Magic!

I have been feeling really nostalgic lately. Like this is the end of my boys being little boys. So it almost brought tears to my eyes when I saw these pictures of Troy being a carefree little boy! I knew that everything would happen fast. Everyone kept telling me to enjoy them while they were little. But 27 THOUSAND diapers later.... I didn't really believe "them". Now I do.... The faster time goes, the faster time goes. And my little boys are growing up. I hope I can hang on to these last few magical moments of them being little!

Inspired apron

So I went to bunco the other night, and Nicole had SUPER fun prizes. I wanted ALL of them! Silly rules say you only get to pick one, well I was upset about it, cause they were all super cute! And so since frame making is not my specialty I got a beautiful frame as a prize and took home some inspiration from an apron that she had there. I have some beautiful, cute, fabric in my garage for just such a project, but when I got it out, I couldn't cut into it without a patern for fear that I would ruin EVERYTHING! So here's a funny quirk about me. I hate top sheets! Weird, I know. Who doesn't like top sheets? Well they are always so cold.... and when I jump into bed I like to be warm, and snuggly. So instead of being normal and teaching my children top sheet etiquete, I have a ton of top sheets laying around doing nothing. Well just this once I'm glad to be weird! I had this white sheet in the closet that cost around $4 from target. (and have already gotten my $4 worth out of the bottom sheet.) So I wasn't afraid to rip it apart and make this cute (if I do say so myself) peasant apron. Ta da! P.S. I only sew in straight lines. So ANYONE could make this baby!

I used an old plain apron as a pattern for the underneath part. I lined it up with the top of the sheet so it was finished nice on the top. The less sewing the better I always say! Then I cut 7 inch strips off the bottom of the sheet. I used the finished edge for the bottom layer, and left the other two ruffles edges frayed. (just cause I think it's cute) to make the ruffles you baste stitch an inch and a half from the top, and then gather to the right length. I used red string because I couldn't find white, and I thought it would be cute. Then I made a little bird out of some cute red fabric I had laying around. I added a ties, also not finished, just stagger stitched around the neck and at the sides. There, If I can do it, you can too!

Chubbly little bird! :0)

Merry Christmastime!

Ok, so it's not Christmas yet, but I'm so excited about the whole season this year. We are carrying on some fun family traditions that I would like to write down for posterities sake. We start off the season with the 12 days of Christmas. We have done it the last few years and the kids LOVE it more and more every year. They are prime for Christmas this year. Old enough to be really excited, and also old enough to understand that Christmas is a time of giving and thinking of Christ. Well they are starting to understand that part anyway..... Then Christmas Eve we will be off to my parents house for our Mexican fiesta!!! Hooray! I think my mom pulled this one out of the air but I think it is more fun than Christmas for me! We also decorate our mason jar instead of stockings. My dad is one of 10 kids, and I think his mom just got tired of trying to figure out stockings every year so she used mason jars instead. I loved that we were different from every other family, so we usually have jars at grandma's house, and stockings at ours, but this year, I'm going to embrace the jar idea. I hope Gabe will let me. Then Christmas morning growing up, we ALWAYS had mom's homemade cinnamon rolls, and I loved that!!! But.... Gabe has meshed his ginormous breakfast tradition into ours, and now Christmas breakfast is a feast to behold!!! Then the normal open presents, play with presents, eat a lot, and then after Christmas dinner an angel food cake as a birthday cake for baby Jesus. I love this time of year. It makes me so cheerful. I hope to be able to carry the joy throughout the coming year.

It's great to BEE 8!

So Kolby turned 8 last month. And of course it's great to BEE eight!!! I'm so proud that Kolby made the decision to be baptized. He is such a great little boy. I guess I shouldn't keep calling him little. He's getting so big. He is such a great example to his little brothers. He is a hard worker like his daddy, and one of my favorite things about him is how thoughtful he is. I couldn't be prouder of how smart he is, and that he enjoys learning to play the piano. He also loves gymnastics, and his teacher is always saying how strong he is, and how well he does. He is in a class where he is the newest student, but is trying hard to be just as good as the other boys in his class. I love him so much!!! I feel so grateful to have his little spirit in our home!

yes man

So Troy is going through the funniest stage. Lets say you ask him a question, like... Hey Troy, Did you get enough candy for Halloween? He will say to you... Yes, yes I did! Hey Troy, Do you like your dinner? Yes, yes I do! Hey Troy, do you like it when your brothers tackle you? NO, no I do not! I love it! It is so funny to me! And Zack.... Well let me just tell hyou a little about Zack. He is in a vocabulary building stage. For example, the other day I asked him about some scratches that he had on his foot and he said, "What you mean my injury's?" Or Hey Zack did you get the dishes put away? He said, "Well, I didn't literally want to do that right now." He's still working on context a little bit. And last but not least... Zacker, did you get your room clean? "Well technically.... I still have a little more to go." I know everyone thinks their kids are the cutest, but man, I love these little boys!

Beautiful day!

Mom asked me to go take some pictures of the rainy day, I happened to catch this! I love rainbows! I guess everyone loves rainbows right? well, thanks mom, I would have been hauled up in a blanket on my couch without your promptings! Then I thought that since I was being a grump today, that the boys better play in some puddles to get cheered up! Look at those faces... I love those boys!

I love my man!

The best part of Hawaii was getting to be there with Gabe! I think in the hustle and bustle of life, even a great relationship gets worn down. I'm the mom, he's the dad and on and on life goes. But this was one of those great times when we reminded ourselves that we are also friends. We snorkled hand in hand, tried new foods, some great, rice for breakfast, not so great at all.... I knew that a week away from kids would be easy, but I didn't know how much perspective it would provide me. It was long enough that we missed them, and appreciate them so much more now. And it helped me to remember that I need to be a better friend. It's easy on vacation, away from the broken arms, and homework, and late night tow or fire calls, but I want to be a fun person to live with, love with, be with, the other 99.99% of the time! And I'm looking forward to planning some friend time with the love of my life!

Sunset Cruisin'

Sunset Cruisin' baby!!! One of the highlights of our trip was the sail boat cruise that we took. It has always been a dream of my mom's to sail on a real sailboat, and it must have gotten into my blood too, because it was a geat time! It was really windy on the night that we picked, so we spent the whole time actually sailing and it was amazing. We also spent some time exploring whatever, and where ever we felt. And found this jungle road, and thought hmmmm....... Maybe we'll do a little monkey business!!!!