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!