I am Sew Happy

What I have been up to…

2011-09-28T10:01:00.001-07:00

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!

What I have been up to…

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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!

What I have been up to…

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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...

2011-08-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-07-30T03:33:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-17T16:34:00.001-07:00

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.

I’m pinch proof

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It’s MY BIRTHDAY!!!

2011-03-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-01-14T20:06:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

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.

The Zoo

2010-10-16T02:45:00.000-07:00

The zoo was pretty great! I saw lots of turtles and tortoises and monkeys of all kinds!! I also saw a few tigers and elephants. It is very hot and humid here, but it was cool to see all the animals.

Just thought I would put a few up for the girls to see.

A singing bird for the girls...

2010-10-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

So I'm still in Singapore and I told the girls I would post some more pictures and also one of a singing bird I saw. I went to the Bird Aviary and it was so cool!!! The birds were incredible and so were all the flowers. I have never seen flowers like these before. So I took LOTS of pictures of them and some of the birds, too. I also got to go to a couple of the bird shows and at one they had a talking parrot and it sang some songs. So I posted the one of it singing happy birthday. I hope it works. Enjoy it girls.

This bird walked right by me.

SINGAPORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Singapore!!! I am very excited for this trip and so far what a trip it has been!! It took us about 24 hours to get here. I am not looking forward to the plane ride home. I was ready to cry by the time we got here. I was so sick of sitting and the noise of the jets and the airplane food!!!! Ugh!!! But we made it and I am having so much fun!!! I am putting up a few pictures we took at the new Universal Studios Singapore we went to this weekend. It was the soft opening so they had lots of fun stuff going on, but not all the rides were up and running yet, which totally bummed me out!! I really wanted to ride the two huge roller coasters, but they weren't going. So instead we went on everything else they would let us on and all the shows. It was a long day and my feet hurt so much at the end but it was fun!!!!!

These characters from the "Revenge of the Mummy" ride were out front just a we came out so Doug and I got to have our pictures taken with them. It was the best ride!!! We went on it 4 times and each time we ran (and I mean ran) right up to the front!!! It was great, NO LINE!!!!! I would have gone on it more but the others I were with were getting a little motion sick from it. So we stopped.

Here is the Sherek castle. I took this picture just for Clara, she loves all things princess!!!

Here are the guys I went with and Beetlejuice. Can you tell them apart. Sometimes I couldn't.

This was a shot Doug took inside the "Revenge" ride. We ran through the tunnels. It was very cool and nice inside. I don't know what is up with the lightning on the picture, but it's cool anyway.

We are doing a lot of walking. Today I mostly took it easy at the hotel. I only went shopping for 4 hours. Which is good because I don't think we stopped walking all weekend!! It is crazy all the malls and walking around here!!!

More later. We miss you girls and hope you are being good for Grandma and Grandpa!!

Where I am at....

2010-10-02T20:17:00.001-07:00

BALTIMORE!!!!
And I am with my sis-in-law to visit another sis-in-law. It has been a blast!!! I am putting up a few pix for my girls to see where I have been and doing. We got to go all the way to the top of the Washington monument. It was so high! Then we went to Ocean City and that was fun!!!

This is us at the beach just this morning. It was gorgeous and so perfect!!

This were the bikes we rented to ride along the boardwalk. Don't be fooled with both steering wheels. I was totally in control!! Mendy's was all show. But it was so much fun riding all over the place.

But I miss you girls!! Be good for daddy and I will see you soon!!

Still almost done.

2010-09-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

The doll carrier is now done and the quilt to go with it is just waiting for the binding to be done. I had to stop because Erica decided to take a nap, which I am not going to argue with. But I didn't want to risk wakeing her up. But I am so excited because it turned out SOOOO cute!!! I am so glad I choose to use these fabrics. Yeah, me!

PS. I think the shoes turned out great!!! pix to come.

For Mom

2010-09-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this post is for my mom. I just want you to know I am almost done. I hope to be done tomorrow if Erica will let me. But I thought you would like pics of what it should look like so you could show Sandy if she is still around. I am LOVING it!!!! (By the way, everyone else, it will be another doll carrier. Like what I made my girls for Christmas.)

I probably could have had it done today but I got distracted making these. I can't wait for the glue to dry. I will post pix tomorrow. I am very excited for these.

Back to School

2010-08-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year. Back to school! This year I have 4 full-time in elem. and one at home with me all day. What are we going to do all day???!!! So the older four were very excited and nervous. They were up and ready early. (I don't expect this to last long). Doug and I walked them all to their classrooms and helped get them settled. They all survived and like their teachers. Tonite is back to school night and we get to really meet the teachers. I think this year is going to be a lot of work.

We took the traditional first day pix under the tree. They are all getting so big (including the tree). Erica slept through all the excitement.

I am especially pleased with Tessa's backpack. I started it earlier this summer, but it just didn't get done so I spent the night before finishing it. I didn't use a pattern, just general sizing from other backpacks. We also cut the zippers and straps from another backpack that the bottom had torn out of. That saved a lot of work. But I really like the turtle we embroidered on it and the material we used for the pocket on the side. It did turn out slightly bigger than I planned, but better that than too small. Yeah Me!

So here's to a new year and hope it all goes well.

2010-07-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

So summer is in full swing here. We are doing a lot of nothing and enjoying it. We also spend lots of time in the park for lunch. A staple outing here. I have also been able to do quite a bit of sewing. Which is good because we have 3 birthdays in July. It is busy with parties and such. Here is just a couple of pix of some outfits I have made for the girls. At the beginning of summer I got 2 patterns in everyones' sizes and said they could pick the material, I was just only making these outfits. And they have turned out so cute!! The first outfit really was a top for myself but it was just barely too small, so I just tightened up the elastic and it fit Sara perfectly. It is one of her favs. It does look just like the pattern I had for them anyway.

Ignore the funny look on her face, but I just love the material and colors on this outfit! It just screams summer!!

And this skirt is one I made for her Birthday. She is just so girlie!! And when I saw this on someone's blog I knew I had to make it for her. It is just strips of knit cut into slits and then sewn onto another piece of knit. She loves to swirl around in it.

I will post more on our summer soon. I just remembered I need to go pick up one of the kids.

Apron for Emer

2010-05-29T17:22:00.001-07:00

A little while back I decided to participate in an apron swap here. I am very excited to do it. But I did wait until the last minute (as usual). I did want to let Emer (my swap partner) know that I did finish her's and it is on its way to her. I can't wait. I will also post all about my thought process (scary, huh). I am way excited on how it turned out!!!!

I hope you like it, Emer. I had one idea in mind, right up until I made it. Then after seeing what she made me and a few other things she made on her blog a whole new idea came to mind. And then it just snowballed! In fact I made myself one of the same pattern but different material. I will have to post pix of it when I take them. It is yellow with orange on top and I LOVE IT!!! The colors are so me. I have been wanting to use this yellow material for a while but I look horrible in yellow, but now I can wear it.

smith Look-alike Meter

2010-04-29T16:25:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

How it all looks...

2010-04-04T16:24:00.001-07:00

I thought I would just let everyone see how it all looks... My skirt turned out fabulous!!!!!! I even have a few orders from ladies at church. I feel very girly in it, all those ruffles, how can you not?!! I have an idea for another style very close to this one, and, of course, the girls all want one like it too. I don't blame them.

The bow ties turned out perfect. My sister's boys all looked adorable with them on. I was pleased!! And they fit great! Not bad, huh. They were so easy to make. In fact it took me longer to figure out how to tie them then to make them.

