Spring is Finally Here...Just in Time for Summer

It hasn't snowed in a couple of weeks so I am going to say that Spring is officially here. Now watch, it will snow tomorrow. We've had a busy couple of months so far-new babies, end of school coming up and lots of activities. Miss Fiona finally arrived last Monday to everyone's relief. Christin had been in the hospital for a week trying to get her blood pressure down, they tried to induce her but baby wouldn't cooperate, so she had a c-section on Monday. Fiona is stinkin' cute and looks just like her mama.

Whip had his end of the year preschool circus- he was a tiger and he had to do tricks and jump through the ring of fire. The night before he had stage fright and was very nervous that he wouldn't be able to jump through without his tail touching. It was hard not to laugh, but I tried my best to reassure him that no one would notice if it happened to touch the fake flames.

Lillie had her dance recital last night, she did great. Her songs were "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend" and "Carwash." I usually dread sitting through dance recitals but this one wasn't too bad and it went quickly. I was a little nervous for her at the dress rehearsal because she seemed kind of lost, but she got comfortable and just had fun at the performance. She loves costumes and getting makeup on- she's so grown up already.


Finally, I just had to share this little tidbit. This is a conversation I had with Whip while waiting in a drive thru--

Whip: "Bulldozers are convenient, huh, Mom."

Me: (trying not to laugh) " What did you say?"

Whip: "Bulldozers are convenient."

Me: " Yes, I guess they are"

(Silence for a moment.)

Whip: "What does convenient mean?"

Easter Egg Hunt

This year we got to go to Grandma Patty's for the Easter egg hunt.

Cupcakes-yummy!

The Rock Star Party Rocked!!!!

Since I was turning that dreary old age of 30 we decided to do it in style!! Everyone dressed up as a rock star and we rocked the house to Singstar all night!!! I need more pics of everyone, Lila and Christin!

Collective Soul is coming to Green River!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I am so excited I can hardly even type!! I was checking the tour dates for my most favorite band Collective Soul just in case they might be playing in Ut or Colorado or somewhere close and as I was scanning the venues Green River, Wy popped out. That's right they are coming here. To my town. Where I can see them. Here. Green River. They are going to be performing at Flaming Gorge Days ( or Herpecin days as Christin calls it) Finally I know why I was supposed to move to this town!!! I am so excited-- its like Christmas!!!!!

Cannon's Birthday and Crafty Stuff

We celebrated Cannon's first birthday on the the 23rd (a day late so Daddy could be here). He was so cute eating his chocolate cake, he made a huge mess. He got some cute toys, including a wooden shape set, the kind you hammer the shapes through. He loves to hammer on that thing and it already looks like its a year old.

The shape set-he loves it.

This week I decided to get going on some of my sewing projects that have just been sitting around waiting ,its hard to push the sewing pedals with braces on your ankles. The weather has been sunny and it started me thinking about spring so I thought I would make Lillie a dress for when the weather warms up. Hey, hope springs eternal here in Wyoming. I had purchased some cotton gauze on clearance for just such a purpose and she really loves the way it twirls.

I've also been wanting to try to make some reusable lunch things so we can cut down on our Ziploc wasting, I finally figured out a good material to line it with so that it is waterproof, but not totally full of chemicals and BPA's like most vinyl. I played around with a few patterns and then made this bag. You can't see it very well, but the top closes with velcro. It's not watertight but it is easy to pull out the lining to wash off any goo.

I also made a sandwich wrap with some instructions from this cool blog:

http://www.towards-sustainability.com/2008/03/homemade-sandwich-wrap.html

Lillie is excited to take lunch to school in them. I'm going to make some more with the kids' names embroidered on them as soon as I get around to it.

Every once in a while the kids like to go through my ginormous fabric scrap pile and pull out the ones they like- apparently Whip is making a bikini.

Finally, this is a really cute picture of Cannon that Whip took all on his own with no help from me. Seriously!!

Mi Blankie Su Blankie-Just don't Touch my Binky

I actually took these a while ago but I never got around to posting, they were being so cute-until Cannon dropped his binky and Calvin decided he wanted it.

This last weekend we were able to go to the Salt Lake Temple to see Calvin be sealed to Joe and Lila. It was a very sweet experience and we are so happy to have been there. It was nice to see all of the family and friends that came to be with them. Calvin was very cute and well behaved in the sealing room and there was a wonderful feeling to see them become an eternal family. (The only bummer was I forgot my camera so I missed out on some really cute photo ops!)
Cannon is officially a walker now, okay he's not a professional but he can take up to six steps so far without falling down. He still prefers to crawl because it is faster, but I think he will be running soon!!

Whip just finished his indoor soccer games and it always makes me laugh to watch how excited he is to play. Lillie is doing very well in school and she loves to come home and play with Sophie and Cannon.

I am posting some pictures that I have taken over the past couple of weeks.

Whip loves jumping on the Trampoline-even in two feet of snow.

This is an icicle that was hanging off of our back porch. It was about 3 feet long-before we broke it.

Cannon and Calvin bonding over drinks.

Cannon and Mo enjoying some Baby Einstein.

Thrifty in Idaho

For those of you in Idaho, my cousin Sarah has started a blog (athriftymom.com) and is posting good deals and other ways to save money in your area. Even if you don't live around Boise check it out for good deals at national stores and the internet.

Food Storage Fun

I found a fun network for all of you who are trying to get food storage together. This can seem totally overwhelming especially if you are on a budget, but this site has lots of ways to help.
http://funwithfoodstorage.net/

I am going to start posting food storage tips I find on a regular basis because I really feel this is something we should all be concentrating on.

2009 Movies

I found this on yahoo today and thought I would share, looks like some good movies this year! I am especially excited about New Moon in November-Yeah!!! Also gotta love me some Hugh in X-Men.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/most-anticipated-of-2009.html

Our Government at Work

For those of you who don't know, Congress passed a law recently, the CPSIA, that will essentially put all your favorite handmade and small children's product manfufacturer's (including me) out of business. As of Feb 10 everyone who makes products for children under 12 including clothing, books, toys, etc, has to have a general conformity certificate stating that their product has been tested for lead. Any non-conforming items must be destroyed after that date. What the government has failed to take into consideration is the affect this will have on all the small at home type businesses. Lead testing can cost upwards of thousands of dollars per item, not to mention the fact that textiles usually have no lead in them. If you think this won't affect you because you don't buy handmade items, think again, you will see an increase in the cost of all childrens clothing and products as manufacturers try to meet the testing standards. Right now many in the industry are trying to get the law amended to exempt small handmade items or at least allow them to use the conformity certificates from their suppliers. I want my children's products to be safe just as much as the next person, but this law essentially punishes those who are already using lead free products in their items. Check out www.fashion-incubator.com/blog/ and http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia or http://reformcpsia.org/ for more info.

My Embroidery Obsession

Here are some of the projects I have been working on, I need to learn to take better pictures of them. The dinosaur pants are for Aria, and the army stuff is for Teagen but I haven't mailed them out yet (sorry Cori). The skunk pants are for Miss Moira, you can't tell from the pictures but he has fuzzy hair and he is my favorite thing I have made so far. These are Lillie's Valentine's pants and I think they turned out pretty cute.