A visit from Poppa & some fun projects!

I am such a Daddy's girl. I was so excited when my mom told me that my Dad was going to be in Salt Lake on business. Unfortunately, he couldn't stay long, but we did get to see him for about three hours one evening. These are not great photos, but oh well! This is what I have. :)

(terrible, terrible picture of me)

Hannah was so excited to see Poppa! She just wanted to hold on to him all night. She sat by him at dinner and just held on to his arm when we went back to his hotel room.

Ainsley was getting into everything (as usual) so Thomas sat her on the top of the fridge. Ainsley doesn't like to be up that high.

We had a great time visiting with Dad and the only two things could have made it better... if Momma had come, too and if they could have stayed longer! Thanks, Daddy!
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Our internet was acting up on Saturday and it was just frustrating me so much that I decided to unplug and do something non-digital. I can hear the gasps of surprise all over the world as I type this! :) I have been wanting to do some sewing and some paper and paint crafting and this seemed like a perfect time!

First, I have this adorable little ruffled skirt that I made for Hannah. The pattern came from my Aunt Sara's blog. I altered it a bit for Hannah. I have the pieces cut for Ainsley's skirt, but haven't gotten as far as actually putting it together.

*My alterations:
Ruffles: I used the same lengths as the 2T pattern because I wanted a knee-length skirt she could wear with leggings. For the ruffles, I used the full width of the fabric and cut out two widths for each ruffle. So, each ruffle was 88" wide before I sewed it together and gathered it. (LOVE your tip for gathering, Sara!) Also, instead of doing the waistband and Ruffle A out of the same fabric, I alternated the fabrics.

I used corduroy fabric and I LOVE how it turned out. Hannah picked the patterns and colors. I just love the solid feel to the skirt. And ironing the seams literally saved the project! I can't even tell you what a big difference it made on the hem.

Next, up, these funky little pumpkins! Is it fall yet? I got the idea for these pumpkins from this blog. I made mine much more rustic. And yes, that's on purpose! :) We are doing Thanksgiving at our cabin this year, so the more rustic, the better they will fit in with the decor! I ended up filling the top of the pumpkins with poly-fill and the bottoms with pinto beans! Beans aren't cheap. I was surprised that the filler cost more than the fabric! I made my pumpkins in a big variety of sizes and fabric types. I have some quilted fabric, some patchworked pumpkins and some metallic pumpkins, too! I mostly used leftover fabrics I had in my stash, but I did pick up a couple of remnant fabrics from Wal-Mart.

The top set of pumpkins is for Hannah & Ainsley's bedroom. They wanted some pumpkins for their room and the thought of a real pumpkin in there is WAY too frightening for me. Ainsley likes to throw things when she doesn't want to go to sleep.

These pumpkins were so much fun to make! I forsee my pumpkin colony multiplying!

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And just some random cuteness from my girls yesterday! We had to leave sacrament early because Ainsley was in desperate need of a nap. But Ainsley is a messy napper, so I had to get a few photos of that adorable outfit before she made a big ol' mess of herself!

Ainsley did NOT want her photo taken.

Hannah was more than happy to pose for the camera. Thanks, Hannah Baby! :) Yes, her hair looked better than that before church. She insisted on a headband and every mother of a five year old girl knows how long headbands stay on their heads... about five minutes!

NewEgg delivered my printer ink to my old address so you don't get to see my latest and greatest hybrid projects for another week or so. Hannah has fall break coming up this weekend. I have no idea what I am going to do to keep these two both entertained all day. Probably bake a lot of treats. Speaking of treats... I baked these today. YUM! And those adorable little pumpkin pies will be making an appearance at an event near me in the near future. I must find a mini muffin pan. :)

Some Scrapbook Layouts and Projects!

When I was at the Scrapbook EXPO, I was privileged to meet some truly talented women who share my love of scrapbooking and also of designing products. Two of these women are The Ettes. If you haven't ever met The Ettes, you need to! They are absolutely hilarious and a ton of fun! I have had the good fortune to be able to work with a couple of their newest products and I want to show everyone the results!

I can only show you three of the project so far. The other two kits I am working with haven't been released yet! Keep your eyes open, though, and I will post my other projects as soon as the products are released! You can find this kit at:
Autumn Breeze by The Ettes at ettesandcompany

First up, a hybrid project! That's a digital project that you add "real" stuff to make it a mixture of paper & digital scrapbooking. This wasn't technically hybrid, just kind of. I made a treat bag topper. I just created a 5x7 layout, created my topper in that canvas size, printed it, cut it out and attached it to a Ziploc sandwich bag. Easy-peasy.

I did this layout all on my own! I miss having my girls this little and sweet. These photos are from October 2007.

And finally, some photos from November 2006. These photos were really hard for me to scrap. They are from the day my mom & dad packed up and left Florida. Even though it has been almost three years, I still miss having my parents just down the road. It wasn't the same after they left and just no longer felt like home. I decided that it was finally time to scrap these photos! In addition to the Autumn Breeze kit, I also used one of the Templ-Ettes from Collection 8, also by The Ettes.

Okay, that's it. Life is good. My kids drive me crazy. But I sure do love them! :)

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

I can't believe she started school today. I mean, I always knew this day would come, but I didn't really think it would. Ya know? It just kinda snuck up on me.

Let me walk you through the school experience today. First up, a picture with Ainsley, before we left for school.

One of Hannah by herself with her brand new Tink backpack.

On the way to school!

Showing Daddy where her classroom is.

Posing in front of her class. No, she didn't have to go to the bathroom, she just likes to be crazy.

