Thursday, June 24, 2010

Underwater (And Not) Pictures

The water's cloudy at the moment.....but watch out for JADE!!
Here she is! Hahaha! Love it.
This was apparently taken while I'm visiting. I'm a great mom - I let Paisley wander around the pool while I'm not there. Yeah....that one wins some kind of prize!
My turn to have fun with the camera!
She LOVES floating around the pool! She even kicks to where she wants to go.
Amber being Amber. =)
Me and the Pie.

Aren't they FUN?? And we'll have so much fun taking more underwater pictures through the rest of the summer. Hopefully the darn pool will clear up.....

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

A Near Tragedy

My poor beloved camera broke this past weekend. After getting stuck in a recliner's hinge, being dropped 100+ times and drooled on by the monster baby, my beautiful camera called it quits Sunday. All it did was make a weird whirring sound as it attempted to open, stop midway, and freeze. No picture, no nothing. Wouldn't even turn off without having the battery yanked out. (The pic is after David tried to "fix" it. lol) *sigh* What to do?? I'm taking the girls to Virginia next Tuesday to see my mom and Kevin. And you KNOW there's NO WAY I'm going across the country without a camera! So - luckily David's paycheck was decent this time around and after much research, I found a replacement camera. Let me tell ya about it. It's waterproof to 10ft. Shock proof up to a 5ft "drop". Dust proof and freeze proof (though here in Az it seems unlikely I'll need that last feature). And $200 was the cheapest I could find it ANYWHERE! But.....I found it on amazon for $148 early Tuesday morning! Woohoo! And got it TODAY! Wow that was fast!! I finally took a video of Paisley walking. She's been getting steadily better over the past month or so. She now prefers it over crawling most of the time. The video is short, and a little crappy, and my house is a mess. But I don't freakin care! After dinner I took the girls swimming. Well - I let them swim while I finished cleaning the pool. And right as I was about to dive in, my visiting teachers walk through the back gate! lol I totally forgot they were coming! Luckily, after standing at the front door for a few minutes, they heard our noise and came back to investigate! During their visit, Amber had fun playing with the new camera in the pool and got some fun pictures. So - YAY for a broken camera and a new one to replace it! Hahaha!


Sunday, June 20, 2010

Cabin Videos





Cabin Fun

We had such a great relaxing weekend up at my Dad's cabin! After meeting up with Jami and Van on Friday afternoon, a 2 hour drive north, and a couple short stops, we poured out of the cars and all helped unload. Amber, Jade and Van took off to run wild while the "responsible" adults got things put away and ready for the evening. We were only able to stay until Saturday evening as I had to play piano in church for the Primary kids to sing to their dads today. But we still managed to have plenty of fun! On Saturday, the kids all enjoyed playing in the creek, painting rocks, and riding the quads. David taught Amber and Jade how to drive themselves and WOW! They're quite good at it! I took a ride with Amber driving and I didn't have to do a thing (but I did keep my foot hovering over the brake - just in case!) but sit and relax. It was a bit strange being there without my dad. I really missed him a whole lot. I'm kind of glad we didn't end up staying the extra night. I think the shortness of the trip helped me deal with being there without him this first time. Maybe it'll be a little easier next time we go up. That's my hope anyways. We stopped in Payson for some Pizza Hut and Dairy Queen. Paisley was a monster the whole way up and back....but was pretty good the rest of the time. By the time we got home (almost 10 last night!), all three kiddos were sound asleep. And we ALL slept in this morning and didn't have time to make David a special Father's Day breakfast! Oh well! The girls and I are making steak, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and cookies for him instead.
   

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Learning To Sew


My wonderful mom taught me to sew when I was 6. Yes, 6. She forced me to sew on lined paper FOREVER!!!! Suppossedly to teach me how to sew straight. Well, it worked. And even though I (not-so) secretly resented it, I'm now very thankful for her strictness. Anyways, Amber has been begging me for sewing lessons. So the first thing I did......I whipped out a sheet of lined paper. Hahaha! After going over the basics of my poor, old, grouchy sewing machine - and warning her to keep her fingers clear from the needle - she was ready to sew! I had her sew 5 straight lines and of course inspected her work. Mom, you'd be proud. I made her re-do 3 lines. And after bursting into frustrated tears, I asked her where she was watching the line. Apparently I forgot to tell her to watch it BEFORE it gets to the needle! lol She had no problem finishing her lines after that clarification! If she's still interested tomorrow, I'll start her on a little nine-patch pillow.

Matchy - Matchy

Paisley now has a dress to match....


Amber!

P.S. - Are you sick of my sewing posts yet? Too bad!! I'll have a few more comin.....

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Two More For Pie













I love this cute little bubble. It was really super easy, too. Which I also love. =)

I'm still on the fence with these overalls though. Hmmm....

