January Family Scripture {Free Printable}

For 2014 we decided to use scriptures that correlate with the Primary theme for the month. The overall theme for 2014 is Families are Forever. In January, the primary children will be learning about how Heavenly Father prepared a way for us to return to His presence. So, our scripture for the month is John 3:16. You can get this free print by downloading {here}. It's sized to be printed as an 11x14.

A little snow & other stuff

 The girls played in the snow for about five minutes before they started bawling because it was too cold.

I love him! This was in Oregon for Thanksgiving. We went on a walk together in the fog & took some pictures. 

The girls were excited about the Christmas pajama pants that I made for them.

Merry Christmas

I just want to wish you a very merry Christmas! We had a great time at our Ward Christmas Party & the girls both got to sit on Santa's lap. Savannah wasn't too sure until her gave her the candy cane. Sharon was too shy to say anything & told us in the car on the way home that she forgot to ask him for a doll house.

A bit of thanksgiving {free printable}

  Have you ever stopped to take a look at your life? Have you really noticed how much you have to be grateful for? When I stop to think about my life, I am dumbfounded by all the blessings I've received. Not all of them are huge, or even that noticeable if you aren't paying attention. If you've followed my blog for awhile, you'll remember one of our greatest blessings & miracles. November 2009 was a good month for Sharon. Every milestone that she meets, every time she does something new, I'm reminded what a miracle it is that she is simply alive, let alone that she is healthy & happy!
  Another part of my life for which I am extremely grateful is my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For me, it isn't just a Sunday church, where you go and worship & then come home & forget about it until next week. The gospel is a part of my every day life. From family prayer & scripture study, to simple service opportunities, to going to the temple & doing family history research, the gospel is part of my life & changes me for the better.
  I'm grateful for the miracle of modern medicine, for changing leaves in fall, for kind neighbors, for messy living rooms (because, you know, we live here), for my amazing family & so much more! November is often a month where we give thanks & show gratitude to friends, family, & sometimes complete strangers. Hopefully we can carry that attitude of gratitude throughout the rest of the year. Say "thank you," give hugs, send letters, & simply be kind. Everyone could use a little more encouragement & a little less criticism. So, here's a little reminder that you can download & print out. Go {here} for the leaf one, & {here} for the glittler one.

Family Scripture {Free Printable}

  During the last General Conference, I had the thought that we should start to memorize a scripture every month as a family. The first scripture that we chose was 3 Nephi 18:19-20 & I was amazed at how quickly our 4-year-old was able to memorize it. She was awesome! Even after we chose a new scripture for the month of November, she still wanted to say the old one. I asked if she remembered it & she was able to recite it from memory completely on her own. Children are amazing! So, for November, we wanted to choose a scripture that had a focus on giving thanks, you know, since Thanksgiving is coming up. We've chosen Alma 37:37 which reads: "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."
  I decided to make a cute print of the scripture to hang on our wall for the month to help us memorize it. I thought I'd share, just in case you might like a print as well. I sized it for an 11x14 & printed it at Costco for less than $3. My husband is going to make a frame for it, & we'll switch it out every month for whichever new scripture we choose. I think I'll also make up a set for the 13 Articles of Faith, since Sharon is encouraged to memorize one of them each month in Primary.
  So here's a preview of the print, but you can get the full resolution print for free, by going {here}. Enjoy!

Halloween 2013

What's been going on?

We've been a little busy with unpacking, but I have still been taking pictures of what's been going on. We've really been enjoying Boise for the last 2 months! Has it really been 2 months since we moved!? Crazy! Without further ado, here are some pictures to show we really are alive.

 I took the girls to the zoo on a beautiful day. We practiced walking like penguins. Sharon was really good at, while Savannah tended to just take tiny steps. Baby steps, right?

At the beginning of October, we bought a pumpkin & had dinner in a pumpkin. The girls liked squishing the seeds in their hands. Who doesn't love that! 

