What I have been up to…

So I thought I would have a nice easy laid back summer this year.  No such luck.  I was gone for most of June and then August also, and July was just busy with sewing for my church youth trek.  Then school started and we got back to normal.  But we do have pictures and so I thought I would show you a bit of what I have been up to:

First, for Father’s Day we got Doug this great new camera from Cannon.  It is water-proof, shock-proof, and freeze-proof.  We have had a blast with it and have taken it everywhere.  We’ve gotten some great shots that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to get.  We took it on the river, twice and got some shots like this:

Splashing in the water and seeing the cool new rock towers everyone is building along side the river.  The first trip was great, the second, not so great.  We hit too many rocks the boat was unsaveable.  Thank goodness for the life vests because that was the only thing keeping us afloat by the end of the second trip.

Sara and Tessa got to spend June out in Iowa with my sister and her family.  Then when they came home they had a birthday and turned 12.  I can’t believe they are that old.  So I made them a little more grown up style of skirt.  It is a simple ITY knit skirt with a knit waist band.  I cut theirs out like you would a poodle skirt and sewed the waist band on.  I didn’t even hem it because it won't unravel.  Easy Peasy!!!  I even made one for myself.  Just bigger.  It is a great summer skirt.

Because they are now 12 they could go on the church youth trek activity.  Basically, they dressed up like pioneers and got dumped in the desert with hand carts and got to walk for 3 days.  Loads of fun!  I spent most of July sewing clothes for them and lots of others that went.  When they came back, they looked like they had been dragged across the desert.  It was funny.

We went to the Oregon coast for 9 days.  We took the camper and camped out.  It was a blast and a whole other post.  But a couple of highlights,  we went to Smith rock (of course) and it was pretty awsome!  Lots of great hikes and climbing.  Then the other have to see if you get out that way is the Peterson Rock garden in Redmond.  That was pretty incredible and it was all done by one guy!

Erica started pre-school after the girls started school.  Here is her first day picture.  She is pretty excited and loves going!!

 

 

 

 

 

Also because we have this great new camera, we now have lots of pictures like these ones.  Lots of underwater shots with friends at the pool and lot s random shots of what ever they see, because we are less worried about them dropping it and so now they take shots to their hearts content!

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We went to the air show at Mountain Home Air Force Base and saw the Thunderbirds.  We saw them a couple of years ago and this show was just a good!  Some shots were great, like these ones and some like the next , weren’t.  It’s tricky timing when taking pictures of moving objects that are moving faster than sound. 

Amber had a birthday and turned 9.  It was not my idea to have her walk down the stairs blindfolded!  But the frosting was.    And it is very Amber!

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Then this past week my brother and his family and my mom came out.  .  Troy and Jen were at a conference for work, so his two little ones hung out with Erica and I and my mom for 2 days.  It was lots of fun to have friends to play with.  So my mom and I spent the time sewing.  We got a few things cut out and sewed for my aunt and I had to make a dress for Avery.   (She is my biggest fan!)  I made a matchy one for Erica while I was at it.  The colors are perfect for fall!  I also made Karter a jumper with some Diego material I just happened to have.  I didn’t get a picture of him in it.  I wish I did, but it was so cute and he loved it!!! He so into Dora and Diego right now.  It was lucky I had that material, I don’t usually have boy material on hand.  It was fun having them visit.  We took pictures of the girls after church, but by the time we got all the kids in there Erica was done.  What can you do.

So that is what I have been up to.  Just life, but still sewing.  I am hopping to get into more of a routine with the kids in school and get some more sewing done.  I will also post a picture of a dress I made for MYSELF!!!  Very excited about that!

First day of school, again...

So here it is...the first day of school, again.  This time it is all kinds of newness.  I have 2 going into jr. high. Scary!!!  Then the other 2 will start a new school also, because Clara is in the full time gifted and talented program and we sent Amber with her to make sure she gets where she should be and not just wonder off with a new friend.   I can't believe I have kids in jr. high!!!  I'm not sure I am ready for this.  But they said they had a great day!!!  Now if only we can get Amber and Clara on a bus so I don't have to drive them and we will all be happy!!!

Tessa is sure she is going to be cold.  It was a 100 degrees today and she still wanted a jacket, "just in case"!

Erica just got up and wanted to be apart of the picture.   She starts pre-school in a couple of weeks.  Yeah!  We hope you all have a great first day!!!

Life in a nut shell...

So lots has happened since I last posted.  It all kind of snowballed toward the end of school, and tho I have done lots of sewing, most of it was for other people who needed it done right then.  It seemed to come all at once, too.  So life just got away from me, as usual.  But here are a few pics of what was going on and then later I hope to show what I have been sewing.  Lots of fun stuff.

