Alexis Got Baptized

Today my niece Alexis got baptized. She is the first Grand Child of my parents that was able to make these covenants. I am grateful I was able to be there and witness this great blessing for my family but it was extremely hard for me. The last time I was in a Relief Society room along with my brother and mom at a baptism was my own nineteen years ago. My heart both rejoiced and ached today. I am extremely proud of my niece for making the choice to do one of the best things she could have ever chosen to do and I am proud of my brothers. Both Isaac for being an honorable priesthood holder and great father for his family and for my Brother Anthony for making amazing changes in his life so that he could be there to witness it along with us. I am thankful my girls have the opportunity to grow up with family near and have good examples of all the other girls and their decisions. My heart ached today because I miss my dad. I really miss him. It sucks! I wish he was able to physically be there in the room with us but as I was sitting in the very last row off the room I felt my dads love embrace me. I was so overcome with the feeling that I burst into a uncontrollable sob. I had to leave the room and gather myself. I knew his spirit was there and he was rejoicing for his family. My dad was a very humble man but I know that when we did something "Right" in the Lords eyes he rejoiced and was proud. When I hear the phrase "time heals" it makes me think... My dad died eight years ago when I was eighteen years old and I don't really think "time" has healed anything. I have just learned to accept it. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of him or miss him... after all he was my best friend. When I have a child or the holidays come  it really hits home that he isn't here but I know that my girls were able to know him before they came here.. I like to believe they were with him(and Grandpa Player) anxiously waiting their arrival just as much as Matt and I were here. I am grateful for the true gospel that has been restored here on earth. I grateful for the revelations received and ordinances and covenants we make with our Heavenly Father. I am thankful to not be in the darkness and know about the plan of salvation. Having this knowledge helps me "just learn to accept it" a little easier because I know one day when I die I will be able to see my dad again. Families CAN be together forever... through Heavenly Fathers plan.

Sewing Project Of The Week: Night Gowns Round 1

I found a link on Pinterest to the most adorable night gowns made from vintage pillow cases. So I went on a hunt to goodwill, yard sales, and swap meets. I got enough pillow cases to make Eliza and Leah each about TEN. This is the version I am making Eliza since she is so tall and I didn't want to buy matching fabric for the top. This is the first one. She loves it and says it is super comfy! It will be great when the temperatures start to rise on those hot summer nights!

New to Us

After a couple months of looking around and almost 72 hours of test driving and literally searching we found the new Player Family car. We will probably get 2 miles less per gallon then we get with out other car(we are getting rid of) BUT it will have cheaper insurance($800 savings a year), 20k miles less than what is on our car now and NO MONTHLY PAYMENT! Hooray for one step closer to financial freedom and scoring a car well under the budget we set for ourselves!!

1989 Chevy Suburban 1500

(the bottom half is dark blue not black)

Mr. Snowman

This year Eliza decided she wanted a fish for Christmas so in the beginning of December She and Leah each wrote a letter to Santa informing him of what they wanted. Eliza asked for a pink fish.... SO Santa did his(her) best of finding a pink fish and this is what he(she) came up with. 

 

A Dragon Scale Betta... It  is supper shimmer with all different colors and best part was Eliza absolutely LOVED him. Evidently these are the new "Bling Bling" of fish breeds this year and the girl at Petsmart told me it was insane and creepy how many people came in the day before I did looking for one. I actually went in just looking for a pink fish didn't matter the kind. Anyway, as I said Eliza loves Mr. Snowman... maybe a little too much as she was putting an extreme amount of food into the bowl and without Matt knowing he fed it at night Mr. Snowman was getting over fed. The water one morning was extremely cloudy and had the most HORRID RANCID SMELLING DIRTY DIAPER STENCH coming from it. I was in fear that Mr. Snowman had died but to my surprise the little trooper was still there sluggishly swimming around. I cleaned the bowl scrubbed all of the rancid rocks then hacked up in the sink(yes I and Matt really threw up because it smelled that bad!) I assembled it all back together and added Mr. Snowman it took about a day or so and he is back to his old self feisty as ever. I googled sick bettas to make sure I could watch for signs of illness and found out they really like blood-worms so I went to the store got some dried one and waalaa it did the trick that is was got him back to being feisty.

Happy Birthday Mom Pember!

Today was my Mom's birthday and about two weeks ago she asked me to not do anything BIG for her so she and I went to lunch and a bulk fabric store and then just hung out. Growing up my mom always had this planter with many different pockets in it. I always just chalked it up to another random thing my parents had acquired but I asked her about it  a month or so ago and she said it was a Strawberry/Herb Planter that my dad bought her and brought back from one of his many trips to Tijuana. Well come to find out she had always LOVED this planter and when she moved to AZ from Cali six years ago it got left behind. Originally the planter my dad had bought her was a terracotta painted with white and a floral print on it. I never knew this fact.. it was so old by the time I was aware of it that it had began to crack and crumble and the paint was all washed off so I thought it was just a plain terracotta one. After the talk we had about a month ago I went on a hunt for one that was exactly what I remembered. I researched them on line and the other day I just had a feeling to go to a little outdoor shop on one of the corners close to us and to my surprise they didn't just have one they had TONS of them all different sizes! The best part was they all had little stickers on them that said "assembled in Mexico" I was like a kid in a candy store. I told the guy(that worked there) about why I was getting and it he gave it to me for about 60% off the asking price. I don't know if he did it out of the goodness of his heart or was touched by the story either way we scored! I was so excited I came home and gave it to her that day(which was about two weeks ago.) When she came around the corner of the room and saw it sitting in the middle of the floor her face was priceless she couldn't believe it. She said besides it not being painted it was EXACTLY like the original one. It was nice to see the Joy on her face that day glad I was able to get a picture!

