Hail the Conquering Hero! (Picture heavy)

I can't even say how proud I am of Derek for graduating. He graduated with his Bachelors in Psychology. He really enjoyed the program, and even thought that he might have pursued a career in counseling, if he hadn't had his heart set on being a police officer.

Here are some pictures of the big day:

It started out raining off and on while every was getting their seats. When we left Spokane it was sunny and bright, so I didn't bring an umbrella or anything to protect against the rain but as we drove to Cheney, it started sprinkling.... I got seats on the bleachers off to the side and it had a puddle of water all the seats. I stood for awhile while waiting for Derek's family to arrive and rescue me with something to dry the seats and umbrellas because I had called to warn them.

I like this picture though, and partly because of all the umbrellas that are opened.

The banner for Derek's department. They are all filing in, and we were able to stand by if we wanted to get pictures of them as long as we stayed off the very distinctive Red track.

Here he is! Next to him is a good friend of ours, Aaron Hamilton, that is also graduating in Psychology. His wife, Amber, and I are due two days apart, and both of us having boys. It's been fun hanging out together.

Aah, aren't they cute?

Walking up to get ready to receive his award...

Congratulations Derek!!!

Bob Wood (Dad), Cheryl (mom), Derek and I.

We all are so proud of him! Now, on to life's next great adventure: Parenthood, and (hopefully) a career in law enforcement...

Fiesta and Hoarders...they DO go together!

I just wanted to make a post real quick re-affirming my love for Fiesta dishes. I love all the bright colors, I love the fun combinations you can make. It livens up the table in such a fantstic way.

We had Derek's family over for dinner and so I got to use more than two plates at a time. I think for the first time I had enough pieces to use complete fiesta ware for everything. Maybe it's kind of silly to take a picture of our dinner, but I was so happy with all the many colors that I had to.
We had BBQ chicken, grilled corn, potato salad, and homemade bread. Oh, we also had a salad but it was being made at the time...

Here are some of the boxes that I have kept for awile that the fiesta dishes came in.

I finally decided to throw them away. Derek and I had just been watching an episode of Hoarders. In it this guy had his lot full of junk that he couldn't throw away. He was saving some of it for metal scrap, or to recycle, or for other Just-in-case purposes but he had received so many warnings to clean it up from the city that he would have to go to jail if he didnt' have it cleaned by the deadline 3 days away. The Hoarder's crew was trying to help him but he would say something like, "Don't throw that plastic box away, it is a good box..." or whatever for all his stuff.

Anyway, Derek and I were cleaning out our storage closet off our porch and I had all these boxes. He wanted to throw them away, and I said, "Those are really good boxes, I might need them for something!" ... then I realized what I said, and who it reminded me of. We immediately threw them all in the dumpster. Yes, they could be used for something, but I have collected them for the last 6 years as I have been given fiesta dishes and haven't used them once. It's time to let them go.

I highly recommend watching Hoarders everytime you want to do some deep cleaning!

Birthday's

My Awesome sister, Rebekah had a birthday a bit ago and we celebrated by going to Polka-Dot Pottery. I had seen at a craft fair in December a Birthday plate and got this idea to do something similiar and start a tradition in my own family. I wanted to make a birthday plate and then who's ever birthday it is gets to use for the day (obviously we'd wash it alot that day). Rebekah also thought it was a fun idea so we each created one.

Here is Rebekah, looking so cute :) I realized I didnt' get any pictures of myself in this activity, but I was there!

This is my plate, Before

My plate, After.
Rebekah's plate, Before.

Rebekah's plate, After. Sorry the picture quality isn't super great.

It was interesting seeing the color difference of before and after. Everything was so pastel and they stressed the importance of doing three coats of every color to get it to show up fully. It was lots of fun, and I only wish it was more affordable to do everyday!

Quilt for (Little) Mr. Wood

Here is a quilt I've been working on for the little man. My mother-in-law, Cheryl had given me a a kit of material for making a small quilt, and some patterns to choose from and I couldnt' decide for the longest time which pattern to do. I'm really glad I chose this one, and really liked how it turned out. I love these colors together!
For the machine quilting I just outlined the blue zig-zags all the way. It was a bit tedious, but I'm glad I did, because it turned out to well.

Here are a few ultrasound pictures. It's so cool to see him on ultrasound and to get that little glimpse into what's he's doing and how he is growing!
Here is is at 8 weeks, confirming the pregnancy. He looks just like a little gummy bear.

Oh My! Look how he's grown! In this picture he is looking right at you, and yes, I'll admit he looks kind of alien-esque.

Hi!

He wasn't shy. He was proud of being a boy and wanted everyone to know it!

Here is a 4-D image of his face. I think he's cute, though I know it is kind of a wierd image. He has his foot and his hand up by his face. These pictures are when he was 18 1/2 weeks.

Updated Pregnancy pictures

Ok, here are some overdue pregnancy pictures. I just haven't liked how they have turned out so I haven't been good about putting them up. But, I do want to show the progression of the Belly, so here are a few decent ones.

19 Weeks. Just after we found out we were having a boy.
Here I am at 22 weeks, after church.

This picture is taken about 6 days later, I am about 23 weeks. See how he has grown in just that small amount of time!

Actually, now that I'm looking at them again maybe you won't think there's that much difference, but believe me, he is getting bigger.

I have been feeling great. No real pregnancy complaints. Life is good :)