halloween 2009

I'm not biased or anything, but I'm pretty sure I've got the cutest Halloween crew around. So cute, in fact, that two of them won awards in two different categories at the ward Trunk-or-Treat. That's right, award winning cute.

These lovely costumes were purchased, not hand sewn, and after my sewing marathon producing penguins I am again reminded of the lunacy of spending so much time and pretty much the same amount of money to get an outfit that will only be worn for a couple of hours during one night of the year. Yet, I can all but guarantee I will forget this logic again at some point in the future and embark on another Halloween sewing mission. Because sewing Halloween costumes is like giving birth. In the middle of it all, you are like "What in the world was I thinking. I'm never doing this again." And before you know it, you have a creation all your own (costume or baby) and you forget all about the hours of torture it took to bring them to life. And some time passes, and suddenly you think "Hey, let's do this again." Remind me of this post in a year when I start to flip through patterns books, although I might ignore the advice. In summary, my kids are cute, and store bought costumes are great.

penguin people

Here is the result of all my hard work. My costume is a little large because I was too lazy and time pressed to make the smaller size. It was just easier to make the same size as I made for Jon. I still need to get my memory card back from my sister, then pictures of the children will be posted.

pooped

I'm fairly certain that I've used this post title in the past, but few words can accurately convey this feeling. I've spent the last two days making two giant penguin costumes. Why we suffer from Halloween procrastination is a mystery. Actually, I take that back. My children have been prepared with costumes for weeks. OK, these costumes are storebought, but still. About a week ago Jon began to wonder what he and I were going to be for Halloween. I had been thinking...well, nothing. We have dressed up only a handful of times in the last ten years, so I hadn't really been planning anything. But Thursday morning found us at the store purchasing a pattern and inexpensive fleece, and I've been sewing ever since. So I'm pooped. I'm off to take a hot bath because my dining room table is not exactly the perfect height for pinning and cutting for hours on end, and my back is complaining from the abuse. But we make a cute penguin couple. Pictures will follow as soon as I get the energy to retrieve my memory card from my sister's camera. In all the chaos of the last two days, charging my camera battery for the night somehow slipped my mind. Thank goodness for backup plans.

first kiss

I've been kissed by a boy for the first time. A handsome young thing with copper hair and brilliant blue eyes. I've kissed him too many times to count. But today, for the first time, he kissed me back.

love hate relationship

Just when I think I might actually blog on a more regular basis, I have computer drama. Which completely throws me off because I am an admitted addict who has an admitted problem when things go wrong as they have too much this year. My life revolves around this technology crammed into such a convenient package, I have no idea how I survived most of my life without it. In any case, about two weeks ago the power cord to our laptop broke. This power cord happens to be a universal power cord replacement from when the original manufacturer's cord gave out on us a year ago. In order to make it universal, it comes with about 10 different "tips" that you can change in order to make it work for your specific brand and model. One of the prongs inside the tip that we use broke off, and when the battery finally gave up the ghost, there was nothing we could do. I was not pleased at the prospect of dropping another $90.00 to purchase a new cord, so I checked in to replacement tips. Fortunately the manufacturer agreed to send me one for free. Unfortunately, our tip was the only one on backorder so we had to wait. No big deal, we have a school issued computer that we could use to make do in the meantime. That was until Friday, however, when it crashed and burned. Despite our best efforts to revive it, no amount of coaxing convinced it to find the operating system that it kept telling me was missing. Upon orders from the school, it ships back to the school and a replacement will be on it's way. Except it won't arrive until the end of next week! This morning I had two useless computers, two kids with school to do online, and too many listings that I need to do for I Heart Fabric Boutique. But, the mailman smiled in my favor today and the replacement tip arrived! Yippee! I just wish I had waited to call their teachers and leave pity party messages about our technology woes. I had to take them back about 3 hours later.

deja vu on a small scale

Disclaimer: This post contains mention of bodily fluids and functions. Don't say I didn't warn you.