That is all for now, but soon I will post about our Spring break outings.

Just Finish it!!

2010-03-03T14:49:00.000-08:00

I read on another sewing blog that they spent a week just finishing unfinished projects. And I thought "what a great idea". So that was my plan this week, because I really don't have much going on and no real dead lines coming up. Easy-peasy, right, WRONG. It is only Wednesday, and I haven't even really started finishing anything yet. Sad, huh, I know. So here is the problem. First off every time I try to get serious about finishing something, something else catches my eye and I HAVE to make it first. First thing Monday as I was sorting out several w.i.p.s to finish I suddenly had an urge to make this skirt. So I did, almost. I have the skirt all made and the ruffles cut and the first layer ruffled and pinned, and now it is sitting on my cutting table waiting for its turn to come back around. I am using red, orange, and gold for the three colors. It is going to be so cute when it gets done...... Then on Tues. I was reminded that my sister is getting married in two weeks and I said I would make bow ties (I am using this pattern) for the 4 boys. (hers and her soon-to-be) So then I had to go out and buy black fabric to make them and then wash the material. So that got done and they are now partly cut out and sitting on the ironing board. But then that afternoon I was able to focus and I worked on a skirt I am making for myself. It is almost done (I know, story of my life) and just needs a waist band. But it so gorgeous!!!!!!!!!! I stopped there last night.

Today was a little better, my skirt keeps calling my name, but I know there is a wedding coming up so I think I probably should get those ties done, or instead I will work on another w.i.p. This time I am doing the binding on a baby quilt the Activity Day girls in my church made for the other leader who just had a baby. (Did I mention I now get to work with the 10 and 11 year old girls in my ward, and they sewed this blanket together with only a little help from me.) I learned working with a bunch of 10 and 11 yr. olds can be very crazy. There were 9 of them and they were very gung-ho and did not want to wait for any kind of instruction. I recommend if you are brave enough to do this kind of think to NOT do it by yourself!! But they got it sewn together and the tied the quilt and I finished to binding today. Very cute. But as I was sewing it I ran out of thread about 18" from the end. URG!!!!!!!!!! So I called a friend and got some from her so I didn't have to go out to Joann's again. But it is done!!!

So far the week is half over and I have complete 1 old project, started 2 new ones, and worked on 1 old project. I'm not sure if I am encouraged or not. I guess I can only keep plugging along.

After Christmas Shots

2010-01-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a great holiday break. We sure did! Lots of late nights and sleeping in. It sure makes going back to school hard! I could probably end the school year right now and be okay. Or maybe not. It depends on the day. Anywho....... I thought I would put up a pix of the girls in their Christmas dresses since I didn't do cards this year. I just love Amber's expression. This was the best one. I also put in a separate shot of Clara so you could really see her dress. Notice Erica peeking around her in the back. She is such a cheesier!!!

Peek-a-boo!!

This is a pix of all our Christmas stockings. I have always wanted matching ones and this year I got it done. Or I should say my two oldest and two of their friends got them done. They came over and I set up 4 of my machines and put them to work. The girls had so much fun and I think the stockings turned out super cute!!! Now I just need to finish the names on the cuff and put it on and they will be perfect. But not a bad start for just two days before Christmas, huh.

Don't you just love Fabric Fridays. Check out the other posts at Rosebud Quilting and have a great weekend.

More Fabric Friday

2009-12-11T15:19:00.000-08:00

I love seeing everyone's projects and fabric. And I like Fabric Fridays because it makes me write at least once a week. It's just a hard time of year to show off because it is all so top secret!!! But luckily, Erica was wearing a shirt I remade down for her from Clara. It turned out so cute! I took it in a bit, shortened the sleeves and added the lace in the front to hide some stains. I love it. Plus it is extra long on her. Got to love that.

This is just some of the fleece I bought to make skirts for the girls to wear to church. So nice and warm for all those cold mornings we walk to church. It makes me just want to curl up right now.
Hope you all have a great weekend.

Fabric Friday

2009-11-27T15:32:00.001-08:00

I saw this over at Rosebud Quilting and knew I had to join in, but I had to wait a whole week and then I almost missed it. But here is my fabric. There is a spot in the corner of my room where finished projects sit until it is time (birthdays, Christmas, etc...) to reveal them. The corner is getting very full right now.

This one is for someone in the middle, who loves color. I love all the color, too.

This is for someone very little who, I think, will get the most use out of these. And I absolutly love how it turned out!!!! I can hardly wait for the big day and have to stop myself lots of times a day from giving it out early.

I really can't say what the others are in case of prying eyes, but this one I can. It is a pile of very soft and warm fleece that is almost made into two snugly skirts for church. My girls' (and mine) legs get cold walking to church this time of year so I love fleece skirts. (oh, and they do too)

Enjoy your Friday!

Sew Happy..

2009-11-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we went down to St. George for a wedding. I was looking forward to doing a bit of shopping. Well, the only shopping I got to do was a quick trip through the D.I. (a thrift store). I spent the rest of the trip in the bathroom. Sara, Tessa, and I took turns being sick. It was not a pretty sight!! But at least I didn't have to clean up the mess. =>
But I did pick up this beauty at the DI. So I guess it wasn't a complete loss. Yeah!!! Doug squeezed it in with all our stuff and even more stuff from his parents. I am so glad we have a big ol' burb!!! He even set to refinishing it for me. Isn't is beautiful!!! I love it. And the machine that was in it works great too. It is an old Singer 600, with a knee control instead of a foot control. Kind of cool. I did clean up my sewing room to make room for it and it fits perfectly! I love all the drawers. I have a good hubby, don't I!!!!

Happy, happy, joy, joy!!!!

Faries are everywhere...

2009-11-02T09:05:00.001-08:00

This year at Halloween my house was invaded by faries. Five of them to be exact. My girls were the faries from the movie Tinkerbell. Funny how that worked out. So they spent the night before running around at a school dance and then all day Sat. in their cute little farie costumes. Yes, I made them, but not the wings. Sara did add all the orange to her wings. They were just white. But I was very pleased with how they all turned out. Erica's costume had a cute little tutu to go with it, but she wouldn't have anything to do with that. Oh, well, at least she loved the wings. She loved running around in them. It was so cute!!! It was actually warm-ish, for us, here. We had a church party in the afternoon, then went trick or treating, then out to dinner with some friends. It was lots of fun!. Sorry the pix are so blurry, my camera isn't talking to me anymore.

Amber, Tessa, Clara, Sara, and Erica

Erica is now running around too fast for everyone else.

Yes, I won....

2009-09-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

Here are pix of Erica and the outfit I won from over at Sewing Dork. You have got to go check her out. She is so fun and makes the cutest things for her little girl. I love her no rules sewing. I was also very excited to get her package from a give away she had! I wasn't expecting it for a little while longer. I love getting packages earlier than expected!!! She sent me a knit top and a cute skirt. Erica has been running around in it all day. The other girls were very jealous that there was only one and they tried real hard to squeeze into it. But alas, it is all Erica's. Thank you so much, Cynthia!!

Too Cute!!

2009-09-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

I came across this pix when I was digging others out for my kindergartner's Birthday book. They get to take a book full of pix of themselves and then share it on their Birthday. But I found this old one and had to share with everyone. It is a too cute shot of Amber and a cousin at a family reunion. Those faces are just too adorable!!! Enjoy!

