You can't make this stuff up

My last 24 hours:

Tuesday
12:00: nice day; let's go to the park
1:00: low on gas, so ride to park with sister
3:00: finish playing with sisters and kids at a park downtown
3:30: get ride back home, can't find keys
3:35: get house key from neighbors
3:40: other sister calls; my keys left in her stroller - in the next county
3:41: realize I am seeing her Wed evening and will get keys back then
6:00: get Strider's van key off his keychain so I have it for tomorrow

Wednesday
9:00: is it worth it for library story time today? Sure is cold.
9:15: baby is napping early.
10:00: ok, we will go to the later story time
11:00: dress the kids, think about who will be coldest and grab hoodie for Rosebud
11:10: baby is dry and happy - no need to bring diaper bag
11:15: if we don't leave soon we are late!
11:25 buckling the kids - two tires need air BAD
11:27: decide to get air after library
11:32: in storytime, girls are happy
12:15: checking out books
12:20: back to the van, van doesn't start
12:21: keep trying not to look homeless as mommies pull away in their nice vans all around us
12:22: calling sister, father-in-law
12:25: calling nearly everyone on my street and in my ward that I know is home and/or has the room to fit our car seats. getting busy signals and answering machines
12:30: try father-in-law again with success!
12:35: back in library to stay warm (Princess is positively freezing)
12:50: he arrives, go out to meet our rescuer - baby starving and cold
12:51: attempt discreet nursing while having no nursing cover and talking to f-i-l
12:52: is the baby stinky?
1:00: f-i-l doesn't know what it needs - decides to abandon van and take us home
1:01: realize that this the one night a week we don't see Strider till 10pm
1:02: guess my plans to go to book club and see sister with the keys are looking grim
1:03: all carseats in his car, ready to roll
1:04: I have to pee SO bad
1:05: reach in pocket - can't feel spare house key from neighbors I brought
1:08: retrace all steps, in and out of library, give up
1:10: baby crying, stop at elementary school
1:12: Bugs is a good boy and had his key in his backpack. he brings it to his poor mother in the office
1:15: home and safe. quick prayer of thanks for the ride and the spare key
1:20: making an appointment to get my head examined

8 months old

My sweet baby Rosebud turned 8 months old yesterday.

I love to take pics each month on her birth date. It's been nice to have her sit really cute and take a smiley happy picture each month like here and here. Well now that she's mobile, there is no sitting.

Take for instance, her first diaper change of the day yesterday.

Yes, she is moving so fast that it's blurry.

No, please sit back down for a picture!

okay, or climb up the front of me

Just one picture for mommy...

never mind, just show me how you clap!

oh geez, gone again

Love you stinker!!

P.S. Know what else she did yesterday after the photo shoot? She stood. by. herself. Long enough for me to snap 4 pictures! Yikes!!

What I'm loving right now

Having 8 months of loving this



My $3 autumn centerpiece ($1.50 berry stuff and $1.50 stand at the thrift store)

Our drive to Heber this weekend - g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s

Experimenting with my new haircut - still trying to figure out what to do with it :) Why does only the hairdresser have the magic touch?

F--A--L--L is awesome!

And a few things from the web:

The picture and header of this post here.

Fall Forest Pie Cutters found here.

Fat Free Apple Cake here.

Reuniting

We went to Strider's mom's family reunion this weekend. It was a really nice day and the kids had a great time.

That's my brother-in-law spinning his new wife and my daughter. Then Princess got off and promptly threw up. Thanks Uncle Chase.

Cutie in the baby swing

Jedi makes a giant bubble



Bugs helps Princess on the really tall slide


A little volleyball for Potter (well, after the capri sun was gone)





Darling Rosebud




Man, I married into a super family!
Who wouldn't want grandparents this great?

Thursday Thirteen

1. I was a really good mom yesterday. Seriously. I was flying solo last night and it all just worked. Know what I mean? Everyone was stimulated, healthy, and everything got done. Need more days like that.

2. Bad habit to begin, but I have really been loving diet coke. Especially in cute little bottles which is the most expensive way to buy it.

3. Hanging out this week with siblings during the day? Priceless!

4. My fridge is sorry-looking. You know the cupboard is getting bare when the kids are begging for fruit. Glad tomorrow is payday.

5. Yay for The Office tonight.

6. What did we do before digital cameras? I love taking a bazillion photos.



7. I want to sew this weekend. I want to make an apron and I volunteered to do some stuff for the elementary school. Yikes - sewing for others? What am I thinking?



8. I was baptized 26 years ago today. Best choice I ever made.



9. My oldest is getting old! For Rude! He asked me to go play after school. Play with the big boys. Before they rode off on bikes and scooters they compared biceps, upper lip hair (none) and Adam's apples at the end of my driveway. Oy.



