Where does the time go?

Really??? It's sad that I post more on my "craft" blog then my personal life. It's not because things aren't happening because they are. It's just I get a little behind and it seems impossible to catch back up.

So the last few months have been great! Chase got a contract doing the same thing he was doing. Only now he gets benefits. Because of that though his hours changed a little so he had to drop one of his classes. Blessing in disguise, he was able to sign up for another one that was online. So he is taking 3 online classes this semester.

He is still biking around. Unfortunately a few months ago his nice road bike that his Cousin gave him was stolen. We used our tax return to get him a decent hybrid bike. So he is back to biking. He was going to do the Tour de Mesa, but it is $115! Can you believe it??? So I told him to just make is own Tour de Chase.

As far as I go things are unbelievable! The craft blog has been so so. I have very few followers (If you don't follow me please do, you'll probably know more about us from that then this). So I am planning on doing a craft fair in November. One of the things I wanted to sell was a carseat cooler.

Since it is hot now I decided to give it a try and sell them on a facebook group called Mesa Consign. One of my friends saw it and asked it I wanted to sell them on a deal a day website she co operates. So if things go well I'll be selling them on this site all over the country! So I'm going to be popping these out like crazy trying to make as many as I can! So I feel like everything else has been put on hold because of this. This weekend I'll be getting the fabric to get it started! So exciting!

So with this experience I wanted to be able to have a business sounding name so when they describe my product it's not just Courtney, a mom.

SIDE NOTE: I did the top a week ago. Had to stop because I heard a strange noise outside. Went to check it out and Ella had her puppies! Well at that point she only had one. Over the next several hours she ended up with 5 healthy puppies!!! (1 unfortunately didn't make it). So if you are looking for puppies in like 6 weeks let us know!

So as I was saying  wanted to get more in the business mode. So I came up with my business name... Ryderbug! It is one of my nicknames for Ryder and I love how it fits! So my Brother Bryan said I should call my carseat cooler a Cool Ryder! LOVE IT!!!

Now onto Ryder. He is a smart little boy! Loves being outside and TV (kind of opposites). We recently took him to Toys 'R Us and let him pick out a toy to buy with his birthday money. He had the best time! He's walk around examining each toy. He ended up getting a Batman and Joker little people and 2 train cars. Not bad for $10! Technically he owes us $.44, but we'll let it slide:)

Tonka & Ella still like to escape the yard. Ella had 5 puppies as mentioned earlier.

Mother's & Father's Day came early this year. I got a Kitchenaid mixer and Chase got a grill! So much fun!

Fall Break

This week has been so nice! Chase had the week off of work for Fall Break! He still had to go to class, but it was still nice. It was so nice to have him home for the week and it went by too fast. Some highlights of the week:

Monday we invited my Nephew Tristen over to play Risk. He saw it on my mom-in-law's game shelf when my surprise birthday party was over there and he made it very clear that we wanted to play it. So we had Circle K drinks and M&M's and set out on a quest for global domination! My sister made it clear that didn't know how to play and that they more just play with the guys. He liked our version though so mission accomplished. By the way... I WON:)

Tuesday we celebrated our Anniversary early and you can see my fears of this trip here. It was a nice little staycation. We went to the Radisson and pretty much just hung out at the hotel. We went to the casino for dinner. Now keep in mind we are not gambling people nor do we smoke, drink, or dress trashy... well at least we don't think we do. We felt out of place and the building reeked of smoke. Luckily you couldn't smell it in the restaurant. I felt filthy being there. Needless to say we did not go back. We went in the hot tub at night, it was relaxing.

Wednesday bfast we headed over to Fountain Hills and went to Denny's a Packer favorite... and not favorite (whole nother story). I wish I would have thought about it more and planned something to do in Fountain Hills. We went swimming again and played in the little fountains they have that shoot out of the ground. Felt like a little kid:) After checking out we went to the hotel restaurant to spend out free $30 we got with our Groupon deal. We both ordered and sandwich that came with fries and a house salad and we spent like 2 bucks! Nice!! And it was so good!

Here is a picture of us outside the elevator. It was my quest to take a picture of the two of us together. Of course I do it after we have gone swimming so my hair isn't nice...
After the hotel we went to Mesa High and played Tennis. It was a lot of fun and hope we can keep it up:

Thursday baby Daxton Kent Packer was born:) Unfortunately because of time he was born and our schedule we weren't able to see him until Friday. This day is kind of a blur to me and it was only yesterday. There weren't any main things that happened, just little things like errands, I think we slept in.Chase beat me in Rack-o that we bought at a yard sale for $.50!