What is better than four children all throwing up within hours of each other? NOTHING! Especially when the occurance reminds you of the good old days when your first child developed an unexplained case of daily and frequent vomiting. Yes, I miss those days. When at nine months he grew in to a throwing up stage that most babies grow out of at 9 months. When he would begin to cough and seconds later was throwing up all over the place. When we took him to the doctor and on the way to the appointment he threw up in the car and we had to stop and buy a new outfit and clean the carseat before we could continue. Of course the doctor didn't really know why it was happening, but he sent us to do a barium swallow to make sure all of the anatomy was working correctly. Which it was. Final recommendation? Learn to cope with it and wait for him to grow out of it. He grew out of it, after NINE MONTHS. Those nine months were filled with bowls strategically positioned throughout the house because when the coughing began you really only had seconds to spare. We traveled with a bowl in the car, which worked most of the time, but not the time when Jon's sister got married and we had to have my parents stop and buy us a new carseat in the middle of Denver because it was just a lost cause and we were already at the wedding site and couldn't leave. When we went out to eat, we asked for a spare bowl, just in case. I remember needing it at Olive Garden once, it wasn't pretty. It happened at least once a day and always for no apparent reason. Then one day he wasn't doing it anymore. But when our second came along, it was hard not to expect the same thing to happen. And I was truly surprised when it didn't. All things considered, I think he just had a very sensitive gag reflex, which he gets from me. I couldn't really swallow pills until I was almost in college and still don't like to do it. I'm fortunate that all of my children were born healthy because I just couldn't bring myself to continue trying to swallow the horse pills that they call prenatal vitamins. Don't tell me how horrible I am, I already know. Anyways, fast forward to Saturday morning when we discovered that poor Lindsey (sister-in-law) and Alexis (niece) had been throwing up all night. We considered going somewhere else, mostly to get out of their way, but they were starting to feel better so in the end we decided to stay put. Things were going well until Sunday night, when Derrick started to throw up. We were set to leave on Monday morning because Jon had to work in the afternoon. Derrick threw up several times in the night, then in the early morning Abbie joined in. I must apologize once again to Lindsey for leaving the way that we did! SO SORRY. We even stole two of their bowls to take with us in the car. It wasn't long before Grace followed suit, and then finally Reid. I sat in the back row seat, bowls at the ready, hoping to prevent any disasters on the drive back to Colorado. We managed to make it home without major incident, but not without the feeling that I had done this before. Been on high alert to catch vomit at a moment's notice. We recovered quickly, but Jon and I have been waiting for the bomb to drop on us. Still waiting, but hoping to wait in vain.

chastised

We just returned from visiting with my Utah Valley siblings, during which visit I chastised my sister-in-law Aubrye for starting a blog and then not blogging, for like a year and a half. At which point my dutiful husband chimed in to remind me that I myself have been neglectful in the blogging of our family happenings. All of the memories I have not recorded in cyberspace are a cause of consternation to him. I will make yet another attempt to repent of my errant ways.

Today Jon and Derrick ventured up to the Conference Center to attend the morning session of General Conference. It was the first time for both of them. My parents gave us their tickets, which resulted in a last minute decision to head to Utah. We had already thought about coming over this weekend, then decided not to. But Thursday night we changed our minds and Friday found me rushing around trying to clean the house, do laundry, pack up six people for a weekend trip, package and mail a fabric order and our first completed Kyoko dress, take Reid to the doctor for his one year check-up (Friday also happened to be his birthday which, thankfully, we celebrated on Thursday with the grandparents), teach piano lessons, and find someone to look in on Truman while we were gone. Jon arrived home shortly after 5:00 p.m. and I was so close to being ready, but it was not to be. We managed to get out the door about 6:00 p.m. with everything done except a giant pile of dishes in one half of the sink. SUCCESS! The drive was uneventful and we managed not to disturb the sleeping children of our wonderful hosts, Jeff and Lindsey. Unfortunately, a stomach bug crept in to their family during the night and held Lindsey captive for most of Saturday. We tried to stay out of her way by spending lots of money on Halloween costumes and eating out. Jon's favorite part of the day occured in the morning we we realized that I had managed to forget underwear and socks for Derrick and Abigail. I've got to much on my plate to be concerned with the little details, I guess! Anyways, this morning we woke up to a phone call from the family watching our dog letting us know that we then got there this morning to let Truman out, he had apparently managed to turn both of the master bathroom faucets on because they were running. We don't know how long the had been going before they got there, but thankfully the sinks weren't plugged or it could have been really BAD. Needless to say, he will be sleeping outside tonight! We leave first thing in the morning and I'm sure Jon will be ready to plan our next trip back the second we get home!

ch-ch-ch-changes

Sometimes we make decisions in life, that while we know deep down are good and right for us, still scare us to death. Such is the nature of the change we are about to undertake in our family, beginning tomorrow morning.

