New Blog!!!!!!!

Hey all I have wanted to for a while and had a few people tell me I should do a craft blog. Well I am finally doing it! Thanks Andrea Boshard for finally pushing me over the edge. The address is below and I will be posting only on the crafts I am working on. This blog will still be all about the fam. Hope to see you all watching!

http://courtneyscrafty.blogspot.com/

Let's Barter is a bust!

Well all I am sad to say that I only had a few responses to my "Let's Barter" party. I am going to cancel it but would love to do it again. Start collecting all your stuff and I will try and have one in a couple months.

Let's Barter!

Ladies,

Its the beginning of a new year and everyone has stuff lying around they no longer need or want, I know I do. So lets get rid of it and get things you really want or need........

LET'S BARTER!!

Bartering is a medium in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods and/or services without a common unit of exchange (without the use of money).

I saw this somewhere and I know that a few wards have done it in the past(My moms is doing it soon), but I thought what better way to get really good stuff and have a great time then to have a Barter Party. So I would like to cordially invite all my friends and family out there that read this to my Barter party, details below.

WHEN: January 30th 2010

WHERE: My house-If you would like to come, RSVP me at ascsmith@gmail.com and I will send you directions

TIME: 11am-1pm

HOW IT WORKS???

Gather all the items you have laying around that you no longer want or need. These items need to be of good value and in good condition. Something that if you were somebody else you would want to trade it for something. There is no money involved, strictly trading. You could bring anything from shirts, jeans, shoes, crafts, Kids clothes, Purses, Jewelry, Mens clothing(asking your husband first would be wise), Home Decor, Etc. The list really could go on and on. Anything that you don't trade just goes right back home with you. I will have a little section for each person that comes so that you can lay out your stuff. This way you can walk around and look at everyones things and then let the bartering begin.

"One Man's Junk is another Man's Treasure!"

I am SUPER stoked about this idea and hopefully I am not the only one that will be there. Can't wait to see all the goods!

Who's gonna be there?

Videos

I can't ever get my videos to download fast on here so check on some funny vids of Dillon on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/user/asmith5678

Zermott Weekend #2/Happy Birthday Babe!

First off I want to wish my Hot hubby a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! It was actually on the 12th but its been a little crazy. Friday the 11th I actually had a Surprise bday party with some family and friends and Aaron was TOTALLY surprised. I was so happy it worked out because he was being REALLY resistant to the plans I had set up for him. I just wanted to say though how much I truly love and enjoy my husband. He can still get me laughing harder than anyone and I still just love spending time with him. I love you so much babe and I am so happy I get to spend all the rest of your birthdays with you!


So ZERMOTT #2............We went up for Aarons birthday and decided this time to bring the kids. It was so fun when we went just the two of us but even funner with the kids.Always has to pull the cheeser face. This was when we first got into our room.
Gabe LOVES to take pictures so he always like to take on of us. Funny that Santa "made" him a Digital camera last year for Christmas and he has literally used in one time! I bet Santa was a little frustrated by that.

On our way to the pool in the elevator.

The beautiful indoor pool.




Seriously?! He is such a ham!

Oh he would not get off this thing. He loved it, was making car noises, and turning the wheel.





Bowling!!!! There is a new plave called Jupiter Bowling in Park City and it is AWESOME!!!!!!!! By far the swankiest and coolest place ever to go bowling. I would recommend it to anyone who wants something to do up there.

We woke up to a foot and a half of snow. lovely!


They actually made these ice sculptures. Crazy, right!
The drive home. Scary!





Such a fun weekend with my family! Love them to death and Happy Birthday again to my hubby!

Temple Square Lights

We braved the cold with the Haynie family and went to see the lights. It was yes, FREEZING, but we enjoyed ourselves and loved going to Jordan and Cayleens after for Hot Chocolate.

What we do during our days together.......

It is funny to look through your pictures after you have put them on the computer and see how many randoms ones I have. Dillon, my little BFF does the funniest things all day long and we have such a good time together. I love our shopping trips, trips to Cabellas, etc. Here are just a few examples.Seriously found him sitting on this ball against the door one day. Just park it I guess, right?

