Family Time, First Birthday, and.... Christmas in November? :)

Hello everyone!

October was such a busy month here at the Bentley home. We have had our family here with us for the past 3 weeks! Not going to lie, today has been reeeeally nice because things are back to being normal and it being just the three of us again (sorry, family. We love you guys so much! :)). Everybody came down to celebrate Sophia's first birthday with her! It was awesome :). First off, we had Scott's dad, his wife Melanie and her daughter, linzy, come and stay with us first. While they were here, we opened presents, went to the park, went on lots of walks, visited Sports Authority Field, went to the temple, and just hung out with everyone and had a great time :).

The cutest little pink puff coat ever!! Thanks grandma and grandpa!

We had an awesome time with Brad, Melanie and Linzy, and can't wait to see them all again at Christmas!

The next family that came to stay with us was my family. My dad, mom and sister all came out (my little brother couldn't miss school for the trip, so unfortunately he had to stay behind). My dad's cousin Dave also came out for the first day so that he and my dad could go to a Broncos game! They had a blast (refer to my Facebook and/or Instagram pages to view the selfies they took, haha). While they were visiting, we did lots of shopping and prepping for little miss's birthday party. We did get to take some time off on Saturday to go to the zoo in Colorado Springs and take my parents to Tucanos (mine and Scott's favorite restaurant) since they had never been :).

This picture cracks me up! It's perfect :)

She loved the giraffes!

Her first carousel ride :) 

 Then came the big day! On monday, October 27th, we celebrated Sophia's birthday and had a party with a few friends from our ward! (Shout-out to my mom and dad who drove me around all day and helped me get everything set up while Scott was at school). The party turned out great, but to everyone's disappointment, Sophia HATED her cake! It's still sitting on the counter, wrapped in tin foil. So sad, we all stressed pretty hard over that dumb cake :(. 

He was a trooper and took over the job of icing the cake... and all 30 cupcakes :).

"Dad, this is disgusting! It's making me gag!"

Such a pretty cake! good thing it didn't get touched, right??

"You want me to touch that??"

Hah! Those cake pictures kill me. Little Stinker ;). We had an awesome time with my family as well, and we get to see them again in just 4 short weeks for Thanksgiving!

And lastly, Scott's mom and little sister drove out and made it to our house last Tuesday. Since Scott had to be at school so much while they were here, I thought it was only appropriate that we all go and have a girl's day and go shopping around the city :). We all had a great time. Then last night, we all bundled up and took Sophia out for her first trick or treating experience! She was such a trooper! She giggled every time someone opened their door, which in turn made them laugh (and so they gave us more candy. Go Sophia!). Everyone thought she was the cutest, and it was so fun to watch her! I think Halloween is now tied with Christmas for my favorite holiday, just because now we get to take this cute little trick or treating :)

Sophia all dressed up and ready to go! Cutest witch I've ever seen :).

Our new rocking chair that GG Hanson made for us :)

And the battle for who she cheers for is no longer. Thanks to aunt Ana, the team has been chosen!

"Well aren't you just adorable?!"

"So much candy! Just one piece?"

My favorite picture of the night :) Thanks to Tami for capturing it!

So. Much. Fun! Scott's mom and his sister headed out this morning. Thanks for the visit you two, we will see you at Christmas! :)

So after Scott's family left this morning, we decided to... put all of our Christmas decorations and tree up! Scott has the whole month of December off of school, so we will be spending it between Idaho and Utah with our families. We figured since we wouldn't get to enjoy it during December, the month of actual Christmas, that we would celebrate it now :).Christmas in November... it totally works :).

"Can I help you guys?"

"Nevermind, I'm just going to watch TV".

 Oh how I love Christmas!

Well, that's all for now! Thank you to all of our families who took the time to come and see us and celebrate Sophia's birthday :). We love you all and we will see you for the Holidays!

Thanks for reading!

XOXO,

Amanda

How-To: Burlap table runner (no sewing necessary!)