 I finished making Sharon's Halloween costume. She's going to be Cinderella. Savannah is going to be a cat. Should we call her "Lucifer?"

Sharon participated in her first Primary program at church this last Sunday. She did great! She even recited her part from memory, "I am a Child of God. He gave me a family that loves me very much." We sure do! This girl is so fun! She loves playing outside in the dirt, wearing princess dresses, washing dishes, helping me cook, & is such a good big sister. We sure love her! 

 Savannah was way more interested in her sandwich.

We carved pumpkins for Halloween. In this picture, the girls were helping scoop the seeds out of my pumpkin. Sharon picked a knobbly pumpkin that proved rather difficult to carve, so we had to enlist Daddy's help.

Well, that's all I had on my camera. I'll have to check our other cameras to see if anything else has happened. I'll try to post some pictures of our new house soon. We're getting settled & there are just a few more boxes to unpack. Happy Halloween!

A Grand Adventure

Well, after living my entire life in the state of Arizona, my world is about to change. My husband applied for a job in Boise about a month ago. We waited a couple of weeks before he had his first interview. Then waited another week & they called him to ask for a second interview (both were phone interviews). We waited until the end of the week & knew we would get a call either way. I was nervous all morning on the 26th & finally sat down to read a book, when my husband sent me a text that read, "Pack your bags!" We are so excited for this new adventure. Aside from his two year mission in Mexico, my husband has never lived out of Arizona, as well. We are ready for something new, & having a bit more rain & green certainly won't hurt. They want him to start at the beginning of September, so we have about a month to get ready. It's going to be a crazy month, but now that I have things to do & plan for I won't be as stressed. We're going to sell our home, try to decide whether to rent or buy right away in Boise, pack all of our things, say goodbye to our friends & family, all in just a month. Boise, here we come!

4th of July Campout

My Birthday Page

Yup, they're adorable.

A "super" day

Scrapbook kit found {here}

I've lost my buttons

Today was a nice day.

Most days are fairly nice, but I noticed that today seemed especially nice. I've been noticing lately that when I don't give my kids the attention they need throughout the day, we all end up grouchy. So, I've been trying to change.

Today we went to play group at the park, where my girls played for a few minutes, but spent most of the time sitting on our picnic blanket watching other kids play & begging me for snacks. We left when my knee pits started to get sweaty. I'm positive you really wanted that little piece of information.

After lunch, the girls took naps & I watched an episode of Inspector Lewis (my current Amazon Instant Video fix).

When they woke up, I blew up our play pool in the back yard with my husband's air compressor, which really makes quick work of it, and prevents me from hyperventilating. We filled the pool with about 6 inches of water & put our swimsuits on. The girls had a great time spraying me with squirt bottles, dumping water on my head, & making huge splashes by jumping up and down. And you know what, I enjoyed it, too. Even though I really wanted to tell them to stop pouring water onto my face, & my contacts were totally screwed up in my eyeballs, I let them play & giggle! We had fun!

While I made dinner, my husband cleaned up the living room and the girls "helped." We had biscuits and gravy, and both of the girls devoured it.

In getting the girls ready for bed, I noticed that Sharon's pajamas were missing a button. I already had the sewing machine out, so I asked if she wanted me to sew a new button on her shirt. Alas, I can't find my box of buttons, which is filled to the brim with every color of button. So, she's going to bed with her belly hanging out, and hopefully I'll be able to find the box tomorrow.

So, my advice to you tonight: play with your kids, let them dump water on you, read them that one book that they ask you to read a million times a day, or give them a piggy back ride to bed. They'll love it, and you probably will, too.

Oh, and if you've seen my box of buttons, will you please pick out a purple one & send it to me?

Savannah is 18 months

Plus a bonus page from the past

New in my shop

 I've been working on some new items for my Etsy shop! The latest additions include this 4 pack of Harry Potter buntings.