We love to go to Cabella's to look at the fish and the animals. Alright Alright and the yummy almonds.......


Dillon always goes up to the windows on the side of our front door and knocks on them. ONe evening Aaron decided to put him up there. We placed him on the little ledge and he thought it was awesome. His own little seat.




"Canny" Also known as Candy. No he cannot say it, but this is how I say it in my funny mom voice. Like his mother he LOVES candy. Suckers, M&M's, Ice Cream, Cookies, etc. Its hard having his birthday in October because then you have all that Halloween candy. Anyway I will usually give him a sucker or a little something after lunch. Suckers are always the "funnest" to watch him eat though. As you can see he still loves to do his cheeser face.



Daddy was watching Dillon one night when I was gone and they set up a whole little bed for Dillon to lay in to watch a show and have a bottle. Love that daddy thinks of these things because I sure don't.

FINALLY Gabe's new room REVEALED!!!

So I have been working for MONTHS on Gabe's Revamp for his room. We did Dillons room but we never really did anything with Gabe's. I thought long and hard about everything going in here, took ideas from magazines (esp. Pottery Barn), and did a lot of Yard sale, KSL, and DI searching to find the perfect pieces. I am super proud of my work so I am going to brag a little about my results.

BEFORE:



New bedspread, sheets, etc. Found these Lacoste sheets on Macys.com and knew I had to have them. I got them and then pulled everything else for the room from them. I made the 2 big striped pillows in the back and then the sleep pillow was actually 2 placemats I found at Walmart for 50 cents each. I sewed them together and then stenciled "Sleep" on the front.
This drawer was already in there but needed to be brought up to date so I just took the handles off and sprayed them with a brushed nickel spray paint and ta-da....Fixed! (They were Gold before)

We wanted to add a little paint but nothing to crazy so I matched the red on the bedspread and we painted just the one wall his bed was going to be up against for an "accent" wall. Thanks babe for painting it. He is such a perfectionist and always does an amazing job painting.

This shelf I found at Roberts. It was unfinished at the time so I painted it white, distressed it, and then added a little stain glaze. I always have been somewhat collecting "G's" over the last few months so that I could have numerous ones for this shelf. I painted and or did something each and everyone of them.
This one I actually wrapped in twine and it took FOREVER, but I LOVE it.

The cute truck I just found at the Roberts clearance center in Lindon.
This painting we purchased a few months back as well from some students that were here from Israel. They were studying at BYU and going door to door selling their paintings. This is a one of a kind from one of the artists and we knew it would look awesome in the room. Just still trying to figure out how we want it framed.
I took a picture my brother had gotten at DI years ago and painted the frame, and then flipped it over and painted the back with chalkboard paint. I glued this other G on it and wah-la a chalkboard. This is his little work station.
Gabe specifically asked for a desk with drawers and after searching high and low I found this desk and chair on KSL for $20!!! I was so excited!! I painted it Red and the chair white then added new brushed nickel knobs and a few office supplies and we were set.
I also made this pillow.
This lamp was previously in his room before but was a sports one with denim and it was just horrible. I covered it with burlap, added a ribbon, and button, painted the base and LOVE IT! These jars I actually modpodged fabric on the lids for office supply holders. Then I created a coaster by modpodging a piece of tile with fabric as well. The tray i found at IKEA for like $2.
The chalkboard.
I saw in PB they had corkboards on each side of the bed and I had to have it. I found the corkboards at IKEA for $5 each and just hung them up and added pictures. The chair I found at DI for $10 and I just painted it white and whipped up another pillow to match the others.

This bed tray I also found at DI for $3, but it was an ugly blue with some painting in the middle?? I painted it the same red as the desk and mod podged some cute paper in it, and distressed it. I actually did all the desk drawers with this as well.
This lamp I found at Kohls for like $6 and I loved it. This end table was in his room before as well and it was a 2-toned black and wood so I just painted it and added the same knobs as the desk. I also made a coaster with fabric and a tile for this table as well.


This is it!!!! End results. Gabe freaked when he saw it and said it was one of the best surprises he has ever had. That made all the time and effort totally worth it. The bed was in our guest bedroom so we just swapped them since its a little bigger and more of a big kid bed.