So one day while I was scouring pinterest for craft ideas (I seem to do that a lot), I came across this gem of a craft: A no-sew, super easy, adorable table runner! I was dying to give it a try because, well, no-sew is just awesome for me. I know my dear mother so desperately wants me to learn so we can have that in common and then she can trick me into buying one of her $8,000 sewing/embroidery machines, but it just has not happened yet. maybe someday...
Anyways, this table runner was sooooo easy to make; it took me maybe an hour, and it looks so good on our little coffee table! I'm pretty impressed that I pulled it off :). So, ready to learn how to make it? OK, great! (Sidenote- this isn't my craft idea, I found it on pinterest. Just thought I should say that for copyrights or any junk like that, haha:)). you'll need:

• burlap fabric
• fused webbing
• scissors
• iron
• damp cloth

1. So first, you'll need to decide how much burlap you will need. I only needed a yard, because it was for a coffee table and I don't like my table runners to hang off the ends much. Measure your desired table with a measuring tape and then go from there. I picked my fabric up at Joann's (they almost always have good coupons so it shouldn't cost you very much).
2. Once you have your fabric, lay it face down. Start at the shorter end and fold it over about 1 inch. This will be your crease.
3. After you have folded and creased the fabric, take your iron and press your crease down.
4. Once it is pressed, cut a strip of fused webbing and place it just underneath the end of the creased fabric.
5. With your damp cloth, dab the burlap on top of the fabric, making the burlap and fused webbing under it wet. this will help bond them.
6. Take your iron and press the creased fabric. this will cause the fused webbing and burlap to bond together.
7. Turn to the longer side, fold the fabric over 1 inch and repeat the process.

Voila! cutest table runner for fall/Christmas ;). They do have a wide range of burlap fabric at Joann's so you don't have to do the fabric with the gold polka-dots, I just liked this one best :). All together, this project cost me $15, so not bad on price either! and with the extra fabric I had left, I was able to make cute little couch pillows :).

Well there you have it, my latest project! I'll probably be posting a couple of recipes soon, along with blogs posts all about our adventures with our families that we will be having for the next three weeks, and of course, princess's birthday :). I'm so excited! Thanks for reading, and I hope you give this project a try! :)
Amanda

crafts and recipes!

Hey all! So last night I decided to pull out one of my craft kits that I had and put it together, since yesterday was a pretty slow and relaxing day for us. I recruited Scott, and Sophia just sat and looked cute, like she always does :). I had been saving this kit to put together once it got closer to Christmas (since it is winter-themed), but my crafting excitement got the better of me :). I love these wood kits! They are easy yet so fun to put together, and they have a little bit of everything as far as crafting elements- paint, glitter, modge podge, paper, ribbon and drawing. I have done two of these (we have a grinch one that is in our decorations storage), and I got them both at craft fairs but they came from a vendor called Wood Creations, located in Utah. But good news- They have a website! So even if you don't live in utah, like me, you can still buy from them online! And the best part is that they aren't super expensive at all, their price range is from $13-30. So if you want to give wood crafting a try, check their website out- woodcreationsutah.com. So fun!

A couple of weeks ago I tried out a new recipe I found for a Chicken Tortilla Bake, and it was delicious! So of course I'm going to share it :)
You need:
1 lb of cooked shredded chicken
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 can of tomatoes and green chilies
1 can black beans
1 tsp onion powder
1 can of corn (optional)
4 regular sized tortillas

Cut the tortillas into small, square pieces (I used a pizza cutter for this, so much easier than a knife).
Place tortilla sqaures in bottom of a 9x13 pan until the bottom is covered.
place half of chicken on top of tortillas.
Mix soup, tomatoes, chilies, beans, onion powder and corn together, then spread half of that mix over the chicken.
Repeat the layers once.
Cover with foil, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. top with shredded cheese and bake for another 5 minutes. Can be served alone or with tortilla chips.

It is seriously so good, writing about it has made me decide that this is what I'll be making for dinner tonight!

And here are the next 6 journal prompts:
19.Write about something you now know that you wish you would have known earlier in life.
20.Write about your greatest fear.
21.Name one thing that you think brings out the good in people.
22.Describe a time in your life when everything turned out fine, despite the odds.
23.If you invented a device that could fix one problem that you are facing right now, what would it be?
24.Write about the last time you spoke to your best friend. What did you talk about?

I have really enjoyed these journal prompts. They have made me write about things I normally wouldn't think of, and it's fun to go back and read some of the things I wrote about, and they are fun conversation topics with Scott :).

And, last but not least, a picture of the cutest Sophia :).

                                             


                                                            Thanks for reading! XOXO
                                                                           Amanda
                                 

Birthday Weekend!