First we survived another year of t-ball and softball.  Just Clara and Amber played.  The other two were very involved with lots of other stuff and I am glad we didn't have to add their games to the list as well.  But it was a fun year with these two.  (I can't find a shot of Amber at the moment)

We got to go camping again this year with some friends at a favorite spot.  We really like Givens hot springs.  The weather has always seemed to cooperate with us and be nice, with rain coming down the day before and weeks after our spring campout.  We got the see a llama/alpaca there this time. (it's a mix alllama? llapaca?)  It was very friendly and the girls had fun petting it.

We went with our favorite camping friends.  They also have just girls, only 4, but we all have fun together.

We stopped and saw Shoshone falls again this spring. (different trip)  We even went up and saw the upper falls.  It was just as neat.  It is much higher than this picture looks and the water was gushing hard.

Lots of water this spring so the falls was very busy.  It was really sunny but because of all the mist it doesn't look like it in this photo.

And then a last shot of Sara with her viola.  She was part of the District Elementary Honor Orchestra this year.  She had extra lessons and practice seasons after school and then 3 evening concerts.  She really enjoyed doing it.   It was pretty amazing to hear them at the final concert.  They got to be apart of the city wide music week and preform at the final night for the "all schools music night".  It was so cool.  They had jr. high and high school honor orchestras and bands,  an all school choir, an honor jazz band, an elementary choir and then the Elem. honor orchestra.  I am very proud of Sara!

So hopefully, you see I haven't got lost, just caught up in it all.  I will post other pics soon.  Right now I am just enjoying a lull in all the hubbub.  Geesh, doesn't everyone know it is summer time.  This is suppose to be my relaxing, do nothing time.  Really!

Bit o’ green

So I woke up this morning and decided Erica HAD to have a green skirt for today.  So I went in my sewing room and found the perfect green material and in under an hour I made her a new skirt.  I even used my new ruffler foot.  Which is SEW wonderful!! Can I tell you that thing is amazing!!!  So here are a few pictures I was able to get of her before she ran off. 

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It’s MY BIRTHDAY!!!

 

 

My Birthday was yesterday.  It was a busy day!  First I woke up to this:

 

Snow was coming down in huge flakes.  It was kind of fun to watch while we ate our breakfast.  The girls all thought it was pretty cool.  It continued to snow until early afternoon.   I spent the morning at school teaching art to Sara’s 6th grade class.  We did self-portraits that were monochromatic.   They did then all in green.  Using chalk, yarn, and glitter.  They turned out so cool!!!  I am way excited about them.  It is for a school wide art show.   The idea came from here.  It should be pretty cool! 

This is what I wore.  An infinity scarf from my in-laws for my birthday.  I do have to say it was lots of fun to wear and did seem to suit me.  The button was from a friend.  I kept forgetting I had it one and was sometimes suprized when people would say “Happy Birthday” to me and I would smile, but wonder how they knew.    Silly, I know.

After art I took Erica and we went grocery shopping.  Then some good friends took me to lunch, while another good friend watched Erica so we could enjoy our lunch.   It is always nice to have some adult time! 

Then I spent the rest of the evening running crazy.  One kid had ballet, another had piano.  Then we all went to Sara and Tessa’s honor choir festival.  Erica actually did okay.  Of course I brought our portable video player and headphones for her.  How people took little kids anywhere with out modern technology, I don’t know!! 

After that we swung by the grocery store on the way home to finish off my Birthday with donuts!  Yum!!!

Now just for fun here are some pictures of Erica.  As I was trying to take pictures of the snow and my scarf she kept smiling and saying “cheese mommy, cheese.”  So I had to take some of her.  

Thanks Grandpa!

Here's another picture of a dress I made from a shirt from grandpa for Erica. The blue part is from a t-shirt of Doug's. Neat huh!!! I love how it turned out! I know it is a little hard to see from the moving model but it looks great on her!! I got several complements about it from the other girls. => I have a couple more just about ready to go, they just need different buttons and we are set. I am having lots of fun re-making these shirts. Amber even has a skirt I made from another plaid shirt that looks way cute on her! I will to take a picture of her in it soon.



Here is a little better picture of Erica in it, with Clara. As soon as I pulled out the camera Clara came running for her picture to be taken. That girl is obsessed with having her picture taken!!!

Potty Training, again

The problem with having more kids is that eventually you have to potty train them. So finally, I bit the bullet and I am potty training Erica. I put everything on hold and that is what we are doing this week. It has been kind of relaxing knowing that I am not going anywhere and no one is expecting me to come in. As far as how she is doing... Well, I think she is doing better than Amber and Clara did at first. If I put her on the potty she will go. Yesterday was the first time she asked to go though. But she did and even went poop. YEAH!!!! So we press forward. Ever hopeful!
Other than that I we had a nice Christmas break. Erica was sick most of the time, which is why I didn't potty train then. I managed to get my sewing done on time. I will confess I did finish the last pair of p.j.'s Christmas Eve afternoon. But everything else was done. The Christmas dresses are gorgeous!!! I was very proud of them. I haven't taken a picture yet. So I will post one when I do. But I do have one of the jammies. Doug and I even got some. I haven't done that for us in several years.





I hope to share what I have been doing in between potty runs soon when I get some things figured out.