Baptism Quilt

Taylor's Baptism is this Saturday and I've been working like a mad woman on his quilt. (Thanks to MIL last night for helping me finish it up! Reagan was just not feeling good and she would NOT let my tie the darn thing... )

Anyway, it's done and I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's in RED which is Taylor's favorite color.

Life is..... CRAZY

I'm feeling the guilt of not blogging for awhile... ;)

It's been BUSY around here!!! I had hopes of having recent photos and everything up, but no such luck.

I've been trying to get a little more *under control* around here. (Kind of hard with the mountain of laundry that seems to grow by the second...)

Had a bit of "stress" recently, and started working out again in the mornings. It's been awhile since I've done that... stopped when I found out that Reagan was on the way.

Speaking of Reagan... she's 6.5 months now, she's been sitting for a LONG time and is actually trying to balance on her knees and hands. No teeth yet which is totally weird for my kids... but hey... whatever.

Taylor turned EIGHT on the 19th and I can hardly believe it. We've started cub scouts now and he loves it.

Adding to the chaos, Madison started dance class. This point deserves a whole entry of it's own though, so more on that another day.

Jordan is still loving preschool and can't wait for kindergarten. He asks me EVERY DAY if "today" is the day he starts. It's going to be a long summer... ;)

Easter was great. Taylor got his first "suit". (My baby is all grown up!!!)

We poured a new front porch. Details of the disaster later.

I've been working like a mad woman on Taylor's baptism quilt. Hopefully it'll be done this week.

Just wanted to *check in*!

More later (but not *too* late I hope!) :)

In need of some diversity.

I realized yesterday that we don't live in a diverse neighborhood. I know this because of a conversation I had with my 5 year old yesterday.

We were out in the front yard - the weather has been so nice, we've taken advantage and pretty much stayed outside the past few days.

An older man comes walking down our street. Jordan yells "hi" to the man. The man obviously doesn't hear Jordan, so doesn't respond.

Jordan asks if I know his name - I tell him I don't. Madison says "he looks like a grandpa, so that's his name". Okay... fine.

Jordan says (as the older man is still walking off) "maybe he doesn't speak our language. Maybe he speaks Spanish. I know how to say 'hi' in Spanish"... HOLA!!!" (in a very loud YELL down the street at said older man....)

Jordan turning back to me when there was no response: "Nope... doesn't speak Spanish either".

Same little boy just asked me today if for St. Patrick's Day we're having "Leprechaun Meat" like we did last year.
My poor kids think we catch leprechauns to EAT them!!!! I've tried to tell Jordan that leprechauns are "little people" that leave and do silly things on St. Patty's day, but he still thinks that come our evening meal of corned beef and cabbage, that we're actually eating leprechauns.

Would someone like to tell me where I've gone wrong???

"While You Were Out", Heidi style!

So what do I do when Brian leaves town for 5 days?



CREATE MORE CHAOS of course!!!



Brian left for a convention in Las Vegas last Wednesday. He was gone over his birthday, so I figured a *nice* birthday present for him would be to SURPRISE him with a remodel of our bedroom!!!



I have NO before pictures which I'm totally sad about. But trust me, the room was UGLY. And the fact that I have no pictures of that room sort of proves it, right? We spent no time in that room because it just wasn't "us".



So, thanks to my sister in law (aka *toot sweets*), we spent 3 days doing a total room makeover.



In the middle of it all, the kitchen sink clogged. I made several really good attempts at fixing the plumbing, but it didn't work out. I was mighty pleased that when Brian got home he couldn't fix it either. I thought for sure he'd just "tweak" a few things and it would work again, but it's more of an *involved* problem, and I'm glad that he's back to take care of it. (Don't get me wrong, I'd like my kitchen sink back... but the fact that it wasn't an easy fix makes me feel better that I couldn't fix it on my own... I'm a stinker that way... *winks*)

"Toot Sweets" and I also decided to install new blinds in my living room window. (I've been wanting them for over a year now. We went by the motto of "it's better better to ask for forgiveness than permission with that one, and while Brian doesn't seem too thrilled about our choice, I'm happy to not be living in a "fish bowl" anymore. Besides... he likes the new curtains we made for that window, so liking *half* of that project is good, right?)



