Time

Lately I have just been able to get the rhythm of things down a little better than usual which has allowed for some fun. I am 2/3 done my first quilt, have made quite a bit of stuff for Kate and some little things here and there. Two weeks ago I got out a cute skirt that my sister Ashley had left here, it had ripped when she got it caught on a car door, and decided to turn it into a mini version of the skirt for Kate. Now, I'm not a great seamstress, but I found a tutorial that was close to what I had pictured in my head and with the help of my handy dandy seam ripper the skirt only took me about an hour (probably less if I had paid better attention to what I was doing). I used the original waist band and the original bottom seam of the skirt which saved me some time and I feel makes it look more professional (because the seams look better than mine would have). Anyway once I was done I had fabric left and decided to make Austin a matching tie. I don't love the tie pattern that I have but it works. Next time I will use a different pattern. Anyway take a look and enjoy!

The front

The Back

This is not really how they wore them, I just threw them on so you could see!

Kate got her hair cut! We cut off about 3-4 inches. It was just getting too tangled as she twirls it. We are going to cut it again and just put some more layers in the back but it looks so much better than it did!

This is how I see Kate 100x a day. Kneeling at my feet barking orders at me.

Another fun project I did were these yummy cupcakes! I saw this ideas over at Me and My Pink Mixer and new I wanted to make them. They are called Salted Caramel Cupcakes. Pretty much they are chocolate cupcakes and once they come out of the oven you squeeze warm Salted caramel topping into the center of the cupcakes. Then you frost with a nice butter cream frosting and top with toffee chips and a drizzle of the salted caramel. YUM. The fun part was putting them into the 8oz jars. I had a lot of fun doing it. I gave some to my V.T.ers and the rest I made so that Devon can take some cupcakes to work and have a nice treat without it smashing all over the place and making a mess. I also love it because now I don't have cupcakes laying all over my counter to nibble at all day. They are closed nicely in a jar and if I really want one I can open a jar...but usualy I don't REALLY want one, they are just there. Anyway, that's what I've been up to lately. I LOVE preschool.

A Week of Firsts

This week we had a few firsts and it was fun. Austin started his first day of preschool! Not only was it his first day but it was my first day having someone go to school of any kind - except myself. It was fun to HAVE to get up and get things rolling. Another first we both had was soccer. Austin is on his first little sports team and although I didn't think it went that great and he is the youngest on his team (of 4 kids) it will be fun to get him involved a little more.

How it went:




Austin LOVES preschool. He wishes he could go everyday and is sad on days he can't go. He is already starting to learn new things and I am so excited to watch him grow over the next year. It is nice for both of us to have some away time. He is more than ready to have more than just "mom" (and dad of course) be active in his life. He likes his teacher and although his class is super small I think it will work out great. More than anything I hope he learns to follow directions, take turns, LISTEN, learn how to stand in line and after your turn go to the END of the line. So far, so good. Oh, and they have this special treasure box that he LOVES. When they participate and do different things they can earn stickers and once they get 10 stickers they get to pick a treasure out of the box. WOW - I can't tell you how motivated he is by the treasure box. He was so excited after his first day of school that he barely took a nap at all and the moment he woke up he wanted to go back to school so he could get a treasure!!! We have since adopted the treasure box at our house. It works most of the time and he gets super excited. Now I just have to come up with a chart so I can be more productive about how and when to give out treasures.

