For Better or For Worse

First day of school 2010-2011

2010-08-23T10:47:00.009-06:00

Obligatory pictures. We are lucky her arm swelling went down and her cast was replaced. We couldn't fit any of her clothes over her elbow! The girl would have been wearing tank tops and undershirts to school. Not exactly in the bounds of the dress code.

Amelia was on a little camping trip with her grandma when we went backpack shopping. Tess picked out both of them. She did a great job. Last year Amelia wanted a messenger bag. After the first week of school, she came home and begged for a backpack. It was so heavy on her tiny body. When we asked her this year if she wanted a messenger bag she told us not til she grows a foot or two.

It was hard leaving Tess. Like, really hard. I cried. A lot. She just seemed so small and so tiny. I feel like I was feeding her to the wolves. I'm totally not. She has a darling teacher. We went and worked in her classroom on Friday and got to know her. She will be great. Tess has been so awesome this summer. She is sweet and fun and loves to hang with me and help. I will miss her terribly. Terribly!

Love Amelia too. She is great. She has to be the smallest kid in her class. It was hard to take her damaged to a class of kids who are all giant compared to her. We will miss her too, but we've done this already with her. She was so excited to go back and get into a routine. She misses that about school.

I am pretty grossed out by our school districts lunches. They cook it all at a central kitchen and ship it in. You can't exactly call that healthy. I miss the days when we had little old lady cooks who made everything from scratch. It was lovely. So this year we are doing Bento Boxes. As I get more into it, we will find cuter and easier ways to Bento it. We bought some "Fresh and Fit" boxes for our first run. These little boxes stack into a larger box and have an ice pack inside. I've ordered some more online and we will add as we go. When the hubster lived in Japan, he became a fan of the Bento. I'm glad we could incorporate it into our daily routine.

How I spent my summer

2010-07-23T14:28:00.003-06:00

Otherwise known as potty training.

Somedays are better than others.

Never Wake a Sleeping Baby

2010-07-05T23:02:00.003-06:00

Best advice ever given.

Unfortunately some of us never learn.

Once there was this weekend that wouldn't end

2010-07-05T14:32:00.013-06:00

No seriously, it wouldn't. By the time Monday rolled around, we were spent.

Amelia was able to walk in one of our local parades and throw out taffy to the masses with her friends and her friends father. They rocked those D.A.R.E. shirts.

We waited for her to walk by and throw candy to our masses.

Hot husband. No really. He was hot.

Throwing candy.

The parade didn't start until 11:00. Crazy time to start a parade. We were dumb enough to think that we could get to our super awesome friends house for our annual 4th of July water party/picnic by 1:00. Um, no.

But we rushed there and were there by 2:00. I think they still like us.

Then we booked it home to get to another BBQ in our new hood by 6:00. No pictures. And we were going to go with our new hood to fireworks. But the parents in this house were exhausted. So we promised our kids massive amounts of sugar if they would watch a movie and crash on the couches with us. Mission accomplished.

We didn't feel to bad about that because the next day we were heading to the capital of where all fireworks are sold. They aren't illegal in this neighboring state. We headed to the ballpark...aka...the war zone with all of my sisters and parents.

The entire city looked like this.

On Monday we headed to a party hosted by some friends from our old neighborhood. No pictures from that either. Just imagine the worlds largest slip and slide and very wet children...and parents.

If you were wondering. That's where it ended.

Those fairies found us.

2010-06-21T15:12:00.004-06:00

And we are so glad they did.

This one time we went to St. George

2010-06-16T23:28:00.000-06:00

Without our husbands.

I had a sick baby.

I was tired.

But it was still crazy fun.

I think.

It was a cold and wet spring

2010-06-12T23:13:00.005-06:00

But it didn't phase them.

Last Day of School

2010-06-03T17:45:00.010-06:00

2010-06-03T11:05:00.004-06:00

I told Tess to get dressed this morning. She did a great job. I rarely pick out clothes for her anymore. When she came in and asked me to do up her pants, I thought to myself "I didn't know she had capris like that."

Upon taking a closer look, the are in fact, not capris. They are Sophie's size 2T pants. How they ended up in Tess' folded laundry, I have no idea.

Do you know the type of money I could save on "Hand-me-ups"? And I am secretly jealous that her butt can fit in a size 2T. Some people have all the luck.

Guaranteed Ugly

2010-05-31T17:51:00.008-06:00

My new favorite term. It means trading one ugly for another. I saw it on another blog today. Ironically I had a guaranteed ugly show up in my life just after reading.

Today my guaranteed ugly:

I traded house sparrows building a nest right above my front door. Saving future neighbors from being attacked. Sorry Kim.

For a creepy, scary, old lady lawn ornament owl that is supposed to keep rabid sparrows away.

I only open my front door if I have to. Then I come back inside and hyperventilate. Eventually I will move the owl around the corner. I just need the swallows to know who pays the mortgage around here. It's a creepy fake owl.

When you are outnumbered...

2010-05-21T17:39:00.004-06:00

...you tend to overlook certain things.

Like your 2.5 year old joining a gang. A cute gang where they wear clothes that are too big and zebra striped and silky, but a gang none the less.

Tess Turns Six!

2010-05-12T15:28:00.011-06:00

"Sophie Safe"

2010-04-27T13:50:00.007-06:00

A phrase that has become widely used in our home and in the homes of our family. "Sophie safe" has become synonymous with anything peanut/tree nut/coconut free.

"Sophie safe" has recently come to envelop so much more.

Easter Saturday we had gone to an egg hunt and had a large BBQ lunch. When we came home, we had a small dinner of cinnamon raisin toast, cut up apples and oranges and chocolate milk. Then we dyed eggs.

Around 8:00pm Sophie started to swell. We haven't seen the swelling in some time. We pulled out the Benadryl and gave her a dose. She became tired...which is her instant reaction to Benadryl...and we put her to bed. We did our normal Easter evening activities after the girls had gone to bed and the hubster was watching a movie and I was reading. I knew we would be getting up early and I had better go to bed (midnight...we are both night owls). I was turning down the bed in our room when I heard "cough wheeze uhhhh" coming from Sophie's room. I ran in and found her sitting up in her bed, swollen and unable to breathe. I yelled to Jeremy to come NOW and he saw her and thought the same thing I did. Head to the ER.

(Sophie minutes after we were done with eggs. You can see the
hives and swelling, especially in her eyes)

Luckily we only live minutes from the nearest ER and at midnight, that drive is much shorter. Jeremy drove and I sat in the back seat with the epi-pen ready just in case. Did you know that if you walk into an ER with your baby wrapped in your coat at midnight and say on your way in "She has a peanut allergy and she can't breathe" that they open the doors and let you in ahead of everyone in the lobby?

Super long story short, they treated her with some mega-steroids and more Benadryl and we were finally allowed to take her home at 3am, just in time to wake up three hours later. Easter was spent with both of us in a state of zombie-picking-at-each-other-because-of-sheer-exhaustion. Not our most favorite holiday ever. Anaphalaxis is crap.

The ER doctor told us to follow up with our allergist Monday. I left a message on Sunday night and Monday morning at 8am on the dot, she called. They scheduled us for two weeks later...enough time for Sophie to get the Benadryl and steroids out of her system. We went in and did the skin prick test. They retested for her previous allergens as well as everything I told them the night she had her reaction.

Our new laundry list of allergens (ie. the kill list...so called because she HAS had Anaphylactic reaction to both peanuts and eggs. BTW, for future reference, they think she will not outgrow any of them except for the cinnamon and maybe soy and casein...we've had a lot of questions regarding that.):

Egg yolk
Almond
Brazil nut
Cashew
Coconut
Hazelnut
Peanut
Pecan
Walnut
Orange
Soy bean
Casein (a milk based-protein that is found in most food products)
Egg white
Cinnamon

The skin prick test was awful. Sophie screamed and cried. I wanted to cry with her. Because the list of allergens and her reactions were so extensive (Sophie started developing hives in front of the doctors eyes and was administered an adult dose of Benadryl in the office) I had to take her in for lab work. Three nurses and myself had to hold her down. I had a tender neck for several days due to her head butting me. I think it's official that she is traumatized by doctor visits.

Monday after it was all over, I took her home. All she wanted was orange juice. I cried in the car. I can't give her her favorite juice now! So we stopped at a gas station drive-thru and I purchased her an apple juice instead. When I turned around to give it to her, she was out cold. Quite possibly from the massive energy exertion or the Benadryl or a combination of both. She slept for five hours that afternoon. I didn't. I came home and started researching. What could I feed my baby??? I wasn't going to fall apart over this. The doctor had warned me that I was going grieve over this and I needed to let it come. No way, I thought. I am going to just do this and live it. All I did Monday was read and write and bookmark. I went to bed that night completely confident in my new knowledge and overly confident in my abilities. I shouldn't have done that...set myself up for a fall.

After a night of complete restlessness I woke up. Not feeling refreshed. I came into the office to check to see what the weather was going to be later since spring here is so unpredictable. I thought I would check my bloglines and wouldn't you know it, The Pioneer Woman was giving away a mixer. Her question was "If you could have one wish granted to you, what would it be?" As I typed in my answer "For my baby to be able to eat food without worrying that her next bite might be her last" I lost it. I spent all day Tuesday in a dark, dark place. This diagnosis is completely suffocating and makes you feel like you can't breathe. All of her life came rushing in all at once. Preschool snacks, Nursery and primary snacks, Kindergarten snacks, field trips, sitting on the target table at school, Activity Day camp, Camping with friends and family, family vacations, family parties, dating, girls camp, going off to college and perhaps a mission, dealing with in-laws who are skeptics. All of it came down on me. When you are in the thick of what my husbands aunt calls "prison" you don't realize that "one day at a time" will come and that's how you will have to live. It is the most lonely, crushing place. I stayed in bed all day except for when my kids had to be kicked off to school or when I had to feed them a meal of cardboard, sticks and twigs.

Tuesday passed. I was alive when I woke up on Wednesday morning. I kept telling myself it was going to be a great day. It was.

Then Thursday came. I took Tess to school and Sophie and I went to Costco. Through all of my "research" I learned that a case of rice milk at Costco is vastly more inexpensive than any other store. We went and stocked up on organics that she could eat and rice milk. All the while I was telling her she couldn't have samples because they would make her sick. Then I promised her she could have a soda when we were done. Because if you can't have anything else, why not good old-fashioned high fructose corn syrup? We checked out and I purchased her the soda. Sophie and I have a tradition when we go to Costco. We treat ourselves to a soda and a slice of pizza that we share. Well, cheese is on pizza. I didn't think this trip all of the way through...obviously. Samples...pizza...a child who has had to stop her way of life cold turkey = brilliance. We passed cute little family's blissfully eating their hot dogs and pizza and living in a life free from food threats. Sophie said to me "I want lunch. Can we have our pizza?" To which I told her no, we would go home and have a yummy lunch. She was so frustrated at this point. I could see it on her sweet face. In her two-year old head I am a big meanie who has ruined everything. In her moment of frustration, she hucked her soda at me. It hit me and bounced onto the floor where it landed in a splat. I just stood there, not knowing what to do. Seriously. About what seemed like ages later, I picked up the cup, threw it in the garbage and turned to the receipt man and said "I'm sorry." and I burst into tears and walked out.

