Merry Christmas to all...

The Spirit of Christmas

Need a holiday pick me up?  I did (I was feeling very Bah Humbug-ish) then I saw this and it got me right back into the real spirit of the holidays.  Merry Christmas!

The Spirit Of Christmas

Sorry I'm not super smart at this and couldn't figure out how to load this to my post.  But you should really go check it out!

Joy School

We have been doing a little preschool with 3 other moms in our ward.  Ivy needed a little help with going to nursery after her aunt Lolo got put in a different nursery so I thought this would help.  Plus having 1 1/2 hours all by myself once a week didn't sound too bad either!  We had school at our house last week and we learned about the letter C for Christmas!  It is so great to see Ivy making some new friends and learing all kinds of things! 

I traced their hands and made these cute reindeer hats.  We also had red noses(that are Circles) taped to their noses.

Do you know how hard it is to get 3 toddlers to all look at the camera and smile at the same time?!

Merry Christmas!

Silly Things

I just wanted to write down a couple of funny things that Ivy has been saying and doing lately.

* Rudolph is Bluedolph the red nosed reindeer. 

* Tonight she was calling bandaids bambis.

* She always calls me Mama  _______ fill in the blank with any animal such as reindeer, snake, bear, puppy.

*She then refers to herself as the baby version of that animal.  I also use this tactic to get her to do something.  Somehow she is more willing to do it if she is a baby witch or baby cat.  And if she gets hurt its instantly "Mama Snake(or her animal of choice for the day) come here.  And if I just say "Are you ok?"  She reminds me that I need to say Baby Snake.

* Sometimes she says ya instead of you.  Like Can I sit by ya?  I know it doesn't sound funny to read but she is very sing-songy when she talks.  She uses this when she asks if someone is all right too.  "Are you all right?  Are ya?!

* Her favorite things right now are mac and cheese, pears and being chased and chasing around the house.  As soon as Darin walks in the door its CHASE ME!  But we have to pretend to be bears or elephants or sharks or the Grinch.

* Animals are still a passion for her.  In case you couldn't tell.

* She is FINALLY getting her last 2 front bottom teeth.  Not the middle ones but the ones on each side.  Actually I'm sad about it cuz she is so cute when she shows you her teeth and has those little holes.  Its even funnier when she does it to Grandma in church and growls at her.  Then says Your turn!

*SIGH* Why does she have to grow up?

***Edited to add... She calls popsicles bicycles.***

Thirty Flirty and Thriving!

I turned 30 on Friday.  Darin tried really hard-and succeeded in making it a special day.  I'm not gonna lie, I've had a string of not so great birthdays so it was great.  Last year Darin was in the hospital with kidney stones if that gives you any idea.  I get some fun presents like

his old camera with a new lens (I made that camera strap isn't it cute!) and some soup bowls that are so gorgeous I can't wait to use them.  Ivy and I also went and had lunch with Darin at Greenies AND Darin came home early from work.  Ahh what a sweet guy. 

Darin's sister Ellayne has her birthday on the 22nd, mine and Rob (Ellayne's husband) have our birthday on the 30th, then Darin and his brother Rich have birthdays on November 10th and 11th.  So we also had a little party with just adults at our house.  It was nice to not have a bazillion kids running around and then everyone have to leave at 8 so those bazillion kids can go to bed.  We had some yummy food, chatted, and played a few games.  What a perfect, low key way to have a birthday.  Thanks to everyone for making me feel so special and loved!  Its because of such loving friends and family that I feel so great about being *ugh* thirty!

Happy Halloween!

Ivy has LOVED everything about Halloween.  She enjoys the creepy and getting scared (as much as a paranoid mom will let her get scared) and all of the Spookies.  Here is her costume parade for the month.  The cat costume was given to us by Aunt Laney. 

 

This was the costume I put together for Halloween.  She only wore it to the ward trunk or treat party though.  I say she was a pirate.  She says she was a witch baby!