10. My birthday money is buring a serious hole in my pocket. Never having any spending money is rough, because when you do, you go crazy thinking of the possibilities!



11. I am finally ready for fall. The ridiculous non-fall decor by my front porch has got to go.



12. My crawling baby is cramping my style. I forget about all our stairs till the little ones start moving!!



13. My diet coke is gone. Better go start supper.

PS. To those with questions about my CHI...pretty much the straightener I never thought I'd have. It's worth about 4 times more than the one I had been using. It has ceramic plates which are quicker and more efficient at getting your hair smooth. But of course my hair is way too long right now. I have not had my bob since March and I need to get it back and get thinned out in order to really use this the right way.

Here it is!

Wherein she has her first deep fried snickers

Funnel cakes. Rides. Alligator shows. Prized quilts. Beef cattle. People-watching. Blue-ribbon peaches. Country music.


I love the state fair. As in loooovvvve.

It's always over my birthday, which adds to its charm I think.

My sister has better pics than I do: visit her post about our evening.

It was pouring when we got there, so we were drenched before we even started! But it dried up and bit, and the kids started to forget that they were cold. We had a blast.

And three words: World's Smallest Woman? Don't do it. Save your dollar. So uncomfortable and weird.

Anyway, here is our night.

My dad and sister smuggled in a birthday cake, even with the rain,

and we celebrated at the food court.

Family night, so of course we had the all-you-can-eat ice cream.


Mmmm, all the Fat Boys they wanted.

A rainbow as the sun came out!

Then to follow all the healthy stuff we just ate, we tried the deep-fried specialties.
I don't know if the snickers is worth all the hype. My kids liked it though.

My fave was the PB&J on a stick. WOW.
I really should be on a treadmill now.

Princess loved the livestock.

The butter sculpture was not to be missed.

Fantastic outing. I'm so touched that all my family came!

What a smashing night!

P.S. My siblings got me an over-the top gift. Want a hint?

I will need to get my hair cut ASAP.

More sewing

I have really enjoyed my latest projects. First one came about from our bedroom re-do. I have wanted to change our master color scheme for a while and stumbled upon some great deals that made that happen. More on that in a minute.

Anyway, one of the things to go was the old bedskirt, ratty around the edges from many many years of use. Fortunately bed skirts are never touched in the center, and instead of throwing it away I realized I had myself like three yards of nice white cotton.

I used the same concept as the other skirt I made the girls, except this is longer so she can 1) wear it longer and 2) not listen to me tell her to put her legs together and sit like a lady!.

And instead of a ribbon hem I used a fancy contrast stitch on my machine, happily chosen by Princess. I literally sat down and did the whole thing during Rosebud's nap one day; start to finish. Princess loves it and it seems to be the default thing to wear these days.

Don't ask my why she is sitting on top of the play kitchen. Oh well.


Next up was a project for the baby. I also used what I had on hand for this one, using scraps of coordinating material. Well, I guess I did pay $2 for batting. So nearly nothing.



I made a grab ball (pattern here) and it was really neat. Took a lot longer to sew all those little sections together than I estimated, but it was very satisfying to complete.

Here she is playing with it on her 7 month day ~sniff~

I even put 'crinkles' in a few sections. If you have ever used the Costco baby wipes you know that the blue package is very crinkly. Rosebud loves chewing on those. So I cut one up and inserted it before I sewed them shut.

Okay, the master bedroom.

I started thinking about changing things a while ago but I didn't know what to go with. The budget was, well, nothing. My energy for the project was...about nothing. But the white duvet (seen in this post) was getting baby/kids stained and I really just hated the lavender. I wanted to make it richer but not way girly. I started thinking about blue and brown.

I happened to be browsing the classifieds and someone was selling a Bed Bath and Beyond bedding set (minus the comforter) for $5.00 in the exact scheme I was wishing for. Five bucks for a set that retailed for $200. Brand new, just no comforter. So I got throw pillows, shams, a sheet set, valances and a custom made matching lamp shade for five dollars. I already like our down comforter so I figured I could make a duvet out of the flat sheet in the sheet set.

Three weeks ago I went to JCPenney because they recalled the bassinet I had used for the last three kids. I had just moved Rosebud out of it! Anyway, I wasn't sure how they would handle it but they returned it like it was new and handed me the full purchase price I paid in 2 0 0 2! Crazy stuff, but they said that was their policy. No argument here. Penney's rocks!!

I wasted no time in heading straight to the bedding and picking up a rich brown bed skirt and fancy ice blue sheets to match my $5 set. Now I had two flat sheets to work with - brown and blue. I sewed them together for a duvet!

The opening for the comforter to be inserted is a bit of a work in progress. Can't figure out how to do the closures the way I want to. But I like it so far.

Isn't it pretty? And I haven't even used all the other pieces yet!