Sisters, Sisters

Most times when I see my girls being cute together, I start singing the song "Sisters, Sisters" from White Christmas. Usually just: "Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters."

I got them to be adorable for pictures in their new Christmas dresses. It's really nice to have a MIL that is practically a seamstress. She is amazing! I usually (when I actually sew clothes) go to her for the hard parts. She usually finishes my project for me... It's nice! I feel bad, but they end up better than I would have done it.

She has started making Christmas and Easter dresses. I love it. I don't have to do all the work that I don't know how to do. Perhaps I should get her to teach me more...I guess that would involve actual sewing, from an actual pattern. I do like to sew, but not generally clothes.


And, in case you are unfamiliar with "Sisters, Sisters" here it is!

Funk

Don't worry, I'm only in a blogging funk, not a general funk. Christmas is still in my heart. I'm enjoying the joy and high the kids are still on.

I don't know why, but I just haven't had a lot to write about. I don't feel particularly clever. I don't know why. Maybe I'm just not clever. I think that must be it.

Add to it that I've been crocheting like crazy for Christmas/winter that I haven't had a lot of time to think.

We had a great Christmas and we are now trying to dig out from the storm that hit us yesterday. We definitely got a white Christmas...and then some!

Now, I'm in the mood to (it's scary: ) CLEAN! With all of the cooking, baking and playing that has been going on here, it's a big mess!

So, hopefully I can come up with something fun and exciting for you to read...until then, I'll be cleaning!!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! Keep the spirit of the season in your hearts throughout this day and the whole year! It isn't easy to do, but it is so worth it. There are such hard times and if we can all keep Christ in our hearts, it is so much better!

12 Days

Total Cost of 12 days of Christmas in 2008

$86,609

Wow! That's a lot of cash!

Webelos Cookies

The Webelos made cookies at our house yesterday.


They were for pack meeting.

Needless to say, I'll be making cookies today! (At least they're my favorite kind.)

The crazy thing is that these boys had never baked cookies before. They are 10 years old. I can't cook anything without a helper and I love it! I think the great thing about it is that my kids love to be our "sous chefs" and they are learning while they do. They ask lots of questions and we teach them along the way. So many people are afraid to cook and don't know what to do. I never want my kids to be afraid, so they are working with us and learning how to do things. Maybe they'll only eat Ramen by choice...

I hope they are always helpful like this. Do any of you have experience with this? If you have expected and allowed your kids to help around the house, are they still willing (and wanting) to help when they are older?

Yellow Belt

I am so glad that we were able to switch karate schools. Indy is now learning American Kenpo Karate, instead of a type I've never heard of and couldn't find online. His teacher is awesome! He has learned more here than the other school and he was there for twice as long. He teaches more real-life skills and wants the kids to be prepared for things that could happen.

Indy just earned his real yellow belt! He is so excited and proud of what he can do. He is eager to practice and loves to go to class.

(It's also about half the price for twice the lessons!)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!

This morning, CM said that he was ready and excited for snow. I had already let the dog out, so I had seen that it was snowing, so I told him to look outside.

It's supposed to snow. It's nice to have snow in December. We haven't gotten a lot of it, yet this year. It looks like winter, now!

Now, we just have to hope we'll get more for Christmas!

Tom's Diner

It is so funny what you learn when you do a little research into something.

This song is the song that I start to sing randomly. I have done it for ten or fifteen years. I don't know why, but this is the perpetually-stuck-in-my-head song! I guess it's just one of those songs!

It's called "Tom's Diner" and it was written by Suzanne Vega!

This is a video with the version of the song that I like the best, but it is only her singing with a static picture. (I usually only get the Da da da da part stuck in my head.)




And, I didn't know this song was by the same person! Where was I? Oh, yeah, I was nine! This song is so sad! I heard about it when I was single and had a bird I named Lucca. This one is called "Luka". Enjoy.



Wow! She's apparently the "Mother of the MP3"!! And here she is in Second Life. It's weird, but it's an interview with Suzanne. She explains how she's the mother of the MP3, even though she didn't invent it. At the end she sings the song in it's original form.



So, hopefully I didn't get it stuck in your head to.

I was told that if I did a "big finish" I could get the song out of me head. I haven't tried it yet, but I think to get a song out of my head that is there so much is going to take a huge finish!!

Waste or Not?

When I first moved from Florida to Utah, I tried to maintain relationships and keep track of my friends, but none of them wrote back when I wrote letters. More recently, I have gotten in contact with several old friends through email and blogs. Then, a couple of days ago, I joined Facebook and I've found several people I have wondered about for a long time. I have also wasted a ton of time and I hope I don't stay too addicted to it!

It doesn't really matter whether you move 2000 miles or 20, it is hard to keep up with friends. I am so grateful for the Internet, email, blogs and facebook! It has been so nice to reconnect with old friends!

