The Nuffer Nest

Austin turned 2!  He loves dinosaurs so I thought a dinosaur party would be fun.  We had it at the local science museum where they had dinosaur themed activities.  Each child got to pick which dinosaur they wanted to be and learn about for the day.  I made them each a card telling them all about their dinosaur, a mini replica of their dinosaur, and a cool matching necklace.  And everyone got an official safari hat to complete their gear- though, only Jackson was interested in wearing the hat. Austin trying on his gear.  He wouldn't keep the hat on, but you can kind of see his dinosaur birthday shirt.  Pretty appropriate for the day. Food table:  Chick Fil A nuggets, fruit/veggie/cheese tray, and dinosaur toanails (or Bugles)  The cupcake tower.  I added the dinosaurs and chocolate rocks.  Unfortunately, Austin tipped over the tray of cupcakes (in their container, thank goodness) so they were a little messy. Great grandpa got there ear

It's no secret that I'm a convert to the LDS church.  I'd been a member for so long when I got married it seemed like old hat, but then I had children.  We are blessed with the 2 most beautiful, most intelligent, most funny boys in the world so naturally you'd think this LDS mommy would ecstatically prepare her boys to serve missions one day as all good, decent LDS moms do.  Yeah.  Well, that wasn't the case for me.  Even though my oldest is only 4 and my baby is not quite 2 *but almost* I think about their futures, plan for their futures, and encourage them to look ahead, so I've thought about this for quite a while.  And when I say I've "thought" about this for quite awhile, that's really "Raylene-speak" for I've WORRIED about this for quite awhile.  I can't imagine letting my two precious baby boys into a world where they'll be ridiculed or mocked even if it is to bring the gospel to people who need to hear it.  In my m

Poor St Patrick's Day is at the bottom of my list of stuff to celebrate, but since we didn't get to celebrate Dr. Suess' birthday this year I didn't want to let this little day go unnoticed.  I found this St Patrick's Day scavenger hunt on Pinterest and this is how we celebrated the day.  It was a lot of fun.  My boys LOVE a good scavenger hunt! First, I printed off the clues and hid them in the correct places while the boys napped.  I hid the clues in their shoes, with the milk, and by the door. The final clue led them to their bed where the treasure was- on their bed.  They found some chocolate coins and a dollar in change on their first St. Patrick's Day treasure hunt.

Well, Big Poppa is almost 2 (this Friday is the big day) so it's time to add him to the chore chart!  The original chore chart can be found here .  This chore chart is very similar to the old one, but we no longer worry about game time stuff.  Jackson isn't addicted to games like he was so there's no reason to earn game time.  Plus, it would probably be a little too complicated for Big Poppa anyhow. Anyway, without further ado, here's the new and improved chore chart!  I used the Cricut and my laminating machine this time to make the magnets.   Every day the boys will be expected to do 4 chores:  make their bed, get dressed, brush their teeth, and pick up their toys before bed.  They will earn a nickel for each chore, BUT if they choose to not do a chore and mommy or daddy does said chore then they have to pay us 2 nickels for "maid service".  -Just like the old chore chart. We'll also be teaching Austin to save and tithe every $1 he earns, an

Our little project is finally finsihed- our superheroes have a new space.  But the very best part, Austin is sleeping in his big boy bed and we haven't had any problems! Success! We had a lot of little projects that we had to put together before we could put the room together.  The first was to mend the curtains (which still work in their new room- woohoo, love to save money!).  We were going to sew them, but Mighty Mend it did a much faster and easier job of it!  We were quite proud of ourselves. We also put together their new toy storage cubbies, but their matching cubbie storage bins weren't in yet.  I sewed a couple yellow accent pillows all by myself!  I haven't sewed since I was 12 years old.  Usually my mom does the actual sewing for me.  You'll see pics of the pillows later.  Thinking back I should have done a before and after...   This is their room before. Their matching storage bins came in!  Blue, red, and yellow for Superman/Jackson and b