Now that I have school aged children, I have been forced to contemplate the goods and the bads of the public school system. Good, like when my children have teachers that are wonderful and that they adore. Bad, like a principal who thinks his PhD gives him super intelligence while simultaneously turning all parents in to idiots. Good, like a few moments of peace and quiet during the day. Bad, like finding out that all but one of your son's friends (aka the other boys in his class) at school is on a behavior plan. The world is such a different place now from when we were in school, and Jon and I had long discussed the probability that eventually we would no longer feel comfortable sending our children to school for a variety of reasons. I knew that schooling my children at home was likely in my future. I just pictured it further down the road! Several months ago I became aware of the public online school option that is available to families via a number of companies these days, thus offering a way to supervise my children's education more directly without having to totally go it alone. It also didn't hurt that the programs are free and offer tremendous opportunities for socialization and extra-curricular activities. As a result, I began researching one company in particular, and although it was extremely difficult to make the final decision, two weeks ago we officially enrolled Derrick and Abigail in Connections Academy for the coming school year. At this point I ought to be a paid spokesperson for them because I have shared my research with 3 other families in our area wards who have now enrolled 6 more children between them. Our curriculum materials arrived on Friday along with a loaner computer, and classes begin tomorrow morning. If I'm being perfectly honest, I'm a bit terrified. This is going to be incredibly difficult and I've had several moments of doubt as the reality of it all sets in. Ultimately I must remind myself that we chose this for the best interests of our children. That while social influences were a contributing factor, our main reason for choosing to switch at this time was mostly academic and that my job is to provide my children the best education possible with opportunities that aren't available to them in a small town, even if that means I have to do it at home to make sure their abilities are nurtured instead of ignored because teachers are spread too thin. I can do this. I might go crazy in the process, but at least my children can start to learn a foreign language to yell at me with!

patty young patterns

I apologize, but for a little while I'm going to be doing fabric related posts on this blog while we get the word out. I may even squeeze in a few personal posts here and there! Like how in the last month and a half both my phone and our computer crashed within days of each other, or how I've decided to do an online public school with my children this fall, or how I broke my toe the other day. I know, you can't wait! In the meantime...


I love this fabric and pattern designer named Patty Young. We just got some of her patterns in today and I absolutely LOVE them all, but this one is my favorite! I can't wait to make it for my girls. In addition to selling the pattern, our boutique offers this dress made to order for $45.00. Let us know your size and choose from any fabrics available in the shop, give us 2 weeks, and your custom made creation will arrive for your little one! You can check out Patty and her work here. We've also placed an order for some of her Andalucia and Mezzanine fabrics, which will arrive in the coming weeks. Don't forget to check out our blog at http://www.iheartfabricboutique.blogspot.com/.








Photos used in our graphics are courtesy of Patty Young.

calling all fabric lovers!

After several months of planning and sorting out all the details, my mother (Cherilyn McClendon) and I are proud to announce the GRAND OPENING of our new online fabric store! Come check us out at http://www.iheartfabricboutique.etsy.com/. Our first shipments of fabrics and patterns are just arriving with more on the way. As part of our GRAND OPENING, the first 100 sales we make will be entered in a random drawing to win a pattern of their choice along with the fabrics needed to make it (to be chosen from available patterns and fabrics at the time of the drawing). Pass this message along to any of your friends and family who love fabric, sewing, or the chance to win!

more like Grant than I thought

I didn't buy my husband a Father's Day card this year. Mostly because of procrastination, partly because I steered my children away from the card aisle earlier this week because we couldn't come to a consensus and I got tired of chasing Gracie through Target with her musical "Who Let The Dogs Out" card, really because I avoid going out with all 4 children by myself whenever possible, and a little bit because of this face.