Since then it's been an up and down roller coaster. My big girls are so sweet. They have been so supportive of our new lifestyle. I have so many things to post about how we have turned our lives upside down to make sure that Sophie will thrive and eat and most importantly, live. First of all, I needed to get this out there. "Sophie safe" has taken on a whole new meaning. It's not just a few precautions anymore. It's a way of life.

True Confessions

2010-01-28T15:19:00.005-07:00

One of my friends had this on her blog (thanks Ronda) and since I am trying to get back into this whole blogging thing, what better way then that?

~ When I was in high school all of my friends were 5'2" tall. I hovered over them at 5'8". I stuck out like a sore thumb...or a tall thumb. I grew into my height. I now wish I was two inches taller and I wear heels...HIGH heels to make up for that.

~ I used to be able to out eat any man. Something happened that flipped that switch. I haven't had an appetite in four months. I'm not complaining. Food used to be an addiction to me. Glad that's over with.

~ I am a closet lacto-ovo-vegetarian. I don't like to eat meat, and if I could go completely meatless without my family all dying from lack of steak or chicken, I would. :P

~ I like to craft. However, I burn through crafty things and never go back to them. Just ask my defunct hair blog, bins of paint, stitchery and scrapbooking supplies. I am a fair weather friend when it comes to craftiness.

~ Ironically, I could use up all of my spending money on fabric and pretty paper that will just sit there.

~ I am 32. I refuse to dress like I am dead.

~ I have a REALLY hard time hanging out with women who husband bash or are mean to their husbands in front of others. Why? Because I would be crushed if I heard my husband speaking about me like that to someone else. That's why!!!

~ I have become super selective about the blogs I read. If yours tells me all about how perfect your life is and how perfect your children are and how perfect your world is, I probably will delete you from my Bloglines. If you tell me that you had a bad day or did some big goof once in a while or your daughter tells you that you have a big bottom, you can stay. You are real. I mean, come on! You can't be perfect ALL of the time.

~ Because of Bloglines, I rarely comment on blogs. But I read them...

~ I ran into a mutual friend of an old boyfriend. Old boyfriend has a daughter with the same name as one of my daughters. It weirds me out.

~ Sometimes I think I have no business being a wife or mother. I love my husband and my girls more than anything, but sometimes my old college self creeps up and wants to go have a crazy adventure. I have to tell her to go away.

~ On the flip side, I would have been a good 1950's wife. I love baking and cleaning and being home for my husband and children. I love making good food for them and serving them. I am a big proponent of letting my husband wear the pants in our family. My husband came home the other day and I was barefoot in the kitchen making his favorite cookies. I kissed him and he told me the only thing missing was my being pregnant.

~ That is not an announcement. I never want to be pregnant again or have any more children. People ask me if I want to adopt. Nope. I am done. Three is good. I had my nephew here over the weekend and I realized that I just don't like spoon feeding my children.

~ I use the dictionary far more than I want to admit. I still can't spell nessicar...necissary...nesisa...whatever.

~ I wear an apron when I cook. It makes me feel girly and lovely.

~ When I meet a new person, I over share. Like get-nervous-and-word-vomit-until-I-die over share. Then I get all self-conscious and try to avoid that person until I can talk myself down about being a total nut-case. I have issues.

~ I reserve the right to change my parenting philosophies at any time. And I frequently do.

~ I also reserve the right to change something about myself, improve things, change how I act or part of who I am. I also don't care at all if you are bothered by that. Change is good.

Tess on Bottoms

2010-01-27T16:32:00.002-07:00

I can't help it. The girl says some funny things. I thought she would grow out of it, but I don't know that she ever will. The best part about Tess is her innocence. She doesn't say things with a malicious intent. Her heart is truly innocent and she just hasn't developed that filter. She says things and we try to direct her. Just when you think you are getting through to her, she says a doozy like this:

After following me around the house for a while she pats my bottom and says "Mommy, what did you eat that made your bum grow so big?" Um...

I need some time off

2010-01-27T15:54:00.005-07:00

And I am so glad I get to have one on Saturday morning. I don't think I could handle another day like today. Living with Sophie is like living with a Tasmanian Devil. Lately I feel like I can't go into the bathroom or get a shower or turn my back for two seconds. Sunday she opened the door and let herself out. By the time we realized it was quiet, she had destroyed her sweater in the neighbors yard and was trying to climb under the fence to the field next door to them. Today I hopped in the shower and she destroyed my house!

We have an art cabinet that has all of our art supplies nicely organized. Included among them are containers that house beads, scissors, glue, paper, foam letters, Play-Doh, craft supplies, coloring books, markers, crayons and colored pencils. We also have magnet sets, puzzles and letter tiles in the cabinet. While I was in the shower, she emptied THE ENTIRE CABINET. Everything was opened and strewn over the kitchen including almost an entire sticker book of 300 stickers that had been adhered to the kitchen floor and a gallon bag of pony beads (you know the beads that you can put in your hair). On top of that she had dumped half a bag of Cheerios on the floor and stomped them.

Fine. I did what any mother would do. I stood there dripping in my towel saying "Sophie, what did you do???" Then I put on a video and proceeded to clean up the mess. I normally would have made her help me, but we are talking hurricane level messes here. My hair dried all funky (it took quite a while to clean up that mess) and so I told her to sit quietly while I got ready. I went in and rewet my hair and blew it dry. I came back out expecting she would learn. Apparently *I* have something to learn.

Sigh.

Thankfully I have a Prince Charming that cares enough for my sanity that when I called him up and asked him if he would take us out to lunch so neither of us would suffer, he gladly came to our rescue. I am still deciding how to tackle this mess...and if she should spend the rest of her toddlerness in a playpen.

Four-ish Months of Posts. Phew!

2010-01-23T14:21:00.055-07:00

You know, I probably wouldn't dread updating this if I did it more often. I'll try harder. It's been a busy couple of months around here. These aren't exactly in order. Um, whoops.

My baby brother decided to serve a mission. We are so proud. The Philippinos are so lucky to have him!

We moved in and we had this crazy idea that we would take 3 weeks to get the house organized and then we would put in our yard. We had approximately one week to get the yard in before the snow started falling. It's in, we love it and we can't wait until next year when it's all pretty and green and we can put in flowers and bushes.

I am absolutely in love with our home. It's one level with a basement. For some reason it's easier for me to keep clean. I grew up in a rambler and it feels so much more like home living in one. We have some amazing views. This is what we see when we eat. Gorgeous, huh?

And this is from our front porch. SO pretty!

We are finally getting settled. The kitchen was the first thing to get organized and put together. It looks nothing like this now. The decorations are completely different. I need to take more pictures. We haven't been pulling out the camera very often...something we will work on.

Then the girls Grandma Nadine took them to see Disney's Princesses on Ice. They got all dolled up. I love that they are so girly!

We picked pumpkins

Halloween came. Amelia was groovy in her Hippie costume. Tess was a beautiful princess in blue and Sophie was a cave man. As a side note, whenever Sophie sees a caveman in a book she points and says "costume". We're going to have to work on that. This was actually a picture we took before we took them to our previous neighborhoods Halloween carnival. I'm glad we did. On the actual day of Halloween, Amelia came down with strep throat.

In our new neighborhood we had a trunk or treat. We invited some of our "besties" to come with us. Look how darling they all are!

Sophie got her big girl bed. She loves it when it's on the floor and they can use it as a trampoline. When it's on a bed frame, not so much. She's petrified and hasn't slept in it once.

Around these parts, Halloween and Sophie's big day are synonymous. I'm working on separating the two. Since Halloween was on a Saturday, we decided to celebrate her big day on Sunday.

You can't see it from this picture, but the girl has lungs. She was standing like this to blow out her candle. No bending over. She just stood there and blew. She knocked out both candles every time. It wasn't a fluke. We kept re-lighting them to see if she could do it again. She did. It was awesome!

This is her birthday outfit. She only kept it on when she absolutely had to.

Eating the cake. Everything around here has to be made from scratch. No more cute bakery cakes. Stupid peanuts.

And here is what she looked like most of the night.

Random picture of the two youngest in Soph's big girl bed. Apparently I lied. She will get in there if her sister sleeps there. We play musical beds sometimes.

The same day we closed on our house and started to move things in, I had braces put on. I woudn't recommend that. I would, however, recommend losing the ten pounds I lost right after the braces came on. Go me!

It snowed. Sophie was ready.

Izzy loves the snow. The snow loves Izzy. I don't love the two combined.

One morning right before Christmas, Sophie woke up looking like this. She had fallen off a bar stool and had to had her head glued the night before and the next morning she woke up polka-dotted on her face. Turns out she's allergic to my lip stick that she has smeared on her cheeks the day before. She wasn't so cute for a week. We stayed home lots. It was better than explaining to everyone that it wasn't chicken pox or the plague. She looks fine now.

Tess lost her first and second teeth. It was the day before Christmas. She was right on time to sing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth." The Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause almost bumped into each other.

Then threeish days before Christmas, we were going to make all of our Christmas goodies. I had it all planned out in stages. I should stop doing that. I ended up sliding all of my digits on my left hand in 320 degree sugar. My mom came to the rescue and finished up my candy and then rolled out sugar cookies and had my girls cut them and bake them. I would have taken pictures, but I was trying not to die. My mom rocks!!! The hubster came home and decorated the cookies with the girls. There is a reason they look like orphans in these pictures. If I die, would someone please come over and make sure my girls are dressed and their hair is combed. Please?

We spend Christmas Eve at my parents house. My mom went to all of this work to make these darling costumes for a Nativity. Tess was the obedient, sweet angel. Amelia was a beautiful Mary and Sophie was a begrudging angel until she saw baby Jesus in the manger and she went and rubbed his belly and loved on him. She can be sweet when the mood strikes.

Then we headed home. We opened a present. Pajamas. Surprise! Not everyone was happy or willing to be in the picture.

So we put that one to bed. Then the rest of us stayed up and wrote letters to Santa and read stories.

Okay, sisters on Christmas morning. I could stop here.

But I won't.

Sophie didn't care WHAT she received, only that she could rip open as many presents as humanly possible. She emptied my stocking and opened most of the family gifts.

And she didn't care where she opened them, only that she got to them first.

Tess wanted big girl things this year like hair stuff and makeup. She's going on 12.

Amelia wanted spy gear. Especially the clothes. Spies wear cool clothes.

The hubster had a small stack, but it cost more than everyone elses stacks. What is it they say about men and toys? He's doing his best Japanese tourist impression.

We usually take a family picture in front of our Christmas tree. Totally spaced it this year, so we substituted Grandma Nadine's tree.

Then we had a rocking new year. We had three of the hubsters friends from high school and their wives come over. We have some pretty amazing friends!

We took pictures, played games (not pictured)

Karaoked

Experimented with little pills Colt found on the net. They make all sour things taste sweet. I'm sure they will make our next children be born with three heads. That's not an announcement. We're done. So I guess the REST of them will have children with three heads. We can experiment with all of the pills we want...wait.

(had to throw this in because our girls think they are old enough to stay up...and it was our house and so they stayed instead of being shipped off....they were awesome and played games in their rooms most of the night...my kids rock!)