Oh how busy we have been..........

Well this past month or so has been SOOOO crazy! You will see from the post below that we were just trying to have a little fun.





Aaron and I went up to Zermott Resort in Midway for a little R&R. It was a weekend full of good food, funny movies, massages, swimming, and a lot of fun with my hubby. Thank you to my mom again for watching Dillon.






This was Dillon at the Neurologist appt. He said everything was fine and the cyst was totally normal. Nothing to worry about and not even a need to follow up. YEAH!!!!!!!!

So most of you know I have been getting pretty crafty the last year and these are a few things I have been doing over the past few months. On top of all my DIY re-do's to all my DI stuff and old stuff around the house I have mostly been doing these for gifts for friends. These 2 are ones I gave to my BFF Teresa(who is in the pics below) for her B-Day.




A few weeks ago I headed to LA for a little by myself R&R. Teresa and I have been planning this for literally 5 years and it finally happened. We had a blast hanging out, eating, shopping, and shopping some more. We say Stanley from the office, who is sitting right behind us in the restaurant picture. We were actually at Eva Longoria's restaurant, Beso. It was phenomenal food and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. We say Frankie from "The Hills" at the Grove and we shopped at the Kardashians stores in Calabasas. I got a KILLER scarf at one of their stores. I put up the "sbe" pic for all you Hills fans as well. That is where Heidi works or worked?? Anyway it was one of the funnest weekends ever and I can't wait to go back. Love you T and the Hodges!!







This was yesterday at my parents house but I thought these were hilarious and so cute of my brother Jaden and Dillon.

Dillon's first and I am sure not last trip to the Instacare......

Thursday night I was over at my moms and Dillon was playing on her quilting machine. On the side of the machine there are little wheels and the kids always play on them and act like they are driving. Well Dillon reached his hand up at some point and his middle finger got pinched and it cut it pretty good. He was bleeding all over so I called Aaron and my mom and I cruised over to the instacare. They said it was not that deep (I didn't agree) and that they were just going to put Dermabond (SuperGlue) on it and that was it. So we went home and within 2 hours it had completely come off and he was bleeding EVERYWHERE again. I bandaged it up and put him in bed for the night. Friday morning he woke up and as soon as I took the bandage off it was gushing again. WHAT IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!! So I called Instcare and they said to bring him down again. When I got there the Dr. took a look at it said, "Oh that is really deep clear to the middle of his finger, that is why it is still bleeding." Hmmm and 2 people the night before could not tell that. Anyway they wanted to do stitches which I was scared they were going to say that. I asked them if there was ANYTHING else they could do because of Dillons experience a couple weeks back at the hospital. He is already so traumatized and I knew that he would just FREAK OUT the entire time. So what they ended up doing was gluing steri-strips onto the wound and and then bandaging up his entire hand as you see below. They said they totally understood and if I needed to bring him in everyday to be re-bandaged so that it could heal they were willing to do that. HOW GREAT ARE THEY?! Thank you so much to Randy Archibald who was the great Doc that took care of him at the Tri-City Instacare in Lindon. He even called that night to make sure that Dillon was doing ok and that the bandage was holding up.

Dillon is doing good, we can't let him play in the bath or get the bandage wet so that's been a little tricky but our little man will be just fine in 4-5 more days. Love you buddy!

Halloween 2009

We signed up to decorate our car for the ward Trunk or Treat and it was SO fun. I had been planning for a couple weeks and I think my bat cave came out really well. There were eyeballs, bats, spiders, and my Witch Potion. Halloween is one of my fave holidays and this year did not disappoint.

Aaron took the boys out trick or treating around our neighborhood and they had a blast. Dillon was of course wandering the streets and Gabe just couldn't wait to get to the next house.


This was our candy to hand out and he kept stealing the bucket and carrying it around. He definitely understood the whole getting treats idea.