This face has healed a little bit since yesterday. Always eager for something to occupy my children during the long days of summer, I was more than willing to send them out on a hiking excursion to Devil's Thumb with Grandpa and Aunt Katie yesterday morning. Having never hiked the trail myself I had no idea of the dangers it posed. So maybe it's not really dangerous, unless you happen to run down the hill, lose control, and break your fall with your face, then roll in to a nearby ditch, narrowly missing a pile of rocks along the way. At least I think that is how the story goes. Grandpa's version is probably the most entertaining. Only later, while I was at book club, did he happen to throw up twice at my parent's house, necessitating a call to the ER about a possible concussion. Helpful as ever, the ER couldn't give my parent's any useful information except to bring him in, so instead they called a doctor in one of the other wards for advice. Instead of heading out to get a Father's Day card before picking up my children, I talked to Katie on the phone and learned of Derrick's "over-the-phone" diagnosis, and of course had to hurry home as any good mother would. We'll pretend that I didn't miss the phone call from my parents to let me know of the change in Derrick's condition, or that I didn't see the missed call for over 30 minutes. Never happened. I picked up the kids and put them to bed, but following the advice of our doctor friend, woke Derrick up a few hours later to ask him questions like what day it was and what color his branch is in The 39 Clues. He passed with flying colors, but doesn't remember our Q & A session, although I don't think that middle of the night memory loss counts as a warning sign of more serious injury. In any case, I learned way more about concussions than I ever cared to know, and was feeling pretty good about Derrick's injury, until Jon came home and reminded me of Natasha Richardson. Thanks. So now I will be carefully observing Derrick for any strange behavior, unusual mood swings, slurred speech, or confusion for the immediate future. Because random health crises never happen to us. So, in summary, procrastination, hike, face plant, book club, concussion, no card, drive Derrick crazy with random tests of lucidity. Good night.

milestones, memorials, and makeovers

It's been a busy couple of weeks.

After perfecting a downward dog to forward face-plant locomotion, Reid decided to officially debut a normal crawl over the Memorial Day weekend. And the kid means business! No longer can I plop him down in one location and assume he will be there when I turn around 5 seconds later! All of which makes me grateful for the fact that my house is getting recarpeted next week. I'm even more grateful for the people who bought my parents house and decided not to keep any of the existing carpet in favor of hardwood. So it might be hand-me-down carpet, but practically like new when compared to what is currently in our house. Gross doesn't even begin to describe the state of our carpet. I gave up trying to clean it some time ago, but now that Reid is crawling I'm glad to know that he will have a fresher, cleaner surface to navigate.

Reid also needs a haircut, or a trim to be precise, but I haven't yet been able to bring myself to reach for the scissors. Although we are quite certain that one of his sisters chopped some of his locks a few weeks ago. The culprit has yet to confess.

After a few weeks of teething, Reid finally cut his two front teeth. All I have to say is OUCH! Or rather, OUCH, OUCH, OUCH, OUCH...because we are easily distracted these days, so meal times are more of an on again off again event. Speaking of teeth. How is it that other people's teeth can hurt me so much? Derrick had his first consultation with an orthodontist today. A milestone I knew would one day come but dreaded. The good news is that the situation seems no where near as dire as the dentist assumed it might be. Exactly what to do and when is still up for consideration. And of course, we heard prices from $300 up to $4500 as he gets older and needs real braces. Yuck. Thank goodness for some orthodontia coverage, even if it is just 50/50.

As tradition dictates, we spent the Memorial Day weekend in Richfield making the rounds to visit the graves of loved ones gone before and enjoy the company of those still with us. As always, it was a wonderful time.

This one is for Jon!

Grace reached a milestone of her own this weekend. She jumped in the pool all by herself! Unfortunately, it was after Jon and I had gotten out of the pool and were on our way out the door! I jumped right in after her, panicked a little when it took a few seconds to find her under water, and came out with my cover-up soaking wet and my heart beating a million miles an hour. Her phrase for the weekend became "Me jump in swimming pool...scared momma." She sure did.

