Photo by Emilie - Giveaway Winner!!

A great BIG thank you to all those that participated in my latest giveaway. We had almost 80 different entries!!! And I hope to continue doing giveaways periodically here at The World Spins Madly On, so please feel free to check in often!

And just a reminder, Emilie does all kinds of different photography in addition to her fine art. Her family photo sessions are just amazing! If you're in the Salt Lake City area I would totally suggest going to see her. As I mentioned before, I'm taking my family to see her this summer. Cant wait!!

Ok, now on to the results...

There were a lot of entries...

...an entire bowl full!

Walker, (who is currently pretending to be my puppy for the day) helped me out by picking the winner...

And the winner of the FREE 8x10 print from Photo by Emilie is........

Congratulations Skye! I'll get your information to Emilie and she'll get a hold of you soon to iron out the shipping details.

Again, thanks to all those that entered! See you again real soon!

Speed Skating?

So the Speed Skating season has come to an end and the boys are... well... not exactly 'speed skaters' yet. The good news is that they have improved. Porter is really quite a fast skater, or should I say 'ice runner'? You'll see what I mean in the video below.

With about 3 weeks till the end of the season, Walker finally decided to stop laying down and licking the ice. Because of this he didn't quite get the skills that Porter did, but he finally learned to stand up and do a little skating.

All in all it was a great season. The boys had a blast and loved their awesome coach Julie. A HUGE thank you to her! She was very patient with Walker and he really respects her. He would mostly ignore the other coaches but when Julie asked him to do something he was more than happy to oblige. Thanks Julie!

And yes, I realize this is a crazy picture of Walker, but it pretty much is true to who he is. ALL THE TIME!!!

Uh oh, I think it might be a hereditary thing!

I know I've been a blog slacker lately. I have many things I could blame this on... like that fact that my tires on my car were so bad that I had to use the air compressor to put air in them every morning before I drove anywhere. I finally got them changed today but in a small town such as Vanderhoof there really aren't many places that take care of that sort of thing. I had to drive to the thriving metropolis of Prince George an hour away! Since they were training their mechanics on a new machine it took them twice as long to change the tires. That was fun, a tired and hungry three year old and a wet and hungry one year old (I forgot the diaper bag at home!) Luckily Wal-Mart was only about a block away and we were able to buy new diapers and wipes.

Or I could blame the lack of blogging on the fact that I found three, yes THREE gray/white hairs on my head this past week! I even took pictures to prove it!

Well crap, looking at the picture it would appear I am balding too! I blame it on the blog war. That was just way too stressful on me. I mean, I'm only thirty! I have nothing huge and pressing to worry about. My family is healthy, I have a warm home to live in and Mike provides everything for our family that we could possibly need! So then why am I getting gray hair!?!?! Luckily Wendy (my hairdresser extraordinaire) is taking care of that little problem tomorrow.

More than likely, however, my lack of blogging is directly related to my sheer laziness and cabin fever. It's March for heaven's sake. Three feet of snow and sub-zero temperatures should be a thing of the past. I am feeling no desire to craft, take fun photos, or try new recipes. Hey, at least I'm being honest with ya!

The good news is.... Spring Break is coming up fast! We are taking a much needed vacation to Seattle where all kinds of shopping, exploring, and site seeing will occur. Mike's family will be there, including his sister who is flying out from Washington D.C. and we are stoked to see everyone! I've got plans of places I am going to stop to get some fun craft ideas moving. Things are happening, even if they're only in my mind!

Thanks for sticking it out with me while I wallow around in my own self pity. But I'll warn you, it might get worse before it gets better. Wanna know why? Cause I've committed to run three miles tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. . Outside. In the freezing cold. It's ok, you can call me crazy, cause that what I'm thinking I am right about now.

BRRRRRR!!!

Warm Spring Day, Warm Spring Day;

Wherefore art thou Warm Spring Day?

Deny thy coldness and refuse thy snow!

Or, if thou wilt please bring forth something green;

I will no longer complain of my frozen toes!

Ok, that was a really poor play on Romeo and Juliet but still... what do you expect? We woke up to freezing butt cold weather again this morning!

That's right, the temp say -25* C, (that's about -13*F for those of you south of the border). And I took this picture after it had already warmed up 10 degrees! Come on.... -35*C, (-31*F) in the middle of March?!?! This cabin fever thing is gettin' serious here people!

Aaaaaargh!!!

WARNING!!!

Picture overload ahead

I know I have been a total slacker this past week on posting new stuff but I have a great excuse. Promise!!!

When I was in Pennsylvania last October Mike had a great idea and turned a huge closet into a fun fort for the boys. A pirate ship to be precise. I was super excited about this new fort and told Mike I would be happy to paint it and make it a little more "Pirate-y".

