The Saunders in VA

giveaway for an awesome stencil

2011-11-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

i may not have time to update everyone about our family... but i DO have time to post a blog entry for a give away!

(i know, im so lame)

the link is here

Id LOVE to do what she did, a morrocan themed stencil behind my bed!

Ok ok, update on the fam... Kai walks, but doesnt talk... cept hi and bye. hes a work in progress. speaking of works in progress, zeke is TRYING to potty train. argh. seriously, why can the come out the womb POTTY TRAINED!? School is going fantastic for me, challeging, but im still managing a 4.0 (hallelujah) and spencer is just trucking along at nTelos... my moms countdown to her big Temple day is 6 months and I am SO excited! YAY for her!!!

-Sky

Giveaway...

2011-05-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

Cute giveaway over at the spunky little monkey!

Yard Saling... (sp?) is that even a word? Well it is in our house!

2011-05-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

So its Saturday. And what does that mean? That the alarm is set for 6:15. :D and im HAPPY about that! Its time for our FAVORITE family activity, Yard saling. We wake up the kids, get them semi dressed, (usually its PJS and actual shoes...) and grab some food and a sippy cup/ bottle of milk, and in the car we go!

Now, the previous night, I am on the computer with 4 tabs open, Facebook on our local towns yard sale page, gsalr.com, the newspaper's list of sales in their classifieds, and google maps. I then take all the sales I can find (gsalr searches craigslist among a few other places) and put them together on google maps then re-arrange in a route that make sense based on the sales that start at 7 vs 8, kid stuff vs just good ol yard sale, distance from the house/ to the next sale etc. So this is my GAME PLAN. I need to create an algorithm really. It usually takes about 1 hr to do this, but I wouldnt find near the amount of stuff i do with out planning it out. ITs not like california where there were so many yard sales off of one st (Wardlow in LB) it took you 3 hours to go 6 or 7 miles.

So this morning, the yard sales were scattered. The good ones I like to hit first of course, cause as the Master of all Yard saling has shared with me, my FIL Galen, the early bird gets the worm and that is SO true. The golden hour is 7-8. But alot of ppl out here dont start til 8 so that makes things tricky. So lie I was saying, this morning the 7 am good ones were very spread out. some were in stuarts draft, which is about 7-10 miles south of me. some were her in my town, and others were about 5 miles north! I hate that. caus ehten you have to choose where to strike first bassed on their ads. Sometimes you choose right and sometimes you dont. this morning, unfortunately, I didn't choose right.

WE headed out and the first couple of sales were bombs. then I hit one sale that I wasnt even going to but saw a sign for ( another rule of yard saleing you ALWAYS stop whe you see a sign. you can never be too far for a u turn. but you have to make quick judgement, if this sale is worth it to make you late for the sale you were already heading to. in this case that was a yes. I got some clothes for me (Kohls and target brand) for 1$ each. that is a great price. (always compare to thrift stores. at good will, those clothes would have been 3.50 each, and proabbly would have been snagged cause they were cute.)

at the same yard sale though one of those very typical things happened to spencer that sucks. He saw something he wanted, barely touches it, and a mean customer snaps "i just bought that" then he picks up something next to it, and again" i just bought that too." spencers response "is there anything you DIDNT buy?" haha. that part was funny, but the next part is not. When this happens, and it was something you actually kind of wanted, walk tot eh other side of the yard or you'll regret it if you dont. Spencer stayed, and found out that one of the things she just purchased, that retails for 50$ in the store (it was one of those car battery jumper cable things that has its own battery to you can jump yourself) and the price the lady paid? 3$. yeah its hurts. thats why i saw your better to have never knwn the steal that person took your item away for.

