I'm A Believer

I've used the Mr. Clean magic eraser before and have seen good results, but honey, I am a BELIEVER now! I have been putting off my disgusting shower because anytime I tried to clean it with other products, it took way too much muscle and toxic fumes to get any results-let a lone the ones I wanted. Last week I decided I had enough and wanted a sparkling shower again. I mulled my plans and tactics over in my head and had the thought that I have a few friends who use that little white eraser on everything. Why not? I'll try it. At least there isn't the toxicity in the air like with bleach. Ladies (and any gentleman that may drop in), I now have a very sparkly, white, CLEAN shower. Thank you, Mr. Clean. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

I also BELIEVE that I can change. The other night Jeff and I were chatting while playing a game. I confessed that I have no follow through. So, we made a list of several things I haven't finished mostly because I lost interest or got it done "enough" to get by. I am happy to say that several things just were checked off yesterday with not much effort. What a silly girl I am.

I believe that I am hungry now, so I'll go fix dinner....

Perturbed by Patterns

It is 1:30 in the morning but I was so excited about my latest project that I couldn't wait to blog about it. You will have to endure potentially incoherent sentences, but the pictures will tell the story, too.

Last night I sat down after I put the kiddos to bed and pulled out the shirt for Jeff's Halloween costume. I had it all cut out and ready to sew. After reading the directions several times and hoping to find some hidden information anywhere to help me decode the instructions, I gave up. No big deal. Halloween is still a month away, right? I'll just pull out some doll clothes I want to make for Lyndsi for her doll for Christmas. There is already an adorable little Christmas night gown cut out. I thought I'd finish it and lessen the chances of losing pattern pieces. A short search for instructions took place before I could actually start. (Imagine finding the directions in the pattern envelope. Shocking!) Yeah. Couldn't figure that one out either. I gave up and enjoyed a little bit of a movie before I went to bed. This afternoon I decided to attempt another project-a child's apron for a birthday gift for a party McKay's going to this week. I found a cute little apron online complete with pattern and instructions. This should be way easy, right? Nope. Couldn't figure that one out either. I couldn't even get past putting the pattern together. What in the world is going on here??!!!! I have made things way more complicated than a simple man's shirt, doll clothes and apron for heaven's sake! ARGHHH! I have concluded Jeff mistakenly packed my brain and took it with him on his business trip. (Jeff, could you fed-ex that back please? I need it!)

I really did need to get that apron done, though. It was the inspiration for the entire birthday gift. Besides the apron, McKay is giving her a sugar cookie mix, frosting and sprinkles, and a cookie cutter. Do you see the theme? The apron is quite important here. Luckily, Jeff only took the left side of my brain-the problem solving side. (Hopefully he'll do some upgrades on it while he has it.) The right side is still here with me and it can be quite good at improvising. I just learned to make a hostess apron and thought it would be easy to adapt it for a child, add a bib and there you go! The only problem was I didn't know how to do the waist band with the top part of the apron. Thanks to Annette (you were really helpful), I figured it out and spent the rest of the night creating this darling apron that I am almost sad to give away. (NOTE: It is pink and white not red and yellow. The lighting at 1 a.m. is not the best for beautiful photos.)

I also made her a set of bows:

And some for another cute little friend:

Feelin Groovy

Feelin good today, despite staying up too late last night (again). What can I say? I was happily crafting with no hubby reminding me that my body needs more than 5 or 6 hours of rest a night. What kept me so happily entertained? Well, it wasn't prime time/late night TV. That's for sure. (Although, WE had a fun show called Amazing Wedding Cakes that was sort of interesting.) I was learning how to make bows. A few years ago one of the little girls Lyndsi danced with always had these super cute bows that her mom makes and sells (Google Bows and Bobbies). She ended up making all the girls in her tap class bows for their Christmas recital because the ones that the seamstress made to go with the costume were hideous. The new bow was so stinkin cute, I had to figure how to make them. Well girls. It's been almost 3 years since then that I've been on my quest and I think I finally figured out how to make them. I found a website that had some easy to follow instructions and voila! Beautiful bows. (I also just figured out how to add text to my pics. So cool.) BTW-Sophie's cute Halloween bows are some I bought from Bows and Bobbies.





















Also, I was going through some photos on my camera and realized I had a couple of fun pictures of the expo. This is me and my sweet niece, Gabby. Then comes Ranae, me and my "edward" stamp, Cami, and then my SIL Lisa, Gabby, and me. It was a very fun day spent with the best girls.