Friday we were going to go to the temple and then play tennis, but bad Courtney let her recommend expire! It's the first time I've needed to worry about it so I guess it just slipped my mind. Oops! So we skipped the Temple and just played tennis. We are alot better since Wednesday and it is still fun so that is good. We took a nap:) Eewww! I hate waking up from a nap all hot and sweaty. We were washing out bed sheets so I napped on the couch and our front room gets so hot in the middle of that day. It was gross! Then we went and saw baby Daxton! He is so cute:) Then me & Chase parted ways. Chase went to a guys night and played Halo with fam/ friends. He still isn't back and I can't sleep without him, hence the late night post. The girls had a craft night and My mom-in-law taught us how to make these pumpkins:) They are so cute!















Sorry, my camera isn't the best and our lighting is orangy in the living room. I would post these on my new craft blog I'm doing, but this isn't my craft so maybe Barb can be a guest poster sometime:) Anyways, I made 5 of them, plus a little ball for Ryder:) Now to find a spot to put them, or just leave them on this shelf, didn't know if it gave them enough room.

Saturday plans, not a whole lot. I'm watching My niece and nephew because their parents are in the hospital with their new bundle. Tomorrow night Gibson's are having a family dinner because Jaxon is in town! Oh, and his parents:) We are doing a soup and salad potluck and Chase & I are making chicken Cesar salad. YUM!

That's pretty much it for our break. It's been so nice having Chase home especially when Ryder wakes up in the morning, "Chase, your turn." :) I'm so lucky to have a husband that is so willing to help me with whatever I need, no matter the time of day.

Brag Book

2 years ago I participated in my wards secret sister activity. The whole month of January we were to secretly deliver gifts to our sisters.

Some examples of things that I gave was homemade guacamole and a bag of tortilla chips because she liked Mexican food.

I gave her a Mystery book that I bought at Deseret Book a long time ago that I never got into because she said she liked mystery books from Deseret. By the way, in a card I told her that I never got into this book and I hoped she enjoyed it more than I did, it's not like I tried passing it off as a new book.

I don't remember what else. But on the last night because she is a Grandma so I gave her a brag book that I made myself. I used mostly scraps and was all stuff that I already had on hand. So really it's like it cost me nothing. With the brag book I also gave her a homemade banana cream pie (it's under the book so you see it in all of the pictures.)

I just picked a size, I don't remember how big now, 5x5 maybe. So I cut all the white cardstock to the right size and decorated my pages. Then I hole punched through, added binder clips and tied on ribbon. EASY!










I really just wanted to do this post so I could delete these pictures:)

Halloween/ Fall Craft Day!

Ok so craft day will be Saturday, October 8, 2011 (10am unless I get a ton of not going to happens!)! Sorry it's short notice, but I procrastinated! I am so excited! I have never done anything like this before so I hope it goes smoothly and I'm not way in over my head. I chose easy, EASY crafts to do so we shouldn't be spending ALL day on them. There are 4 total.

I'll get all the supplies that are needed and then you just pay me. You can do all the crafts or some. I need to know by October 6th so I have time to get everything! I hope that gives you enough time to decide.


Googly Eyes- ($3)

*** This one took the longest. You can choose between it saying "BOO" or "EEK". EEK is what it said on where I got the idea but I liked the idea of using eyes for the letters. So if you want this one let me know what you want it to say. If you have a hot glue gun bring it please!



Here is an example of what you could do with it. I did Ryder's handprint to make a ghost. You could also use it to put last years halloween costume, or just put a Happy Halloween sign in it. The possibilities are endless.






Countdown- ($2.50)

*** This countdown is unfinished, I just needed something to show. The numbers will be printed, unless you like the handwritten look. Also, there will be ribbon to hang it up with. The numbers are magnetic.


Give Thanks- ($2)


***You can choose yours to say something else if you would like. So tell me what you want if you would like this one.




Hurricane- ($5.50 for both)
(Candle not included). I haven't made one of these yet I just saw the idea. I had to order this stuff online so there is limited available. I'll post mine when I finish it.


There will

So if you would like to participate let me know which craft(s) you would like to do either as a comment here, facebook, or text me. You can pay me on the 8th either cash or check.

If you want to participate, but can't come let me know and maybe we can arrange something.

Want to craft, but don't like my ideas? Come anyway and bring your own stuff:)

I was thinking of doing a potluck lunch so bring a dish to share. I'll let you know when you rsvp.

There may be a few give aways???

A craft in progress...

(I always want to start each blog with so)

As the craft bug continues to bite, I came up with a craft to make a toy for Ryder. Here is the pictures I took, but I am not done yet because I want to fill it with more treasures.