Why I sew, or how to boost your self-esteem

2009-09-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

If you sew all that you need is one little girl who gets sooooo excited when ever you make her something new. This keeps you motivated to buy more fabric so you can sew more for her to keep her saying "you're the best mommy in the whole world!!!" (does that count as bribing???) Hearing that makes it all worth it!!! That being said, I have 5 little girls who all say the same thing when I make them something new, (well, okay, just 4, but I know somewhere in all that babble the youngest is saying "you're the bestest mommy in the WHOLE world!!") That is what keeps me sewing or at least how I justify all my fabric stash. I have got to make a lot of fun new stuff for school and now that Halloween is coming up I have a whole new reason for getting more material. (I can stop at any time.) The girls are all going to be fairies this year and so I got to get lots of pretty, shiny, bright colors and I can't wait to get them made. Then I can hear them all shriek and say what a great mommy I am. (my self-esteem is just fine, thank you)
I must though that I am loving this whole re-fashionist faze that is going around. Everywhere I turn in the blogging world I see another idea of how to remake something into something better. I love it!! I have made several more little girls tops out of the men's dress shirts and even hacked apart a couple of onesies to make them into little tops for my too tall baby. It is lots of fun to take something un-useful to us and make it into something spectacular. That, and I love telling my hubby how I made something cute and didn't have to buy any new fabric. (that makes him shriek and say, "you're the bestest mommy ever!!")
And isn't that what domestic bliss is all about?!!!

August sewing

2009-08-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

First off this is what happens to your baby when the older girls are playing with makeup and she won't keep her eyes closed. The uni-brow and pretty colors around her mouth. My poor baby.

But I have been sewing up a storm since we got home this summer. Scroll down to next several posts to see what I have been making. This is just a few of them that I could round up to snap some pix of. I have been having fun, hiding away in my sewing room and using up all my stash, so I could go buy more, while the kids run wild through the neighborhood. I love our street.
I also now keep the laptop in my sewing room so I can read through all the sewing blogs when ever I want. I also found a couple of sites that have some really great free down load patterns and tutorials. Oh, that reminds me, I don't have a pix of the really cute skirt I made from one of those sites. I'll get one and get it on up here. So now you can scroll on down and see what I have been up to and I will try to be better with the postings. Happy viewing.

Shirred dress , aug. sewing

2009-08-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

Sara and Tessa have grown out of all of their church dresses and skirts, except for their Christmas dresses, which are a little warm for right now, so I told them I would make them some new dresses. Being me I sewed everything else all week except for the much needed church dresses. SOOOOO, Saturday night found me in my sewing room making this cute little number. It started out to be pleated like the tops I made the girls earlier, but this material is very light weight and slicky (is that a word??) so I bagged that and shirred it. (I love doing that!!!) It took me a while to do it the first time, but now that I have (thanks to several tutorials on line) ( I love having a computer in my sewing room, who knew) I love doing it!!! This dress took 1 hour from start to finish. easy-peasy! And it is nice and light weight for the summer heat and is so cute on the girls! And they love it!!! It's kind of hard to see the gather with is print. I'll have to go back sometime and take a pix of it on one of the girls. Very flattering!!!

Tessa's dress

2009-08-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

This is Tessa modeling her new top from one of my f-i-l's dress shirts. This one has the sleeves cut off and cut across the top just above the pocket. I then shirred it (I am loving this process). I even left the hem line in tact. ( so much less work!!) We just happened to have this belt that goes perfectly with it!!! The nice thing about this is that she can wear a shirt underneath when it gets cold. This pix she has brown capris on but we decided they just weren't the right color and she put on a pair of jeans and they were perfect. Which is great because Tessa loves wearing jeans. This went together way fast and was so easy!

monkey undies, aug. sewing

2009-08-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

It's a little hard to tell but those are monkey's all over those panties. Sara loves them. I got a pattern on-line from "You can make this" (link on my side bar) for children's undies by "That darn Cat", a little while ago. I made a couple of pairs for Sara and Tessa to test them out and they were such a hit I decided to make a weeks worth for each of the girls, then they would know whose undies are whose. Sara's are almost done, I just need to finish the ribbing. They are all knit and seem to be so comfy. And the nice thing is that they cover their butt!. These are a nice yellow and brown. Sara can't wait to wear her monkeys!!

Amber's undies, aug. sewing

2009-08-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

These are some more undies. I really like this pattern. I bought it online at "You can make this". The link is on my side bar. I highly recommend it!! The patterns are great and all of them that I have got have lots of pix for each step. They are very easy to follow and understand. The girls really like this underwear, too. It is very comfy and fits nicely. I wish I could make myself some! I picked these colors out for Amber. She loves all things colorful!

Purse bag, August sewing

2009-08-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

This is a bag I made using a pattern book I bought. It has several patterns in it and I have made 4 of them so far. I really like the book. But I really LOVE this material. I fell in love with it right away and have lots of it to make several other projects with it. This one is for Tessa for her church bag. The first one I made her like 4 years ago is falling apart at the seems.

Pretty cute huh!!! I really like the handles too.

on vacation

2009-07-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

So for the next little while, I am on vacation. Doug had a business trip to Tiawon for 2 weeks, so I loaded up the kids and our stuff and drove and drove, to stay with my sister Teri in Council Bluffs, Iowa. We are here until Doug flys into town and drives us back home. I miss him, but we are having fun. I am glad Teri has a new BIG house, otherwise with 10 kids we would not survive. But we are having fun and enjoying our visit. I will post pix when I get home to a good computer. ( they have a mac) ( janet understands). Until then I hope you all are having a good summer.

Thank you Grandpa!!!!

2009-06-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

Cute, huh! While I was laid up I came across a very cute idea, here. I sat there thinking "I could do that and it would be sooooo cute!!!" But unfortunately, it required a man's dress shirt and most of Doug's were still fairly new. I happened to mention this to my mother-in-law and she came through for me. My father-in-law has tons of shirts and so kindly sent me LOTS!!! This is one of the shirts. I wish I had taken a before pix, but I did take an after and it turned out great!!! So thank you so much Grandpa. My favorite part is the pink lace that I just happened to have on hand and looks great with it. (the lace came from a visit from Doug's grandma in Denver, if I remember correctly.) (Does that make this a family heirloom?)

My trip...

2009-06-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

A few days before mother's day I went on a trip......down the stairs. And I twisted everything possible in my foot. I did go into the emergency room and had it x-rayed because I thought I had broke it, but I didn't. So they told me to take ibuprofen for the pain, and keep off it and keep my foot up. Yeah, right. So because I fell on it two more times, I spent the next 5 weeks on crutches and basically unable to do anything. Doug had to go grocery shopping and the girls had to do everything else. I just sat on my bed surfing the internet and trying not to fall again. But all that doing nothing paid off and I am finally back on my feet, sort of. I have a brace, (just in case) and I limp around very slowly. (that means my baby can get away from me) I did get some great ideas when I was on line and even made a few things. (although I didn't set foot in my sewing room for over a week in the beginning, that's how bad it was!) I am amazed and how much you can't do with only 1 foot. It was very frustrating, but thank you to my friends who came and kept my company and helped my out with stuff. It made my day!!!!
Here are a couple of pix of my foot, this was about 3 weeks into my injury. The bruises were pretty faded by then and it wasn't quite as swollen. But you get the general idea of what my foot looked like. It was bruised all over and was so ugly. I'll post pix of my projects soon, now that I am able to get upstairs to the computer.

Made my day!!

2009-05-10T19:26:00.001-07:00

I just found this and thought I would share it. Happy Mother's Day!! And for all you moms I know you will get a good laugh. and really understand this! I sure did. Have a great day! You deserve it, I know I do. = >

http://www.forloveorfunny.blogspot.com /

I was so with this mom and could relate. And I laughed!! alot, while I was on the phone with my mom. So I shared and we both had a good laugh and related together. It was a moment. sniff, sniff.