By some cruel twist of fate, the stars always seem to align against us on Memorial Day weekend because the carnival is almost always in town. And nothing screams fun to my oldest children more than spending ridiculous amounts of money to risk your life on rides that are probably as old as I am. What made this year even better was that somehow Lindsay and I got talked in to taking Derrick, Abbie and Carter by ourselves while the husbands stayed at the hotel to watch the Nuggets game. Aren't we nice! Anyways, the carnival is my kind of fun. In order to get from one ride to another you must ALWAYS look down as you walk, but only if you wish to avoid piles of vomit. If you must look up, you might catch a glimpse of a teenage boy wearing electric blue skinny jeans but riding them halfway down his rear end. At least this moment can become a teaching opportunity, "Derrick, those pants are for girls and if I ever see you showing your behind in public I'll paddle it, I don't care how old you are!" Although, this sight might be preferable to watching the other teenagers make out while waiting for the ferris wheel to get fixed. We were going to ride the ferris wheel, until I decided that any ride requiring a 45 minute shut down at 8:00 PM on a Saturday night was probably not safe enough to earn the right to amuse my children. So we opted for a second ride on The Sizzler. Twelve dollars for me to take Derrick and Abbie, each time. But they loved it. And I'll admit that I enjoyed riding with them. Although if the carnival happens to miss us next year, that is fine with me!

On our last night, Abbie did makeovers with aunt Kimmy. Aren't they beautiful? Maybe this summer she and I can do each other's hair at night before bed. Who doesn't enjoy having their hair combed? Oh, that's right, my two year old generally hates having her hair combed. You know what else she hates? Ants. Bees. Little flies that decided to make a home around my indoor herb pots, which have now made their home outside. Any speck of anything in her bath water. Wearing shoes that are big enough for her growing feet. Eating her food from a normal bowl/plate. Not being a part of makeover night. Sometimes she takes matters in to her own hands, and sometimes I just give in.




With the summer finally here, I've been trying to get excited about having all my children home during the day. As they get older, I'm hoping this gets easier to do. I love being with Derrick and Abbie, but have to be careful not to let boredom settle upon our house, or we are all miserable. A couple days ago I got Derrick started on The 39 Clues series and am hoping this will be a great activity for him this summer. I think I might even read along with him. It sounds like a great idea, and I've actually discovered several other book ideas for my kids in researching this series. Go here to check it out.

tap, tap...is this thing on?

I think my microphone is broken. I have two days to figure out a way to fix it before school is out and the summer fun commences. Because the one thing I do know is that I will not make it through the next three months being ignored ALL day long. And I'm sure that my troops will quickly tire of the constant asking, asking, pleading, begging, and finally yelling that will ensue if things continue as they have been. This is a normal phase, right? Even the best of kids, which mine are, have a hidden switch that allows them to be two feet in front of you and not hear a word you are saying, right? I tell myself this to feel better.

Now this one, she may not do what I ask her to, but at least she gives me a response when I talk to her! Asking to comb her hair generally results in a "NO", so we drop the issue unless it is a special occasion. Leaving the house in general is not a special occasion, by the way. Besides, even when I do comb her hair, before long it looks like a slightly tamer version of this.



Or I ask her to put her clothes back on, and instead she puts on this.


Did you notice, by the way, that her pajamas are on backwards in the pictures above? And yes, she slept in them that way, because my current mantra is "Don't make the two year old scream." So I ask, is a screaming response better than no response at all?

oops!

In blog hopping this morning I just realized that I totally STOLE the title of my last post from my sister-in-law Lindsay! It happens to be the title of her last post as well. I would change it, but that would involve more effort than I feel like this morning, the least of which is coming up with a new title. So instead, I will offer an apology. Sorry Lindsay! Although, if I'm not mistaken, I would venture to guess that Lindsay could care less about my blatant plagiarism. If her feelings are truly hurt, I offer up an extra alligator (if you like them, unlike me) on Saturday as a peace offering! And yes, I know that the previous sentence will only make sense to about 4 people that read this blog!

playing catch up

So it has been a month and a half since my last post! A glut of things to post has resulted in an inability to post anything at all. Sometimes you just have to let go of chronology and just jump back in. This last weekend we journeyed to Denver for some fun and relaxation, with a little work on the side for Jon. We shopped the outlet mall, attended church at Jon's childhood ward, and spent a day at the Denver Zoo. It was so much fun! Grace was just enchanted with all the animals and we got a great show from several of them.

etsy shop

About two years ago I discovered the designer fabric world and fell in love, and in order to quench my need to buy all this cute fabric I really need an excuse for something to do with it all. SO, for over a year now I have been contemplating starting my own etsy shop. While still a work in progress, I've decided it is time to get out the word that I'm open for business. I would love for you to stop by and check out my creations! If I would make it for myself or any of my little ones, it will probably find it's way in to my store. Here's a sneak peek of some of the stuff in there. And there is a link on my sidebar for quick access.

scrapbook layout

scrapbook layout

almost there!