So after all was said and done, the sales actually got better the later in the day. And think if i would have hit them up FIRST. but you learn from these things, next time that area has sales, thats where ill be at 7am sharp, not at 830. But we got alot of cool stuff:

-My Rainbows for 2$
-brown Target flats (ive been looking for for awhile): 2$
-a deep glass lasangna dish: 3$
-a dora/diego dvd (which i had been wanting but didnt think to really look for til spencer mentioned it and im like yeah, i DO need that): 3$
-a rug for the boys room, the one with the roads and buildings: 5$
-an AWESOME inflatable ball pit with a bajillion balls : was 5$ (and that was a deal, but it was 830 and it hadnt sold by then, gives you automatic permission to haggle) i got it for 3$
-(another) train that has a track and is battery powered: 1$
-20 pairs of socks (which my mother will shot for joy that i got) 10 cents each
-4 handmade silk ties brand new they wanted 3 each but when you are getting more than 1 you say (since im buying more than one, will you do 2$ each? and yeah, they were 2$ each
-2 bucket hats for zeke and kai, 1$ each (Childrens place and Janie and Jack brand)
-2 gas cans for 50 cents each
-a tunnel to connect play tents we have 1$
-my shirts, 4 for 1$ each

im sure theres a few more small things im forgetting, but thats most of it. and on a scale from one to ten, id rate that bounty about a 6 or 7. and remember, even if its a stinking good deal already, like the ball pit and the ties, you can STILL haggle and get an even better deal! the worst they say is no, and you still get it for the original deal.

So yeah, thats how we afford almost everything in our home. I plan to update more as the summer continues, and let you know about how we make money (a lot sometimes) flipping our yard sale purchases. Hope you had fun reading this, and remember buying used makes COMPLETE since, its easy on your pocket, since its a fraction of Retail, and its easy on the environment, since technically, you're recycling!

I have a special post tomorrow. something AMAZING is happening in just a few hours! I can't wait to share it with you all!

Love,
Sky

Crafty and obsessed...

2011-04-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

Haha. Im crafty. Have been for a little while now. Its an addiction I'm working on. We're in step 5 of the 12 step program (juuuuust kidding, you think im quitting crafting? hahahaha.) But seriously. Here are a few things I've been making lately: (the etsy shop my quilts are featured on is docedaisy.etsy.com.)

My Purple Dandelion Quilt

My Ottoman I recovered all by myself! (I even used power tools!)

And last but not least a pillow I made for my bed to liven things up a bit.

As far as the obsessed part (well of course it references the previous subject matter as well...) Im more talking about the Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday party that just went on recently for my 2 boys. I made a TON of decorations for it, including tissue balls, a 6 foot tall arch, a stand up hill, all the party hats and even shirts for all our family! Obsessed was probably an understatement. Bah. Whatever. I had fun and I put my skills to use. and Thats all that matters. =] Heres a few pics but you can see them all here if you are interested: http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=6347081008/a=55243946_55243946/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

The AWESOME cake my Great Friend Lesley made. Look at the inside! (you can find her at www.serialcakers.com)

The outfit I made Spencer (Dj Lance Rock)

...and the bunting! Cant have a party without one!

(The ottoman is on this cute blog!)

God answers prayers... even if you forgot you prayed about it because it took so long to get answered...

2010-12-27T18:30:00.001-08:00

So. As for the title of this post, I'll get to that in a moment.

To start off, let me preface. I love our new home. I'ts perfect for us, and Spencer and his father put in so much hard work to make it "ours". I have beautiful dark espresso stained hardwood, after hours of sanding and staining on their parts, a beautiful color palette of paint colors throughout the house, my GORGEOUS and MODERN glass mosaic tile back splash in the kitchen, and the list goes on. But it has KILLED me that my house has been such a mess that you cant see much less appreciate the hardwork and beauty my home has. And it pained me. It really did.

I was NEVER a clean person, I honestly didn't have time. Growing up, I was HARDLY ever home, and if I was home, it was only for a moment so things were strewn about due to the hurry I was in, and there was never time to clean it up. Eventually, my mom got to the point where she banished me to the basement (it was finished... lol) and I could make that as much of a mess as I pleased, which of course enabled my problem, not helped fix it.