Scrappin-Weekend

Ok-Back from my crazy weekend. The scrapbook expo was a blast. I got 12 layouts done and made a mini album at a class I took with my mom and aunt. (Saturday night I did two more at home)I snagged some good deals and a new favorite from Close to My Heart full of cute page ideas and how to make them. Love it. I ran into my SIL, Lisa and her family which was so fun. I held my new friend Anisa's 4wk old baby, Terek. He made a lovely little centerpiece for our table, and he was sooo good. I don't think I really heard him cry in the 14 hours or so that we were there. I did get a little spoiled. My mom bought some lunch and shared some with me (thanks!) plus took care of getting me in my class. My aunt bought me the cutest new diaper bag. Earlier in the day she handed me a little sack and said, "In honor of Edward." I pulled out the little stamp inside and it was a smiley face with fangs. Too cute. :)

Any way. Here are my top 3 favorite layouts from the weekend:

And the winner is......

Drumroll pleas....

Kristen!!!!!

Kristen entered my Twilight T-shirt contest last month and her winning slogan was:

"Please feed me....My mom is reading Twilight"

Obviously, this would be for her kids. I know I was looking for something for me, but this one just embraces everything about the way I read. Life gets put on hold while I'm in a good book. Kristen and I are planning to make the T-shirts together, so when they're finished, I'll post pictures.

Thanks to everyone who entered! There were tons of cute ideas and they will not go to waste. I promise. :) More to come on that down the road.

Scrapbook USA...

Here I come!! Every spring and fall there is this crazy event where thousands of scrapbookers gather and tons of vendors come to sell and we all create. Today, I get to go for the entire day scrapbooking with good friends and family! Wahoo! I've spent the last several days preparing pictures, paper, embellishments and other scrap-related goodies and whittled and organized my collection down to two well-stocked bags. Excuse me. I need to pat myself on the back. ..... Ok. My goal for the day is 15 finished two-page layouts and I will post my favorite 3 or so. I am also taking a class and will put together an 8x8 album which I'm very excited about. It should be a fun filled day. Happy Scrapping!

Baby's First Haircut

I did it. I took Sophie in for her first haircut. I was really debating whether or not to have it cut because she has these adorable little curls at the bottom and I didn't want them to go away. Looking at her hair Sunday, though, (and then again Monday morning) it just looked stringy and funny. I've always heard when you get your baby's hair cut, it'll grow in better. Let's hope so. :)

While we were at the salon, another 2yo was getting her first hair cut and was obviously not happy about it. I was a little worried that this little girls fears would soon transfer to my little girl. Thankfully, they did not. Sophie was so good! She loves her haircut. We stopped by Jeff's work afterwards and she patted her hair as soon as she saw him and then pointed to her new shoes, very proud of her new look apparently.

Suzuki Fiddle Festival

Lyndsi had her first violin performance Saturday. It was a fiddle fest that the Suzuki Association of Utah puts on in the fall. We've been working on fiddle songs all summer long for this little event. Basically-it's just a big, fun jam session for the kids. They all learn the same songs from the same books and play them together. They held it up at This is the Place park and also had a live fiddle band. Lyndsi was really nervous before but she did great. She said her favorite part of the event was when she got to play her violin. (Out of 8 songs she knew 2-not bad for only playing since May.) Here's the song that she plays best and coincidently the song I was able to see her face fore. :).

Bile Them Cabbage Down:



And here is the impressive Mr. Aaron Ashton. You have got to check this fiddling out. Sweet.

A Few Projects

Jeff's cousin is a talented jewelry-maker. It inspired me to make a few of my own (copied) creations. I snagged a couple of beading magazines from the library for inspiration and convinced Simone she needed to go bead shopping with me. They're not perfect, but I wear them and love them. Except the pink pearl one. I love it, but it's my mom's. :)

A New First

My little man started his first day of preschool last week. Sniff. He looked so handsome that afternoon and so excited to go off on this big adventure. This is the first time one of my kids has been in a preschool that I did not share in the teaching. I thought I would love it, but I think I'll miss it some. (At least until I remember how chaotic it was having 6 4-year-olds at my home!) He goes Monday, Wednesday, Friday and last Thursday he got all dressed and ready for school. When I informed him that he didn't have school that day, he got a very disappointed little face and said, "Awww, I'm off track already?!" He was not happy. I guess he wants to be like his big sister and go everyday.

Sophie

My baby girl turned 2 last Friday!

Highlights include:

1. A Mickey Mouse cake. Here is the conversation leading up to that:

Mom: Sophie, what would you like for your b-day?

Soph: A cake.

Mom: (laughing) What kind of cake?

Sophie: Mickey Mouse.

Lucky for her I had already done one for Lyndsi (coincidentally when she turned 2) and was not intimidated.

2. Presents galore. (Favorites-everything. She does not discriminate when it comes to free toys.)

3. The cabin. Since her birthday fell on labor day weekend, we headed off for a little R&R. All the dirt and attention any 2-year-old could ask for. She even got to try the rope swing!

4. Hot dogs. Be careful when you let your now 2yo pick her own birthday dinner. Thankfully we roasted them and had a nice selection of salads, veggies, fruit, etc (thank you Grandmas!!) to go along with them.

5. The people she loves most-both sets of grandparents (which was very confusing to her) and baby cousin Gabby. (Not sure if she noticed Andy and Lisa there, but we did. :) )