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.

The Zoo

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...

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.