Hannah lining up with her class when the bell rang.

Walking into the classroom

Seriously? I have to wait until 2022 to ship this kid off to college? Totally kidding!

This is what she looked like when I picked her up after school. I thought she must have had a bad day at school. Nope, she wanted to ride the bus home and not ride home with me. BUT there was a mixup with the school and they didn't have her assigned to a bus route, so she couldn't get on the bus. Hopefully that will be resolved in time for school tomorrow!

She was happy once we found a nice shade tree for her to pose under.

After we got home I took some pictures of Hannah (Yes, sadly, that is our back yard. We can't seem to get rid of the weeds.) A girl that I scrapbook with gave me this idea to take a picture of Hannah with her name in her handwriting. My friend used a chalkboard but since I didn't have one of those, Hannah used a sharpie and spiral notebook. But I like it. I am going to have to do some photos of Ainsley tomorrow.

This is Hannah in one of our big trees.

And this is Hannah when she was done with the photo shoot.

It feels like just yesterday that she looked like this. And she actually liked her parents. And she was sweet and tiny. And I could protect her and keep her safe from the big bad scary world. I have to stop or I am going to start crying again. :)

The good news, she loves school and is happy to go back tomorrow. Bad news, it took us TWO HOURS to do a simple homework assignment. She had to tell me ONE sentence about her first day of Kindergarten and then draw a picture about it. She didn't want to draw a picture about it. She wanted to write a poem. We are trying to stress the importance of following directions. Wish us luck.

more August!

I scrapbooked! Some new, some old, but I am just excited that I did it! First up, we have Hannah when she went to school to meet her teacher. This layout makes me so sad and I know that I am going to ball my eyes out on Thursday! I need to borrow Uncle Helen's pumpkin glasses! My sisters will get that.


Next up... the kids were really bored today! They had a blast playing with these paper cups this morning. Now I am ready to throw them all away because they are fighting over them and filling them up with water and throwing them at each other... okay, that only happened ONCE, but it was enough to bring out Mad Momma!

I think I already shared this photo, but I scrapped it this week! It's Ainsley sneaking a cookie on my desk... little monster.

And this is a page I did of Ainsley as a baby. I can't believe that she is so big! It's hard to remember that she was so tiny once upon a time. Or so bald! Good grief I have bald babies! Good thing they outgrow THAT!
That's it! We're just keeping busy with work, keeping the kids from fighting, getting ready for school, cleaning, keeping the kids from fighting, yardwork, unpacking the house, keeping the kids from fighting... you get the picture!

August So Far...

It's been a fun month and I think the best way to show you what we've been up to is to show you the photos!

Ainsley sat on my computer desk and snuck a cookie... for breakfast.

Then one morning, we decided to bake some lemon drop cookies. We headed outside with a towel, a ziploc bag full of lemon drops and a hammer. We had a lot of fun crushing those lemon drops. We actually ended up with more lemon drop powder than anything else!

Don't they look good? They were delicious!

We decided to take some of them to the Cardall Family Reunion later that night. We had a really good time eating dinner and talking to family members. The kids loved that we had the reunion at a park because there were some really cool playground toys right next to where the parents were hanging out.

^Isn't Jakie cute?!

^Ainsley loves the swings!

^ She also loved the strawberry lemonade that Mom made for her!

^Hannah had so much fun that she didn't want to leave.

But she did stop pouting long enough to smile for a picture with Makayla.

^All the kids playing together.

^Gracie & Jo

A couple of days later, we went down to the fountains at the Gateway with Aimee & her kids.

^Ainsley was a bit intimidated by the water.

^Hannah was demonstrating karate for everyone there... using Ainsley as her practice dummy.

^Then she picked a flower.

^And posed for a photo

^Then Hannah relaxed and started having fun.

^The girls had a lot of fun together and enjoyed warming up in the sun.

Yum! A chocolate chip cookie.

Chocolate chip cookies + sun = big mess
And washed it down with a bottle of water.

Later that night...
Ainsley got into my makeup bag and put lipstick all over herself. Isn't she pretty?

She was so worn out that she fell asleep on the arm of the chair that night.
Maybe we should do this every day! :)

A few days ago, Chrissy called and we met her over at our local park. Once a month during the summer they have a little family night with food, face painting, crafts and games. It's a cute little family night.

Hannah wanted a red heart painted on her face.

Ainsley wanted one just like Hannah's.

Liv got one, too. Since we waited until the end of the night to do the painting, they didn't have a ton of time to do detailed stuff, but the girls were all perfectly happy with their hearts.

After a little while, we went over to the little playground and let the little ones play. They had fun on the slides!

And since that night, we have just been living the dream at home...

^Ainsley decided to get her potty seat stuck on her head.

^Hannah decided to practice her letters & writing by composing a song called "Love Mom". It was precious!

The next night, I made a delicious dinner for Thomas and the girls(grilled cheese, I think), but I just wanted a bowl of edamame. The girls decided that my edamame looked like more fun to eat. They kept popping the soybeans out of the pods.

And the fun didn't stop when the beans were gone. The girls decided that the pods were just as much fun!

Yesterday, Ainsley was playing with her giant Diego doll. She got tired of playing with him and put him down for a nap.

^All that parenting is exhausting work.

Ainsley climbed up in my lap while I was working. Hannah wanted to sit with us, too.

And finally... for all you naysayers who thought our Total Gym would go unused.....

BAM! The kids love it! :)
(And we have both used it, too!)

And coming the rest of the month... Hannah turns five and starts kindergarten...

(all the photos were edited using various photo actions by Sarah Cornish)