Full Circle

2009-05-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

The first pix is just Erica being very excited I had the camera. It is hard to get a pix of her that is not a close up. The rest are to show off the cute overalls. I made them when Sara and Tessa were 2. There is also a matching pair of short overalls of the same fabric. This was hand-down material from my m-i-l. Do you remember it, Janet and Laurie??? I am so excited they fit Erica. This really shows the size difference between my first babies and my last baby. These overalls are some of my fave. They are so cute and bright and cheery!!! Love them and my babies have all been so adorable in them. Clara wants a pair of overalls now. I guess I will have to get to work on that. = >

This pix is just one of what Erica likes to do when Clara is not around to kick her off the computer. She is clicking away with all she's got. I guess we have another budding computer junky. Just like her dad.

Day 5

2009-05-01T20:28:00.001-07:00

Day 5....and this one was even easier. I made this one for Clara to go with a matching skort also. I did gather instead of pleat, and I think I like the pleats better. But I did add a button in back so it would be easier for her to put on and take off. The band is fitted and a little hard to get on and off. But it looks so cute and darling on her!!! Thank you Made by Rae . That is where I got the pattern from and the challenge. Check it out!

Day 4

2009-04-30T20:34:00.001-07:00

Here is Sara's top. She wanted one like Tessa's, which made things even easier because I did all the adjustments on Tessa's. These I think are my fav. tops. So cute and summery. If only the weather would cooperate.

Day 3...

2009-04-29T19:56:00.001-07:00

Yet another day and still going strong. Here is Amber's top, to match the skort I made for her last week. She picked out the material all by herself. We walked into the fabric shop and she went straight for it! It was a beautiful moment!!! I think a little bit of me is rubbing off on her. This outfit may well be my fav. yet.

Day 2

2009-04-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

So far so good... Here we are in day 2 with top #2. This one is for Tessa. I saw the instructions for this one on line and knew it would be perfect for her! The best part is that this top will go with 2 different pair of shorts I made for Tessa last summer. Bonus!!!

A top a day...

2009-04-27T15:37:00.001-07:00

As I was jumping from blog to blog... I came across this really neat sewing blog and the lady was doing a top a day challenge this week. I thought I can do that.... one top everyday this week. Piece of cake!! (Although her challenge was adult tops, but I am including kid tops too, because then I can make everyone one this week. = > ) Yeah!! I started with one for me. So for day number 1 here it is:

(Sara took the shot)

Erica can see!!!

2009-04-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

Erica, we found out, is very visually impaired. So she now gets to wear glasses and boy does she look cute!!! She even does pretty good at leaving them on, except when she is in her high-chair, and then she starts pulling them off if she gets bored.
We can tell already that they make a big difference to her. Yeah!!! Enjoy the pix!

Random thoughts

2009-03-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

*Be careful when looking for information or you will end up at the mall yelling into your cell phone to your father-in-law, "No, F-U...."
(I was trying to spell fuego to him and he kept asking "S-U...?". The store attendant thought it was pretty funny, too)

*Did you know Frecken street is between First street and Third street?
(yet another cell phone conversation((but not with my f-i-l)))

*The saddest and funniest thing in the world is a baby trying to poop when their poop is a bit hard. (they half walk, half squat, and scream and cry and turn red in the face and hold their breath and then come to you for comfort and help) (you know what I mean if you are a m0m)

*Nothing says spring like laundry hanging on the line to dry,( and it drys and not freezes.)

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was my birthday last week and yes I was VERY sick. Not fun!! But on the other hand I got to have cake and ice cream for breakfast because not everyone was going to be around later and we did my celebrating in the morning. This is the yummy!!! ice cream cake Doug made for me. ( he does it every year!) (notice the + sign, I had got the 33 for his cake) ( so yes it says 33 + 1) on it. The kids loved that. The best thing of all was my presents. The girls all got me various wonderful, thoughtful, gifts they picked out themselves (thank goodness for the dollar store), and my hubby came through with flying colors and got me the legos game Indiana Jones and the star wars saga!!!!!!! I love legos games on the xbox. Clara and I play for hours. (Yes, we are junkies) He also claims he got me lazier pointing scissors ( they have yet to come in the mail) ( but it would be so cool if they ever did!!!!)
So in the time honored tradition of Birthday salutes in the blog world here are a few of my favorite things about the Birthday person. (ME)

1.I have always loved having red hair. Georgeous!!!
2. My smile. (it has brought many wonderful things to me, including my hubby)
3. My hubby
4. My kids (99% of the time)
5. My sewing. I love everything about it, buying the fabric, cutting the fabric, sewing the fabric, and making something wonderful.
6. My quick wit.
7. I love my giving nature.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

Weather or whether not...

2009-02-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

It has just struck me funny as how I am so controlled by the weather, outside my home. I am sitting here in a nice tight, warm home and it starts to pour outside and immediately I starting thinking what I need to get, just in case. FOR INSTANCE: quick get the kids to a safe place...turn off all the electrical devices...do we have extra water somewhere???.....are all the outside things put away???(thank you Doug for picking up all the toys that got dragged out yesterday!)....Oh, what about the kids at school??? are they okay???....what if the power goes out??? Do we have candles, and flashlights????.....
On and on my mind goes, and it is all I can do not to jump up and run around the house like a made woman screaming "we're all going to die!!" I have to tell myself, "we're okay, we are in the house and safe from the rain. RELAX!!!"
Oh,.... I just saw lightning and heard the thunder....got to go turn everything off and get the kids in a safe place...just in case.

You are a winner......

2009-02-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

So as I was randomly roaming around the blogsphere (is that a word??) I won something, just by commenting and decided to spread the love (it is Feb. after all) so read on.....

Something for YOU!!Something just for you! Lucky you! The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while) (I will be waiting until I get my FAB-U-LOUS prize!)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Good luck!

Fabulous, absolutely Fabulous

2009-02-12T09:39:00.000-08:00

Malauna saw a jacket on someone else's blog and decided she had to have one like it. So she dragged me in to it with her. We went and got us a jacket and then I embroidered on it and she hand appliced the heart on it. They turned out ablsolutely fabulous!! I had to share them with everyone. Mine is the one with Mr. Smith on it. I mean I only like Ryan as a friend, so the other one is for Malauna. = > Georgeous, huh!!!!

My baby is 1!!!!

2009-01-29T15:35:00.000-08:00

Erica's 1st Birthday was Thursday and everyone was so excited, except Erica, it was just another day for her. Until that evening and Sara helped me make Erica's cake and then Erica got excited. Especially when we let her have the spatula from the batter. I thought I was taking pix but the camera was on and this is a couple of the clips I got. And then a few of the pix. She was liking the spatula with chocolate way too much....

wORDdles

2009-01-17T16:26:00.000-08:00



You will have to go try this out.  I got this from my MIL.  Thanks this was so
much fun!!I made mine to reflect a few interests of mine.  Fun, huh!!!

Go here:  www.wordle.net/create

Happy Family

2009-01-05T10:03:00.001-08:00

My wonderful sister-in-law took some great pix of us over the Thanksgiving holiday and we used them in the Christmas card, but in case you didn't get one here is the pix we use and is hanging in our house. It was a little cold, but I begged the kids to just smile pretty and look like they weren't cold and we could get it over and done with fast. And they did.

