Aunt Stephanie comes to visit!

My BFF from Seattle came down to Utah for a funeral last week. As sorry as I was for her family, I couldn't help but be happy for me that I got to see her! She came and had a sleepover on Thursday night and we stayed up talking and laughing until 3 a.m.! We always have so much fun together- even if it's doing nothing. On Friday we played around a little, took her to some fun stores and places to eat that she doesn't have, and she spoiled the kids and took them shopping for new Webkinz (the way to their heart). The kids love her and have called her "Aunt" Stephanie since the day they were born-- I don't mind, because I love her as much as my own sister! We can't wait to see her again at Thanksgiving time, YAY for Aunt Stephanie!

Picture Tag

This is a fun tag. I was tagged by my friend, Cindy. Here is my picture:

My 4th folder is April 2008. this is the 4th picture in it. This is Maggie and Josie. If you are like me, I take about 5 different tries at the same picture, and for some reason I SAVE THEM ALL! I know I have a better one of this particular picture, why do I save them??
The tag is to post your 4th picture in your 4th folder.
Fun, try it-- dare ya!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland ... In October???

This is what we woke up to yesterday morning (deep sigh, I'm not ready yet):

This has been staring at us for 2 days now, anyone need a little girl kitten? I'm calling animal control tomorrow:

When it rains ... It FLOODS!

This weekend started out by finishing up some crafts:
A jumper for my neice in Chicago:

A table runner for my Mom's birthday:

And then we went to St. George for the weekend. We made it a super-long weekend and left Thursday afternoon. We love my sister's house, it is beautiful:

On Friday I got a massage at:

It was wonderful. My sister & Dad took the kids swimming while my Mom and I got pampered. THANK YOU!
We ate PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE:

YUMMY!
We watched General Conference:

My family in it's ultimate nerdiness with all our laptops out:

And we came home last night to this:





Yes, my friends, that is what happens to our basement when it RAINS! Now, do any of your basements flood when it rains? This is NOT normal and I'm getting a little fed up with it, not to mention the SMELL that lingers. It hadn't quite gone away since the last time it flooded, LABOR DAY WEEKEND, from YES, another rain storm!
I now have a lot of work ahead of me to get it all cleaned up and get everything dried off.
It's a good thing we had such a wonderful weekend and I didn't know what I'd be coming home to. Anyone have some wonderful smelling candles for me????

Fruits of my Labor

Hard to get a decent picture of Josie, but whatever.

It's APPLE Day at School!

Today is Apple Day in Kindergarten. My friend, Julie, and I thought it would be fun to make these cute jumpers for our girls to wear. They look super cute and they were so excited to be matchy-matchy! I made Maggie a bow for her hair to match. YAY for Apple Day!

Sewing Mommy = Messy House

When I do this:

This is what happens:




But this makes it worth it:

I cannot stop ...

SEWING! I am having the best time! The ladies that work at the cute little fabric store I go to recognize me now-- I can't stay away! So I bought myself a new foot for my sewing machine that will allow me to do 'free motion' quilting. I made this cousin-Allison-inspired table runner with some leftover halloween fabric. I had a great time quilting it and I feel pretty good about it for it being my first quilting project! I'm binding illiterate, but learned a lot, if only I can remember for next time. So my basement is still a disaster, I'm sure I'll get to it as soon as I use up all the fabric I've bought so far. I have 3 more projects in the works. More pictures of them to follow soon. I'm trying not to neglect my other responsibilites so my projects may take a little longer!
Pre-washing:


Post-washing:

Seriously, So Blessed

Okay, all my friends, you have,have,have to go read this blog! I've spent waaaaay too much time there today (thanks Melanie & Eliza) and have found myself laughing so hard, by myself, knowing if anyone could peek in on me and see me laughing so hard at my computer they would think I was so weird. Whatevah, anyway, go see!