Dillon with his owie finger. Another post on that coming.
Lego man (Sam)
All the kids
Lego man and Snake Eyes
Nacho Libre, Captain Hook, Alien, and Raggedy Ann

Bunco-Halloween Style

It was a blast! Thanks Corinne!
Before the party
Killer lashes, Right!
Killer Cape my mom made.
Kanye West and Taylor Swift
The Group
Cassie
Jocelyn
Jocelyn, Millie, & Karrie
Millie, Sam
Karrie
Kanye aka Heather

Gardner Village with Friends

Carving Pumpkins

We had a BLAST carving pumpkins as our little family this year. I am not going to lie I think we did pretty good.


Once again Gabe snapped this picture. He only does it for Gabe.

Scary guy??
Skull
Owl-I have been obsessed with them lately
Blue from Blues Clues

Old Chair Makeover

I believe this old chair came from DI or Savers, but I am not sure as my brother bought it. My mom has just had it at her house since he didn't want it anymore and I saw HUGE potential.

I need to remember to take step by step pictures but I just get so excited. So this is how it started old, boring, and drab. I took off the seat and spray painted the chair black. Then I measured and cut out some burlap for the seat and stenciled an "S" for Smith on it. I then covered the seat and by the time I was done with that the chair was dry and I was ready to put it back together. I am not sure where this little gem is going but as for now it is my chair in my craft room.

Home Made Burlap Sign

If you look at the post below you will see this sign was part of Dillon's Birthday decor. I of course got the idea from a gal's craft blog I follow and had to try it. I bought the burlap at Walmart for $2.78 a yard, some black acrylic paint, and the scraps of ribbon I already had.

It turned out to be a little bigger project then I intended but I am SO pleased with the outcome. I printed out each letter and then cut it out and used the normal "scrap" part as my stencil. I then made a template from a manila folder for my squares and I went at it. It took the most time to cut the stencils and fabric but once I was done with that the painting was so quick. I then hot-glued jute twine to the back and ta-da here is my sign. I measured my kitchen before I glued them on as well so that I didn't use more than needed. Once I got it up and hung I tied the scraps of ribbon in between each letter. I felt like it looked too plain for a birthday party so I just dressed it up a little. What do you think?

Dillon's B-Day Party-Lots of Pics!

Last night we had Dillon's 1st birthday party. It was a huge success and we want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes and fabulous gifts. He was totally spoiled!
Invite to Dillon's party
My cute boys! We had a little birthday lunch at Wendy's.
Gabe captured this little beauty while I was getting our food. He LOVES Gabe!
3D ALL the time!
Birthday Party Set-up! P.S. I made the Burlap Sign and will be posting about it later.
Cute party hat I made as well.
Suckers for party favors.
Opening Gifts
Thank you to everyone that came!
Jordan and Cayleen
He LOVED ripping open the gifts. I am super excited for Christmas.




He did not disappoint yet again.
Mmmmmm!

New little 4-Wheeler. Thanks Andrew and Shauna!!
He thinks its the greatest thing ever!

Happy Birthday Dillon!

One year ago today I was in the hospital recovering from having this little guy. I just can't even comprehend its been that long. He is the love of my life along with my husband of course and is such a joy to have in our home.
This past Friday at the Hospital when they weighed him he was 28 lbs and 30 inches tall. He goes for his one year checkup on Friday so I will give more info later. We just started him on the D Milk a couple days ago and he didn't even flinch. He LOVES it like his daddy and brother and is now totally on Milk and no formula. YEAH!!!! He has been walking for about a month now and frequently goes up the stairs and fast I might add. He loves to play with toys and knows exactly how to get to the playroom. Gabe and Dillon are still best buds and Dillon gets so excited when he even hears Gabes name. He loves Goldfish, applesauce, yogurt, and of course any kind of treat. He loves to dance to music and taps his leg in the car. He is also clapping, FINALLY and is just a total Ham. He loves to put on a show for the little girls in the neighborhood when they come over. He is a big fan of Reagan Wilson (Watch out Cammie Jo).
We love this little man to death and are so happy he is apart of our family. Love you Bug!

MRI and The Results

Here is an email that Aaron wrote to our families. I think he puts everything so well into words. I have added my thoughts after.

