YOU, the one reading this.

Plug Worthy - Mommy Cover

There are certain things that I like to make, and there are other things that I like to buy. Here is what I bought. My sister-in-law has one similar to this and I have never been flashed by her while nursing, so I am assuming that it works! Being the most uncoordinated person ever, nursing my first was usually done in the other room because I couldn't keep covered up. This is the perfect solution! This Mommy Cover by Joia, as it is called, is great! It comes with a couple "bells and whistles", too. Check out their website, here, all you nursing mothers or gift givers to nursing mothers!

John Henry

Since we live 15 minutes away from the "Horse Capital of the World" we must pay our respects:

John Henry

March 9, 1975 - October 8 2007

Rest in Peace

This horse won $6,591,860 in his career, more than any of us will ever see, I would imagine!

If you want to learn more about him, here are a couple links.....

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/johnhenry.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/columns/story?columnist=plonk_jeremy&id=3055858

Inside the mind of a 2 year old...

In a matter of thirty seconds, things can change fast!

I am a tiger. ROAR!!! {arms raised, teeth bared}
I am a choo-choo train. CHOO-CHOO!!! {running around the table, arms pumping}
I am a dog... RUFF-- no, a cat! MEOW!! {Rubbing his face on the floor}
Now I am a dog. RUFF-RUFF!!! {crawling up and licking my face}

All this while wearing his tiger costume. He really wanted to be in character, but couldn't decided what he really was. This kid makes me laugh!

The Craft Bug is Back

I think that my craft bug is finally back. It went away with a vengeance when I had morning, noon, night and every time in between sickness! Here is what I have been up to this last month. I crocheted this blanket on a "I really need to do something with my hands while I watch season premieres, but what do I have to work with now so I don't have to go to the store" night. I used a triple crochet stitch through the whole blanket so that I could weave ribbon throughout. I still need to heat set the ends of the ribbon, as you can see in the picture. I think the baby will enjoy munching on the ends!
I bought this froggy hemmed stitched blanket at the fabric store and simply crocheted a border. I wanted to try to do something a little elaborate, but my fat fingers did not like the tiny crochet hook, so I gave up and finished it simply.
These are a couple rag burp clothes and a changing pad. A friend of mine made me these changing pads, in blue, for my first baby. I needed, okay, wanted some pink ones. I loved these with my boy and have since made a few for other people as baby gifts.
Okay! I will stop with the PINK baby things! Here are a couple pillows that I finished this weekend. I love them!
And in my long search for ties for my handsome little toddler, I finally made a pattern for one. This one needs some interfacing on the back to make it more sturdy. I am so excited to finish it and for my little buddy to wear it to church!

Hidden Treasure

I found this blanket in storage the other day. I forgot it was even there. I made this blanket one evening when I was barely pregnant with my first baby three years ago. The baby was a boy, not a baby anymore, so I folded it up and put away. I made this blanket from $1/yard fabric and didn't want to worry about getting the squares cut and sewn perfectly. I just threw it all together, uneven and all and I think it turned out pretty cute.

Pseudo Sidewalk Chalk

The sidewalk chalk had been neglected to be put away (hid) the other day. Dallin found it and really wanted to color. I didn't want to go outside at the moment so we got out some black paper and colored at the kitchen table. I later noticed that it was raining outside, so I didn't feel too bad about not taking the chalk outside.
Dallin has so much fun and made a huge mess. But I found out that chalk is really easy to clean up, BONUS! It doesn't stain clothes, walls, carpet, or anything else that a marker or even a crayon would. Coloring with chalk is now our favorite thing to do! Of course he got chalk dust all over his face and he was really cute about it! He loved to see his name written and also LOVED the cars and trucks (his latest obsession) that I tried to draw for him.
We showed Paul our art when he got home from work that night. We thought that this would make a great quiet time activity to do during general conference. It turns out, Paul was more interested in coloring with chalk during conference than Dallin was. He drew me a really pretty flower and then was embarrassed when I took a picture of it!

Tired, Pregnant, "Single", Stay-at-Home Mom

That's what I am this week. Paul has gone on a business trip until Thursday, so Dallin and I are chillin' all week by ourselves. Paul is such an amazing husband and father and he helps out so much. When he is gone, we REALLY feel his absence! We are going to go to the store today to buy Playdough to mush, treats to scarf, ready-made-dinners because I am already feeling lazy, and fabric to sew, sew, sew because that is all I feel like doing. I am sure that McDonald's and Wendy's will see us a lot as well. Unless my nesting energy kicks in, we are going to have a major fat-dog week. And I have already warned neighbors and friends that they might just be seeing us a whole lot this week.

Speaking of sewing. I have burned myself out reading, so all books are set aside and my crochet hooks and sewing machine are out in full force. I will have to take some pictures for my other blog, neglected as it feels, and show you all what I have been up to.

We had a pretty good Conference weekend. It is always such a great uplift to hear the Prophet and our other leaders speak! It was amazing to Paul and I how they all talked about the same thing.....not really, but to us there were some major things that stuck out. And we are so grateful for the guidance that we receive. Conference weekend, however, is always somewhat hard for us. This weekend is usually so focused around our families, that being away, we always get a bit homesick and miss our families. I called my mom yesterday between sessions and asked her what they were going to eat for dinner (I always do this, my family cooks yummy stuff, a lot). She mentioned that they were making peach cobbler, oh yeah! The good stuff. So I went to my kitchen and made peach cobbler as well. Somehow, I felt like I was home again. And, yes, it was quite tasty! Maybe that's what we'll have for lunch.

On another random note: I am so glad that blogger has spell check.

Winkie the Weiner Dog

Winkie and Dallin - Best Friends Forever

Apple Pickin'

This weekend, we packed a picnic and drove to Paris (Kentucky, darn it) to an u-pick apple orchard farm. Seeing as both Paul and I have access to many apple trees in Utah, we were laughing that we would go pay to pick apples. But we wanted to do something fun for Dallin.

Paul and Dallin had fun walking up and down the rows of trees and picking the apples while I manned the wagon, camcorder and already picked apples on the sidelines. And, yes, this is probably the only picture that you will see of me PG unless I get one where I look like a super model. Dallin loved prancing among the pumpkins and tried to pick every one of them up. We had a fun picnic among the cool old rocking chairs on the wrap-around porch of the gift shop.
We ate yummy ice cream made from the black raspberries and peaches that came from the farm earlier in the season. Look what a cute little piggy he would make!
On the way home, we stopped in town in Paris and looked around some antique shops on Main Street. On our way out, we found THE DUNCAN TAVERN!!
We didn't get the chance to go inside, but found out that this cool old building (we didn't take this pic) was built before Kentucky was even a state and that it has been up and running ever since. Right now, it is a museum, gift shop, library, and genealogy center. We definitely plan on going to Paris again to visit the inside of the Duncan tavern. Who knows, maybe Paul's great, great, great, great, great grandfather built the place! On the way home, Dallin fell asleep reading his books. He is such a funny kid.