Hey everyone! So one of the perks to having a birthday on a Sunday is that you get to have a birthday weekend! (I'm still trying to convince Scott that Sunday birthdays require a birthday week, but he seems to disagree. Some day he'll come around to it :)). So we started the birthday festivities on Friday, starting with Scott skipping school to hang out with Soph and I :) (Pardon my french, but I was thoroughly convinced that hell had frozen over at that point. Scott NEVER misses school, ever. So I felt pretty honored that he would miss school to hang out with me!). He helped me clean the house and make it look all pretty that morning, and then that night we headed down to Castle Rock to hit the outlet stores! (side note-  Castle Rock is beautiful! We are considering moving there if we could find Scott a good job. Huge houses built right in the middle of thousands of pine trees, say what? gorgeous place). Ever since we moved to Denver, there has been one thing that I have seen everywhere: Vera Bradley bags. I have wanted a Vera Bradley bag for a seriously long time, but the only flaw with these bags is that they are pretty pricey. And now I live in a place where they're EVERYWHERE! It made my craving that much worse. My aunts bought me a Vera Bradley diaper bag before Sophia was born, but I feel like that is more Soph's bag than mine. And, two months ago my mom and grandma stopped at our house on their way back to Idaho from Texas, and in walks my mom with a loot of Vera Bradley stuff! A bag, wallet, laptop case, coin purse (and she didn't think to bring me back a souvenir? I get a little something everywhere she goes! ugh!). She said that on their way through, they stopped at some outlet shops and there was a Vera Bradley outlet, where you can buy bags and such for 50-70% off! What?! I had to see it for myself. So when the time came for Scott to ask me what I wanted for my birthday, I had only one thing on my mind: Vera! Done. Scott took me to the outlet and let me pick out a bag. There were so many to choose from! Just one, Scott? I finally found the cutest little bag, and it was originally $100 and We only paid $33 for it! talk about a steal! I love it, I take it everywhere with me and it even has its own little spot in our room :) (yes, I am that weird. But it just sits on top of my Armour- style jewelry box, so that's not that weird, right?)

Happy Birthday to me! :)

 After our Vera visit, we headed back to Englewood and went to dinner at PF Chang's. Scott and I had never been there, and have heard that the food was delicious. When we got there, the wait for a table was an hour and a half (Friday night, oops. forgot about that). The hostess did say that the bar had available seating, and it was full service, so we said what the heck, bar it is! We got some pretty weird looks when we just ordered dr. pepper and water haha. It was a super fun experience for us since we don't get to have that many dates where it's just us, but in all honesty, I'd give the food a C. I didn't think it was all that good for what we paid for it (We're both big panda express fans so there's probably some bias there). But all in all it was a great night and we both had a great time just being together :).

Lettuce wraps: They were pretty good; Scott definitely liked them more than I did.

On saturday, we hung out around the house and played with Sophia a lot, since she was getting sent to a baby sitter again that night. After we dropped her off, we headed to the temple! This past week, Scott has really gotten into family history, and found a total of 181 names between both of our families! Needless to say, we've got some work to do! So we started off doing 50 baptisms and confirmations. It's always a great experience to go and do temple work, but it is that much cooler when you are doing it for your own family :). Way to be, Scott! Thanks for saving our families! ;). Then on our way home we decided that we didn't feel like cooking that night, so we stopped and got steak burgers from this new place called Freddy's. Again, C average food. Not all that great.

Sunday, my actual birthday! It was the primary program at church, and those are always so fun to watch :). Then Scott came home and made me a Devil's food cake with chocolate frosting, sprinkles and cookies and cream ice cream. Just what I had asked for :). And then I finally got to eat some A+ food- Scott made me honey-lime chicken enchiladas, my favorite! It was a great day of just relaxing and spending time with my cute little family :).

Notice the jersey- my team won! Yet another awesome addition to my birthday weekend :)

Too many candles....

Sophia is practicing for next month! Oh how we love her :)

Well, that was how I spent my birthday! It was great. Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, I love you all :). 

Here are the next 6 journal prompts:

13.Robert Frost wrote a poem called The Road not Taken. Name a road you have always wanted to travel. Where do you hope it takes you?

14.Name one thing you have always wanted to do, but haven't. What has prevented you from doing it?