As for soccer, we weren't so lucky. Austin is just so cautious about things. Once he gets going he is fine but to get him to start is like pulling teeth. The morning started out OK. With this level of soccer they are there for 1 hr. The first 1/2 hr is a team practice and the second 1/2 hr is 3 on 3 play. There are 4 kids on each team and the main goal is to have the kids have fun. They don't care who they kick it to or what goal they score in, they just want them to have fun. Back to Austin. The first half hour, the practice part, went fairly smooth. He is definitely young and having never gone to school or done any organized activity you could tell that he was just in outer space. He didn't understand a lot of basic concepts like standing in line, kicking to a partner, relay races etc. I know it will get better but it was hard. He was out in the clouds for a lot of it. One of the coaches kept telling him "watch the ball", "just watch the ball" ... as he of course was distracted by every bug the flew by and activity the other team was doing. All in all it was ok, but the second half when they started playing was a nightmare. We almost left in the middle of it. He was just too scared. All the kids trying to kick one ball, kids falling over and he didn't understand that if he wanted to kick it he had to go and kick it. The ball wasn't going to just come to him. He just left the field and sat by me. He had no interest. A lot of the time he was off to the side picking grass and throwing leaves up in the air and watching them fall. I even tried to go on the field with him (they said parents were allowed) and he just freaked. He did play for a minute, okay more like 30 seconds, until someone bumped him or the ball went the other direction then he would wander off the field and start playing with other kids or throwing rocks or who knows what. Finally I picked up all our stuff and said "If your not playing soccer we don't need to be here, let's go" After that he stayed on the field the whole time. I think he actually got to kick the ball and that made him so happy. He gave himself a hip hip horay that made all the other parents chuckle. At the end of the day he said he had fun and that he likes his team so hopefully now that he knows what's going on a little he will do better next week.

His little team

Poor assistant coach trying to talk to him and he's not listening, just picking grass.

Pre-game pep talk, once again Austin just picking the grass.

Some cool action shots to make it look like he really played! Let me tell you, after seeing these I thought hmmm, I must be getting better with my camera LOL.
This was the time he got to kick the ball. He was SO happy. I love the picture because it looks like he just smoked the rest of the kids LOL.
This is funny because I don't remember him being happy that he fell. This makes me feel good. Maybe he really did have a good time and I should just chill. hmmmmm interesting thought.

This is what Austin was really doing during most of the game. Oh well.
High fives at the end. He thought this part was super cool.

And just for an update, since this post was all about Austin. Kate is doing really really good. She has started eating fruit!! Yippee. She is talking really well, her speech therapist said that she may not qualify for speech therapy anymore because she's doing so good. We have to do an eval. on Wednesday and we'll know after that if she still qualifies. Kate is WALKING. I know, I said it, it's for real. WALKING - my Kate. Nothing short of a miracle that's for sure. She doesn't do it full time but the % of walking she does increases day by day. She can stand up in the middle of the room by herself and can walk just about anywhere. She is still working on transitioning between two surfaces like the carpet to the kitchen but she's getting braver everyday and she's just building up her confidence. It's funny, we're not 100% sure what the difference has been but she has improved 200x in the last month. I think that those who saw her a month ago in Montana wouldn't believe she was the same little bug. Here is a recent picture just cause she's so dang cute.

Calling

A few months ago I got released for YW and since we were suppose to be moving I didn't receive another calling. Now we are learning that it might taken longer (surprise) than we thought. So I told Devon in church today that he should let the bishop know that we are going to be here a little longer than we thought. Apparently we didn't need to. After church was over the 1st councilor came up and asked to speak to me after church. AHH. Well, after our brief meeting they asked me to be one of the Sr. Nursery leaders. Grrrrr :) Needless to say I wasn't thrilled. I really have enough during the week dealing with a 2 + 3 year old, going to church on sunday and dealing with other people's 2+3 yr. olds just about does me in. But, on the up side, I do get to work with one of my favorite people in the world.

Wish me luck.

SewMamaSew Serger Giveaway

I would totally love a new serger (more so a serger - since I don't have one), especially the Husqvarna Viking s21 Serger. The other day I ran across this giveaway at Sew Mama Sew and knew I had to enter. I thought it would be fun to create a video and although I have never made a video in my life I thought it turned out great...perhaps a little long, but I'm sure I will look back and laugh one day.

In addition to the video that was already getting way too lengthy, I also have recently started to sew with knits and I LOVE it, love the way they feel and flow and the idea that I could make almost anything my heart or creativity desires. Also, I would love how much quicker it would make things go. Kate does need a lot. Those outfits I sew her take a long time on the sewing machine and she need several sets so that I don't have to do laundry every day. Think of how much more stuff I could make if I could spend less time doing what I need and more time doing what I want.....oh the purses and blankets and sweaters I could make!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy!