They did help us when it came to making noise at midnight.

The gang.

Phew! I will try to keep up on this thing more...and pull out the camera. Maybe I should do that 365 day challenge. Or the 52 week challenge. Or not.

My how they've grown

2009-11-28T12:01:00.004-07:00

Annual Halloween Dinner

2009-10-31T09:02:00.003-06:00

So my husband took me to see Wicked...

2009-09-22T23:54:00.020-06:00

...in London.

And since he had nothing else to do, he took me to Paris too.

I kind of like him. A lot.

Getting closer...but not close enough

2009-09-22T23:50:00.001-06:00

We're still homeless, but not hopeless.

Twirl Skirt

2009-09-21T13:50:00.030-06:00

Threeish years ago, we had to have outfits for a Pioneer parade and I had NOTHING for my girls to wear, so the night before I grabbed some calico I had sitting around and made your basic, gathered floor length skirt for each one of my girls and a basic white apron. It worked for the time and through some tweaking, it has evolved into a fun skirt my girls love to wear. We go to the fabric store and I hear "I would love THIS for a skirt, Mom!!!" Since I am a sucker for fun things for my kids to wear, I happily oblige.

I've had several requests for these super simple, super easy twirly skirts. It's only taken me a year to get to this...but cut me some slack. We've been displaced and thinking about being displaced for the past year.

And as a disclosure, I don't like sewing with patterns and I have no idea what I am doing at all. I just get an idea in my head and I start cutting and sewing. I couldn't tell you what a bias is to save my life. Don't judge, mmmkthx.

First I head to my favorite fabric store...side note, I just found the BEST fabric store by where we are currently living. They sell Moda AND Amy Butler! If they carried Heather Bailey, my life would be complete! Okay, back to the tut. I buy a yard of my base fabric, and then 12 inches of a coordinating fabric. Then I measure it on my girl. Usually it ends up being half a yard that I use. For the smaller kids I shorten that. Hence the problem of not using a pattern. Also make sure that you add on about 3 inches for the casing.

I then cut two lengths of fabric for the main body of the skirt from selvage to selvage.

And I repeat with the coordinating fabric. I cut it six inches.

Fold the coordinating pieces of fabric in half and press.

The place the raw side of the coordinating fabric to the right side of the body material.

Sew.

I use a straight stitch. If you had a serger... which I do but it is currently somewhere in two vast storage units whereabouts unknown...You would serge this part together and then straight stitch next to the serged edge. Instead, I have trimmed it with pinking sheers.

Unfold the two pieces and repeat with the other two pieces.

(I didn't actually trim this one with the sheers because it was late on Saturday and when you are thinking "Dang, my girls have nothing to wear to church tomorrow" and it's midnight, well, sometimes you forget things.)

Then press the fabrics flat.

Now, I take and put the two pieces together. The front and back if you will. Right sides together. Then I sew in just over an inch from the selvage. Start from the bottom to make sure your coordinating fabric joints match up.

Like so.

Then trim...or serge.

Now I measure around my daughters waist. I pull the elastic snug and then overlap by half an inch.

Then I make the casing. On the top of the skirt, I fold down the raw edge, depending on how close my fabric is on either side determines the first fold of the casing. That is why I go three inches, because I am not an accurate seamstress and I need to leave room for error. I make one fold and press it down, then I fold that first fold over and measure how much room I have for my elastic and press the second fold down. You can see the press marks in the above picture.

I have plenty of room for the elastic.

Next, I sew a straight stitch around the top of the casing. This step isn't necessary, however I have learned that it keeps the elastic from twisting and makes for a prettier top.

Then I sew the bottom half of the casing, leaving a two to three inch opening.

Like so.

Then take two safety pins and attach one end of the elastic to the fabric and attach the other safety pin to the other end of the elastic.

Then thread the elastic through the casing.

I pull my lead out and attach it to the other safety pin while I even out the fabric as much as I can before sewing it up.

I overlap my elastic by an inch and a half and sew a square around the edges and an X from corner to corner.

Then I pull the skirt and stuff that elastic up into the casing.

Pull the casing flat and sew. Remember to back stitch.

Spread the fabric evenly and VOILA! You have a super easy, fun skirt.

It only takes me 20-30 minutes to make one of these puppies and we have tons of them now. Hopefully these instructions make sense. Let me know if you have any questions!

With a couple of tweaks, you can do so many things with this skirt. I have done an overlay and and under skirt. I have made a plain edge without the coordinating fabric and just hemmed it. I have wanted to sew strips together and make a striped skirt with the coordinating fabric on the bottom, but I haven't gotten around to that yet. My friend thinks it would be darling to put belt loops on the casing and thread a ribbon through. I agree with her.

FIRST First Day of School

2009-08-24T13:21:00.007-06:00

Lessons I Have Learned...

2009-07-19T22:16:00.003-06:00

...while living at my in-laws.

1. White carpet and cocoa chocolate chip cookies and Sophie don't mix.

2. I really love my dog. I miss her. That training my mom is giving her will go right out the window when she gets home because of the constant doting my family will give her.

3. When I have to share a washing machine with another woman, I stay on top of it.

4. My husband and I will never own a king-sized bed. We used to touch each other all night long. Now I feel like I am sleeping alone. I hate it.

5. I will never complain about emptying the dishwasher again. Okay...just not as much.

6. I am pretty sure one of the qualifications for living on the top of a mountain is that you should be part mountain goat.

7. What we would have been paying in a mortgage is now fueling my van.

8. You can never replace amazing friends.

9. My kids are pretty amazing friends.

10. Buying a carpet cleaner was the best investment we have ever made.

Moving along quite nicely

2009-07-17T12:19:00.001-06:00

"Soon," I keep telling myself. "Soon."

Footings and a Foundation (almost)

2009-06-23T22:56:00.001-06:00

YEAH! For the record, we are a tiny bit concerned with how high up the foundation goes. Gotta make some phone calls tomorrow.

We have a hole!

2009-06-19T22:54:00.002-06:00

After 7 weeks of headaches, we have a giant hole!!!

Peanuts, Treenuts and Coconuts, Oh My!!!

2009-06-12T22:43:00.007-06:00

Sophie with her rash

Today was spent in the office of a local allergist. When Sophie was a year old, she had a microscopic bite of peanut butter. The girl developed red dots around her mouth and a rash that made her look like she had been kissed by Ronald McDonald. Worried, we kept her from peanut butter for a long time. Unfortunately, many, many MANY things have pb in them and every time Sophers ingested pb, those pesky bumps showed up.

I brought this to her pediatricians attention who scheduled us with the allergist right away. It was an easy appointment. Sophie was great. She just played with stickers and watched cartoons while our entire world was about to be turned upside down.

Here is what her back looked like after her test was over and they had wiped an antihistamine solution all over her back. The hive on the upper right was the control. It gave her a hive that they compared to the other hives. The bottom right hive is peanuts. They scratched the oil on that one and the hive showed up almost instantly. The hive on the upper left is coconuts and all of the little hives are tree nuts and cats. Poor baby. I am super grateful that we caught these allergies early so that she won't know any different. The rest of us however have quite a bit of adjusting to do...

One of the perks of living with the in-laws...

2009-06-08T01:16:00.000-06:00

...is driving up the mountain and seeing this at four in the afternoon.

Tess's Dance Recital

2009-05-31T01:08:00.005-06:00

Tess has been attending a dance class since December. She loves it! She had her dance recital last night. The little girls were DARLING!

Who is a poser?

This was my favorite part of the entire night. Tess's age group did their little group dance first. The little girls were supposed to exit and the girl next to Tess had stage fright and wouldn't budge. Finally she got over it and left the stage, but Tess...who is next to the yellow group, stayed on stage bowing and cracking up the audience. LOVE that girl...and things like that just seem to make the night!

The final production.

Moving Day

2009-05-30T01:01:00.007-06:00

I didn't get a lot of pictures that day because we were moving, but here are a few. There were quite a few tears shed that day, and not just by me.

Preschool Program

2009-05-28T22:11:00.007-06:00

Tess had her final preschool program. And by final, I mean preschool is over! The big K is up next! I am so excited for her. The kid NEEDS Kindergarten. We love preschool but I think she needs five days a week (and by that I mean MOMMY needs five days a week)!

Here they are marching and waving flags.

And sharing all of the songs they learned.

Tess showing off her candlestick jumping skills.

And her receiving her graduation certificate.

And Tess with Mrs. Eve and Grandma Porter. Grandma Porter came to class everyday to help Mrs. Eve. She was such a wonderful addition to the classroom and the kids ate her up! Mrs. Eve is such a great teacher. Amelia and Tess have both thrived under her instruction. I can't wait for Sophie to attend her school as well. Why can't Mrs. Eve teach 2 year olds??? (hint, hint)

We had a great two years and we will miss the influence of Tessie's preschool.

Amelia's Poetry Program

2009-05-27T23:58:00.011-06:00

I have to brag about Amelia's 3rd grade teacher. She is the BEST!!! All year long her kids worked on memorizing poems that her husband had written as well as Shel Silverstein. 12-15 total. Some were several minutes long. They presented this program to the parents. I, like most parents, have a hard time sitting through several programs...especially the looooonnnnngggg ones that have more than one grade, but this one was SO fun and so darling!

The kids would recite one or two poems and then a couple would come down and tell each other jokes. We were rolling. I think the parents that attended had as much, or more fun than the kids.

The whole class

Amelia and Sidney telling their jokes

Sidney, Amelia and Rachel...the three amigos

And then the little sister three amigos. All six of these girls would come over for late nights all throughout the year. We were so sad when Rachel and Kimi moved far, far away.

Just because I love these pictures.

We walked for ice cream afterwards.

And Tess waved to everyone.

Amelia and Mrs. Rees at Mrs. Rees's retirement party. Amelia was one lucky girl to have her before she was done. Mrs. Rees has completely spoiled every teacher from here on out. We adore her and she was definitely one in a million!!!

Home Sweet Home...

2009-05-25T23:36:00.002-06:00

...sort of.

FIVE

2009-05-12T23:18:00.007-06:00

We like the kids to be able to pick all of their meals on their birthday. Tess told me the night before she wanted Rice Krispies, but she wanted them to be sweet without honey drizzled on them. Look what the store had for my girl.

If you look closely at this picture, you will see something unusual about her hair. That's right. The morning...early morning she woke up in the middle of the night and her hair was in her eyes, so she CUT IT OFF! I took her picture and then looked at her trying to memorize how sweet she was and I noticed her hair had been whacked.

All I can say is it was a DANG GOOD THING it was her birthday. We all know how I am about their hair. *sigh*

But life goes on and I covered up her hair.

For her birthday we went to Chuck E. Cheese. It's her favorite five year old place to go. She would eat there everyday if she could. We take turns picking where to go out to dinner and she ALWAYS picks Chuck E. Cheese, so it came as no surprise that she picked it that night.

A pretty cake for a pretty girl.

Make a wish baby. I hope it comes true!!!

The word is out...

2009-04-30T11:59:00.002-06:00

...so now I can say something on here. We are moving. Those words are very bittersweet to me right now. Sweet because we will be building a new home at an interest rate that is out-of-this-world and bitter because of all of the wonderful people that I will me moving away from.