So all that being said, being clean is soooo very hard for me. Like seriously, it's something I fight everyday. And honestly I feel its just as hard as someone that is fighting an addiction, except mine is in the opposite way, where I couldn't force myself to clean. And then it piled up. And piled up. Literally.

Then it became a wedge in my relationship. Spencer expected some sort of cleaning from me, and I just wasn't doing it. I had no desire to clean, and at that point, I wouldn't even do it to make him Happy. I just didn't care. I resented him, for resenting me because I wouldn't clean.

I knew this was becoming a SERIOUS problem, for obvious reasons. The kids need a clean space to grow up in and anything less is unfair to them as they don't have a say in it. its also unfair to Spencer as he is at work all day making money for our family, and I'm at home not doing my part.

So I decided to pray about it. and pray some more. Nightly prayers, morning prayers. And nothing. I asked to have a desire to clean. Not to just wake up one day and clean. But have the desire to have a clean house and actually act upon it. Still nothing. Then I took this prayer to the temple. Twice. During my prayer, I balled my eyes out, part from frustration that i had to go to the House of the Lord to ask this seemingly insignificant thing, as I'm sure everyone else there were praying for things much more important. And crying also, because of the fact that I had to come to the Temple to pray about this, because it didn't come naturally to me. I hated that part of me, that I wasn't a clean person.

And still nothing. I felt that I had done all I could and Heavenly Father just wasn't listening. or Just really wanted me to have this challenge. Either one sucked. I had gone to the temple once since then, and I thought about that prayer for cleanliness, but I didn't pray for it again. I had other things on my mind.

Then, on Christmas Eve, my dad was coming over. And that meant i needed to clean. Now my father wasn't there that much growing up, but for some weird reason (that I bet alot of you can relate to) I feel the need to pleas him more than my mom, who was the parent that was ALWAYS there. (a subject for another time, but i really wonder why that is...) Anyways, we cleaned, Spencer and I. And I scrubbed. More than I had since we moved in. And I felt good.

Then my dad didn't show up. I was not happy. I felt all that cleaning had gone to waste. But then I remembered the feeling I felt looking at the clean house. (mind you, not all of it was clean, but it was a definite improvement) and I liked the way I felt.

Then the next morning we opened gifts. And the house got a little messy. And this was the turning point. Normally, I would have just left it. But I knew my dad had rescheduled for the next day, so I knew I had to clean. And I did. And I got it back to what it was the day before. And he came. And he thought it was so nice. And I felt validated.

Then this morning rolled around. And the realization hit me after I had cleaned the dining room table, did the dishes, and just cleaned a little bit to maintain the cleanliness that I had achieved the day before. I realized, I had just cleaned for myself. And that I liked it. I did it because it looked nice for ME. Not because anyone else was coming over. And AS I washed the dish that I had been washing in a trance for a few minutes now, I began to cry. (like I am now... big baby) Because I realized the biggest realization of all. My prayer had been answered. The prayer I had forgot that I had prayed, was finally answered.

No one knows why Heavenly Father does things in His time frame. But he does. And I am so thankful that it was answered. My house isn't spotless, its far from it. But my mentality has changed. Even if its jsut a little bit. I have a long way to go, but that's all I wanted. To want a clean house that makes me have a happy hubby. And its gonna be a journey to get there, but I'm just so thankful that my Heavenly Father loves me and blesses me with answered prayers.

Love, Sky

Christmas 2010! (in December, where it should be... lol)

2010-12-25T16:25:00.000-08:00

Hey all!