Christmas

2008-12-19T08:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas came early at my house due to our going away for a couple of weeks and I was not going to carry all our gifts down and back. So we had our family unwrapping two weeks early. Boy, was it fun!!! We opened everything in the evening after dinner, (no early mornings) and played until dinner. It was so nice and now we can sit back and really enjoy the next several weeks and not have all that hanging over us. We may just do this every year. (the early unwrapping, not going away for two weeks) I'll let you know how our trip was. Oh, I also got done the most beautiful Christmas dresses for all the girls and tie to match for Doug. I was so proud walking into church last Sunday with my family all beautiful. I will put up pix as soon as I get them taken. (We came home and changed too fast and I forgot to take them then....

P.S. This is "Doug Jr." She admitted it to get her gift.

Old pix and holidays

2008-12-18T08:11:00.000-08:00

Here are the Halloween pix I said I would put up, just a little late, but oh well. I was a princess (as was Clara, of course) and Erica was a cute little pea (get it???) We dressed up on two nights. the first one Amber was a duck, (I was quite pleased with myself with how her feet and beak turned out!) then the next night she was a devil. And of course, Doug was Joe the plumber. = > We also went out with friends for dinner on Halloween night. (It is becoming a tradition, I like it!)

Notice the cute little cookie monster that doesn't want his pix taken.

Winter FUN!

2008-12-16T07:50:00.001-08:00

Here is the view from my upstairs window last week when we woke up to snow. Amber and Clara got to go out in brand new snow and make their tracks!!! Here is Clara wondering the back yard.

Here is Amber and Clara making a fine snowman in the side yard, all by themselves!!
They were very intent and hard at work. I took the pix through another window. It was too cold to go outside!!

Here is the finished product. Great job!!! Unfortunately it didn't last too long and became several lumps in the yard when it got warmer. But now that we have lots of snow they are lumps covered in snow.

But boy did they have fun while it lasted!!!!

Catching up

2008-11-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

Boy, how time flys and gets away from you. We really haven't been doing to much more than just life. But it has kept us busy. Sara and Tessa have a dance/gymnastics class and Amber and Clara take a gymnastics class and I have scouts, so that accounts for 3 nites a week. By the way, Amber is doing amazing in her gymnastics class!!! She can almost do a cartwheel perfectly. She loves the class and Clara just loves the new guy instructor. = >
I am gearing up for the Christmas season and most all my projects lined up and will be starting up in full steam tomorrow. As we are going to open all our gifts a week before Christmas my time is short so here I go...
I also want to include a few shots we took yesterday at Doug's Grandma Grace's 85th Birthday party. We got to go to Oakley for that. It was actually a fun day. We went and got to know some distantly, sort of related, relatives. Let me tell you how that works. It is truely one of those, my sister's neighbor's aunt's dog's vet's brother's uncle, kind of things. So we spent the day with my husband's dad's father's 3rd wife's kids' from her previous marriage. Fun huh. They are all sealed together, but still, these people didn't' even meet until they were all grown up (my father-in-law and the children that held the party.)(I guess they are short of Doug's uncles and aunts.) I don't know, you tell me. But anywho, it was still fun and we got to see Grandma Grace and meet some new friends.

Pix of my baby...

2008-11-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

Is this enough for you Jan??????? Now show me yours!!!!!!!!!!!

i am a winner!!!

2008-11-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

Yeah me!!! I put a comment on a business blog and they selected a winner from them and they chose me!! So some where in the mail I am now the winner of the newest "Sesame Street" music CD. I can't wait. It is always so fun to win something, especially when there is no strings attached like them coming to your home and demoing a product for 2 hours that is too expensive in the first place. Just thought I would add that last remark and savor my prize that is coming in the mail with no strings attached!! Yeah me!!!!

I hate playing tag...

2008-11-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

I am: tired .
I want: 10 solid hours of sleep!!!!
I have: an urge to go sew something, anything.
I dislike: politics, our pres.-elect, and cold feet.
I miss: my mind .
I fear: my girls will one day realize I am not as talented as they think I am.
I feel: fuzzy
I hear: my 6 year old trying to reason with my 4 year old.
I crave: CHOCOLATE!!! and a pepsie
I cry: when I think of never having another baby.
I usually:can be found in my sewing room.
I search:for my sanity
I wonder: when my girls got so big
I regret: every time I yell.
I love: Doug, chocolate, my girls, naps in the sunshine and my sewing machines.
I care: about all little kids.
I always: put my cold feet on my hubby's warm feet at night.
I worry: about getting the seams to lay just right, puckers, and running out of material.(it could happen!!)
I am not: a great speller.
I remember: when each of my girls were just babies and holding them and wanting them to stay little forever!!
I believe:I am going to be the best grandma!!!!!!
I dance:when I cook
I sing: to my girls in the morning and when they are mad.
I don't always: remember what I went into the next room for.
I argue: about who's turn it is to go get the treat at night.
I write: when I can, but not as much as I want to.
I win: every time Erica smiles at me.
I lose: every time I try to get Clara to do something she doesn't want to do.
I wish:I had a whole day to myself.
I listen: to my baby's laughs and babbles
I don't understand: why I can't have everything
I can usually be found: in my sewing room
I need: a maid, a hair cut, and white boots (not snow boots) and ten more babies.
I forget: pretty much everything....
I am happy: when I am sewing, hugging my baby, or spending time with my family
I tag : Laurie, Tessa, and Becci

Done!!!

2008-11-04T20:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, so before I get to the purpose of this post can I just ask if it is too soon to panic??? (today was election day)

Now on topic: remember this post and this one? Well, today I sat down and finished both quilts. I am quite pleased with how they turned out. Sara and Tessa's activity days group tied them to give to two girls who lost everything in the fire that came through this area in Sept. It has taken me a while to finish them but I did. Yeah, me!!! I really like the black on the red quilt. =>

On another note, Erica is all over the place. I found her pushing up on all fours in the stink bug position. It is a little sad to see how fast she is growing up. She is also sitting herself up from laying down. I took a couple of pix of her pushing up on her feet. They are a little fuzzy because I am still learning how to work my camera and she is moving too fast.

I don't like candycorn.

2008-10-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

I saw this on another blog and I knew I had to put it on mine. Don't hate me, but I DON'T LIKE CANDYCORN!!! Love Halloween, just not candycorn. Thank you. I also really liked this clip.

Gold!!!

2008-10-21T09:51:00.001-07:00

New Friends are silver,
Old Friends are gold.

I have had a golden month!!! It has been so much fun to see all my old friends!!! First Mrs. Rothwell came. She teaches with my mom and I use to baby-sit for her. And we had many late night talks out in her car when she would drop me back off at home. She never failed to encourage me and was someone I knew I could always talk to. She was here visiting her daughter (who was my "baby") and came to see me for a while. (Kellyn is now a sophmore in college. How time flies!!!)
Then I had an old roommate from Provo stop by with her family. She is married and has two little boys. Emily and I were living together when I met Doug. So she is an old friend of his, too. The girls had fun with her little boys. They were also in town visiting family and stopped by for a few hours on Sat. for a nice visit.
And just last night I had a friend from my Logan days come by with her family for the night. They were here just to see me!!! Marianne is the first friend I made that I hadn't grown up with or knew all my life. We were on the institute councle together and have written to each other off and on since. It was really fun to see them as I have never met her husband or saw her new baby boy. He is so cute and a red-head to boot! It was great to catch up with her and to see how happy she is!!!
It has been such a great month!! Who will be next?? How about you??? We have room and you are always welcome!!!

These are my friend Marianne and her hubby and their little boy Hunter. Isn't he so cute!! And a red-head to boot.