I have been scarce around these parts because of the eventual move. We have been de-junking, packing, staging, cleaning, etc. It must have worked because we "officially" put our home on the market on Monday afternoon, showed it on Tuesday afternoon and had an offer put in and countered and accepted on Wednesday at 4:00pm.

I had no idea it would go that fast.

And my insides are all shaky and jittery because of it. I have lived in two places my entire life. Well, technically four. The home I was born, grew up and left to marry my husband, a dive of an apartment for six months, BACK to my parents neighborhood for six months (it was a steal of a deal on a duplex) and then to two homes in my current neighborhood. I don't know how to do this!

And quite honestly, I am scared. My daughters have the BEST friends kids could ever have down the street...and their mommy is MY best friend. They have been raised like sisters. It's like cutting out a piece of my heart to leave them. I will miss my backyard. It is the coolest back yard. We spend almost every night out there from the minute the snow melts until the snow flies. We make s'mores in our fire pit, we plant gardens as a family, we play fairies, we watch the stars, we eat picnics and barbeques. I have watched trees, flowers and kids grow here. The women from my church. You just cannot find women like them. They feel like family. I feel like I am abandoning so many memories...our life...

I am scared that I won't make as many great and life long friends in our new home or that my daughters won't ever have friends as wonderful as the ones they have here. I am scared I won't love my new home as much as I love my sweet Fair Haven (my husband names our homes).

I know that change is good. I know that there is no growth in comfort. I know that not everyone that is here now will stay, and I know that things are bound to change. I know this is right for us. I have prayed over it, been to the temple over it and I know that this is what we are supposed to be doing now. It just doesn't make it any easier.

For the next four weeks...because that is how long we have left here...you will see TONS of pictures from my beautiful home. I want to photograph every corner, every inch. I will miss this place. I will miss my home.

I know that great things are around the bend. I do know that. I am just a bit sad to leave this life behind.

Is it wrong to want to press pause on my life for just a moment?

I love you home.

We have squatters

2009-04-27T09:31:00.003-06:00

Looks like a normal wreath right?

Wrong. A family of red-headed finches have made our front door their home.

It's been interesting knocking on our front door before we open it.

If you come over, beware of the birds.

We really did have Easter

2009-04-27T09:05:00.009-06:00

But I didn't get to take pictures on the actual day. We have 9am church and as soon as we arrived home, they all yanked off their dresses and changed into play clothes. So we did a reinactment the NEXT Sunday. Wasn't the first time! ;)

Be Careful...

2009-04-16T08:39:00.003-06:00

Your neighborhood watch is in full force.

Easter Pictures

2009-04-11T23:47:00.006-06:00

Why I wake up tired

2009-04-02T23:44:00.002-06:00

It was nice neat piles when I went to bed the night before. *sigh* I sigh a lot.

Whoops. Wrong blog

2009-03-12T12:32:00.001-06:00

That was meant for my other blog. Ignore it.

Why I love cleaning off my CF card

2009-03-04T15:58:00.003-07:00

Because I am getting tired

2009-02-20T21:51:00.003-07:00

Two phones, a camera, six dog toys, countless pacifiers, three sippy cups, a kitchen rug and a kitchen full of garbage later...

Notice the "HE"

Yeah...

Why White Dogs and Melting Snow Don't Mix

2009-02-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

Jealousy

2009-02-19T11:57:00.002-07:00

Independence is...

2009-02-19T11:52:00.004-07:00

...getting your own apple from the fridge for a snack...

...and snitching Valentine's Day cake from the fridge.

Adventures in Babysitting

2009-02-19T11:31:00.006-07:00

You never really know how lucky you are. We have been blessed with some AMAZING babysitters in our area. I mean AMAZING! I am almost hesitant to post this for fear that we will never be able to get them again because EVERYONE will want to use them! NOOOOO!

Last time we had Aubree babysit, the girls begged for her to come back and do their hair. The next time we had her, she brought her styling gear. I asked her if she would mind taking some pictures and showed her some basics on my camera and off we went.

Have you ever wanted to see just how your kids act when you are not around? It is GREAT!!! I love peeking at them and seeing just how they are sans parental supervision and restriction. It was such a fun treat to come home and see their evening documented in pictures.

They played dress-up. Even Sophie got in on the action.

She did their hair in waves. I went out and bought her 3-barrel curling iron the next day because they loved it so much!

They took turns taking silly pictures of each other.

They painted fingernails.

They sang silly songs, made funny faces and had a photo shoot.

It is such a comfort knowing that when we need a time-out that we have such loving, kind and good girls watching over our most prized possessions.

Girls just wanna have fun

2009-02-16T16:14:00.006-07:00

For my little sister's birthday, she wanted to go and see a taping of "Good Things Utah". It was originally going to be the three of us sisters and my mom and my sisters two friends, however, my mom got sick at the last minute and Amelia was her replacement.

It was a good day to be a replacement (we still missed you mom!). The dancers of High School Musical 3 were on the show teaching a cute little dance. Amelia had fun with her fifteen minutes of fame...well, more like a minute and a half, whatever amout of time, she had a blast. Here is the link to see her television debut. She is the one who is a little bit stiff (read: camera shy)

The dancers signed magnets for those who wanted them.

Oh, and uh, HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACY!

Overheard at our house

2009-02-08T13:40:00.004-07:00

Tess every morning:

"Mom, can I watch Food Network?"

Tess when asked who her favorite people on Food Network are:

"Paaaala Deeeeen and Olive Garden"

Amelia talking to her dad after watching Ina Garten making tiramisu:

"Is Ina Garten a drunk or something? Cuz she puts coffee or alcohol in everything she makes."

Feeling Lucky?

2009-02-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Ashley's blog and thought it sounded fun!! 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 (hopefully sooner than later.)
4. You will have no clue what it is 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. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will 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!

One night...

2009-02-02T00:35:00.002-07:00

...we had to drive around for 25 minutes so my husband could get a picture of this.

I smile when I think about it.

Getting Fancy

2009-01-28T00:26:00.003-07:00

Someone in this house is obsessed with all things feathery, glittery, pink, fuscia, glamorous and glitzy-glammy-fancy.

Since her baby sister's birthday party in October, Tess has been planning her birthday party. A "Fancy Nancy Soire". Wouldn't you know it that every other girl we know is also having a fancy tea or a fancy gala. LOVE IT! Tess is thrilled that she is getting invited to all of these teas. A girl can never be too social! Who doesn't love to get dressed up in all of those fancy layers of clothing to mingle with friends as often as possible?

It's spreading. Their room is covered in feather boas, sparkly tiaras, mosquito netting, gaudy Christmas lights. Before you know it, I will be making a tutu for the dog. Wait! Don't give her any ideas.

And you know, being a sparkly, glittery, obsessed with hair and make-up girl myself, I am SO opposed to this.

Way to go Amelia!!!

2009-01-24T11:22:00.004-07:00

This fall Amelia entered into her schools Reflections contest. She placed in photography and went to district. She has become quite the little shutter bug.

I am so proud of this girl. My goal as a mom is to raise good people. I don't know if we are doing something right, or if she just came that way. I'd like to think both. ;) In the last couple of weeks, she has had to stand up to someone in her grade who was being a bully and she did it with empathy and grace. She has a sensitive heart and she worries about everyone being treated with respect and equality. In this day and age, that is a priceless quality.

I love you Mil! I am so proud of you!

Red Robing Field Trip

2009-01-23T00:51:00.003-07:00

Tess's preschool classes take some fun field trips. We look forward to the Red Red Robin Hood (as Tess calls it) because we get free mozzarella sticks and strawberry lemonade...and we learn how to wash our hands too.

This year was great for mom because she sat by her friend Heidi in the back. Well Heidi's neighbor just happens to be one of the head haunchos and we had all you can eat mozzarella sticks. The mom's just sat in the back and gabbed. I am sure Tess had fun too.

Naomi and Tess

Mrs. Eve's class

Tess and the Robin

A new title in my job description...

2009-01-21T18:10:00.008-07:00

REFEREE.

What is all this?

2009-01-14T16:12:00.002-07:00

Why, all of the things my klepto dog has hidden under our loveseat of course.

We call her Izzy.

2009-01-06T21:47:00.003-07:00

When deciding on names, we all had our suggestions. Jeremy and I wanted something that had to do with Christmas. We were suggesting all sorts of names. Holly, Bell, Noelle. Tess suggested "Baby Jesus". I don't think that would go over well when she peed on my carpet. Can you imagine me yelling at baby Jesus?

Bell morphed into Isabelle, which morphed into Izzy. So Christmasy, wouldn't you agree?

It sealed the deal when Sophie said "Izzy". We were sold. She would say "Dog. Izzy. Woof." Which has now morphed into "Dizzy."

Just call her dog.

I don't know why she is crying.

2009-01-06T21:42:00.001-07:00

I am the one who has to pick it all up.

Hey Ma. Look What I Can Do!!!

2009-01-06T21:28:00.007-07:00

Look what happened on December 29th.

"Ha! Now you can't grab my diaper when I crawl. Oh, wait! your mouth is the same height as my bottom. Crap."

Visions of Sugarplums

2009-01-06T21:26:00.002-07:00

So....we had a Christmas.

2009-01-06T21:10:00.017-07:00

By now I bet you are thinking that I stopped celebrating holidays. But in a few posts, you will realize WHY I haven't been blogging.

On Christmas Eve, we weren't starting our big Christmas Eve party at my mother-in-laws home until later and my mom's big party was early, so we stopped by to say hello. When we were there, we snagged a picture of all of my mom's grandkids. Not all were happy to be in a picture.

At my mil's house, we ate and played and sang. Unfortunately, I was busy making sure my kids didn't tromp on people and they didn't get tromped on, so I don't have any pictures! That makes me sad!

WAIT! I found one.

We came home and the kids were promptly ready for Santa to arrive. So we read the Christmas story and opened our new Christmas Jammies. Jeremy and I have this tradition where every year we take a picture of our family in front of the tree. We did that and we made Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate (which is NOW a family favorite). Tess was so excited that she ran to bed and didn't say one word to us. Which meant Amelia put out cookies and carrots and caramels and almond roca for Santa all by herself.

Santa came. Here are his gifts pre-kid.

This year we didn't put any gifts under the tree until Christmas Eve long after the girls were asleep. I have a 14-month old. It's pretty easy math. I am wondering now if it was a non-issue. She never touched the tree.

Right after Thanksgiving, we had a Family Home Evening where we discussed why we have Christmas and what a wonderful gift our Father in Heaven gave to us. I am so sad that Christ has been taken out of Christmas in so many ways that we did TONS to make sure that he wasn't forgotten at our house. My dad helped me make this manger and we told the girls that every time they did something nice for someone else, they could put a piece of straw in the manger. They were so egar to be kind and do nice deeds. It was nice that on a daily basis that they were able to remember to give their own gift to baby Jesus. On Christmas morning before we could open the gifts, we laid baby Jesus in the manger and we had a family prayer. Then we discussed why Santa only brings them three gifts. The baby Jesus only received three gifts as well. I hope they remember these things.

Here they are with the gifts from the Jolly Old Elf.

And the gifts from us.