15. Write about your first kiss.

16. What was the worst mistake or decision you have ever made in your life? what could you have done differently?

17. What song was stuck in your head recently?

18.Describe 5 things you want to see or do before it's too late.

Thanks for reading everyone! Stay tuned, because next month is going to be legen-wait for it-dary! ("How I Met Your Mother" reference). It is Sophia's 1st birthday and 1st actual halloween! (she was only 4 days old last year haha). 

Amanda

Just another day in the Bentley life/journal prompt challenge!

Well not much is happening these days in "Bentley Land". It did snow here on thursday, though. I thought that was pretty cool! I love fall and winter, they are my absolute favorite time of the year. Scott, however, rushed right to the medicine cabinet and started looking for the imaginary Prozac. It snowed thursday, was kinda cold on friday, and then was 80 degrees today. I guess Colorado weather is just as bipolar as Idaho and Utah weather, YAY!
Since it was such a nice day today, Scott and I took princess Sophie to this really awesome park called Centennial Park. It was probably about 6 acres and had a splash pad, gigantic slides, party/event hosting areas, rock climbing walls, and these really cool saucer swings that can fit 2 or more people on them. I think Scott and I were having way more fun than Sophia was:

 And then we came home, played, ate dinner, played, worked out, took a bath (which left us with this awesome hair-do), played, ate a bedtime bottle, and finally crashed!

                                                             Isn't she just so adorable?!
This last week I was invited to a craft night by a bunch of girls from our ward (I seriously was like a little kid getting invited to the big birthday party). We made these cute little holiday blocks that can be used for a holiday of your choice! They're super easy to make, so of course I'm going to post how to make them :).
You need:
a wood block (sanded)
decorative paper
white paint
scissors
modge-podge
foam paint brushes

So all you need to do is paint the block white, let it dry for a few minutes and then modge podge the decorative paper of your choice onto one side (I chose to do halloween and christmas). after that, cute out a stencil of something festive for the holiday of your choice (pumpkin, tree, cat, turkey, etc.) out of a different decorative paper. Modge podge that onto the block and voila, holiday block! (flip block and repeat :)). Super easy, cheap and cute! I went back in and added some glitter and ribbon to mine, so be creative with it!

And like I said I would, here are the next 6 journal prompts! (I have no idea if anybody is even doing this, but I guess I have to keep posting them in case someone actually is haha). I've been keeping up on mine and it's really fun to go back and read some of my responses.
7. What are your religious beliefs? have they changed, or always stayed the same?
8.When was your last food craving, and what did you crave?
9.Who was your first crush and what made them special?
10.Name your most cherished childhood memory.
11.Turn to a journal entry from a year ago. What has changed?
12.What is one thing no one knows about you, because nobody cared to ask?

Well that's it for now. I know, we are just the most interesting people ever. HAHA :)
Until next time!
Amanda, Scott and baby Sophia

What do I do all day? and journal prompt challenge!

I often get asked by friends, family and Scott how I entertain myself during the day. First off, let me just say this: Being a stay-at-home mom is a FULL-TIME JOB, and anybody who thinks differently can go jump off a cliff (maybe too harsh? but seriously, it's tough stuff). Those little ones really know how to keep you busy! Baby Sophie really loves to play in the toilet, pull all of mommy's under-shirts out of her night stand, rip pages out of daddy's books, eat whatever is laying on the floor that hasn't been vacuumed up, destroying mommy's pretty decorations, climb in the dishwasher, and completely empty-out the wipes container. So, there's that. My job in all of this is to simply, prevent all of it from occurring. Normally, I'm awesome! But then there are those times where she just slips away oh-so quietly, and I find her doing one of these previously mentioned activities. However, my saving grace times take place at 9:30 and 1:30. NAP TIME!!! Bless nap time, it truly is something I look forward to every.single.day. And not because I don't love my baby, but because that means that I get me-time, just me, to do whatever I feel like doing for 3 and 1/2 hours each day. Most nap times are spent watching "How I Met Your Mother" (which I'm almost done with :( Any good recommendations for a new tv series on netflix?), or viciously cleaning the house because, in case you don't know me, one of my favorite thrills and relaxers in the whole world is cleaning. I don't know why, and yes, you can call me psycho. But sometimes, I like to do fun things! Here are a few things that I have done recently:

1. I got in touch with my creative side and decided to decorate the house for fall! I know, we're just barely coming into September, but fall is my most favorite season of all, so I'm kind of jumping the gun hoping that my decorating efforts will bring the season on quicker. Plus the craft store was having a reeeeally awesome sale, so I had to. 