I got an empty water bottle and took off the label (what a pain!) And I filled with with fun stuff for Ryder to shake and make noise and then to look at.

I'm using beans (pinto and black) and popcorn kernels as my filler

Here are the "treasures". I just looked through my scrapbooking stuff and picked out things that I will probably never use.

I also decided I was probably never going to wear this necklace again so I cut it up.

This is what I got from it.

Some marbles from when we had our fish from our very first Christmas together.

After you gather your fun items, fill bottle and glue shut so it doesn't accidentally open. Make sure you leave room to shake.

This is how mine turned out, Not very colorful. I didn't glue mine yet because I want to see if I can find brighter things. I'll post when mine get complete.

Any ideas on things to put in would be great!

Handmade cards

A few years ago (who knows how long) I went to a card class at Scrapbooks Etc. it was a lot of fun and the cards were way cute! After my second time going I thought to myself, "I could totally make these!". So I decided to have a card night with some friends and family.

What is a card night you may ask? It's not poker although that would be pretty fun too. A card night is where all who attend bring a homemade card and all the supplies for everyone else to make their card.

The first one we did wasn't as successful as I hoped. We had each person make a station with their completed card and all the supplies. Everyone then went to all the different stations and worked on the card. It was nice because you were able to work at your own pace, but you had to explain your card 10 different times.

I then developed a new method and I think it works a lot better. We all sit around a table, one person show their card, we make it and then the next person does their card. It has been a lot of fun and we get a pretty good turn out (this next one is 15 people!). Lately we have done themes which are fun and sometimes we don;t and it's still fun! It's so much fun to get your creative juices flowing!!!

Below are some of the past cards I've made. Some are cuter than others. I'm not that creative I just like to pretend I am. I hope you get some ideas and if you're creative and would like to participate, let me know!

This one is neat! That's a real candle!

Graduation card!

Wedding reception

I want a girl!!! hehe

This one is generic, but you can add a title to the front. I actually made these for my nephews birthday invites and this was extra.

Flower clips

If you read my last post then you know that I bought a hot glue gun which I'm sill very excited about. With this new tool I obviously wanted to give it a whirl. I have never been a hot glue gun girl. I was always scared of it. (I received a huge blister on my hand in 5th grade for touching my sugar baby's hair too early.)

On my to do list for crafts was flower clips. I know, I know I have a baby boy, but they are darn cute and I have nieces! So I made these below for my niece Emma. Turned out cute... well at least the black and white one did. Not bad for a spur the moment craft using what I already had.

So much going on! We love it!

We have been pretty busy it seems, but we love it. Especially because most things are family related:) Now to flash back and hit the big stuff.

Chase and I celebrated our first year anniversary, it was so much fun! We went down to Tucson and went to the zoo down there. Chase is so good to me and is always willing to go with my ideas. I can't believe it has been a year already, but at the same time I can't imagine my life without Chase! I am so lucky!!!

Ryder is still doing well! He loves to move most during Church it seems, just hope that doesn't cause problems after he is born:) We are 32 weeks and are going crazy with anticipation! We are so excited for him to be here!

Speaking of Ryder, we are still working on his room. The popcorn is off, and most of the wall is painted, but will need a second coat. And the ceiling took way more paint then we thought it would. So unfortunately it is still a work in progress.

My work threw me a baby shower. It just made it seem more real and seem closer. We got a bunch of fun stuff!!! People were very generous! I am having my baby shower thrown by my sisters this weekend. Very exciting stuff going on!

Chase is busier than ever! He is going to school full time, working dominos, and he got a part time job at Segull Book for some extra income during the holidays. He is also studying to get his CDL so he can start training with Mesa Public Schools to do bus driving.

We had a fun and filling Thanksgiving! We are so blessed to have both of our families close together so we were able to see both sides.

Our Brother Dallin recieved his Mission Call! He reports April 6th and is going to Spain! It will be so fun to see the changes in his life. And I'm sure Ryder will miss his Uncle! We'll have to show pics of Dallin to him so he knows who he is when he returns!

We have put up most of our Christmas decorations! I love this time of year! Here is our Christmas tree! I love it! We even have a few presents underneath:)

I've been in a crafty mood which is always fun! So far I've made these little magnets to hang up Holiday cards we recive. I kinda wanna make some year round ones because I think they are cute and even better EASY!!!

I started to make us a fun wreath, but our wire cutters don't cut wire very well, so I decided to put that craft on a temporary hold.

We are excited for Christmas and all the Christmas festivities! So far we have already had a Christmas party with some of my friends and my work holiday party. We won a DVD player which is fun!