Anyway...



After a day of scraping UGLY wallpaper off the walls, and then long nights and into the wee morning hours scraping that same wallpaper off the floor, we were able to patch holes, paint, buy some new decor and turn my ugly little bedroom into a CUTE little bedroom!

Here are the photos!




The kids and I wrapped the bedroom door with "happy birthday" paper so that Brian had something to "open" for his gift.

This is what you see when you open the door! (okay, our bedroom furniture is HUGE in this tiny room, but there's no way you're getting me back on a queen size bed after moving to my totally comfy king size.... *winks*)

Found some totally cute picture frames that are just packed with photos of our *darling* kiddos.

Put up a new mirror... (thanks to our neighbor for saving me a trip to home depot for drywall screws. I wonder if he's still shocked that I know what drywall screws are, plus the fact that I actually know how to use them.... *giggle*)

Found the "big key" at Home Goods and thought it would look nice in the room. Jordan had the BEST comment about it though... The kids were showing Brian all around the room and Jordan said: "And DAD! This key came all the way from CHINA!!!!" Note to self: Remove the "made in China" stickers from inexpensive merchandise...

Brian was surprised by all the "updating"... I think he might be a little hesitant going out of town again and leaving me behind... He's worried what room I might tackle next.

I'm so TIRED!!! I'm so glad it's DONE!!! And I'm totally thrilled that I was able to do a project and surprise Brian with it!

Madison turns THREE!!!

Has it really been 3 years?

We celebrated Madison's 3rd Birthday yesterday. The night before I kept re-playing all the events leading up to her birth... Contractions all day long, getting to the birth center at midnight, and having a baby 53 minutes later in the water.

3 years ago!!! I can't believe it! It sounds so cliche, but it feels like yesterday... and she's even a big sister now!

Pictures from Madison's "pink a purple" party, because what's better than pink and purple????

Madison shows us "how many" she is now. Funny story: Taylor woke up yesterday morning to get ready for school and walked into Madison's room saying "Happy Birthday!!!" Madison rolls over in bed and says: "Taylor... I'm still sleeping". Taylor says: "Well, hurry and open your eyes because as soon as you do, you'll turn 3!"

Eyes opened right away. ;)

This is Madison's "Princess cake". It didn't turn out as pretty as I wanted it to. Reagan would NOT let me put her down, and decorating a cake one handed was pretty interesting. With about half of it done, I just finished it "lazy". Both arms were killing me. Madison was happy with it though, and that's what's important... right? :)

The birthday "spread". We just did cake and ice cream, but Brian made his "to die for" carrot cake again. (No hope of weight loss this week thanks to that gesture... ;) )

We're so proud of our little Madison. She has her moments, but she's a sweetheart just the same. Happy Birthday darlin'!!!

Our President's Day Fun

The kids were home on Monday for President's Day. Brian decided to take the day off too, so we were able to spend some good family time together.

We had a snow storm and the kids were just dying to get out and play in the new snow. Taylor and Jordan started making a snowman. I was watching Taylor try and lift the snowman's huge middle on to the bottom, and Jordan trying hard to help. Taylor tells Jordan after they were terribly unsuccessful: "Hey, go get Dad".

Brian went out, dress shoes and all to help finish up the snowman. We found some buttons for his eyes and mouth, a scarf and old hat... then had to put his carrot nose in.

The kids had so much fun!

We went and got a movie afterward, and "popcorn" buckets from the Disney outlet store. The kids love watching Herbie with their own little popcorn buckets!

It's days like these that I hope my kids remember... not the ones where I'm screaming at them to clean up their rooms... *blush*

A letter to my hubby.