So today is Christmas! It was snowing little tiny flakies this morning when we awoke. The Kids weren't up yet, which wored out for me since I wanted to make Monkey Bread (tradition). So Spencer stayed asleep with them as I slaved in the kitchen... lol. Then the boys woke up and my Mom and Grandma (great-Grandma to the kids and called Mammie) came over to watch them open their presents from us, as we were going to my moms house later to open her presents to us. Zeke got things like a doggy sleeping bag and a pop up tent to match, Kai got bows to chew on (which was what he has been asking for all year... lol) I got the mustard colored cardigan that Ive been wanting all year (but seriously) and Spencer got himself some sweet blue and white checked vans. Those are the highlights. Then we went over to my moms, and she over did it, as usual, and we got a TON of awesome stuff from her. I got green crocs, zeke got little baby black crocs, and we both got Jibits to go with them. Daddy got this horribly amazing camo coat (spencer is still wrestling with whether he hates it or loves it, hahaha)and Kai baby got more bows. haha. He was in bow and tissue paper heaven. Then we had a yummy "Italian Christmas Dinner" with lasagna and a peperoni spaghetti bake. Now we are home, ready to get on Skype with Marcy and Galen and open their stockings! We were very blessed this year! And not just by gifts! I hope you all remembered the reason for the Season, our saviors birth!

Love, Skylar

Christmas in July (2009)

2010-07-25T18:34:00.001-07:00

-This is Spencer

To start out i am going to post some videos of Christmas.

The Tree

Sky looks like "poop" (Hey she said it, not me.)

Presents from Grandma and Grandpa (and siblings) Saunders

Sweet Christmas hat!

The other half of the box

Zeke at Mammie's

Zeke + Biscuit = Confusion

Food with Mammie

GIFTS!!

Bow Butt

The awaited gift

SHAM-WOW

The Tree in January

Here we go again!

2010-07-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone! It's catchin' up time!
We got a flip UltraHD for Christmas, from Grandpa Dave, and have been using it lot but not enough... Then the lap top crashed, NOW IT IS WORKING. so we have a little catching up to do. Hope you are excited!

blog oh blog oh where have you gone? blog oh where can you be?

2009-10-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to even apologize, because I'm allowed to be flaky and forgetfull. Thank you very much.

Onto what you want to know. Most of you know, we have moved to Virginia, back home for me and about as far away from home as you can get for poor Spencer. He got a job where my mom works at a company called N'telos in their customer care dept. So baisically this is what he hears all day long, "Mah phome broke. And itz mah binness phome. It fell in da commode." Nuff said.
Spencer seems to like it though. And he's doing pretty well getting compliments from his bosses boss, so thats encouraging. And he seems to enjoy Va, as much as he can I guess. Its hard for him to be away from the beach, but thats a no brainer. I think it also helps we have the most WONDERFUL ward with lots of new friends. Won't replace our LB friends, but we love our new friends too!

As for me, I'm tired, fat, lazy and pregnant. I think that sums it up. Haha. I just had my first doc appt today with my nurse midwife (which is not as hippie as it sounds, she delivers in the hospital, she works out of a doctors office, baisically the only difference between a NM and an OB is the NM stays with you the whole time, instead of a nurse and then the doc comes in to catch and thats it.) and I found out I'm only 10 weeks, after I thought I was 12. =[ But that's cause I really wasn't ovulating normally (I'm still in shock I was at all) so that whole conception date is 2 weeks after LMP is not applied to me. But thats ok. And we are excited about our next munchkin on the way!

As for the other munchkin, Zeke gets cuter by the day! and grows up more and more! He has mastered rolling over and standing up (with me holding his hands of course) and we are just watching him intensely waiting for either a crawl or a un-supported sitting session! either of those would be good! And he already has 2 teeth, got those back at month 4 and now he's teething again, and I might be bald by the end of it. It's hard having a fussy baby when hes normally a perfect little angel. he's really developing a personality, and can't stop smiling! I love him! (well, duh)

Here are a few pics of Zekey boy to hold you over til I can get more uploaded!

A happy boy in his Sunday best!

Happy boy having tummy time!

And again, happy boy on a walk on a chilly Autumn day!

stories from the womb...