Family Easter Pictures

So a couple months ago I made Kate a super cute dress and planned on it being for Easter. Then a few months after that I realized that Easter Sunday would be spent at home watching conference. Although it worked great for Easter and conference it didn't work out so well for my Easter dress. So after some thinking I decided to make Austin some matching duds. Originally I was going to make him a matching tie...what turn out was a vest for Austin, a skirt for me and a tie (which totally didn't turn out, maybe next time I should try a pattern). It was a lot of fun making it all and I learned a LOT about my sewing machine. Apparently you are suppose to oil them every couple weeks. Who knew? Not me. I have never oiled a sewing machine in my life. So once I started hearing some stuff squeaking I busted out some machine oil, dug around and found the owners manual and an hour later I was quite proud of myself. I couldn't believe 1) how much link there was in the machine bottom, and 2) what a difference it made! It was like sewing on a whole new machine. I kind of felt guilty after that for waiting for so long! Oh, well. Now I know. Oh, and can I just say that I sewed all of this on the sewing machine that I got from my grandma several years ago. I'm pretty sure it's older than dirt. I'm thinking like the 50's or 60's...and it's from Canada BUT man, it works like a champ. I love it! I seriously do. I have a newer machine that I got from another grandma but even after trying the new machine, I always go back to the old Singer. One day when I am serious about sewing and am ready to invest in a real sewing machine I am totally getting a Singer. Anyway, blah blah blah, enough about sewing.
So, these are some pictures I wanted to take. I wish we could have gone a little earlier in the day but that didn't happen. The family ones were done with the auto button and me running through grass in heels to get to the picture so they are kind of iffy, but it was fun and I got some great shots.

Enjoy.

The back of Kate's Dress

The back and inside of Austin's vest matched Kate's dress.

My skirt.

The Front of the vest

It's almost midnight and while I love the quiet that the night brings it's time I head for bed. I just wanted to post a video of Easter really quick. I have had the hardest time getting videos from our camcorder onto the computer so finally, with the inspiration from a friend, I used the video setting on my old camera and tada! I did it! It was so easy. So I hope you enjoy, I am sure there are a lot more to come.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I figured that since it's been MONTHS since I updated I should take a minute and do it now while both kids are sleeping and my sister and husband are at work. I am sure I have 100 other things I should be doing but I have put this off long enough. The frustrating thing is that I think about my blog EVERY DAY. No joke, everyday I think, ah, I need to post. And I want to I really want to but I just get wrapped up in so many other things it just rarely happens. Here is a run down of our lives right now.

Austin: Austin is doing great and just being Austin. The warmer the weather gets the happier he is. He LOVES being outside and helping dad with any chores - especially fixing the truck. He loves going to primary and although he won't sing when others are singing, I hear him singing the words when he is playing alone so I know he knows the songs....he just won't sing with others. Weird. He is getting taller and taller everyday. He is very self sufficient and like to do most things by himself. He LOVES gum and it's a great treat for him. He recently decided that he doesn't need a pull up at night anymore and has been dry every night for about a week now. Go figure. He has his alphabet down pat but not so hot with numbers but we are working on it. He LOVES Kate and although he makes her scream more than anything I know that it's (mostly) him trying to help her and play with her and I enjoy watching their friendship grow. Austin is a happy kid who makes me happy and keeps us laughing. The stuff he comes up with and picks up on amazes us. My favorite thing that he is saying right now is that when he is grumpy he will come up to me and say "Mom! (think deep angry voice with the scowl face) I crabby!) Phahahah. I was in walmart the other day and he told me that as this older lady was walking by and she just started laughing. She turned to me and said, "well, at least he warns you" LOL. He's a good boy and we love to watch him grow!