This second week in February is a crazy one for my family. Between two birthdays and Valentine's Day, I'm lucky just to survive it. But, I'm reaching the tail end of the festivities, and after a Sunday dinner a week ago with the grandparents because they were all going to be gone on the actual birthdays, Gracie's birthday night on Tuesday, Parent Teacher Conferences on Wednesday, Valentine treats for class parties on Thursday, Valentine's Day on Saturday, Derrick's birthday night on Sunday, and a birthday party at the swimming pool for Derrick today I'm pleased to announce that tomorrow all I have left is to send in a birthday treat for Derrick to share with his class. Of course, he informed me that he would like to bring a sugar-free snack for everyone so that the diabetic boy in his class doesn't feel left out. That was perhaps my proudest moment this week. With all that done, I just need to get my laundry piles under control so that we can head to Utah on Wednesday for a few days of "we really need a break from this place" relaxation. Besides, being overwhelmed is what life is all about, right?

when did this happen?

I'm not sure who gave him permission to grow up so fast, but I'm going to have a word with them. Derrick turns eight in a few weeks, but with the Pinewood Derby approaching this Friday, our ward invited him to join Cub Scouts a little early so that he could participate with the rest of the boys. I know NOTHING about Scouts. Zip. Nada. So we're learning together. I'm happy and sad all at the same time.

facebook

This afternoon an old friend invited me to be her friend on facebook and you know what I discovered? That I have actually had a facebook account since May 2007. That's right. Almost TWO years. I think I registed in order to see my sister's profile and then totally forgot about it. Silly me! I'm all up and running now, though, and look forward to finding people that I know again. And to Karin and Sierra, I don't know how long ago you invited me to be your friends, but I wasn't ignoring your requests, I just wasn't aware of the fact that I had an account. Well, technically I had to have been aware at some point, but obviously forgot very quickly. Sorry!

truman

This year Jon and I gave the kids a dog for Christmas. I know. And yes, I remember this whole drama. I'll just say that I'm easily talked in to things, especially when my husband determines that he wants something! It's not that I was anti-dog, but after our last experience I swore that all of my children would be walking before we got another dog. And so, here I am with a 3 month old and a new dog. And you know what? It's been great. This time we got the right dog for our family. He is a four month old labradoodle that we named Truman. We always wanted a poodle mix because Jon had a cockapoo growing up and just loved him. But, everytime we checked in to them, they were all way more expensive than I was willing to pay for a dog. We decided to get a dog for the kids sometime in November, and so Jon was on the hunt for quite a while. About two weeks before Christmas he saw an ad in our local paper for two male labradoodles that were a killer deal. The breeder had a new litter coming up and needed to get the last two from the previous litter off to a good home. So, we got him for about a third of what he would normally cost. We picked him up the Saturday before Christmas and had to hide him at Jon's parents house until Christmas Eve. Thanks again Herb and Connie! On Christmas morning we saved him until last and totally surprised the kids. We had been telling them the earliest we would even think about getting a dog again was this summer, so they were totally shocked. And I have to say, I'm not what you would call a "pet person", I agreed to this because I know it is good for my kids and makes my husband happy. But, I think this time is going to work out for us. Things have been going far better than I ever expected. Sure, he is still a puppy and we have to teach him about the rules in our house, but his potty training has been great! I can count the number of accidents he has had in the last week and a half since he came to our house on one hand. He plays well with the kids and has been really gentle and sweet with Reid. Although, I do think he will be happy when they go back to school on Tuesday. Having all of us home during the day can be a bit overwhelming! So, welcome to our family, Truman.

new recipe blog

I've been thinking about it for a while, and I finally decided to go ahead and create a blog to catalog all my recipes. This is mostly for me, but feel free to take a look if you like, I have a link on my sidebar! I just keep finding too many wonderful blogs with fabulous looking recipes that I want to try, so I need to have one spot where I can go once I have tried and found a good one, instead of trying to remember where I saw it. I have high hopes of posting all the recipes I have collected over the last 10 years, too, but they will need pictures before I can do that. I guess I have a good excuse to make all my favorite foods now!