2009-04-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

So I know its been too long. Don't judge. Lol. I really have no excuse. "Pregnancy brain" has been overused over the last 8 months. So please forgive me. Thanks. Anyways, im 36 weeks! Heres an updated belly pic:

Front view with hubby's hands too!

Side view. "He so low!"

So here's the update: I'm on maternity leave. Thank heavens. I had 3 contractions while i was working, so Spence let me stop at 6 weeks to go. Then on last Friday, we went to our normal appt and the doc was just curious to see if i had dilated, and guess what! I had! I was 3cm and about 50% effaced. And I had no clue! My doctor then said that the baby is deffinately comming before the due date, but he will be ok since im past 34 weeks. Full term is considered 37 weeks, so he would be small, but healthy.

THEN on Sunday I started having what i thought were contractions, so we went to the hospital and again, sure enough I was! they hooked up the machine and it said I was, so I wasn't just being a pansy. I felt validated. lol. well they were about 10 min apart, I was now at 3.5cm but I was still only 50% effaced so they sent me home.

So now I'm sitting here having these pretty painful contractions that arent at ALL regular so I can't go in. So annoying. I'm assuming though its not much longer now. Spencer, my mom, my mother in law and I made bets. I said April 15, Spence said April 25 my mom said April 23 and Marcy said May 4 (I gave her a nasty look at that one)

So now I get to lay around (ha) and do nothing (haha) trying to keep him cokking a little bit longer. I feel we are pretty prepared. The house is pretty darn clean, hospital bag is packed and along with the carseat, in the car ready to go. I kinda can't wait. But then again patience has never been my strong suit. =)

Spencer and I are still planning on getting sealed in the LA temple on April 24, which is also Marcy And Galen's 30th anniversary! We are crossing our fingers that he'll either come early enough to give me a couple of days to recover, or that he'll hold out til the 25th at least! but only he and Heavenly Father know... lol.

Well this is all I'm going to write for now, I have to go play my new found favorite time consuming game:

Bupkis! (Google it. It's actually quite fun!)

Home alone on a Saturday night

2009-01-31T19:50:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I'm sorry I havent been on for like almost a month. Thats horrible. But, at least it follows the patterns of most other new years resolutions. =] Apparently, my mother doesn't want to show my blog to anyone til there are pictures, so this one, will be mostly pictures.

I just want to say a few things about our lives.

Spencer and I are both in school (he's taking one class and I'm taking two, I know, impressive...) as well as Marcy, Spencer's mother and we are all taking a challenging Intro to Art class! If you know me, I am the lack-of artsy, so this will be an interesting semester. I am quite jealous of the blood Saunders who always see what I don't see and understand what the artist was conveying blahdy blah. Needless to say, it will be fun. I'm also enjoying my history class which is currently no diffrent than Virginia history, so I'm breezing through the material. It's been drilled into me since second grade; theres no excuse. =]

I am getting bigger by the day! Zeke is growing perfectly, according to the ultrasounds our friend Todd gives us for free at his ultrasound tech school. We are blessed, especially since our OB is like, "Oh looky it tha haat beat. Tha gud." And thats all we get. No measurements, no incouragement, nothing. We are switching OBs next week. I have my glucose test on Tuesday to test for gestational diabetes and I have to get my Rh shot at the end of Feb. I feel him kick alot now, and Iv'e started to decipher between hic-ups and kicks. But not quite between elbows and feet. In time. I'm starting to plan the baby shower with my friend Audrey. Mid-march we are thinking. In a park, so at that time it will be not too cold and not too hot, yet. I'll have 3 months to go on the 7th of Feb!

Spencer is quite the craigslist-er/dealfinder of the family. First off, he found this 3000$ lazy boy 4 seater microfiber couch on CL for 250$. It was pretty big, and even though we had his parents suburban, it fit but I didnt fit! Well kinda I guess.

Here's a picture of the couch put together, and also another CL deal, our hu-mang-ous love sac, and a best buy special, our new 50 inch plasma! (note the old tv tossed on the love sac!)
Ok well here for the rest of the pictures!

