well, i figured out how to fix my problems with my other blog. and i couldn't be happier!

so i am going back to that blog, and will no longer update this one.

sorry for making such a mess of my blogs!

go back to pamleavitt.blogspot.com

our bishop lives on a big chunk of land just south of idaho falls. and he has a ton of trees on it.

so he invited our ward out there for a tasty dinner and to cut down a christmas tree.

what a cute idea, huh?!

unfortunately, we had bought the lamest tree EVER from walmart the day before we found out about the activity.

not joking, it is the lamest tree!

we planned on getting a real tree but they were all way too big for our little abode.

so we decided to buy a cheap fake one.

but the cheap one we wanted was sold out... so we got a cheap-er one!

[no time to shop around when you are potty training]

oh well, chet just thinks it is awfully special to have a tree in our house.

and matt and i are just hoping that this is our last 'poor student christmas' :)

we have had a blast decorating our nasty little tree.

almost everything on it is homemade. i like it.

we made popcorn strings, paper chains, we painted pinecones, made pompoms, and made these melted-bead ornaments that i found on pinterest.

oh, and the star is cut from a piece of yellow felt, and stuck on with packing tape.

classy!

but, really, who sees the back of your tree? umm.. no one.

the part that i really struggle with is letting chet pile all the ornaments in the same place at the bottom of the tree.

but he puts so much thought into where he carefully places them, so i am dealing with it!

this is going to be a fun christmas season - chet is excited about everything.

he likes listening to matt and i butcher christmas carols.

he is very good at spotting snowmen, reindeer, and baby Jesus.

and he thinks christmas lights are fascinating.

a clump of ornaments, thanks to chet!

 i thought this pinterest idea was cute... and it worked!

i deserved to have a pinterest success... i have had waaay too many fails.

i invited a girl over to make snow globes that i saw on pinterest.

and it was honestly the most horrible craft party ever!

everything just went so wrong.

i had bought jars, miniature trees, and glitter.

but, we quickly found out that the we had glitter didn't sink
(an important trait if it is going to be in water).

so we go to porters to find new glitter. and a lady that worked there spent a ridiculous amount of time testing all sorts of glitters in water.

finally, we found one that sunk.

so we go home and start assembling things.

we glue the trees to the lid of the jar and fill the jar with glitter and water.

then we put on the lid and start shaking.

success!

....oh...no... the green from the tree is leaking into the water.

now we have nasty green colored water. no good.

we try emptying the water several times, hoping that the trees stop leaking. but they never did.

so my friend had the idea to put a little bit of bleach in the water to cancel out the green.

and i fell for it!

so... we put bleach in the water.

the water did stay clear, but slowly our trees started to turn the nasty yellow color that over-bleached hair turns.

oh dear.

and, by this point, i have already "sealed" my jar with super glue, so i couldn't start over.

but it wasn't actually sealed. it was leaky.
so i had a bleach-blonde tree in a snow globe that is leaking bleachy water.

needless to say, it ended up in the trash.

oh, and THEN we realized that the snow globes we were trying to copy didn't even have water in them!

haha really??

if we hadn't had so much fun laughing at each other, it might have been considered a waste of life.

i really wish i took a picture of my snow globe, but i didn't think to at the time.

this is what it was supposed to look like:

and this was the inspiration for our bead ornaments:

oh my word, gymnastics was SO MUCH FUN!

chet has been asking to go back all day!

he isn't the most coordinated - or brave - child. so i wasn't sure what he would think of it all.

but he did so great.
he loved being silly and watching other kids do neat things.

we ran, rolled, jumped, walked on balance beams, swung on bars, dove into foam pits, played with a big parachute, and lots more.

so much fun!
his teacher is really nice and his buddy, miles, is in the class too.

from now on we get to go to gymnastics every monday morning.

what a fun way to start the week :)

[it was almost impossible to get a good picture of chet. he was too busy being goofy!] 

 

alright, i'm going for it..

i'm starting a brand new blog.

it makes me a little sad, but i am trying to think of it as a fresh, new slate.

but only because i tried to pull a sneaky one on google... and failed.
so here we go.

if there is anyone out there who used to watch for updates on my blog through some sort of blog feed, you might want to delete my old blog from your list and add this one instead.

pamleavitttwo.blogspot.com

[very creative, i know!]

we went for a walk/bike ride the other day.

it's funny how your weather standards really drop as winter hits.

this summer i felt the need to wear pants and a cardigan when it dropped into the 70's.

now, i think the 40's are perfect for bike riding!

at least you don't work up a sweat, right?!

ok, i don't actually think 40's are perfect bike riding weather, but they will do.

anything to get us outside.

that is where chet and i like to be.

chet rode his bike for 1.5 miles, plus up and down a hill about 25 times.

and when he got home he was pooped.

in an attempt to burn up some energy inside for the rest of the winter, i signed chet up for a gymnastics class.

his first class is on monday!

i am excited to see what he thinks of it.

but i honestly can't believe i am enrolling my child in a class like that. he's too little!

and i'm too young! ...or at least i think i am.

sometimes i think i could walk in to a high school and stroll through the halls without anyone thinking i didn't belong.

but then i realize i graduated EIGHT years ago. and high school kids surely think i am old.. and lame.

i met a 22 year old the other week and, when she found out i was 26, she said "whoa!".

that wasn't great for my self esteem.

matt and i are also the longest married couple in our ward (besides our 60 year old bishop). brutal!

so i guess that means i am, indeed, old enough to have a kid in an 'extracurricular activity'.

we hope to find him a really great one-piece spandex suit.

and we will pair it with a sweatband. and leg warmers :)

 
chet built this truck ALL BY HIMSELF. i was so impressed.
when he showed it to me he said, 'do you love it, mom?'
haha. i sure do!
he seriously says the cutest things.

he also likes to build towers. tall ones.

sometimes they are so tall that a step ladder is required.

every time we go to storytime at the library, chet is too nervous to sit on the rug with the other kids.
but he did it this week!
...but only on the very corner. and only until a little girl tried to sit beside him!