Last Friday, Courtney and I took Dillon in for his MRI and we just found out the results so I wanted to let everyone know. The MRI was not a fun experience for our little boy as it took 2 hours for the nurses to thread an IV as they tried both hands and feet multiple times. Courtney and I and multiple other nurses had to hold Dillon down while he was getting pricked numerous times and screaming bloody murder. However, after two hours and multiple nurses trying to get the IV started, they were finally successful and Dillon was sedated for the MRI.

Today, I spoke with the doctor and he confirmed that Dillon has Optic Nerve Hypoplasia which means that he is nearly blind in his left eye. However, the main issue we were wanting to determine was if he had any midline brain abnormalities, which we are happy to report that he does not. There was one thing that did show up on the MRI which the doctors were not originally looking for which is a cyst on the left side of his brain. It is small right now and will need to be monitored so we are meeting with a neurologist in the coming month to determine how often it needs to be monitored and if it continues to grow, what the procedure entails to drain the cyst so it does not cause too much pressure on his brain.

So bottom line, Dillon’s brain looks good, his vision in his left eye is very impaired, and we will have to continue to monitor this cyst so it doesn’t get bigger and cause any other issues as he gets older. We, unfortunately, cannot do anything about his left eye, which is very sad, other than just make sure that his vision in his right eye is okay so he can see and we will have to monitor the cyst on his brain to ensure it does not grow. Both of which we can mitigate. The one thing that we wouldn’t be able to remedy is if he had abnormalities with his brain which is not the case. Even though every parent doesn’t want to hear any of this we are very grateful that it is not worse than it is. We appreciate everyone’s love and support in fasting and praying for our little boy.


**Word cannot express how many emotions were going through my vains that day at the hospital. I was just so sad that my little boy had to go through all that pain and suffering. Ultimately it was a huge blessing that we did the MRI or we would not have known about the cyst and it could have caused major issues later. Dillon is such a strong boy and I know that he will be able to face the world with what he has to deal with. He will live a normal life and live it to its fullest. I love that little man so much it hurts sometimes! I want to personally thank all of our friends and family that prayed, fasted, and thought about Dillon and our family through the last month. We have been truly blessed and we love each and every one of you.


Before the procedure in the waiting room. He was SO happy!
He totally loves paper and pens.
After 2 hours of hell. My face is puffy and red and so is his.

Finally got it in his foot.
Them putting him on the table and strapping him down.

These 2 pics above break my heart........
After the procedure sleeping off the sedation medication.
Trying to get him to eat and drink afterwards. He was pretty much totally drunk and couldn't even keep his head up.

Newest Projects

So I am all about doing projects that are CHEAP, EASY, and CUTE! These are a few things I have done recently to spruce up my house. I wanted to get some fun Fall and Halloween decor around the house and I got a few ideas from some blogs and from my own brain and wahla!

Here is an old black caldron I have had for a few years. I never really did anything with it so this year I thought I would add a little ribbon to make it look appealing for the holiday.


This is a plant that I have in my entry way and that I also wanted to add a little something too. Ribbon is the cheapest and easiest way to make something look so good and so different.


This little gem was a 5am wake up from my sleep idea for our family pictures. This was yellow at first all over and I spray painted it white and recovered the back and the seat. I am sorry I am not good at remembering to take a picture before. I will work on it.


My mom picked these beauties up from the Roberts Clearance center in Lindon for like $1.25 and so we got some paper and mod podged them up.


I like it!

Here I wanted just some fall decor that I could leave up clear through November. I had seen on another blog a lady had done this with some grass in her own yard. Well I didn't have any so I went to a field by my house and chopped some down.

I also bought some small pumpkins, gourds, etc at Walmart.

And the base I found at DI for $3.00. I thought it was a steal and couldn't pass it up. Now I have this little number on my front porch.


I used more of the grass for my next project.

Used as old vase I had lying around, some ribbon, and ta-da!

A cute grass something to put on my fireplace mantle.


Really what I try to do it look around my house and see what I have that I am not currently using before I go and buy stuff. That is my favorite thing to do seeing as then I don't have to spend money on the actual items just on what I need to spice it up. All of these things have literally cost me no more than probably $6 or less. I have done a few more projects and have tons of ideas so keep watching for more.