The Vegas Wedding

Some poses thanks to my lovely photographer/last minute maid-of-honor/best friend/ witness until the family decided to witness as well: Tina! This pic features the beautiful bouquet my mother-in-law hand made one hour before the ceremony! My favorite flower: Stargazer Lilly.

A good shot of the "something borrowed" dress, that happened to be my dream dress anyways! My "something blue" was my garter, "something old" was my estate piece engagement ring and wedding band, and my "something new" was the veil Marcy hleped me embellish the night before!

Leaving the chapel as Husband and Wife!

The Saunders boys holding the bride.

All the ladies in attendance struggling with the new groom!

The picture perfect nevada sunset! (yes it's real!)

My favorite pic, thank you Tina!

Where'd we go for our dinner, where else? IN-N-OUT!

The Baby Boy

Here we have his first ultrasound at 14 weeks. Top: head for measurment, middle: foot pic against my belly, and bottom: pic of the wee-wee! (bigger pic of that one below)

As it is labled, the little boy part!

I know these are small, im still learning about this pic stuff. Top: his leg bent like a baby's leg does (look hard, you'll see it) Middle: profile pic, Bottom: his little fist with a thumbs up!

This one is the creepiest one of them all. No one sees it at first. The ultrasound is sideways on purpose. Look in YOUR upper left part of the ultrasound. You'll see Zeke's face complete with two eye sockets a nose, a mouth, and some chubby cheekers! bellow that are two white areas and those are his little fists balled up. You see it now? =] He's about 24 weeks here.

Heres the belly pic! 26 weeks and counting!

Ooo happy mommy!

1st post!

2009-01-10T22:34:00.000-08:00

Hello all! This is Skylar, speaking on behalf of the hubby Spencer and the child in the womb, Ezekiel. It will usually be I that posts the blogs, although there might be an occasional outburst from Spence. I'm making this blog (and going to try to continue to post) because blogs are fun and let me babble and I know there are some of the fam back on the east coast that want me to keep them updated on my life since I've failed miserably on doing so since I moved out here to California. And instead of rehash everything in detail that has occurred in the last 2 years, I will jump to the chase and hit the major bullets to get you all up to speed.

Nov '07: Boy and Girl meet
Jan '08: Boy and Girl work together at In-N-Out Burger
May '08: Boy propses to Girl at Disneyland in the unique-est of ways including the most perfect ring EVER!
July '08: Boy and Girl run off to Vegas and ELOPE! (do you blame them? February '09? come on)
Mid-Aug '08: Speedskater decides skating just isn't for her anymore
Mid-Sept '08: Surprise! Husband and Wife find out they're not going to be alone for long!
Christmas '08: Husband and Wife spend first Christmas together with family at home in Long Beach, Ca

Now on this the tenth day into the new year finds the new parents to be 23 weeks preggers with an apparently healthy baby boy! His name shall be Ezekiel and don't try to talk us out of it! IT'S NON-NEGOTIABLE! Skylar (I) is (am) getting bigger by the day, and can now feel Zeke kicking which he likes to do, a lot. Daddy has been able to feel it too and the newest thing we do is watch my belly, as it will pop out just the slightest bit when he does his signature karate CHOP! I officially graduated to maternity jeans about a week ago and LOVE them. We are finally moved in (for the most part) into the new apartment, and we couldn't be happier with our decision (even though we have to leave our beloved friends from Long Beach 1st ward.) We are both still trucking along at In-N-Out, although I will be cutting back to 3 days a week next week and Spencer is hopefully going to pick up a serving job somewhere soon. Get that money. Well, that's what's going on in OUR lives right now. Coming soon: Sky starts her one class of school next week and Nothing else interesting enough to mention. Check back for frequent updates. Ask any question you'd like, as long as you can handle the answer, cause you better believe I'll answer it. You never know what crazy things happen in the lives of the Saunders.