Kate: Oh dear Kate. How you try me! LOL I love her to death and she snuggles more than any little bunny you have ever met. She sleeps like an angel and I am so grateful for that because once she is up sometimes the days are long. We are actively in therapy with her. One to two therapist come out every week and we have her in Physical therapy, speech therapy and now music therapy. She also is in a gymnastics class once a week. Over the last 2 weeks we have redone her evaluations and have found out that for her fine motor skills she is actually several months advanced for her age, for her gross motor skills (ie walking) she is 9-12 months behind. For her vocab she is hit and miss LOL. She has everything up until 12 months and then she has different skill all the way up to 24 months but not everything up to 24 months. Hmmm, I don't know if that makes a lot of sense. So in some areas of her evaluation she is at 24 month, some 18 and some 12. Today she starts music therapy. It should be interesting. It is a 3 month program that is hopefully going to help her desensitize, enhance her vocab, encourage mobility and help her get over her fears of textures and motion. With this program we are given a new cd every 2 weeks and we have to listen to is for 30 min. 2x a day. And if that's not hard enough we also have to do it in a small space so either that bathroom or the car! Those are my only two options well, unless I get a refrigerator box and then we can also listen to it in there. LOL. I am excited to see how this works. I haven't listened to the first CD yet but the lady told me that it sounds like warped music. They take specially orchestrated songs then put them through a synthesizer and that's how they get the results they want. Now, while doing this program I have to watch her carefully because it can also bother her physically. It can make her have diarrhea or constipation, it can alter her sleep patterns, it can make her puke all sorts of weird fun stuff that you would never think music could do to you. The therapist said that I also need to be aware of how it affects me. She said that she has a mom right now that the music make her physically sick. Every time she hears it it makes her throw up. Crazy huh?! So I'm excited to see if it works and also a little hesitant to actually start it.

As for other things, I took Kate into the doctor about a month ago thinking she had chicken pox but instead she had some rare skin disease that the doctor had only seen once before (and he's no spring chicken) and had to actually look it up in his book to even remember what it was called. Also when we were there he told us we need to take Kate into an allergist. Her dairy and soy allergy seems to be getting worse and he said it should be getting better not worse and told us we need to get her checked. Yay. Oh dear Kate. The thing is none of them are HUGE problems and they are all things we can deal with....but sometimes I just want to scream AHHHH, why can't you just be normal?!! She is getting to be more mobile and plays a lot with Austin. She can crawl and pull up to stand and walk like a bear but refuses to stand up. We've seen her do it so we know she can but she HATES it. She LOVES pancakes, eggs, peanut butter, ham, crackers and applesauce. Hates about everything else. She loves music and we often find her singing or rocking out to the music. One of her favorite things is to lead the music for family night. She loves playing with cars and hates when Austin takes them from her. She screams any chance she gets and loves to squeak. We love you crazy Kate!




Devon: Um....don't really know, hardly see him LOL. Work is going great. They are super busy! We have been greatly blessed with a contract with Boise Hunter Homes, a local builder who is doing very well, and they have kept Devon busy all winter. Boise had a fairly mild winter and because of such he was able to have his crew work almost ever single day. Now that spring has sprung he is up at 5 and gone by 5:30 then comes home between 5:30 and 6. Throw that in with his calling and other obligations and I am officially feeling like a single mom....and we aren't even is full swing yet!!! But he is happy and loves it everyday so I wouldn't have it any other way.



Ashley: My sister Ashley is now living with us and it's great to have her here. She works for my doing vinyl Tuesdays and Fridays and works at a chiropractors office Wednesdays and Fridays. She starts massage school the middle of April and can't wait!

Me: Wow, I'm super busy. Vinyl is starting to really take off and I love every minute of it. Sometimes I wish I had more time - or more so more energy to put into it but I can only do what I can do. Between being here with the kids trying to stay on top of life, my vinyl and my calling I really feel like my plate is pretty full. I have so many great things I want to do (like blogging!) but at the end of the day I am just ready to crash. I am also on a diet. Yup, it's true. The first time in my life that I am doing it for real. It's been an interesting experience and I haven't even been doing it that long. I work out lifting weights for an hour every other morning and walk for about 45 min. every night. More than anything I just want to get into shape. I really miss my muscles LOL. That about sums up my life. Although I have been given about 3 job offers recently which has been fun. I was called by the owners of a gymnastics gym and offered a job, one girl wanted me to be the one to take her place as a Cents of Style consultant (which I think would be so fun) and I had to make a weighted blanket for Kate as part of her therapy and all her therapists loved it and pretty much wanted me to start a business selling them. They pretty much told me that they would supply me with a customer base and wanted me to make business card for them to start handing out. I wish I had the time and energy to do all of the above but it's just not meant to be. *sigh* Well, that's all for now, I wasn't expecting to spend so long on here but it's been fun chatting! ps, I LOVE my camera...still!