Quiet is not good!

2008-10-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I was busy working away, emailing and such to organize Amber's kindergarten class Halloween party, and told Clara that if she went upstairs and watched a movie I would bring her up a treat as soon as I was done. So she went upstairs and was all quiet while I was working. As soon as I was done I got a treat and took it up to her, I did promise, after all. Well, when I got upstairs she wasn't on the computer or watching a movie. When I found her she was in her room with her back to me and when I asked her what she was doing she said "nothing" and hid her hands behind her back, (which was toward me) (funny, I know), and I saw she had a pair of scissors in her hand. I went over there, trying not to yell and scream, and took the scissors and saw bits of blue fabric all over. She had cut up a little doll dress while it was on the doll. Then as we were cleaning it up I found blond hair all over. She had cut the sides of her hair so she could "see". UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I then took her downstairs and trimmed the rest of her hair so it was even. Granted it wasn't as bad as when Amber cut her's, but still, I wanted to cry. I took a good 5 inches off. The whole time Clara was saying that she wanted short hair, like Amber's, but then as I was finishing up and making sure it was even she started saying, "okay mom, you can stop now, it is short enough. I am done, mom, quit cutting." It was a little funny. I will post pictures soon, when I get over it all.

F.H.E.

2008-10-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

For family home evening last night we went out the the Linder Farms pumpkin patch.
The weather was perfect and we suggest to anyone close enough they should go. They have a great little petting zoo. ( with camels, zebras, goats, sheep, bulls, ponys, and a couple of free range geese that try to eat everything.) The girls had fun with that. They drive you out around the pumpkin patch to different stops and you can walk around until you find the "perfect" one. They also have lots of strange gourds. (notice the warty one with Sara and Clara) (no we didn't get that one, but I did get one that was a bit smaller and warty) We road back to parking lot on a trailer with hay on it. Then the girls got to run around a hay maze. You can tell how fast they were moving. I also got a really cute shot of the girls with a scarecrow but I am still figuring out my camera and it is blurry, darn it! It was so much fun!! We have done this for the past 4 years and enjoyed it every time. There is also a corn maze and jump houses and food to buy, but we only bought the pumpkins and did all the free stuff. Cheep, I know, but we still had fun and that is what counts.

playing tag

2008-10-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

My sister tagged me so now I have to tell everyone 7 things about me they don't know. Let me think,

1. I always wanted to be an architect.

2. I love to watch cartoons!! (not the animi ones like pokemon)

3. I dream of running away from everything, but then I also take my family with me, so is that really running away???

4.I really like being the center of attention, the good kind, like at a party or something like that.

5. I love that my girls love my sewing and that they tell everyone that they do!!!!

6. I like shopping, not so much buying but I could go and look all day. (sorry Doug)

7. I really share too much because I can't think of anything else.

I tag Amy, Becci, Warren, Susy, Amy M., Kristin (because she writes the blog), and Julie.

Ga -ga!!

2008-09-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

I am so in love!!!!! I am absolutely ga-ga!!! Have you ever felt that way??!!! I am so giddy!!!

In keeping with this being National Sewing Month, I checked out a book on quilting from the library. It is Liberated Quiltmaking by Gwen Marston. I can not put it down!!! I have been all excited and smiley from the first and the more I read the better it gets. I can hardly control myself, I am so excited!!!! This is such a perfect match for me!!! This is such a dream come true and exactly what I have been searching for!!!! This book just tells you to step away from the templates and squared corners and go with the flow!!! What a great idea!!!! If you do any kind of quilting you have got to read this book, even if you don't you have got to at least look at the pictures of her quilts. I love them they are so great!!! I love the concept behind them and I can't wait to try it. (although I think I may already have, just unknowingly) How great is that!! I just had to share that. Thank you!

The Sky IS the limit!!

2008-09-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend we got to go to the Mountain Home Air Force Base airshow!!! I have never been to one and so I told Doug we needed to do this in the name of family togetherness. => It was AWESOME!!!!!!
We got to walk through several huge airplanes, get our picture taken with men who are here to serve and protect and see some incredible acrobatic tricks in the sky!!! (Yes, we did wear our ear protection, look closely at Erica's ears) It was incredible!!! These guys were flying so close to the ground and each other. You can see in a couple of my pix the plane going straight up and then stalling out and just falling until the engine started back up. It was so neat!! Unfortuneatly, the batteries in my camera died before the show was over so I only got a few pix of the Thunderbirds flying around. That was SOOO COOL!!!! The noise was a bit loud for Amber and Clara, but it didn't seem to bother Erica a bit. All in all it was so worth it and everything I had ever imagined!!! I can't wait to go to the next show!!

National Sewing Month

2008-09-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

September is National Sewing Month!! Finally, a "national" month I can support and as a cause near and dear to my heart, I urge all of you out there to give your all for this cause. On my side bar is a link, go there and find out what you can do. I plan on spending all my extra time and just generally all my time sewing up a storm this month in support of this great cause!! Up coming projects include binding two quilts tied by Sara and Tessa's activity days group, (they are giving them to two other girls whose home burned down in a recent fire here in town.), making a few zippered shopping totes, (way cool!!!), a couple of tops for me (I hope), several other bags I have ideas for, pants for the willow twins, (they are about as tall and skinny as willows) something special for Amber's birthday, and a few special items for the National Sewing Month project.

They are making Anti-Ouch bags (see the site for info) to give to women who are breast cancer patients. It is a great idea and a simple project so I hope that if you can, please support it!

But other all my lofty goals and aspirations, I am getting back into the swing of school schedules, running kids all over the place, and just general bedlam. Fun huh. But I am excited to have an extra excuse, reason, push to sew. I know it doesn't take much, but still, I'll take it. I hope you will too!!

SEW MUCH, SEW MORE, SEW HAPPY!!!

Toot! Toot!!

2008-08-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

This past week we were at my in-laws cabin, (which they are getting some work done on) and they just happened to have this space available to paint on. So, with a little help from eleven little girls, I managed to create this masterpiece! I must say we did good work. So toot! toot!

projects

2008-08-11T16:13:00.001-07:00

Now that I have a camera I can take pix of what I have been sewing. This first is a quilt I started for Sara and Tessa about 3 years ago, but never got done, until now. There is another that is in pink tones, that is almost done also. I am quite pleases with the red quilt top. Now I just have to figure out how I am going to quilt it.

This is a new diaper bag I made. I meant to have it done before Erica came, but we all know how that works. = > Anywho, it is done now and I LOVE it!!! All those colors. It is soooo ME!!!

photos

2008-08-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

I recently had a friend take some pictures of Clara and Erica for me, and the others came along with us and had pictures taken too. You will have to go to her web site to see them. Go to :
Heathphotos.blogspot.com

and we are under Smith Girls. They turned out soooo cute!! Now I have to have some done of Sara and Tessa when their hair is done. => My favorites are of Erica, she is so cute and such a cheezier!!!! Imagine that. She is now 6 months old and getting so tall. She can roll over but chooses not to becuase she hates being on her tummy and when she does roll over she just screams and screams. Which is okay with me because that only leads to crawling and walking and general mobility. Ugh!! And who wants that.
The picture on the side of my blog of all the girls together was also taken by her. If you click on it, it will take to her web site also.

we are now in the process of getting ready for a last trip this summer to Phoenix, of all places. I can only think of a few places that would be hot this time of year and I am not allowed to mention such places. I am looking forward to seeing all the fam. but not the heat, and the long drive.

We got a new camera now so I can take pictures of the girls latest sewing projects and what I have been up to now to show everyone.