Dear Husband:

You're baked treats are mighty tasty. Award winning probably.

The raisin bread is delightful. Your raspberry cream cheese cake thing is to die for. Not to mention the sugar cookie dough. But now you throw carrot cake into the culinary mix?

I'm going to be honest here: I never really liked carrot cake all that much. It *used* to be one of the few things I could pass by. I don't know if it's the toasted pecans you put in yours, or the to die for cream cheese frosting you make... but I can't keep my chubby little paws out of it.

And that's the problem. (Emphasis on "chubby" little paws).

I mean, you KNOW that your cake is good with the *almost* three year old sneaks down in the middle of the night to lick all the frosting off of it. But, I'm trying so hard to not be a fat blob, and your stinkin' little baked goods are NOT helping.

Besides. Most people don't even remember that you're diabetic. I mean, what sort of diabetic bakes this way???

Don't you want to try cooking vegetables in a way that they don't need to be put into a cake?

Do you know any recipes that don't call for pounds of butter? Or cream cheese???

Do you even know what "wheat flour" is?

I'm tired of this jiggly stuff on my person, but my taste buds simply cannot be deprived of your superb baking results.

Help me.

Love, The woman who doesn't look much like the one your married years ago...

P.S. Looking forward to your nummy homemade pizzas tonight. Maybe I'll go purchase some veggies so that it's not ONLY topped with Italian sausage, cheese and pepperoni...

AGGGHHHHH!!!!

Valentines Day!

Yippee, hooray it's Valentines Day! Now go hug someone and lets be done with it.

I'm not trying to be "Valentine Scrooge" or anything.

Really.

But I think Valentines Day is just another holiday to stress me out.

The kids wanted to MAKE all of their valentines for kids at school, they didn't want me to buy the cheap $1.00 for 36 valentines at the store. I spent more than $1 I assure you. I have $5.00 worth of glitter all over my house and the pictures to prove it.

So, *kiss kiss* everyone - lets move on. I've got glitter galore to clean up.

P.S. Did you notice all the glitter in Reagans hair??? I think you can click to enlarge... that stuff is horrid. And please take a looksie at all the GLUE dripping off of Madison's valentines. Aren't you all glad I'm not mailing any of these???

When dresses are too short, make BLOOMERS!

Madison is kinda-sorta growing like a weed. So, when I decided to try and get a few things ready for church yesterday morning, I found that all her little dresses were.... well.... LITTLE!

I need to sit down and make her some more dresses, but I didn't have a lot of time in the morning, so I decided to just make some "bloomers" to go under a dress she has that's just too short.

SO many people commented on her bloomers yesterday. I thought they turned out really cute, and I'll probably make some other dresses that she can wear the bloomers with, because she LOVED her "silly pants"!!! :)

It also made for the perfect opportunity to dress Reagan in a similar dress, so we had to take photos. ;)

I'm looking back on a few of my blog posts and noticing there isn't all that much about my boys. I'll work on that a little better... it's just easier to write about the girls since they're home with me all day and the boys are off at school. Maybe I'll take a picture of Taylor with his nose in a book tonight... And one of Jordan tormenting his sister...

Anyway... Hooray for the quick bloomer fix, eh? :)

"Spice" it up. (Lame title, great results)

My efforts for organization are slowly being noticed. I was sick and tired of my kitchen cabinets yesterday, so I took everything out and started over.

A couple of weeks ago, Brian and I went through our MANY cookbooks, and decided to put the ones we use a lot back up on the shelf. All the others went into a storage container and are downstairs in the basement. It's nice to have a little bit more shelf space when the entire top row of my cabinets used to hold books!!!

I didn't spend any more money on baskets or Lazy Susan's for the cabinets. It was all stuff I already had around the house. I purchased the white baskets thinking I'd use them for sewing stuff, but since working on the sewing room, I need something a bit different. So, I moved them all up the the kitchen.

Every thing's labeled and in order. I'm way happy with it. I didn't, however, alphabetize my spices because there is NO WAY I could keep them that way.