 

 

On Halloween she ended up being a BYU cheerleader.  She was crabby and I wasn't going to fight her to wear a costume.  My dad gave her this cute little number!  We didn't even end up taking her trick or treating on Saturday because she was having so much fun handing out candy to all of the trick or treaters!  This is the first year in our 8 year marriage that we have lived somewhere that we actually had more than 3 kids ring our doorbell.  So that was a lot of fun.  I ended up having to open the last bag of candy (I was hoping to be able to take it back).  Oh well.  Now to resist the temptation to eat it. Happy Halloween!

Oooh La La, Fancy!

Ivy picked out these shoes to wear to church yesterday.  Nice shoes, but they don't quite match girl.

She made it all the way to the car.  It was "kinda shlippery" though!  And yes they are on the wrong feet. 

These boots are made for running around the house so I don't have to get dressed for church.

 

 

 

Pearl Jam

Darin randomly heard on NPR that Pearl Jam had a new album.  So he downloaded it.  Then he thought "Hey I wonder if they are touring?".  Lucky for him they are and just happened to be in Portland four days later.  So we closed the store early on Saturday and headed to Portland for the concert.  We dropped Ivy off at my mom's house (thanks Cory for babysitting!) and headed up to the Clark County Fairgrounds where the amphitheater is. 

Ben Harper and the Relentless7 opened.  They were OK in my opinion.  They got better as they played more stuff.  We had general admission tickets so it was a little chilly.  Darin was shivering before PJ even started!  It was cold but it made it so the music was the perfect volume-for me anyways.

The stage setup was pretty sweet.  The backdrop was like an old typewriter with PEARLJAM on it.  Darin sang his guts out and I joined in on the songs I knew.  They were REALLY good live and rock out pretty good for being old!  Haha.  I think they are in their 40's or something.   My favorite song was actually a duet Eddie Vedder did with some girl that was from Portland.  I can't remember the name of the song but when I do I will update.  Too bad it takes driving all the way to Portland and Pearl Jam to get us out on a date these days! 

Sunday Morning

One Whole Year

So we have been in Washington for a whole year now.  The time has flown by and gone so slow at the same time.  When I think of how much Ivy has grown and changed  in the last year it boggles my mind.  But now that its been a year here are the thing I do and don't like about Tri Cities...

I LOVE the weather.  This summer was amazing, and only snowing in December?!   Fabulous.  

Have I mentioned how much we love being near family?  Seeing babies right when they are born, instead of a year later is awesome. Getting to visit my family at least once a month instead of once a year is more than I could have hoped for a year ago.  

Sunsets, the river, farming( we don't farm, just all the farming around us) Greenies, exploring the state of Washington, learning and growing all the time are just some more great things about being here.

My biggest complaint about Tri Cities are the bugs, especially the spiders.  As Ivy says Ewww Gross!  My only other real complaint I guess is shopping, but that's what trips to Portland are for right?!  Besides there is an Old Navy and Target so what else do you need? 

The other day we were asking ourselves if it was a good year.  Darin and I both said "ehhh sure."  It's definitely been the hardest year we have faced together so far.  Would I change it?  Honestly yes, but not everything, and not what you would think.   That's how life is though, right?  It never works out how we plan, so you just have to go with it and have faith that things work out.  They always do somehow. 

  I

Making It My Own

I started a craft blog tonight so I can keep it separate from our family stuff. Go check it out at http://makeitmyown.blogspot.com/! I'm super excited to start this and hope it works out!  Thanks everyone for your support.

Go BYU!

Watching football with Grandpa in 2007(4 months old!)


Ready to watch football with Grandpa in 2009(2 years old!)

We were cleaning out the garage since I was getting the fall decorations out and going through some baby stuff for my sister in law. Ivy put this size 6 months BYU shirt on and besides the neck it actually fit. So I thought I would try to fix it so she could wear it this year. I cut out the neck, and cut off the sleeves. I ruffled the sleeves then reattached them. I also cut the bottom off of a white t-shirt that is too short for me. More ruffling, then attached it to the shirt. It needed pants so I made some from another shirt I never wear. Now Ivy is ready for football season!

Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

How cute is this backpack? Ivy isn't even close to going to school but I want her to have this backpack when she does!

Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Craftiness

So a few people have asked where I got the pattern for Ivy's green dress. And I totally spaced giving credit. It is from an AMAZING blog called Lil Blue Boo. (Sorry I don't remember how do do that link thing) so the link is...
http://lilblueboo.blogspot.com/2009/06/border-fabric-sundress-tutorial.html
But you shouldn't just look at that tutorial. There are tons of cool things on her blog. I get a ton of ideas from other blogs-just look at the links on the side of my blog. On Creative Crate she actually as an awesome link love that has TONS of creative blogs. I'm warning you though. It is super easy to get hooked on looking at this stuff! I warned my friends Carrie and Becky, but it won them over too. So check out those blogs. Just don't get too bummed by how amazing these women are. Sometimes I wonder how they can keep their house clean AND do all this stuff(cuz I cant!)

Ivy Faith is Two Years Old!

We just watch her with wonder every day. She is exactly what I dreamed of for all those years of waiting for her to come. I wanted to write down some of the cute things that she does so I don't forget.
My favorite is that she calls blankets "blankely". Luckily she isn't attached to a certain one just blankets in general.

Her favorite things are swimming, fruit snacks, watermelon, shoes, sharks and blueberries.

Darin is by far her favorite person in the world and can't wait for him to come home every day. But he is my fave too so I can't blame her.

She can play in the fairlane for a good hour or so while Darin is out working on cars. She goes to the store for groceries and to the park and on trips.

Books are a big part of our day. Some favorites are "Go Dogs, Go"(the mini board book one is much better!), Summer, Richard Scarry books, One Fish, Two Fish, Mercer Meyer books and a new favorite is Fancy Nancy. Ooo la la!

Her best friends are her cousins who she likes to list off all the time.

Recently she has been adding extra "L"s to words. So instead of please she says
Pla la lease. Or blocks is blo la locks.

She is getting better at coloring, stays pretty entertained at church with stickers, can count to ten and recognize some letters.

Speaking of church she is pretty much crazy there. Thank goodness LoLo is in nursery so she will go and has a good time. I just have to make sure I bring enough food to keep her quiet during sacrament meeting. I guess I can't expect TOO much. The girl can't sit still for more than 3 seconds!

Thats my baby Ivy. She couldn't be more perfect! But now that she is two we'll see eh?!

She might be part fish

Or part shark if you ask Ivy. She LOVES the water. She wears swimming suits over her clothes when we are at home. When you do take her to the pool she squeals the whole time. And she would take 5 baths and showers a day if we let her.

We love summer!

Have I mentioned how much we love living by family?! Ivy adores her cousins and it is the highlight of her day if she gets to play with them. I mean who wouldn't want to play with these fun kids!

Wanna help support my habit?!

I really like to sew. Its addicting and I am borderline obsessed with fabric. I love finding just the right thing. Now I'm by no means an expert seamstress but I have learned a lot and I have actually sold a few thing and done custom orders through Greenies. The one downside to moving out of Ellen and Wayne's house is I no longer have immediate access to her serger. Which means my seams look like this...

instead of this.
I realized how much I would actually use one this week as I did a marathon sewing session. I made a dress for Ivy and 3 shirts for me. Plus if I want to be able to continue selling stuff I need a serger. After talking to Darin about it I've decided that if I'm going to get one I need to prove that it would be a good investment as soon as possible by selling some of my creations. SEW(haha) if you want to help me out and get some really fun stuff such as a super cute sundress for a little girl like this one...
or some cute ruffle pants and a top like these...
even baby blankets, bibs, a purse or a breezy shirt like this one...
(it would be an awesome maternity shirt!) then leave a comment or email me and we'll figure it out!
Just give me an idea on colors and what you would like. Which means I'll get to find some really amazing fabric and feel justified in getting it! And I can make some more dresses that AREN'T for Ivy cuz she can only have so any right?! Well enough of my shameless plug. Thanks guys!

Kayaking on the 4th

Cool Desert Nights