It was a wonderful day. All of our parents came to visit, we had so much love and happiness in our home. I was sad to see it end this year.

Merry Christmas!!!!

2008-12-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

Overheard

2008-12-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight after going to see the lights and get hot chocolate with my family and my extended family, the kids climbed into the car and buckled themselves in. Tess said without missing a beat

"Oh my hell it's cold."

She opened her mouth and I fell out.

Christmas Tags

2008-12-15T21:38:00.001-07:00

My sister tagged me on two Christmas memes. Since I need some more holiday cheer and I am avoiding housework that my baby so graciously kept me from all day, here you go.

Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bag? Wrapping paper

2. When do you put the tree up? The day after Thanksgiving

3. When do you take the tree down? Two days after Christmas

4. Eggnog?? Oh YUM!!!

5. Favorite gift received as a child? It was the most beautiful doll house ever! My parents spent HOURS making it for me. All of the shutters and spindles were loving handcrafted. Shingles were cut by hand. Furniture cushions were sewn and the house looked like a model home of the day. I love watching my girls play with the house and I think of my loving parents every time I see it.

6. Hardest person to buy for?? My husband. He gives me a list and then says "surprise me."

7. Easiest person to buy for? Tess. She tells me EXACTLY what she wants. This year it is a "Fancy Nancy doll with a shirt and a pretend cookbook."

8. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Christmas cards with just a picture of the kids on the front.

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? A can of wheat older than I am...or maybe a skirt with sit lines and the tag folded over the waist.

11. Favorite Christmas movie? Mr. Kruger's Christmas

12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Around April

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? If you count giving some to the DI, then yes I have.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My mom's homemade soft caramels.

15. Lights on the tree? Yes. Red and white.

16. Favorite Christmas song? Several. Carol of the Bells, Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Canon in D. Still, Still, Still, What Child is This (especially Sarah McLachlan's version), Bring A Torch, Jeanette Isabella

17. Least favorite Christmas song? The Little Drummer Boy, What Child is This?, Christmas Shoes

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Christmas Eve we travel. We alternate years between my parents and my husband's family. Christmas day we stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Oh yes.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel or a white chandelier thingy.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? On Christmas Eve they open jammies and a Christmas book...speaking of which, I should probably get a new one this year. Any suggestions? The rest is Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Whiny kids. They turn rotten this time of year.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have a red and green peppermint tree and I LOVE it.

24. Favorite Christmas dinner? Ham and funeral potatoes and roasted asparagus. We eat that every year on Christmas.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I want those that I love very most to feel peace in their lives.

These are a few of my favorite things.....

Five favorite treats during the holidays:
1. My mom's homemade caramels
2. Crab dip
3. Soft gingersnaps
4. Oranges
5. Christmas breakfast

Five favorite Christmas movies:
1. Mr. Kruger's Christmas
2. It's a Wonderful Life
3. Little Women
4. Miracle on 34th Street (the old version)
5. Miracle on 34th Street (the new version)

Five Traditions during the holidays:
1. Making and decorating sugar cookies
2. Decorating the tree
3. Christmas Eve Pajamas
4. Seeing lights
5. Decorating a gingerbread house with the kids

I am tagging Katherine, Hilary, Itybtyfrog and Alesha

I'll take two please

2008-12-13T10:11:00.004-07:00

Decisions.

I hate them.

And I have to say that I am so glad that I never had to pick which of my kids to take home, because if it were anything like picking a puppy, I would never make a decision.

My sisters dog had these darling puppies and guess what we are getting for Christmas? Easy decision for us to get another dog now that I am not pregnant. The problem arises when we have to pick one. Just one! My Amelia was in tears over this. Tess's favorite was whatever one she was holding and Sophie and Rowdy just whacked each other with spoons instead of even noticing the puppies.

So do we go with this little charmer who is a little bit noisey, a bit more playful and has super big, melt-your-heart eyes and climbs into my lap only? She loves the girls and followed little Sophie wherever she crawled. She seems super intelligent so maybe easier to train.

This one who is super soft and fluffy, sleeps most of the time, but plays oh-so-cute when it's awake and snuggles my girls like that is all it takes to make life complete. She is a super-content little panda bear. I do worry that she is so lazy that we will have to carry her everywhere.

What if we make the wrong choice and we have the wrong dog for the next 12-15 years? AGGGHHH!

Don't even get me started on this one.

Well, crap.

The Mother of all Blog Posts

2008-12-11T15:23:00.001-07:00

I think I need to clean of my CF card more than I do. It reminds me to blog. Poor, poor neglected bloggy. Want random things we have done for the last two months?
You've got it !

11/06/08 was Mil's schools "Mom's and Muffins". We wake up bright and early, find sitters for our other sleeping children and go to the school to eat and read with our kids. We also ask the sixth graders if the muffins have walnuts, to which they tell us no. We then proceed to break out with canker sores all over our mouths because sixth graders know nothing!

11/15/2008 James Bond came out this night and all of the men in our family decided they had to see it. So that left my mom, my sisters, me and all of our kids alone. So what do crazy women do? They head to the local looney bin aka Chuck E. Cheese where my kids disappeared for the next two hours.

11/17/2008 Jeremy headed out of town for a business trip. We had a girls week while he was gone. We, meaning I, make our kids wait until they are 8 to get their ears pierced. My reason being that I am accountable for them until 8 and that is a decision I just can't stomach making for them...so 8 it is. (for the record, I am not judging anyone who has their kids ears pierced prior to 8, it is just the rule for my family)

We went to Claire's and Amelia was so excited until we walked through the door. Can you see the nerves on her face? I kept telling her she didn't have to do this and we could turn around and leave. Even though she was scared, she still did it!

This picture reminds me of just how little she really is.

Her eyes only watered a bit. I think the anticipation was worse than the actual piercing.

11/24/08 Tess's Thanksgiving program. Jeremy's mom came with me to see Tess. We are glad she missed last year's performance where Tess cried through the entire program and wouldn't say her part. Reason: She wanted to be the same thing as Lana. This year was SO much better! She sang all of her songs and smiled and waved at me. When it was her turn to say her part, she was as clear as a bell and smiled to boot! GO TESS!

11/27/2008 Thanksgiving Day. I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was busy eating.

The kids played a wicked game of Twister.

There was this little girl there that we didn't know. She had a plate of cookies. Sophie wanted one. Badly. She gave the girl puppy dog eyes.

She got in her face. She touched her skirt. She even flapped her arms at her. The little girl just ignored her and eventually walked away. Poor Sophie's bottom lip just quivered.

My mom couldn't stand it anymore and found a cookie for Sophie. What a great grandma!

One of my cousins threw a rock at his older and faster cousins. Remind me not to mess with them.

And Sophie and Rowdy had their first co-ed bath.

12/01/08 Tess and her cute little friend, Naomi started their dance class with Ms. Julie. We love Ms. Julie. Without her we couldn't run to Wal-Mart for 40 minutes with one less child! Tess loves her class and talks non-stop about it. Those tiny tap shoes just kill me!

12/03/2008 Festival of Trees. We had to stop and take pictures at every whimsical or pink tree in the entire place.

Dr. Seuss

Fancy Nancy

And Tinkerbell

Totally unplanned, but we were walking down the tables where the gingerbread houses were and we saw Jeremy's brother and his kids and his dad on the other side. We were all sorts of silly and took their pictures as we were passing. It took them a minute to recognize it was us.

12/08/2008 Speaking of gingerbread houses, we had to make one of our own.

And this one. Just because I love it and it captured a tender moment between a girl and her daddy.

That kid.

2008-12-02T00:06:00.003-07:00

Yes, I am a mommy blogger, and being such, you have to endure me telling you all about my girls, today is specifically Tess.

First I need to tell you that Tess in an innocent soul. There is not one ounce of guile in that entire body...there is also not a lot of common sense. She is like her mother in that she doesn't think before speaking. She opens her mouth and things fall out. Random things like THIS, THIS, THIS, THIS, THIS, THIS or even THIS. We call them Tessisms.

Now, you may be bored silly with my posting about all of her little antics, but can you imagine how sad I would be in ten years if I didn't remember them? I don't think that is something we want to see.

Today Tess started her very first dance class. She twirled and danced and tumbled and in short, wore her tiny little body out. After I picked her up we headed towards our city. She asked me where we were going. I told her that we needed to go to the bank. She let out a big sigh and said:

"I think you should drop me off at home while you go. I could really use the alone time."

Have I mentioned she is four?

Tonight after family night, Tess grabbed a gospel ABC book and came into the living room where her daddy and I had collapsed into piles of parents. She told us she was going to read us some scriptures. It went something like this:

"The little baby Jesus laid down his sweet, sweet head. He was so sweet. His little sweet head was lying down. THEN HE DIIIIIED!!!!"

I think we are confusing Christmas and Easter. Maybe next time I give my Family Home Evening lesson, I should specify that Jesus died for us, only not as a baby.

I love that kid.

Earning my stripes

2008-11-20T23:05:00.004-07:00

A couple of days ago I was on the phone with my baby sister. She has a baby not much younger than mine...her first. He was sick. It was his first time and her first time. I was trying to be encouraging as she tried to hold it together. I remember saying to her "you are earning your stripes".

I never realized how profound that statement is in my life.

And not only in my life, but in the lives of every single woman around me.

In the military, the higher your rank, the more stripes you have. Since that conversation, I have carried that thought in my mind. My stripes. How many I have, how many more I will have to earn. When will I reach my highest rank?

A very sweet friend right now is figuring out how she is going to take care of her sick little boy. Her entire life changed in one diagnosis. A big stripe for her.

My sister who stayed up crying with her precious baby who was sick for his very first time. She earned her very first mommy stripe.

Friends who are grieving or are dealing with things that are kept silent among women. Stripes for them. Women who are battling depression demons, whose lives have been turned upside down for their husbands, women who are supporting their husbands dreams, women who are carrying the weight of their family on their very capable shoulders, women who are supporting themselves, women who are supporting their families, women who would rather be home than earning a paycheck, women who wait patiently for their husbands to figure things out, women who cry because they feel like they can't maintain that balance for one second longer. SO many stripes.

I believe Mommy stripes are the hardest. You take a piece of your heart and set it out in the cold and lonely world and expect it to thrive. I have thought about my own stripes. When my daughter was bullied for the first time and I kept my composure enough to not hunt down the offender and shake them until I felt better. Or how about the first time my daughter was the bully and I made it through without shaking her until I felt better. The first time my daughter threw up in her bed at 3am. Why is it always 3am when you are in your deepest sleep that they throw up? And not only do they throw up, it somehow extends to walls, curtains and the deepest recesses under the bed. How many times have I held a feverish child for hours on end because they just can't get comfortable. I can't even count that high. The first time you watch one of your children fail and you want to save them, but you know that falling down is part of what makes us get back up. Having to stand by and watch with helpless hands. Stripes that I hope to never earn. A mental or physical illness. I can't imagine burying a child. The biggest stripe of them all.

I believe second to that is wife stripes. The first fight. The first time you go to bed and cry yourself to sleep. Watching a spouse hurt and struggle when you want to swoop in to make it all better. The first time they lose a job. The first time they struggle in career choices. The late-night term papers when you go to bed alone smelling their pillow and wearing their sweatshirt. Each time they go out of town and you jump at every noise and creak. Stripes. What about those wives who have to deal with a diagnosis of cancer or some other illness? BIG stripes.