We also got her a Salt Rock Lamp evidently She and Matt knew all about them but I had no idea what they were.... just proves to show they are the same person(like I always say haha) It is basically a Salty Rock that is hollowed out and slipped over a lamp you plug in. (yes I licked it and it's gross don't judge I am weird and evidently so is my brother Isaac HAHA Matt informed me he licked it too!) This is what the the card said that came with the rock. 

Himalayan Salt Lamps

"These Himalayan Salt Lamps were formed approximately 250 million years ago. The lamp emits negative ions that cleanse and purify the air. Himalayan salt has been known to treat a variety of illnesses such as asthma, high blood pressure, insomnia, and depression. These unique lamps provide a beautiful glow creations a calm, relaxing atmosphere. These salt lamps are from Pakistan." My mom has all of the four illnesses that has been listed some say the lamps help with arthritis as well. Whether it works or not is to be seen but it sure is a beautiful site to see. They are all different I didn't see any two lamps that were the same where we got hers.

Park Day

With the weather being absolutely Beautiful lately and since the park near our house got an ExTrEmE makeover(no Bathrooms still which is wack but we can deal) our ward(Church) decided to start up park days again. I saw this as an opportunity to have some one on one time with Leah. I started realizing sometime last year that the girls crave the one on one time but most of all the need it. BUT with three little beautiful princesses running around "quality alone time" is hard to get. So one of my goals is to evenly distribute and prioritize my time to its fullest potential. Eliza attends school every morning from 8 to 11 and Park days starts at 9:30 so I thought about it and realized Leah is the second child(yes I knew this already ha ha). She was born with a sibling and with her and Elaine being so close in age she will never have the opportunity to be the only one at home. Eliza was the only one before Leah and once Eliza and Leah are in school Elaine will be the only one at home.. so now that I have confusingly explained my dilemma and heartache for Leah this is what I have decided. Like today Eliza will be dropped off at school at 8.. then Leah and I will go to the park while Elaine hangs out at home getting her one on one time with daddy and we will Play our little heart outs until we have to go get Eliza.. which Leah LOVES to do. She adores her sisters and thinks it is super cool to go pick up Eliza at school. Today Leah learned to scale a wall(wish I took a picture) But I think her favorite part of the park time was the water fountain. She seriously was taking drinks for about 10 mins straight! I think she was mostly excited that it was the right height for her I usually have to lift her in order to get a drink. Ahh its the simple things in life! ;p

Pizza Night

Tonight is Pizza Night in the Player house. I came across a GREAT crust recipe that you can even make ahead and freeze so I decided to try it. The pizzas turned out super delicious!! The only thing I would change next time is either double the recipe or let it rise longer so I can get a thicker crust.
You can find the recipe here

Dancing Queen

"You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life. See that girl, watch that scene, diggin' that dancing queen..."

Raising the Roof! HAHA

Grandpa's Birdie

When Eliza was just a baby Grandpa Player and her had the sweetest relationship and he started calling her "Grandpa's little birdie"

 

I don't know if that is why but Eliza LOVES birds and watching them. She even chases them! Last year Matt and Eliza built a bird house using leftover scraps from the bed I made her.

 

Since the weather here has been simply gorgeous Matt got an idea to make another bird house. We went to the store and got a coconut and after Matt and the girls enjoyed eating it outside while I picked a ton of lemons they turned it into this beautiful little house.

3...2....1.... Blast Off!!

Matt used the money his mom sent him for Christmas to buy a Rocket so we took it out to the park this morning and set it off. It is such a beautiful day today!

Saturday Night Projects: Homemade Laundry Soap UPDATE

So it has been one month exactly since I started using the laundry soap I made and to my surprise I LOVE IT! BUT what is even better is my husband LOVES it too. He actually tells and suggests it to everyone like I sell it or something HAHA!(That makes my head just a little bigger ;p) The clothes still smell fresh days later, no residue, colors actually seem brighter. Even though I added the store brand oxyclean to my detergent I would suggest per-treating stains.(Most people already do that anyway) Overall though I am very satisfied and will never go back to  buying expensive detergent. I have used two tablespoons on every load (Yes.. Yes..I have messy children) and I have only used about 1/3 of one of the tubs. So excited about how much money we are saving using it... This month I am going to try my hand in the dishwasher detergent category.