This was all SUPER easy to do, and was pretty cheap as well. 

1. the leaves all came from joann's, and were on sale for $5.99 and $2.99.

2. The glass jars and vases (which are actually ice cream dishes we got as a wedding present haha) I already had, so I just went to the store and picked up some Reese's Pieces and popcorn kernels (since they are fall colors, you could also do candy corns) and filled them with those, and then placed little candles on the top, which you can also pick up at any grocery store, craft store or dollar store.

3. The pumpkins, which were my favorite to make, are just rolls of toilet paper wrapped in orange tissue paper and then tied at the top with green ribbon, and then you draw a cute little face :).

4. The bottles that are sitting on the white plate are what I used to decorate the coffee table, and I just used an old coke bottle and soy sauce bottle, then I bought orange, white and yellow spray paint from joann's, spray painted them to look like candy corns, and then tied an orange ribbon around the top and filled them with floral strands :). It was all very easy, and most of the ideas came from pinterest. (If you don't have a pinterest, I highly suggest you get on that bandwagon asap).

I also have become quite the baker! (I love it but Scott is claiming that I'm trying to "make him fat". A year's worth of McDonald's food couldn't make that kid fat. Lucky punk). These are my new favorite thing to make, Kit-Kat cookies! My favorite candy in a cookie?? Yes please! Here's how to make them- You'll need:

1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/3 cup of sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 kit kats, broken up into thirds (I think I used 3 candy bars total, but you can do less or more depending on what you like)

1/2 cup white chocolate chips (I use just regular chocolate chips).

1. Cream butter and sugars together until combined

2. Mix flour, baking soda and salt together in a seperate bowl, set aside.

3. In the wet ingredients, mix in egg and vanilla.

4. Combine the flour mixture in with the wet ingredients; mix together.

5. Mix in kit-kats and choc. chips.

6. Make spoonful-sized balls and place on metal cookie sheet.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy! (recipe from crazyforcrust.com).

simple as that!

Another thing I have taken up is reading. I've always loved to read, and Scott recently suggested that I get a library card, so that's just what I did! today I went and picked up a book I had on hold called "Heaven is Here", by Stephanie Nielson. Lots of people have heard her story, and I have heard that the book is just incredible. In 2008, Stephanie and her husband, Christian, were in a horrible plane crash that left Christian with burns over 30% of his body, but left Stephanie with burns covering over 80% of her body and in a coma. Her book is about how she recovered, coped with her injuries, and having faith. She also is a wonderful blogger (nie nie dialogues). I'm sure it's going to be a great book!

And just yesterday, while scouring pinterest for craft ideas, I came upon a post titled "130 journal prompts" that is exactly that, 130 journal prompts to get you started on keeping a personal journal. I have always wanted to start a journal, but just couldn't figure out what to write about. Ta-da! solution!I Think it would be fun to post them in case anyone else wants to do it too! ill post 6 today, and then 6 more each week. So, here we go:

1.Name something you lost or gave away that can never be replaced.

2.What 5 websites to you visit often, and why?

3.Name a totally useless possession and how you came to acquire it.

4. What music album would be used for a movie based on your life?

5.List bad habits and/or addictions you have and what you have tried to stop them.

6. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Let me know if you guys try it! I think it's kinda fun, but that's just me :).

Well, in a nutshell, that's how I fill my time! Now if you'll excuse me, my baby monitor seems to be crying :). 

Amanda

A week of summer vacation!

Well it has been quite awhile since I have written a blog post, so my apologies. There just hasn't been anything super exciting going on to write about! But this last week was Scott's week off of school before he started his fall semester (how would you like to only have a week of summer vacation??) Let me tell you, I definitely took advantage of him being home! We went on numerous trips to the grocery store (which I'm sure he just loved), cleaned the house, went to the gym, baby-proofed, had a couple of date nights and finished the week off with a family movie night under a fort! (Junk food included). Well, that's all we have for today, but make sure to keep your eyes out for blog updates, this semester is a pretty exciting one at the Bentley house! We have my birthday, Scotts birthday, thanksgiving, Christmas, and most importantly... Princess Sophia turns one! Soooo exciting!

Love,

The Bentley's