Then there are the daughter and sister stripes. Having a parent fall ill. Missing that sense of security of having your mom and dad in the next room when you are living on your own. The feelings of helplessness as they age. Having a sister or brother struggle. Their lives...their DNA...their very essence being the closest to your own in this world. It stabs you when they hurt. Living so far away that the thought of not being able to hug them or share in the everydayness of life. More stripes.

Tonight I have done a lot of soul-searching. A lot of crying. A lot of trying to figure it all out. Trying to make sense of things that seem so beyond my realm of reality. I keep thinking about a quote from Brigham Young

"Every trial and experience you have passed through is necessary for your salvation".

Every trial and experience huh?

I have those in droves.

I keep wondering when my tests will be done. When will I have earned all of my stripes? It scares me. Some days I don't want to go any further because I don't want to know what trials wait around the corner. I don't want any more stripes.

But I know I need to earn them.

My favorite Apostle Deiter F. Uchtdorf said during our last conference

"The Lord has given us a reassuring message of hope: “Fear not, little flock.” God will wait with “open arms to receive” those who give away their sins and continue in faith, hope, and charity.

And to all who suffer—to all who feel discouraged, worried, or lonely—I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in.

Never surrender.

Never allow despair to overcome your spirit."

As I thought about this, and I continually think about this concept, I have come to one conclusion. One day I will stand before my Heavenly Father and I want to be able to tell him that I earned my stripes and I did it with grace, honor, faith, hope and integrity. I want to tell him that it wasn't easy; that there were times I wanted to quit and step on those stripes and walk away but that I didn't. I want to tell him I endured to the end and I found joy in the journey. I want him to hold me and tell me that I did it.

Because, you know what? Those stripes, as hard as it is to earn them...totally worth it.

2008-11-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

I found this fascinating little quiz today. I thought, "why not?"

I am five feet, seven and a half inches tall. So I took both 5'7" and 5"8" and I feel like it was fairly accurate. I am brilliant you know.

So then I put my husbands 6'1" in. This thing is freaking psychic.

What does your height say about you???

5'7"

What Your Height Says About You

You are cheerful, expressive, and creative.

You have the heart of an artist, and the whole world is your art project.

You are the type of person who says “yes” a lot. You are optimistic and giving.

You also love a challenge. You enjoy accomplishing the impossible.

You are about as tall as the average Japanese man or the average Dutch woman.

What Does Your Height Say About You?

5'8"

What Your Height Says About You

You are powerful, brilliant, and a bit of a rebel.

You are an idealist, and you will work hard for a better world.

It's hard for other people to keep up with you - both mentally and physically.

And you're so independent, you actually prefer to go it alone.

You are about as tall as the average Italian man.

What Does Your Height Say About You?

And my husband...

What Your Height Says About You

You are a very vulnerable and spiritual person. Your emotions run deep.

You have a philosophical and poetic soul. You think things through and are a bit of a skeptic.

You tend to be very opinionated. You are a perfectionist with high standards.

You prefer to work alone. You work hard, and you don't like interruptions.

No matter where you go, very few people are as tall as you!

What Does Your Height Say About You?

SCARY!!!

A little quirky

2008-11-16T23:13:00.000-07:00

Sweet chocolate-covered Heidi tagged me for a "six-quirks" tag. I did this AGES ago when my friends all called me a nerd for having a blog. SHHHH. Did you hear that? That was the sound of me laughing my guts out because who is the nerd now? HA! You all have blogs! I am no longer a solo nerd!

Between my gasps for breath because I am rolling around on the floor trying to keep my innards from spilling out due to nerd-induced laughter, I will play along. Here is the second set of 6 of my quirks.

1. I can't wear nail polish. I feel like I am suffocating when I wear it. It's not for lack of trying. I paint my nails and ten minutes later I am picking it off. It's almost a claustrophobic reaction. Thank goodness for buffing bars so that when I need to, I can have shiny nails.

2. Speaking of digits, I don't have a little toenail. I stub it off, and then when it grows back, I pick at it until it falls off. How does one break that habit? Believe me, I have tried.

3. If my house is messy...as it is quite frequently...I won't let you in my house. Period. I am not trying to be rude or anti-social. I. just. can't. do. it.

4. I am a speed reader. I retain what I read too. I talk extremely fast as well. But don't ask me to read out loud. When I was in first grade I was reading and my teacher told me to slow down because the other kids couldn't follow me or understand me. I talked too fast and was farther then the class. It totally threw me off and now I stumble when I read to others because my brain is at the bottom of the page and my mouth is still up top. It frustrates me. Don't ask me how I survived at a children's museum where reading out loud was actually in my job description...oh, that's right. I memorized the books. I still read to my girls, it just takes a lot of effort and every ounce of patience I have. I often take a nap when I am done. :)

5. I have to fall asleep on my left side. My pillows need to be arranged in the same position every night. I can't fall asleep unless they are just right.

6. I can listen to a song once and have it memorized. I prefer to listen to radio stations that play the same songs over and over again so I don't have so many lame songs bouncing around in my head. Why is it I can memorize things like that which have absolutely NO impact on my life, but I can't retain any numbers (specifically math and history dates)????

There you have it. My quirks in a nutshell. I don't have anymore. If you want to play, go right ahead. I need to go to bed now. Those voices that keep me company say that it's time. ;)

Little Miss Independence

2008-11-16T12:46:00.005-07:00

I have to say, I really love it when my husband goes out of town for work. Really, I do. If it were for any longer than a couple days, I might get sad and tired of my kids and ready to kick someone, but for two-ish days, I don't mind. Not one bit.

I don't know what makes it so different. When my husband is here, I only make dinner half the time (lately anyways). He doesn't hold me to this 50's expectation of having dinner on the table and his slippers in hand as I lovingly greet him at the door. Most days when he walks in, he gets a screaming baby who has been sitting in stank for 5 minutes because if I have to change ONE MORE DIAPER my head might start spinning and I will spew pea green something! The kids almost always need something and we are running around in a dither trying to make everything happen.

Maybe I like my independence too much. I enjoy not having to watch someone else's sci-fi shows. I can watch "National Treasure"... THREE times even. Heck, I may even throw in "You've Got Mail" for a change.

Maybe it's because I can make toast and yogurt for dinner and call it good. I don't feel any pressure to impress my kids who think I am cool anyways. My husband doesn't care if I make dinner out of a box or tell him to stop at Wendy's on the way home from work. I put that pressure on myself. But that pressure goes away when he does.

Maybe it's because I wear yoga pants all day and watch daytime TV and eat ice cream from the carton...did you hear that...THE CARTON! Nice. I can get all of the melty sides and not have to share them. Sometimes I even lick the lid. I never do that.

Maybe it's because I can climb into sheets that are nice and cool. No one has spread their warmth and spoiled my love of cold sheets or the coldness of my pillow AND if I want, I can roll over and sleep in MORE cold sheets and MORE cold pillows. No ones snoring is going to wake me up. No one will roll over and grab me in the middle of the night waking me from deep slumber.

Maybe it's because he gets all sentimental when he goes out of town. He calls us and loves on us and leaves little goodbye notes all over the house. He gets up early and makes breakfast so he can eat it with the girls.

It's definitely the bed.

Gratitude

2008-11-14T21:56:00.001-07:00

I really was planning on completing my gratitude for every day list. Then life happened. My poor little bloggy was ignored. I was sad and tired and ready to throw in the towel on life. Sometimes life does that to you. It makes you forget to look at your blessings.

Does this happen to anyone else? Life sends you into a downward spiral that you feel completely unable to control? I must be a control freak of sorts because I don't function well when I can't control the world around me...more specifically people around me.

I had a glimpse into that happy, sunny life that I usually live every day of my life. That life that has had a little black rain cloud blocking it. I needed a glimpse of that sunshine. Because of that, I do feel a need to count my blessings and share what I am grateful for.

First, I am grateful for fantastic friends. One who knows my life better than I know it myself. We always joke that only one of us can have a bad day at a time. She has been willing to put her bad days on hold for a bit so that I can have a shoulder to cry on. She gets me. She doesn't judge and doesn't make me feel small when my world comes crashing down. She supports and loves me and is so unconditional with her friendship. Another is a silent friend. She and I are more alike than I ever knew. I feel a kinship with her. She has endured and thrived in similar trials to mine and she is so wise. Her wisdom and candor and strength came to me when I needed it most and she will never know the depth of gratitude I feel towards her.

I am grateful for my mom and sisters. They listen without judging and I know that my life and my sorrows and joys are safe in their hands. We played today. We ate, we laughed, we smiled, we shared...well...mostly I shared. They listened. I gained some fantastic insights into my world that I never had before. Things I hadn't realized. There is a shared time in our lives. That is precious to me. I know they get what I am going through. I needed that.

I am grateful for womanhood. For this bond we have as sisters. For the way we have to strengthen each other through our trials and our sorrows. For the excitement and joy we feel for each other when we succeed and triumph. I am grateful that as women we stand together to make each other better and stronger.

I am grateful for my life-companion. His support is my world. His joys are my joys. His sorrows are my sorrows. He shows such love for our children. His absolute tenderness when he holds our baby. His laughter when he sees our children's antics. He takes such care to make sure our needs are met. I love him. He is a good man.

I am grateful for tears and for sorrow. Without them I would never know true joy. I would never know the path that leads to joy is worth the journey.

I am grateful for my Heavenly Father. At time I struggle with my spirituality, but there are some things I can't deny. I have felt my Father in Heavens arms around me. I feel his presence in my life. I feel his promptings as I complete my day-to-day tasks. His miracles are around me everywhere. I see them in my marriage. I see them when I look into my children's eyes. I see them in the daily answers to my prayers.

As hard as they can be, I am grateful for life experiences. Those things that put a weight on my chest and make me feel like I can't breathe, ironically make me stronger. My life, my ideals, how I deal with people and situations change. Those life experiences change me...mature me somehow. After a particularly hard trial...one that I wouldn't wish on another soul...my husband's uncle said to me "Something about you has changed. Something in your soul. I can feel it. You are a better person because of it." He had no idea what I had been through. He had no idea of the problems I had faced. There was so much validity in his statement. I was different. I felt it in how I looked at the world. It was a sunnier and brighter place. A world where I had allowed forgiveness to enter in and consume me.

I am thankful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with a forgiving heart. It wasn't something I was born with, but I had to earn it. I had to learn it. I had to let it change me. That has been by far the most amazing and complete blessing I have had in my life. The ability to see beyond the present hurts and recognize that we are all human and are subject to human foibles and to see past the shortness of a situation has enabled me to overcome so many things. I can't hold grudges because of it. I forgive those who hurt me. I don't get as hurt in the first place. I hold this tender blessing so close.

Most of all today I am grateful for hope. Hope that things will get better. Hope for a better tomorrow. Hope that hearts will be softened. Hope that the sunshine will come through the clouds.

Tessism...don't read if you are easily offended...remember, she is only four.

2008-11-13T22:27:00.004-07:00

So this comes right after a post about my sweet baby.