I've got SO much more to do around the house in the way of organizing, but progress is being made, so I have to be happy about that. ;)

The kids are well... they have dentist appointments today.

Taylor's spelling words are getting harder. He has words like Orchestra to learn. He craves it though, and loves learning. I think he's read 6 or 7 books this month.

Jordan is "changing" and is starting to be more serious about learning. He wants to be a "5 year old that can read". He's actually been pretty helpful around the house this past week or so which is a nice change for him.

Madison is WELL on her way to being diaper free. (HOORAY!) We didn't have any accidents yesterday. I can't tell you how happy this makes me!

Reagan is great. Sleeps great (when I'm holding her), is pleasant (when I'm holding her), smiles a lot at others (as long as I'm holding her.... notice a theme???) She's tolerating her Dad a lot better recently and I can almost make it through an entire shower without hearing her fussing. She even sat and helped Brian on the computer the other day. She's realizing that he's "okay people" and he PLAYS with her. Hopefully it will just get better and better... maybe sometime soon I'll be able to go to the grocery store KID FREE!!! ;) The picture of them turned out fuzzy, darn it all!

Just a load of "scrap"

One of my "goals" for January (and believe me, there are MANY and we'll be lucky if any ONE of them get completed...) is to get my laundry/sewing room organized. This is no easy task, because I have a small fabric addiction.

Lucky for me, our budget doesn't allow for a full on fabric addiction, otherwise we'd be using piles of calico as our couch. (yummy!!!)

The PROBLEM with this addiction is: I don't USE any of my "special" fabric. Most of it's been kickin' around the house since before I had kids. Then, the stuff I *do* use leaves me with another dilemma. Fabric scraps. You know... those pieces of fabric that are too small to really do any sort of "big" project with, but big enough that you just can't get rid of it.

I went through my "fabric scrap" box today and tried to fold/arrange it. The stuff in baggies are "little" scraps, while the stuff in the big purple tote are possibly big enough to make doll dresses or something else cleaver that I haven't thought of yet.

I filled up a dresser with my fabric. Then I put the boys old "little" dresser on top of it because I needed more drawer space, but I don't have space in my room. I'm FAR from done, and methinks I have another fabric scrap box somewhere...

What do YOU do with fabric scraps?!?!?

Reagan has been awful fussy today. It's a wonder I got anything done. The older kids have pretty much sat in front of the TV. Sad but true. I just didn't need them "under foot" while trying to accomplish something.

We did manage to try a bit of "tummy time" with Reagan though. (She hates it.) It didn't last long, but long enough to snap a picture of her.

Happy weekend!

More Bread

You asked for it, you get it. Since two whole people wanted to know how I make my bread "pretty", I'll dedicate almost an entire blog entry. ;)


For the record, I LIKE my bread this way, but I don't think it's anything to squawk about... but, the bishops wife thought it was pretty too, so maybe it is a little more "special" than a traditional loaf...

Step One: Two blobs of dough.



Step Two: Roll the "blobs" into "logs"







Step Three: One log over the other



Step Four: Lather, rinse, repeat






Step Five: One more time now






Step Six: Pan it up





Step Seven: Let it rise, bake it up

Step Eight: Brush with a bit of butter... and then have a piece already!!! ;)

Okay, so happy breadmaking all.

Tonight for dinner we had stuffed peppers. YUM! The boys weren't to keen on the pepper part, but the *guts* of it were mighty tasty. Madison has yet to try hers (the picky little stink...) Here are the peppers just after being put in the oven.

And I forgot to take a picture of them all pretty baked in the pan, but grabbed the last one and put it on a plate to snap a quick shot. The "white stuff" on top is cheese. The flash kind of makes it look weird, but oh well.

Man, am I domestic or WHAT?!?!? *winks*

PS... AMANDA! Heck yeah, I like *totally* want your wheat sugar cookie recipe... *Pretty Please*???