Evolution

2008-08-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

since my camera is now broken and I can no longer post the pictures of Sara and Tessa's latest sewing projects, (skirts) I will just ramble about my thoughts on evolution.
Here goes:

It just can't be true, evolution, that is, because if it was true than mom's would have 3 or 4 arms, eyes on the back of our head (for real), and be able to function on just 3 or less hours of sleep a day (for all you new moms). Isn't that how it should work???

Neat huh!!!!!

2008-07-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

Do you see what I did???? Look to the left and right of this post.
pretty cool huh!!!! I am so excited to finally know how to do this because it will help me in my newest endever. Just wait and see. It's all coming together now!!!!

You tell me....

2008-07-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Enjoy!

This is the latest to go around and we all know how I am about following the masses. So baaa baaaa!

Summer time - week 2 & 3

2008-07-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

After we came back from our southeast Idaho trip we jumped right into the thick of summer. Oh, the heat! But so nice to see the sun!!! We spent one week chasing around with Malauna and all her extra kids. All under the theory that it is easier to go out with extra hands (and even more kids). We did lunch in the park every day!! Thank you Idaho food bank!!! And then we went every where with 2 adults, 2 nine year olds, 2 eight year olds, 1 seven year old, 1 five year old, 2 four year olds, 1 three year old, 1 two year old, 1 19 month old, and an infant. Whew! But what fun we had!! (and what looks and stares!!)

We went to the zoo with all our group, plus we invited a few other friends. Bringing the group total to 4 adults and 18 kids. (a little better odds, right???)

Another day we went to the nature center and looked at all the fish and plants. It so perfect to go this time of year. Everything is in bloom and lots of baby fish.

We managed to squeeze in a little yard saleing also and found the deal of the century!!! I got a tag-a-long bike for Amber in near new condition for $10 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) !! Can you believe it!!! I was so excited to find it I just about wet my pants!!!!!!!

We even took them out to Meridian Dairy Days and let the kids all go on a few rides and had a picnic lunch there. What fun!! You got to love Clara's sunglasses and Hyrum's "I am not having fun" look. What an adventure it was and what fun it was to play all together.

We spent the next week just hanging out and I got in quite a few sewing projects because I have major birthdays coming up!!! Yikes.

summer time - week 1

2008-06-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

We have been doing a lot this summer to ease into doing nothing. We spent a week up swimming in southeast Idaho, luckily to pool is inside 'cause we got snowed on. True story!!! But then we went up to Yellowstone for the weekend. The weather was perfect and we got to see a lot of great stuff. It was fun and everyone enjoyed it!

We got to see a few fights up close and personal!!

Even Erica was there just hanging out enjoying the view.

Of course we saw "Old Faithful" . You can't go to Yellowstone without seeing that!!

Sara and Tessa at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was pretty neat!!

And all this was in the first week of summer. More to come.

On my mind. . .

2008-06-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

So there has been a lot going on for us lately, but at this moment what I am thinking about is this nice summer storm that has blown in just a few minuets ago. Notice the legs hiding out in the neighbors garage. That is my 3 oldest and their friends, hoping it will go away soon so they can continue their games. Also out in this storm is my husband and our other neighbor, on their MOTERCYCLES!!!!! UGH!!!!! The pictures really don't do it justice. (Oh, and there has been thunder too, just for good effects)

Girlie baby seat

2008-06-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

This is one of my latest projects. I decided that after 5 girls we could have a really girlie baby seat cover and make it all cute and such. The blue one with cute little bugs just didn't scream "I'm a girl", so I fixed that. I am very pleased with how it turned out!!! So cute, if I do say so myself. = >

rooster's tail 2

2008-05-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

here is the video we took of the rooster's tail. pretty cool!!

A Rooster's Tail

2008-05-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

We went to Sandy Point Beach tonight because they are releasing water from the reservoir into the river and it was incredible!!! They call it a rooster's tail. Wow, is all I can say! Enjoy the pix and video.

Check this out Mike!!!!

2008-05-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

So this blog is especially for Mike, but everyone else might enjoy it to. Today Malauna and I took our kids, all 8 of them to an open house for Motive Power. So we got to walk through the trains and see all the engines and where they made them and all that cool stuff. Here are a few pictures to rub it in, I mean, to show you. Enjoy them, Mike. It sure was cool to see them all!!!

A Stitch...

2008-05-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

This is two of my latest projects. I have been doing a lot of the gathered peasant style skirts and dresses lately. The girls all seem to really like them. I don't blame them, they are very comfy and light for summer. I made Clara's dress and Amber's skirt. I really stretched myself mixing the fabrics on Clara's dress. They look great together, but I just don't usually mix to patterns that are so different. ( the light green has little pink hearts on it.) But I really am pleased with the results and she loves that dress, and in the end I guess that is what really counts. = >
More to come. I have been sew busy and am also still working on that very cool thing!! Are you still waiting???!!!!

The View

2008-05-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

I looked out the window and what did I see?
Popcorn, popping on the crab apple tree.
Spring has brought me such a nice suprize,
Popcorn popping right before my eyes.
I can take an arm full and make a treat,
a popcorn ball that would smell so sweet.
It really wasn't so, but it seemed to me,
Popcorn, popping on the crab apple tree.

Thank you Spring!!!

Is it hear yet???

2008-05-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

Is this it??? Maybe, only time will tell.

coming soon!!!

2008-05-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

I am soooooo excited!!!! There is so much coming up!!! BIG STUFF!!!! Just you wait until you see it!!!!! Stay tooned!!!!!

Growing and growing

2008-04-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law requested some more pix of Erica and seeing as she is now 3 months old, I probably should put more up. She gets bigger every day. So here she is.

Memories

2008-04-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

As I was searching for some photos I have yet to still find I came across this one and thought I would share. = >

Great huh!!!!

I got to stand...

2008-04-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

As usual in my house on the Saturday morning of Conference weekend we threw open the windows and turned Conference on the t.v. and all the radios and cleaned. It is a spring tradition. That way our house is all clean and we can sit back and enjoy the Sunday sessions.
But this Saturday was extra special. I knew we would be sustaining a new prophet, but it happened differently than it usually does. They announced the new apostle for the quorum of the twelve and then they asked the different groups to stand and sustain the prophet and his councilors and other church leaders. It was amazing to see our church leaders stand and raise their hands in support of their callings and then to see all the Melchizedek priesthood holders, and then the aaronic priesthood holders, and then the relief society members and then the young women, and then the church as a whole stand to sustain our new Prophet and other church leaders.
And even though I was at home, still in my pajamas I stood as a member of the relief society and then as a member of the church and raised my hand. It was a very neat experience. I hope everyone saw it. And if you did, did you stand???

