Choosing Baby Names

Baby Names, My little "F's"

When the time came to pick a name for our soon-to-arrive baby, I wanted something that would be unique and beautiful; a name that would describe how amazing my own child would be. The thought of choosing a name was scary to me, because this was the name they would have for the rest of their life, it was so definite. My husband, always trying to make light of things, told me that she would be able to change her name later in life if she didn't like it. Thanks, honey, so helpful.

There are so many reference materials out there that can assist you in finding a baby name and, believe it or not, we did find our first daughters name in a book. My husband, always wanting a boy, had several boys name already chosen for his offspring, and was floored when we had the ultrasound and found out it was a girl. He came from a long line of "boys always born first," so just couldn't believe that HIS wife was giving him a girl, first. So he got a book, well, lets be honest, I bought him a book, and he scanned thru. Our last name is Thompson so he wanted a first name that started with T. No luck. Nothing jumped out. After long discussions, we decided that we wanted something unique. Something that you don't hear often but nothing made up (meaning no combination names). We looked at letters that are not as commom, F, G, Q even! Finally the name came to us. Jumped out of the page and slapped us in the face...

We chose Falon.

And I LOVE the name. Not only does it fit her, but there is not one other Falon in her preschool. I did meet a Falon at a job I had previously, and we were good friends, still friends on Facebook actually. Having a positive memory helped in deciding to choose this name for our child.

When baby names came up again for our second child, it was easy, we wanted another name that started with "F" and at that time Farrah Faucet had just died. Being an icon in my mind, and the hubs "didn't mind" her either, it was a great fit for us.

So now we have Falon and Farrah. My angels, darlings, lovely ladies as I call them. My husband calls them the little "F's." And well at ages 2 and 3, they kinda are. So curious and mischievous and amazing all at the same time. Being a mother is the most amazing thing I have ever done with my life. With every milestone, and advance in their growth I am surprised and bewildered by how these little people, not babies anymore, can possibly do this amazing thing. Starting with rolling over, walking, talking, potty training, following simple commands to riding a bike with no training wheels. It is so cool to watch them grow. There are days that I am not proud of, frustrating days, where I am more of a referee than a mother, or when the little one bites a new friend out of frustration. Those days are canceled out but triumphant strides in watching the girls wait for each other to get down the stairs, or when one kisses the others "boo-boo" and then follows with the proper "thank you" and "your welcome."

If you are a soon to be parent, congrats! Enjoy the roller-coaster of parenthood. Have fun and good luck, choosing the perfect name...

Lil' Sis Anne
P.S. Here is a pic of the pillows I made for Falon when she was born. I made similar ones for Farrah too, just a little later than I did for Falon.

Thanks for stopping by everyone, come back and visit us again soon,

 -Sarah

 We love that you stopped by and cant wait to see you again soon! If you liked Yuen Yarn, check out some of our older posts, Like us on Facebook,  ,visit our ETSY shop, follow us on Instagram, follow us on twitter, or come see our website www.yuenyarn.com.

Painting The Roses Red

Alice in wonderland tea party games

This year I didn't get too fired up with planning games for the kids. In the past I have planned several and they are just not interested. They would rather just play outside.

So this year I decided to plan only one game (aside from decorating their own cupcakes shock was requested again this year.)


We decided to 'paint the roses red' !!!!!! How fun right?!? I was so excited about this one.


All we did was got some mini terracotta pots from the dollar store (they were 3 for a dollar),

and some white silk roses (also from the dollar store)

We hot glued the roses into the terracotta pots...

Filled with some red and pink paper grass I had lying around...

And done! Then I just had to make sure everyone had brushes and paint and I let the kids go to town.

They had so much fun decorating, plus it was a little something for he kids to take home!

Thanks for stopping by everyone, come back and visit us again soon,

 -Sarah

 We love that you stopped by and cant wait to see you again soon! If you liked Yuen Yarn, check out some of our older posts, Like us on Facebook,  ,visit our ETSY shop, follow us on Instagram, follow us on twitter, or come see our website www.yuenyarn.com.

Recycled Food Jars

Super Cute Decoration From Recycled Food Jars

You are going to love this!  I sure did!  Ok, you are going to start with this...

And they will turn into this!

You Love it, right?!?  Oh my goodness, I sure do!  I saw them on Pinterest and just HAD to make them.  Here is the link if you are interested in seeing the original...  It is from the blog Parties for Pennies and it is a super cute site!


She did a whole lot more work than I did.  I bought these wooden knobs from JoAnn's, glues them on the tops of the jars with my handy dandy E-6000 glue, and spray painted with any color you prefer.

I went with blue and pink just to get started but I have about 10 other colors calling my name in the spray paint drawer that are begging for the next jar.  

I am super excited to get more painted, I think I am going to keep them and give them out as packaging for christmas gifts this year.  What do you think?  

Thanks for stopping by everyone, come back and visit us again soon,

 -Sarah

 We love that you stopped by and cant wait to see you again soon! If you liked Yuen Yarn, check out some of our older posts, Like us on Facebook,  ,visit our ETSY shop or come see our website www.yuenyarn.com.

Keep Tomato Paste Handy

Tablespoons of Tomato Paste

I don't know about you but I have a ton of recipes that call for just a Tbsp or 2 of tomato paste.  And really I kind of refuse to buy the squeezable tube because it seems wasteful to me.  One, I live in Montana, I can't recycle plastic, I mean at all!!!!!  And two, the can is just cheeper.  

So here is what I do, and it takes me all of about 2 minutes so prepare.  Open your can of tomato paste, I like the big cans, that way I have to do it less frequently...

Spoon out about a Tbsp....