Well, I did finally finish painting it and it only took me 5 months! But I must say, "Yaaaaarrrrrrrrrr, she looks grrrreat!"

And the boys love it!

First we started with a huge closet that we didn't know what to do with...
Then this happened...
Yes, those are toys and other junk under the fort. I'm not THAT great! :)


We still have to put the trap door in so the boys can use this for sleepovers. Plus I need to take 10 minutes and clean up the paint that I dripped on the deck of the 'ship'. I was just in a hurry to get this post up so you didn't all think I was giving up after the blog war!

Mamalicious Monday!

Oooh, I better get a move on... Monday is almost over!!!

I found these fun questions and answers somewhere online an deemed them worth sharing with you. Feel free to read through them, and I would love it if you left a comment telling me something hilarious your child has said lately!

How do you decide who to marry?

You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
Alan, age 10

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. god decides it all the way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with.
-Kristin, age 10

What is the right age to get married?

Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.
-Camille, age 10

No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married.
-Freddie, age 6

How can a stranger tell if two people are married?

You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.
-Derrick, age 8

What do you think your mom and dad have in common?

Both don't want any more kids.
-Lori, age 8

What do most people do on a date?

Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
-Lynnette, age 8

On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.
-Martin, age 10

What would you do on a first date that was turning sour?

I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote me in all the dead columns.
-Craig, age 9

When is it okay to kiss someone?

When they're rich.
-Pam, age 7

The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.
Curt, age 7

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
-Howard, age 8

Is it better to be single or married?

It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.
-Anita, age 9

How would the world be different if people didn't get married?

There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
Kelvin, age 8

How would you make your marriage work?

Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.
-Ricky, age 10

***If you want to participate in Mamalicious Monday you can click HERE***

Photo by Emilie - GIVEAWAY!!!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!


Emilie over at Photo by Emilie is sponsoring a great giveaway on my blog this week. I am so excited!!!

Emilie is a wonderful photographer based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. She does sessions for High School Seniors, New Babies, Families, and much, much more. In fact, when my family and I go down to visit the old stomping grounds this summer we are booking a session for sure!

Emilie also does stunning fine art photography and has some beautiful temple art prints. To win one of these gorgeous prints just visit Emilie's website HERE. Check out her beautiful temple art prints and pick you favorite one. Then come back to my blog and leave a NEW comment telling me your first and last name and the name of the temple print you would like to win.

For example: Karli Hurren - "T0 Listen & To Pray" (Salt Lake)

If we draw your name, you will win a FREE 8x10. That's a value of over $25!! (With shipping, which Emilie has graciously offered to pay for you!)

Here are some examples of the prints you could win -

This giveaway will run for a week, ending Friday, March 13th at 11:59 PST.

Good Luck!

Upcoming Giveaway!

This is just a little teaser for a giveaway coming up soon!

Sweet Halle

A friend of mine asked if I would take some photos of her sweet little girl. Now, I am no photographer and my point and shoot camera can only do so much but I really love how these turned out.

I love the soft and faded look they have to them. I tried different actions in Photoshop, black and white, sepia, fresh and colorful etc... but this was my favorite. I love that there is just a hint of pink.

Isn't she a doll?


For a hungry and tired little girl that just had her shots yesterday... well, Halle did pretty well don't you think?

Aren't these pieces of art just beautiful? I saw them and just had to have them! But probably not for the reasons you are thinking. (Cause if you like them for the actual art then you had better stop reading here. Otherwise, you might be very disappointed!)

I found the two smaller pieces at Value Village which is a thrift store, much like Deseret Industries or the Salvation Army. I had been trying to find some frames that would work for a project I had in mind and these were perfect! The larger piece I found at Michaels when they were having their 50% off sale. It was actually a lot cheaper than anything I could find at the thrift stores that was the same size.

The first thing I did was remove the not so pretty art from the very pretty frames.

Next I got out my trusty Matte Black Spray Paint! Yay for spray paint! It can make things in terrible condition look brand spankin' new!

See, a few coats of spray paint and we are almost done!

And look, the Value Village tag is sitting proudly next to the frame as if to say, "Yay, someone saved this beautiful frame from that old, yucky art and they're making me beautiful again!" (I like to pretend my projects talk to me. Makes the day go by faster :)

Once the paint was dry all I had to do was add some ribbon and hang them on these cute cast iron stars! Voila! A whole new look to an otherwise very drab mirror. And sorry the picture is dark. I just don't have the camera, nor the technique to fix such things.

And just so you can see how truly beautiful these frames are, here you go....

I am so in love with them!