A little background. My sweet Tessie is prone to a certain infection in her girl parts. We use the real term for body parts at my house...HOWEVER, I don't want this to be "searchable" with all of the pervs out there. So when refering to certain *girl parts*, we will say it with some symbols included. Now, because of this infection, she also gets urinary tract infections. To ward this off, she has to drink LOTS of Cranberry juice.

I even posted a bit about it once. Dated April 16, 2008:

"You know you are a cool parent...

...when your daughter spills her cran-raspberry juice and instead of getting upset, you hand her and her sister straws.

Or could it be that you are just lazy?"

Keep that in mind.

Last Saturday we were doing our monthly run to Costco. We were in the van and Jeremy, Amelia and I were in the middle of a conversation when sweet little Tessie, who hates to be left out of anything, piped up and said:

"Remember when Amelia drank my v@gin@ juice with a straw?"

Can you picture the look on our faces? Yeah. It looks about like yours right now.

After a bit of probing, we came to the conclusion that it was the ABOVE situation she was talking about. Talk about good blackmail for when she is a teenager. We didn't say she wasn't easily confused.

Pssst...

2008-11-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

...Wanna see my new baby? Go HERE.

Guess what we're getting under the Christmas tree with a big red bow. Oh, and don't tell my girls.

Journey to a year

2008-11-13T16:11:00.002-07:00

Two weeks

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

Six Months

Seven Months

Eight Months

Nine Months

Ten Months

Eleven Months

Twelve Months

Current facts about my big girl:

Weight:18 lbs 1 oz 31 inches long

Lets go of furniture to stand

Still sits on my hip like a little Koala Bear

Has added "Uh-oh" "Okay" "Ho-Ho-Ho" "Nigh-Nigh" and "More" to her vocabulary

Feeds herself a bottle...she won't let me hold it

Blows kisses

Waves to everyone

When she wants something she pumps her legs up and down as fast as she can

Doesn't like baby food...only big girl food

Has finally figured out the straw and sippy cups

Will only let me clean the kitchen if she has chocolate chips on her highchair...she is so her fathers daughter

Now, if she will only learn to go DOWN the stairs instead of sitting at the top and yelling. We love you Miss Squishy!

It can't be that hard...

2008-11-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

Taking pictures of a wiggly one-year old. Right?

Right.

The BIG ONE

2008-11-03T09:31:00.001-07:00

Friday, which happened to be Halloween, also happened to be Miss Squishy's first birthday. Not everyone gets a built in theme for their big day! This year will probably be the only year we have a big celebration ON her big day, so we decided to go all out!

Little Miss Witchy-Poo. LOVE her in this!

The guests arrived, my mom, brother Kevin...who was pretending to be Mr. Rogers, and my dad.

Little Ladybug Emily, Heidi and Glenn

Tyler, Bugs, Kris, and their Little Man.

My sister, Stacy, Rowdy, Anonymous Man, and Tally...the mother of my baby.

There were more, but my mother-in-law ran off to India before I could snag a picture of her.

The decorations were fun.

The food was great.

What kid gets TWO cakes??? The Spook...that's who!

She can't wait until the candle is even blown out.

Ready....Set....Go!

Their birthday is the one time we never really care about the mess. I strip off their shirts and let them have at it until the cake is thrown off the chair or until it is gone. You only turn one once! That is why they call them "smash cakes", right?

Every one of my children has gotten a bath in the kitchen sink after their cake.

Daddy made a video that Sophie LOVES!

She was spoiled rotten. The hit of the evening was a doll my mom got for her. She hasn't let go of it since.

Happy birthday pumpkin! We are so glad you are a part of our family! Life wouldn't be complete without you!

A month of blessings

2008-11-01T09:17:00.000-06:00

This morning as I was lying in bed waiting for my children to wake up, my thoughts turned to this month and what it brings. What am I truly grateful for? What blessings make me whole? What brings a smile to my face when even the worst surrounds me?

This is my month to ponder on my blessings. To share the things that add a warm feeling to my heart and soul.

Day 1

Music

It is a rare day in our home when you come in or call and the radio isn't playing or a cd is going or a child or husband is sitting up to the piano plinking out a tune. My girls are always singing, always humming. One of my favorite sayings is by Victor Hugo:

"Music expresses that which cannot

be put into words and that which

cannot remain silent."

If I or one of my girls have had a bad day, the music helps to wash it away. They dance and lose themselves in the music, if only for a few moments. I can tell the kind of day my husband has had by the melodies he plays. It soothes, it comforts, it inspires. My family would not be who it is without music.

A few new posts

2008-10-30T15:30:00.001-06:00

Because I have been a lazy blogger. I was going through my CF card and realized I have TONS that I haven't blogged about. Seriously, these aren't the best posts, but I got them done in an hour and a half. PHEW! Some go back a page and wouldn't it be sad if they were never visited. So if you have a minute, here is our life from the past couple of weeks.

On a brighter note

It's almost eerie...

Coundown to her birthday, or Halloween, or birthday

Ditchin'

Gross Fest 2008

Picking Pumpkins

Spooky Sugar Cookies

Firestation Fieldtrip

On a brighter note

2008-10-30T14:39:00.000-06:00

A rainbow ballerina

Preschool program:

It's almost eerie...

2008-10-30T14:33:00.000-06:00

...how well she channels Wednesday Addams.

Coundown to her birthday, or Halloween, or her birthday...

2008-10-30T14:00:00.000-06:00

Means she has been dressing for the occasion.

Ditchin'

2008-10-27T17:00:00.002-06:00

So, High School Musical 3 came out in theaters. All of our girls, and by our, I mean Hilary's and mine, wanted to see it. We told them that maybe one day we would go. Hilary and I came up with a plan. We would check the girls out of school on Monday morning...after the crowds had died down for the weekend...and have a mommy-daughter date. I dropped Sophie off at my sister-in-laws house (thanks SO MUCH Kris!) and we went to pick them up. I walked into the office and told them that I needed to check my daughter out. The sweet little secretary asked the reason. I told her a "mental health day." She had a good laugh over that. When I told her what we were doing, she actually said "I wish more parents would do things like that." Nice! I have secretarial approval!

Anyways, here are some pictures of our little day playing hooky. We had a blast and I can't wait to do it again!

GrOSs FeST 2008

2008-10-26T20:00:00.000-06:00

It was inevitable. Time for my mom's annual Halloween dinner. You may remember LAST YEAR'S debacle. This year she tried to tone it down for those with a more "sensitive palate." Did it work? I don't know. Look at that face. Those are tears...ACTUAL TEARS...from thinking about eating the food. Now, to my mom's credit, it was all, well...mostly normal food. We just made the mistake of telling Amelia the NAMES of the food. She wrote the name tags. It was all over for her at that point.

So, in the order they came up on my flash card, I present our dinner.

Mummy Parts

Ear wax on a Q-tip

Ice...with worms. This was fine until the ice melted and you had a gooey little worm resting in the bottom of your cup. GAG.

Bloody beverage

Monster eyeballs

And another version

Boogers on a stick

Shredded bones

Ghoul stew

The ambiance

Booger dip

The pictures don't do Seri justice. She was so mad about wearing this costume that she couldn't move. She never stops moving. She seriously never moved.

My mom has a spider that hangs on her calendar. Every time you make a loud noise, it drops and shakes and climbs back up. Lucy attacks it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Kill the spider!

Mummy dogs

Monsters in a jar

Bat cookies. ;)

I missed the coagulated blood (black Jell-o) and Frankenstein poop (chocolate cupcakes) because they came late to the meal.

Lovely.

Picking Pumpkins

2008-10-24T17:00:00.000-06:00

In no particular order:

The hay maze. The ones I have of them running through it are all blurry...they were speedy little people. I also didn't get a picture of my husband jumping oVEr the hay bales to chase the girls through the maze. Scared them to death...and the poor little man walking by.

Me. Sophie. My uneven front teeth.

The breaking of child labor laws

Real men push pink.

What? The pumpkin weighs as much as she does!

Prince Charming to the rescue...and an 8-year old who doesn't want to be left out of ANY shots. She jumped in JUST for this one.

Amelia's pumpkin $$$ shot.

It was a little bright. I had to prove she was here. If she tried to pick up her own pumpkin, it would squash her.

Spooks.

Witches. And a preggo one. This is NOT foreshadowing.

Awwwww.

One she can pick up ALL. BY. HERSELF.

Amelia took this one. I wanted her to enter it into the Reflections contest. She drew a mum instead.

The End.

Because five was feeling left out...

2008-10-22T14:58:00.002-06:00

Fabulous Five that I stole from Chel's fabulous blog...that you can't read unless you are invited. ;)~

5 Favorite foods:

1. Brown Rice
2. Quinoa
3. Black beans
4. Cheese
5. Loaded sweet potatoes

5 Favorite colors:

1. Red
2. Red
3. Red
4. Red
5. Red

5 Favorite sports teams:

1. REAL SL
2. Um, that one football team
3. That other hockey team
4. The ones that shoot the balls into the basket
5. Do people still play baseball?

5 Favorite treats:

1. Convenience store nachos
2. Popcorn
3. Good bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
4. Swedish Fish
5. Warm rolls with butter and jam

5 Favorite desserts:

1. Tiramisu
2. Vanilla ice cream with home grown blackberries
3. Yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting
4. Bread pudding with caramel sauce
5. Peanut butter bars

5 Favorite ways to pass the time:

1. Blog
2. Sew
3. Garden
4. Photoshop
5. Read

5 Favorite physical activities:

1. censored
2. Ride my bike
3. Hike
4. Anything with my kids
5. Pilates

5 Favorite people:

1. Jeremy
2. My girls
3. My friends
4. My extended family
5. Ina Garten

5 Favorite music groups (or musicans):

1. U2
2. Snow Patrol
3. Jack Johnson
4. Michael Buble
5. Simon and Garfunkel

Favorite fruits & veggies:

1. Asparagus
2. Artichokes
3. Brussels Sprouts...no I am NOT kidding!
4. Avocados
5. Tomatoes
(I am seriously considering becoming a vegetarian!)

Five obsessions:

1. Yummy smelling laundry
2. A clean pantry
3. Hair
4. Golden retrievers
5. Books

Five things you do every day (besides the obvious):

1 Drink ice water
2. Listen to the radio
3. Talk to Hilary
4. Pick up the front room
5. Deep breathing

Five joys:

1. My family
2. Music
3. My home
4. Being outside
5. The library

Five fears:

1. Something happening to any of my children
2. Same goes with my husband
3. Losing my parents
4. Guns
5. Screwing my kids up

Five surprising facts (I don't know how surprising they are, but facts none-the-less):

1. I am a pretty talented artist...I just don't use it like I should
2. I don't like cooked fruit...or really fruit for that matter. But I LOVE vegetables!
3. I don't like to bake, but I LOVE to cook!
4. I don't like to talk on the phone, but it seems I am ALWAYS on the phone.
5. I LOVE classical music!

Five people to tag:

Whoever is missing five in their life.

Eight Tag

2008-10-22T14:20:00.003-06:00

Shannon tagged me for an 8 things meme. It's been awhile so I thought I would play along. I have done a tag of six and seven. I am glad 8 doesn't get left behind. Just as a side note, did you know this is my 335th post? Happy 335th to me! They say (I don't know who "they" is, but I listen to them) that the average blog only lasts five months. I am coming up on three years. Woot!