Place it on a cookie sheet.  (I like to put it on either plastic wrap or tin foil, that way I don't have to clean the cookie sheet but it doesn't matter either way, it pops right off.)

And stick it in the freezer!  After a few hours take it off the cookie sheet and place it in a ziploc bag and back in the freezer it goes.  Now whenever you need a Tbsp of tomato paste, it is there waiting for you!  

Just thought I would share one of my little secrets with you.  I have been doing this for years, really, and it has saved me time, money, and guilt about recycling in the long run.  

Happy cooking everyone!  

Thanks for stopping by, come back and visit us again soon,

 -Sarah

 We love that you stopped by and cant wait to see you again soon! If you liked Yuen Yarn, check out some of our older posts, Like us on Facebook,  ,visit our ETSY shop or come see our website www.yuenyarn.com.

Fire pit In The Backyard

Our Favorite Outside Family Activity

This is seriously one of our favorite pastimes! We really love spending time in the backyard hanging out by the firepit.

Do you have a firepit? We will roast hotdogs or marshmallows or make s'mores or whatever.

Really it is just a way for us to feel like we are camping without having to leave town. We are big campers, you know. And I it is too early to be up in the mountains we need to get our fix!

Does your family camp? Are you tent campers? (We would love to but. I'm just not that brave with the little ones.).

Thanks for stopping by everyone, come back and visit us again soon,

 -Sarah

 We love that you stopped by and cant wait to see you again soon! If you liked Yuen Yarn, check out some of our older posts, Like us on Facebook,  ,visit our ETSY shop or come see our website www.yuenyarn.com.

Super Easy Table Covering

Party Table Covering

So I thought this was an absolute stroke of genius!  I was pretty excited about this one.  I knew we were going to be doing some painting at the party, as we do at almost every party, plus some cupcake decorating and I always end up having to launder the table cloth several times, and sometimes I still can't save  it.  

Soooooooo, this is what I came up with for the party.  

I just covered it in tissue paper.  

Storke of brilliance, right?!?  Well I thought so anyway.

Then I say these placemats on clearance after Valentines Day and the setting was perfect!

See, soooooo, simple!

I was pretty excited about this one.  I will post rest of the table setting tomorrow.  I just have to finalize some things.

Thanks for stopping by everyone, come back and visit us again soon,

 -Sarah

 We love that you stopped by and cant wait to see you again soon! If you liked Yuen Yarn, check out some of our older posts, Like us on Facebook,  ,visit our ETSY shop or come see our website www.yuenyarn.com.

Wrong Way Sign

So I forgot to get a picture of the final product. I guess in all the excitement I just lost track of it but rest assured it turned out pretty darn cute!

So all I did was take this old box out of the recycle bin...

cut out several sizes of arrows...

And wrote things on them like 'wrong way' and 'this way' and 'up' and 'down' you know, like in the forest.

Then I taped them to a couple of skewers and stuck it in the planter next to the front door. i thought it turned out super cute! It was a nice welcome into our little alice in wonderland party!

Super easy and like I said, just added to the ambiance. how fun.

The Cousins Come To Visit

Visiting with family

Everytime my sister comes it is a big deal for the kids. Not only do they LOVE their aunty (Soph has been telling me for a month now that she is going to marry Aunt Annie) but they also get to play with the cousins. it is like a build in play date form morning 'till night. For a week straight! They have so much fun together.

We get to do everything from playing at the park,

to going on walks,

to dancing,

to sleeping together.

plus when the kids are entertained I get to visit with my favorite sister in all the world (well ok, she's my only sister but she is still my favorite!)


Anyway, is there any better thing than a visit from your siblings?

I think not!

Thanks for stopping by everyone, come back and visit us again soon,

 -Sarah

 We love that you stopped by and cant wait to see you again soon! If you liked Yuen Yarn, check out some of our older posts, Like us on Facebook,  ,visit our ETSY shop, follow us on Instagram, follow us on twitter, or come see our website www.yuenyarn.com.

A day at the Museums

Explore Great Falls

So once a year the city offers a free pass to all the museums in town. They call it 'Explore Great Falls'.

The History Museum

For one day only you can choose any of the listed museums to visit for free.

The Railroad Museum

 If you visit at least 3 and answer the associated questions correctly you can turn in your sheet for a drawing.

Honestly I didn't know anything about it until a note came home from the school this week. But can I tell you what a great idea it is. I am so excited that the city outs things like this on.

The kids were a bit young for the first couple of museums we went to (the railroad museum and the MT History Museum) but the fact that they included the children's museum was fanamenal. The kids had an absolute blast.

And seriously, what a great idea to promote all the museums around toe and all the different things to do around your own town.  I loved it!

Not only does our childrens museum have play and discovery areas, but it has learning areas too, like all about the brain, or sea animals, you know, things like that.

My kids obviously LOVE the dress up area.

But the bank teller booth was a big hit too!

And then there was face painting... FREE face painting!  How much do you love it?  We couldn't get enough...

Does your town do anything like this? Have you ever gone to it?

And of course you cant skip the donation coin swirl thing, can you?  We never can.  I have to dig all the extra change out of my purse, then give the kids some money to get more change... you know how it goes, but for a day full of fun and excitement, it was a must.

I know that frequently I whine a bit about the lack of entertainment around here but really, if I would pay attentioni might see that the city puts on events, we just need to explore a bit more.

Thanks for stopping by everyone, come back and visit us again soon,

 -Sarah

 We love that you stopped by and cant wait to see you again soon! If you liked Yuen Yarn, check out some of our older posts, Like us on Facebook,  ,visit our ETSY shop or come see our website www.yuenyarn.com.