Friday, June 11, 2010

More Dresses

I bought pretty yellow/green stripey fabric for summer dresses back in March or April. Maybe even sooner. Not really sure.... Ummm - I never got around to actually making them. I'm thinking I was a little burnt out after Jade's princess dresses and then Easter dresses. That's what I'm gonna stick with. And we'll just not mention my laziness - okay? Okay. Anyways, since we're headed to Virginia in 2 1/2
weeks (Eeeeeeee!!!) I figured I should finally make the darn dresses. And I'm glad I did! I think they turned out quite well. I didn't really follow a pattern for Amber and Jade's dresses. The pattern I used has buttons down the front and puff sleeves. I didn't want them identical.....so I altered the pattern differently for both. I know you can't tell very well, but Amber's straps criss-cross in the back. I'm thinking of adding a green ribbon sash around the waist on hers. Or green pockets. I really adore pockets on dresses btw. Jade's has ties on the sides and I'll either add pockets to hers too, or maybe green lace on the bottom and neckline. Not sure. I have a trip to Joann's planned on Monday and I guess I'll just see what they have. Paisley's fabric came from one of David's old shirts he was throwing away. I saved it from the trash pile, cut it up, and found coordinating fabric. I LOVE how her dress turned out! LOVE IT!!! I think it's one of the cutest dresses I have ever made ever. EVER! I have a couple more cute things for Pie to make, and maybe another dress for Amber and Jade....maybe. I still have a pesky quilt calling my name I should pull out of the closet and finish. I'm on a roll so I'd better not stop till my projects are done!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A Very Fun Day

Three fun things today. Got a new stomach smoosher to compress my flabby middle and help me lose inches around my waist faster. It's called a "Squeem" - made of rubber and lined in cotton. It has a double row of hooks so as I get thinner I can tighten it up. I put it on and SQUISH! It works quite well! =) Here's what the product review says: "Squeem has been manufacturing "FAJAS" and body shaping garments for over thirty years. Our FAJAS have the PERFECT TOUCH: a perfect combination of cotton smooth touch and the modern compression of pure natural latex. Reduce 1 to 4 inches immediately with suggested use. The firm compression cotton and rubber Waist Cincher by Squeem Magical Lingerie not only immediately reduces your waist line, but accelerates weight loss through high compression, perspiration and micromassage. A Triple filtered cotton lining provides superior absorption and perfect comfort, while flexible boning prevents the garment from binding and rolling! The Cotton and Rubber Waist Cincher immediately firms and flattens the abdomen. The Firm Compression Cotton and Rubber Waist Cincher by Squeem Magical Lingerie promotes a quick postpartum recovery (consult your physician), corrects posture, and relieves most lower back pain (consult your physician). Daily recommended use: 8 to 10 hours."

Second fun thing. I got a free Evenflo Converitble Carseat! Through my stake. There's a program Arizona has for parents of small children my stake got ahold of and set up a time for them to come teach parents about carseat safety. Oh, and give out free carseats. Brand new ones. Brand spankin new. There was a sign-up list sent around in March or April but I never saw it. So I went down to the church in case there were extras cause I will need a new carseat for Paisley when she's a little bit bigger. Was going to get her one for her birthday. But now I can buy her fun toys instead! Yay! When the person was "teaching" me about the seat, she said babies should be rear-facing till they're 35lbs. I just laughed and informed her my 6 year old barely weighs that much! So she said to just keep Paisley rear-facing as long as possible and the minimum weight for forward-facing is 20lbs. I told her I could probably handle that!


Last super fun thing of today. My mom was very kind and helped me buy tickets to bring the girls out to see her in Virginia this summer!!! We leave on June 29th and get back July 7th. I'm soooo excited to see my mom!!!! I told Amber and Jade I got the tickets and they jumped up and down with joy and wanted to pack right away. 3 weeks from yesterday and we'll be in VA! Can't wait! This is my mom's backyard. A-MA-ZING! Jade's quite excited to go fishing with Bobo. Amber wants to catch a turtle. =)

Other things we did today included swimming lessons and then swimming at home with Zach and Tai. I made chocolate fudgey cake as a treat after swimming. YUM! And then I sent most of it home with Tai so I couldn't eat it all. But with my new squeem....I won't be able to! Good-bye extra baggage! =)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Memorial Day

A little late....but I'm posting now. Been feeling a little lazy about downloading pictures. Sorry! Anyways, Memorial Day was a ton of fun! We had a pool party and bbq at our house and the consensus is that it was FUN! Too bad more of you didn't show up! But it was great to see those who did! Here's some pictures from the day.....
Those who couldn't make it....or didn't even try (you know who you are!) you have a chance to redeem yourselves in 2 months. Throwing Paisley a Hawaiian Luau Birthday around August 1st. I'll let you know the day and time. And you'd better be here....with your grass skirts and lei's ON! =)

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Why I'm Fun Mommy/Aunt Lissa

I have no problem drawing on kid's faces when asked. =)