Project #3 (Halloween signs)

This project (and most others) was inspired by my wonderful, smart, creative, crafty cousin, Allison. She inspires me all the time and I wish I lived closer to her (Ohio) so that we could create projects together! Anyway, she made a cute birthday sign that inspired me to make these Halloween signs. I am short on Halloween-y deco so this will be fun. I made the two BOO signs at the same time and they will be sent off as gifts. Anyway, I was thinking ... --I've spent many-a-nights doing that lately and have had little sleep as my wheels have turned-- but it will be fun to make one that says Happy Birthday, and also JOY for Christmas.

Okay, for my next project ...
CLEANING OUT MY BASEMENT! My goal is to deplete all those storage bins by at least 1/3. D.I. Here I come!
No more craftiness until it is finished! (But I do have another project in mind ...)

Today ...

Today I finally finished my Halloween sign project. Slowly but surely ...
Today I got some primary stuff done to ease my mind ...
Today we had a picnic with pizza and friends ...
Today Maggie got a new bike ...
Today I made lunch appts. with two friends I haven't seen in a long time ...
Today I fit in a little snooze while John made dinner ...
Today I got TWO loads of laundry done and folded ...
Today finished off with a yummy FHE treat and reading to my kids ...
What will tomorrow bring??

HAIR

I have a 'thing' for doing my girls' hair, I just love it! You would never know it with Josie because she manages to pull it out 2 seconds after it's all looking cute. Maggie is trying to save her money for the new Barbie and the Diamond Castle Barbie and she is getting close, so she'll do anything for money right now. Picture Day was Tuesday and so I bribed her into letting me fix her hair however I wanted. Secretly, I think she likes it even though she bickers and cries in the process. Am I mean? I must exercise control of being the mommy, right? Anyway, this is the finished product, it turned out pretty cute. Hopefully there will be a smile to match, right?


* My one disclosure is that I don't come up with the ideas myself. I am such a copier! There are many blogs dedicated to ideas for doing little girls hair. I have a link to She Does Hair, and you can blogsurf from there!

Project #2

I've had a bit of sewing bug lately, my wheels are turning at all the projects I'd like to try. I found this cute little general store in town that sells the cutest fabric I've ever seen! I've spent HOURS this past week looking at websites, downloading tutorials, and pondering all the possibilities. So, for my first sewing project, I wanted to make something special for my new neice being born this coming Tuesday. In the past I've croched blankets, but I didn't quite get around to it this time, maybe I'll still do it in the future. So, sorry Honey if you see this before it gets to you, I am dying to put up pictures to show to everyone that I've been trying to explain the vision in my head to-- and how it actually turned out.
I didn't use a pattern, but I've seen these little jumpers before, so it all came out of my head. I learned a lot, and made many mistakes, and unpicked A LOT, but now I think I may make them for my girls-- we'll see.
The shoes I do have a pattern for, and they are so stinkin' cute and easy!
The headband I used a tutorial for flowers called "yo-yo's" that ended up pretty cute on a headband!

Project #1

Over Labor Day Weekend my Mom & I went up to Swiss Days in Midway, Utah. I should have taken pictures, because unless you see it-- it's undescribable. We shopped all the booths and ate HUGE homemade scones. It's kind of a tradition now to go, we enjoy getting away and it is a beautiful drive. While we were there I saw lots and lots of Tu-tu's ranging from $25-$40. They were to-die-for cute, but I knew I could make them myself. So on Tuesday I tried my luck and with a little help from Shauni (thanks for instructions) and Micki, they turned out super cute!

While Maggie is at School:

1) Josie makes beds all over the house for her, Sam, and her Build-a-Bear Bunny
2) Sam gets licorice (and likes it!)
3) Josie plays dress-up
4) Josie LOVES to play Princess Pollys

WHATEV-AH ...

I've been waiting for a long time for this! The new album was released today and I got up early, downloaded it off I-Tunes, burned it onto a CD, ripped it back into mp3 onto my new teeny-tiny running mp3 player and already listened to it this morning! Whew, that sounds like a lot of work! I know most of you aren't intersted, to you I say whatev-ah!