Also new in the shop are these Happy Birthday buntings. They have 8 colors of the rainbow & "Happy Birthday" painted in black. They are so cheerful! I might just have to leave one hanging in my dining room this week, since my birthday is coming up!

The Bubble Run

Spring Dance Recital

Stopping to eat the flowers

Camping Trip

Vanilla Extract

I'm happy to announce that my homemade Vanilla Extract is now available for purchase in my Etsy shop! I currently just have the 2 ounce bottles, but hope to have other sizes available soon! Check it out {here}.

What I'm Up To

Here's a little peek at what I've been spending my free time on lately. Here's a screen shot from my computer. Just doing some family history research. Want to know more about why I feel this is such an important task? Check it out {here}.

I'm a Cowgirl

Lace Ruffle Skirt

Lately, I've seen a few ruffly skirts floating around on Pinterest & I've wanted to make one for myself for quite awhile. I bought some beautiful eyelet lace awhile back & was planning on using it to make an extender slip to wear under dresses & skirts that are just slightly too short. Because I've been working on other projects, I just never got around to using it. Then, a woman from church gave me a large tote filled with vintage lace, ribbon & other trim. I pulled out all the lace & knew that it would go perfectly with the eyelet lace I already had to make my own ruffly, lacy skirt. I had some leftover fabric from a white sheet that I used to make a ruffle shower curtain, & it was just the right size. First, here are some pictures of the finished product, and then I'll get into the details.

I love the antique lace! The eyelet lace that I bought is at the bottom, in the middle, and at the very top. Instead of gathering each of the strips of lace and fabric, I just created a few pleats as I pinned them to the base fabric. I didn't want it to be too poofy.

My husband was the photographer.

I love that it fits me perfectly!

My husband actually said, "Give me some sass!"

It makes me smile to see all that beautiful lace!

I also paired it up with a skirt over the top, to show how it can also be a pettiskirt. Now, if I have a dress or skirt that is just a little too short, I can wear it with my ruffle skirt & have some extra, lacy length!

Just admiring my calves!

You won't be seeing anything you aren't supposed to when I bend over!

Yup, I was falling over.

Ok, now on to some details. Using a white sheet, I cut out a rectangle that was 22 inches tall by 52 inches wide. I was very exact in my measurements. You know, I held the fabric around my waist, pulled it a ways to account for the gathering that would happen, and then cut it off. I actually measured it afterward. I used the existing hem for the bottom, which just made less work for me.

This shows the existing hem from the sheet. The first row of lace is sewn just above the hem.

I laid the rectangle on my cutting mat, & starting with the bottom ruffle, I started pinning the lace & fabric onto it. I didn't want each layer completely gathered, so I just created some pleats as I pinned.

One of the pleats. They were fairly small & spaced about 5 or 6 inches apart. I varied them on each layer, kind of like when you lay bricks.

For some of the lace layers, I paired them up with matching fabric, just so you wouldn't see the white base fabric beneath, and to give it a little more texture. I had some off-white muslin that I just tore into strips to put under the off-white lace. I used strips of the white sheet under the white lace. I didn't serge the edges, because I kind of liked the torn look. If you don't, you could certainly hem or serge the edge.

If the piece of lace wasn't quite long enough to go all the way across the skirt, I just overlapped it with another length of lace or fabric & kept going. It looks fine & gives the skirt a little more personality. Plus, I had some lace that I really wanted to use but didn't quite have enough to cover an entire row.

View of the back

After sewing on the last row of lace, I sewed the skirt into a tube by sewing the short edges together. I tried to match up each layer of lace as I was sewing. This will be the back of the skirt.

View of the waistband.

I used some 2 inch white elastic for the waistband. I tried it on around my waist, making sure it would fit snugly, then cut it & sewed it together with the edges overlapping. I just zigzag stitched over each raw edge.

I then sewed it to the top of the skirt, stretching the elastic to fit the width of the skirt. 

And there you have it! A beautiful, ruffly, lacy skirt that fits perfectly! I love it & have already received so many wonderful comments on it.