March Madness

2008-04-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

This month has been so crazy, especially because I am still in that new baby, no sleep faze. You all know that faze, half alive, half asleep, life is all fuzzy. Anyway, this month was mine and Doug's birthdays. We had one cake for both of us. He got a set of craftsman tool drawers. He is very excited to organize all his tools in one spot! I got a few little gifts, one of which was a computer game the girls and I have been playing on line, with limited features. We love plant tycoon. It is a nice slow game, but very interesting. But my main gift was Doug taking the four older girls to Denver for 4 days. It was so nice just being Erica and myself. We slept where ever we were and ate when ever, and even managed to do a little cleaning. It was a very nice break!!!!!!
Then it was our anniversary at the end of the month. 10 Years!!! WOW!!! It seems even longer, in a very good way. I never imagined it would be this good and that I could be this happy and content. The only way it could be better would be with a little more sleep, but that will come with time. => Doug is such a great husband and father!!! He is so good to me and indulges me in my sewing habit. He is a wonderful husband and loves his little girls so much and they love him!!! I couldn't ask for a better man to be in my life!!!! Thank you Doug for everything. I love you very much!!!!
We also had spring break. The older girls got to do swim lessons at the Y. Amber had so much fun and did so good in the pool. Clara had lots of fun playing in the kiddie pool while they had their lessons. We also had lunch at the Y a couple of times. It was a busy week. Doug had a multi-stake basketball tournament to handle on Tues., Thurs., and Sat. Our anniversary was on Thurs. so we had lunch together. And then I got a baby-sitter for Thurs. nite so I could go and be with him at the ball games. It was nice to have time together. It gets harder and harder all the time with everything that is going on. I am so glad school is back in so we can get back to normal and slow down! I am glad April is here and looking forward to warm weather!! Everyone is growing out of all their clothes. We need summer so we can break out the shorts. Sara and Tessa are helping me sew up a storm of new clothes. Pictures will be coming soon. I am very excited of all the new material we got!!!

Video mania

2008-03-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

So I am going a little crazy with all these videos, but it is just so fun to put them on and share with everyone. This one is one I did of Erica and all her smiles. She is very expressive with her face. She is just too cute, I had to share!!!!!

What's a music video???

2008-03-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

I was introducing my daughters to music videos, specifically Micheal Jackson's Thriller and came across this one and had to share it. Enjoy!!!!

The real shocker is that my girls didn't know what a music video was. Can you believe that??!!! What is this world coming to??? It's a lost generation.

winter fun!!

2008-03-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

Doug took Sara, Tessa, & Amber on what maybe their last ski trip for the season. There was next to no one there and boy did they have fun. Here's some video Doug took of the girls.

Enriched

2008-03-07T17:00:00.001-08:00

I have been feeling a little low on my spiritual tank, with having a new baby and little sleep, I haven't made it to church. But I was able to go to Enrichment meeting Tues. night. It was our Relief Society Birthday dinner and the theme was on Joseph Smith. We had a progressive dinner. At each house we also heard from different people dressed up as someone who knew Joseph Smith and they told about experiences this person had with Joseph and then they bore their testimony. At the last house, with desert we heard from someone who was Joseph. He was so eloquent and so incredibly told Joseph's story and thoughts and experiences and then bore his own testimony. It was VERY enriching!!!! It is always amazing to me to hear Joseph's story and the things he went through. I know he had to have divine guidance to accomplish what he did. The activity was exactly what I needed and I was fed spiritually, as well as physically. Thank you everyone who was envolved. It was wonderful!!!!

Baby Erica, again

2008-03-03T17:38:00.001-08:00

Is this enough pictures of Erica for you Malauna?? I also threw in one of our family. We blessed Erica this weekend. I need Lindsay to come up and take some real pictures of Erica.

Amber and Clara

2008-03-03T17:29:00.000-08:00

this is what Amber and Clara do when i am busy with Erica and unable to get up the stairs to stop them.

beautiful shots huh.

girls, girls

2008-02-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

So with having all these girls I do have one consolation, that someday they will all know exactly what I went through to have them!!!!! ha ha ha. I know they will appricate me even more, just as I do my mom. (how she did this and survivied, I don't know, because I am dieing.) I am adjusting slowly. Erica is eating well, though it still hurts a bit. Poor thing has horrible gas though. I have given up milk, chocolate, green veggies, spicy foods, you name it I don't eat it. And except for the green veggies, that really doesn't leave me with anything good. So I am living on cereal bars and sandwiches. Not much fun. She also sleeps with me, but that means she sleeps for several hours at a time through the night, which is great, 'cause I need the sleep.
The one problem is that while Erica and I nap, Amber and Clara are pulling every book off the shelves. We go through this every day. They pull the books off and make a mess with all the blankets, then they get in trouble and sort of put them away, just to do it all again the next day. Do they even listen to what I tell them??? But someday they will be going through this for themselves. hehehehe!

one week

2008-02-04T11:46:00.000-08:00

It is so amazing how much can change in one week. For example, one week ago I:
-was getting very little sleep
-had horrible heartburn
-was starving all the time
-was 20 lbs heavier
-had only 4 girls
-could hardly wait one more day!!!!!
-waddled everywhere I went
-my hips and back were killing me

And now, just a few short days later I:
-am still getting very little sleep
-have no heartburn
-still starving
-am 20 lbs lighter
-have 5 girls
-what's a day????
-shuffle step everywhere I go (which is bed, the bathroom, and the couch)
-my boobs are killing me

Okay, so somethings change and others stay the same. But what a change!!!! Erica is such a good baby. She nurses with a passion and knew from the first what to do! She is a good sleeper and is totally unaffected by her sisters noise. (thank goodness, because there is a lot of that) She loves to be held. (once again, a lot of that) And is so sweet and cute!!!! It helps make the rest worth it. = >

I am doing well, and recovering quite quickly. I am always amazed at how fast I recover from these things. I was kind of looking forward to being able to milk this for a while, but when everyone keeps telling me how good I look and I honestly can't say I feel awful, it makes it hard. Darn it. Well, I am off to check my baby. I will post some new pictures when I make it back up here.

Baby Erica

2008-01-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

This is Doug posting my first blog, so if I screw up badly, you'll know why. I guess the first thing I screwed up is not doing this 2 days ago. Anyways, Tuesday morning I drug Stacy into the hospital at 6 AM. That was fun. Anyways, 8:03, Erica Joan was born. 7 lb 12 Oz, 20.25 inches long. Very adorable. Stacy is doing great, and I will be glad to get her home tomorrow (guess it's time to start cleaning up!). I hope to attach some pics, so we'll see if it happens.

Baby, Baby

2008-01-28T20:05:00.000-08:00

Bright and early in the morning I go in and have this baby via C-section. I am very very excited!!!!! I am so ready to have this baby and not be pregnant!!!!! I am still looking forward to the drugs, but I am eager to find out what we are having and what she looks like. = > I think we have decided on Yavippie if it is a girl and Yavipper if it is a girl. I will have Doug post for me tomorrow or Wed. and let you all know.

My Hero

2008-01-24T03:41:00.000-08:00

I must admit it - I am a tummy sleeper. Which is very hard to do pregnant. But to deal with that I sleep on an inner tube. Yes, it really works and I sleep SSOOOOOOO good!! But then about 2 weeks ago my tube began to lose its air. I would wake up about 30 min. after I layed down with a flat tube. Do have any idea how hard it is to find an inner tube in Jan.???!!!!!!!! You can't!!!! How could this happen???? I only have 2 weeks left an need sleep desperately!!! Well, I begged my husband to fix the leak if he could. He took a look and as luck would have it the hole is right on the seam and unfixable. I was beside myself. What was I to do???? I tried pillows and cushions but it only offered minor relief. Then one day on his way home from work my hubby went to the toy store and found me a tube. Granted it is for sledding, but it works and I can once again Sleep. What a great man!!!
But wait! His talents don't end there. Tonight I was helping the girls with their last minute details for a school project that is due tomorrow and realized we needed something to stand their posters up on, or against, as they couldn't go on the wall. So my wonderful and smart hubby went out into his lab (AKA garage) and came back in a few moments later with a wonderful and perfect tripod for the posters to stand up against. OUR HERO!!! The girls were so very pleased!!! We have a wonderful and smart daddy!!!
Yes, Doug is kind of handy to have around sometimes. =>