8 T.V. Shows I love to watch:

1. The Office
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Little House on the Prairie Reruns
4. Kath and Kim
5. Stargate SG1
6. Fringe
7. LOST
8. Heros

8 things that happened yesterday (well, I did today because yesterday I was a pajama, sick to my stomach junkie):

1. I was fitted for and purchased a NON-NURSING bra. Go me!
2. I cleaned up a cup of Diet Coke off the floor, my bar stools, the island....thanks for that Tess.
3. I went to Costco, bought PJ's for the girls and a rotisserie chicken for dinner.
4. I read with Amelia's reading group in school.
5. I did three heads of hair.
6. I did my Monday cleaning...Whoops!
7. I ran into cute Julie McCoard at Costco. She had candy with her. Surprise, surprise.
8. I spent over an hour at the beauty supply.

8 favorite places to eat:

1. Home
2. My parents house
3. The mountains
4. Texas Roadhouse
5. The park by my sweetie's work
6. Red Robin...I could drink their fry sauce
7. The Greenery
8. Nielsen's Frozen Custard

8 things I am looking forward to:

1. Finishing that pile of Laundry
2. Snow
3. Okay, I changed this from my original. I should be nice. How about Sophie's first birthday. A party on Halloween!
4. A mommy, daughter date tomorrow
5. Another mommy, daughter date next week...shhhh! This one is a surprise!
6. Working out
7. A haircut...Thanks Amy!
8. No soccer on Saturday! WOOT!

8 things on my wish list:

1. A wheat grinder
2. A cute new pair of Mary Jane's
3. A new camera lens
4. A puppy
5. Losing 30 lbs! I have cut sugar and have started a new workout program. GO ME!
6. No whining or fighting for 48 blissful hours.
7. A nose job
8. My computer moved to the family room (hint, hint DH!)

Now 8 people that I tag:

Awww...if you want to play, go right ahead!

Hangin' at the Dunes

2008-10-21T12:55:00.001-06:00

Every year during UEA, my family makes it's annual pilgramage to the Sand Dunes. Personally, I don't like to camp unless a trailer is involved. Aren't we lucky that my in-laws bought a trailer this past spring and they were kind enough to let us use it! I could camp forever if I have a trailer. Woot!

It was a fun trip! Lots of sand, lots of food, lots of 4-wheeling, lots of family. I love these guys! Spending time with them is the best!

What happens when things get quiet

2008-10-20T19:23:00.000-06:00

Every. Single. Time

2008-10-20T19:19:00.000-06:00

Spooky Sugar Cookies

2008-10-17T15:05:00.000-06:00

There is nothing quite like decorating cookies with your kids. NOTHING! We make sugar cookies for almost every holiday. I discovered this recipe ages ago and once the decorations come out, it's a baking we will go!

She had a little too much fun with the blue gel.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

½ cup soft butter
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup sour cream
2 eggs
½ tsp vanilla
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
frosting, sprinkles & other decorations

Beat together butter & sugar. Add sour cream, eggs & vanilla. Beat well. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Mix well. Cover & refrigerate at least one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to ¼ inch. Cut into shapes with floured cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheets & bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies will be a light tan on the bottom. Remove to a wire cooling rack. Frost when cooled.

Firestation Fieldtrip

2008-10-14T15:22:00.000-06:00

Tess's preschool went on a fieldtrip to the firestation.

Shaylee, Tess and Naomi (or as Tess says "Myowni")

It was cool to see where the firemen sleep.

Waiting her turn.

Tess and Lana to the rescue!

This was tricky...the entire class.

Oh, we brought along a little Halloween treat.

The sirens were LOUD!

REALLY LOUD!!!

HOT STUFF!

The best part of the entire trip.

Early Snow

2008-10-12T19:16:00.000-06:00

She thinks she is big

2008-10-09T05:00:00.002-06:00

Will someone tell her otherwise. Please.

Pie Traditions

2008-10-08T05:00:00.002-06:00

I was asked to head up a small-interest group for our ward on cooking. Over the period of a year, we are having a nightly cooking night and a theme for that night. The premise is that each person attending will bring something under that topic for the month however they interpret that topic.

This month was pie.

I have many fond memories of pies. I remember staying up late the night before Thanksgiving with my mom making pies and having them set on the dining room table all waiting to be devoured the next day. We spent time trying to figure out how many of each pie to make and who was doing what. We made real chocolate cream pies and banana cream pies. NEVER that packaged stuff. I am a cream pie snob to this day. My mom made me. I totally blame her (and if you have never had a REAL cream pie, you should. You will become a snob too). One Thanksgiving my aunt Lisa and I took an entire pumpkin pie and sneaked into a closet and ate the entire thing, just the two of us. The first Thanksgiving Jeremy and I were married and I had not yet learned how to juggle, I was making pumpkin pie and dinner all at the same time. I splashed Raspberry Ice Crystal Light into my pumpkin mixture...and then green bean juice. Our eyes got all big and I almost cried. My husband tasted it with his finger and said it tasted fine. We cooked it up anyways and took it to dinner. Neither of us ate that pie. Sorry family. All of my secrets are out. Each summer we would pick rhubarb from our back garden and watch as my mom sugared it and mixed it with strawberries and we had fresh pie for Sunday dinners.

I have a history with pies.

I swear that I was meant to be in another time and place. I have a love for Southern cooking. Pecan pie is my ultimate favorite dessert. I love that crusty, salty top and the caramel custard goodness underneath. I will have you know, I even baked this while wearing a skirt...on a Tuesday. I love skirts. I remember in high school I would wear a skirt just because I felt like it and all day I was being asked why I dressed up. I slowly stopped wearing skirts to school. Sad, huh? Life is different now. I wear skirts 2-3 times a week and I simply don't care. But I digress.

I rounded up my always-wanting-to-help-in-the-kitchen helper. We washed up and away we went.

I, ah-hem, MADE my pie crust (giggle). Okay, maybe I am not THAT domestic. I chose to believe that pie crust and chicken and roast all come packaged in nice little containers at the grocery store. Not from real chickens, cows or from scratch.

I may not be able to make my own pie crust, but I can flute the edge.

I flute a mean edge, if I do say so myself.

When I make pecan pie, I have to toast the pecans. I am not a fan of the raw taste of nuts. To me this gives it a deeper flavor.

While the pecans are toasting, let the helper do her job and stir. There is a lot of stirring involved in pecan pie.

What you shouldn't do however, is talk to Hilary on the phone about some random guy and his comment on a television program that you rarely watch. You may start laughing and gabbing and you may burn your first batch of pecans.

Whoops.

Start again and then dump the pecans in the bottom of the crust. Then that concoction that your helper was making? Dump that in as well. Purists would say to "gently place the pecan halves on the bottom and being careful not to disturb the pecans, pour the custard in." Phooey! I use chopped pecans because I like pecans in every bite and I am the opposite of fussy so I just dump the pecans in the bottom, spread them out and then dump the custard in a swirl around the pan. They float up and are nice and even that way.

I am SO not a purist.

Like so.

Mmmm. I think I shall go have a slice...or a pie.

Pecan Pie

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust
3 eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecan halves (I use chopped)

Prepare your pie crust with your choice of decorative edge, then preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl with a wire whisk or hand beater, beat eggs well. Beat in corn syrup, sugar, butter or margarine and vanilla until well blended. Arrange pecan halves in a single layer in the bottom of the pie crust. Pour egg mixture over the pecans in the pie crust being careful not to disturb the nuts if using pecan halves, it does not matter if you are using chopped. Bake pie one hour or until knife inserted about one inch from the edge comes out clean. Cool.

A favorite season, a favorite holiday

2008-10-07T14:02:00.002-06:00

I have always loved the autumn. The feel in the air...almost a crispness when you take a breath. I love the colors, the smells, the looming of winter on the wind.

It wasn't until I had Sophie that I loved Halloween. Not scary Halloween, but the little things that make it a fun holiday. The girl has been dressed in orange and black and witches and candy corns since the first day of the month. Nothing makes you love a holiday more than having a baby on that holiday.

When we went to Disneyland, Tessie's favorite ride was "Nightmare Before Christmas". I want to decorate my entire house like Jack's mansion, but we will settle on a wreath. Every time I look at it, I think of my sweet girl grabbing my hand and muttering "I want Jack" under her breath.

I kind of laughed to myself when I put the berries on this ledge. Apparently I like Halloween year-round. The only addition was the berries.

Sometimes I feel guilty about this sign. My Amelia tries really hard not to read it before meals, but she inevitably does. Then the girl gets sick to her stomach because she thinks about the food on there. She LOVES deviled eggs. She said she didn't want them at all anymore because of the "twice baked eyeballs". I told her that those were in fact, twice-baked potatoes. Since she doesn't like potatoes, we are good.

Shhhhh. Be quiet. We don't want to disturb the ghosts.

I really should redo the center of this pumpkin, but it was the last decoration I made in my old house, so it holds some sentimental value. I just keep sticking the pieces in the core.

Happy October, from my family to yours!

To see more fall lovliness, visit TipJunkie

11 Months

2008-10-06T11:20:00.001-06:00

This girl LOVES hats,

And Mommy,

And playing outside,

And Mommy,

And bath time,

And Daddy,

And the stairs,

And being with Tess,

And tormenting Amelia,

And being silly,

And being silly with her sisters,

And Daddy,

She doesn't love being sick. Which she is right now. Mean and nasty cold. She LOVES to point. She points at everything. I don't plan on telling her quite yet that it isn't polite to point.

She doesn't love nursing. So much in fact, that she stopped. All. by. herself. She loves her bottle...but only from mommy. She doesn't love to be babysat...by anyone. She loves to eat...but not peas and not celery. Everything else is okay though. She loves to stand up in her chair at restaurants. She also loves throwing everything in sight at those same restaurants.

She sits still for ponytails. She doesn't sit still for getting her nose wiped. She sits still when you have Reese's Pieces. She doesn't sit still for diaper changing.

She loves babies. Especially their eyes. Need a baby whose eyes are in need of a poking? Come on over!

She loves certain words and phrases. Among them:

Tssss - Tess

A-ma-ma - Amelia

I dih it - I did it

More - More (duh!)

Ah dun - All done

Guh guh - Good girl

Dad

Mom

Poor sick girl.

Happy 11 months sweet pea!

Tropical Storm Sophie

2008-09-25T11:42:00.002-06:00

I forgot about this stage. The stage when they are into EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING! A teeny, tiny force of nature.

Someone once said curiosity killed the cat...in our house, curiosity cooked the baby.

This is what happened while I was sweeping the kitchen floor.

This is what it should look like. This is obviously after I cleaned up the mess that tropical storm Sophie left in her wake. I call her tropical storm because I have a feeling that this is just the beginning.

And the books, I just can't justify putting them up any higher. I have a love of books and of instilling that in my girls...even at the age of 10 months. She sits and looks and looks at them. As much as I want to pick them up, I won't. Sometimes you just don't mess with mother nature.

Going to the ZOO

2008-09-22T10:59:00.000-06:00