5 Things Meme

I was tagged by The Reluctant Housewife. Thanks! I havne't done a meme in a long time. This should be fun!

Five Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago:

Working at Wal-Mart (uber fun!!)
Living with my Parents
Going to college
Being Single
Dating

Five Things On My To Do List:

Make Bread
Finish Crocheting Garland
Proofread something that I retyped
Measure Doodle for a dress for a future niece
Write in my journal

Five Things I Like To Snack On:

Peppermint Ice Cream
Cheese Cake
Mentos
Heath Bars
Reese's Pieces

Five Things I Would Do If I Was A Millionaire:

Pay off bills (mortgage, student loans, etc)
Buy more yarn and books than anyone should ever have
Add on to our house and yard
Pay for my kids' college and missions
Help others (friends, family, random strangers)

Five Places I Have Lived:

Apopka, Florida
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Pullman, Washington
Where we just moved from
Where we live now

Five Jobs I Have Had:

Wal-Mart Associate
Subway Sandwich Artist
Newspaper delivery person
Mommy
ChaCha Guide

Five People I Am Tagging:

Juli
Laura
Mimi
Tearese
Hairy Shoe Fairy

Brownie Points

I was "cool" with the young girls at church! I wore this:

It came with my new jeans. Part of me liked it, but I wasn't so sure.

I have such horrible fashion sense that I love compliments from those who know what they are talking about!

Packratitis

Do you suffer from packratitis? The symptoms can be deceiving. If you never look at your stuff, is it really there? Do you keep something in the hope/delusion that you'll use it again, so you shouldn't throw it away? Do you keep every scrap of fabric, paper, yarn or any other craft item that comes your way, thinking you'll use it one day? Do you keep things that have no sentimental value, but still take up the space in your basement? Do you look around at your stuff and wonder who brought it all in, because it definitely wasn't you!

I think there is value in keeping some things. If you will use it, if it isn't broken, it may have a use in your home. If you don't or won't, why bother having the wasted space? Sentimental items are in a whole other category in my book, too!

I cleaned up the basement so that the kids had more room to play, especially when there's snow on the ground and it's hard to go outside. I put all of the toys downstairs. The kids are welcome to bring them up to play, but their home is the basement. Most of the toys have a box or tote that they live in and they can be brought up and easily cleaned up. It has made the whole rest of the house so much tidier. I love it! Now, the basement holds the mess, but at least we don't have to clean it up all the time if I don't want to. I don't have to trip over the mess, either!

I found this this article about clutter. I think it has some good points to make about the things we keep around!

We may be recovering from this dreadful disease, but we still have a lot to go through. I think we've gotten better about what we keep, but we still have the years of back-up to get rid of. Wish me luck!

Friends

The kids and I just got back from a great day! We got to visit some old friends that we hadn't seen in a long time. And, no, I didn't take out the camera. I did better than usual--I actually took it on our adventure, but I need to be a better blogger and take more pictures--for you!

Anyhow, we met about 4 1/2 years ago when we lived next door to each other in an apartment building, here in town. I had to move soon after due to the presence of my run-in with a certifiable crazy woman...that is a whole other post! We have been able to keep in touch after several moves and now we are living about 30 minutes away from each other. I'm so glad they live so close! I have trouble finding "bosom friends".

We let the kids play and we just talked for 3 1/2 hours! It was really nice. We are planning to have them come visit soon, so that they can see our new house, too!

I hope we can always keep in touch. I just love her and our sons are great friends, too. (The girls are too young to care beyond that day!)

Gardening Humor (?)

Have any of you seen this? I'm just surprised that they did so many!

Biting

Doodle is a biter! I'm getting a bit worried. She likes to bite down when she is done eating and it hurts really bad, especially since it is coming from gums with no teeth! I don't know quite what to do with her. She likes the sounds I make when she does it and thinks I'm being funny! This doesn't bode well.

At least my kids have gotten teeth really late...

Wearing

Stephanie at Adventures in Babywearing is having a contest! To win something from Nonny and Boo!

It's International Babywearing Week, and I thought I'd join in.

I thought I'd share this babywearing picture of someone much cuter than me! Princess is wearing her Jojo doll. I made her a little sling from an old t-shirt and she loves to be like me. She will carry around one doll or another like this and has a great time!

I really enjoy using carriers for Doodle! Princess is still small enough, too. Doodle loves to see everything I see, so she loved it when I put her in a wrap facing out. She also does well in a sling, but I am still learning that one. I usually only wear her when we are out and about, but sometimes it comes in handy at home, too.

I have three carriers that I actually use. I made the wrap and sling and bought my mei tai. (There are tons of patterns out there to help you make your own wraps.) I love all three and use them for different occasions. I like the mei tai the best, but Doodle isn't big enough to wrap her legs around me and thinks she should stand up when her legs are tucked under her. (I think she's going to be an early walker...the other two were.) So, we mostly use the wrap. She loves it as long as she isn't hungry. I haven't figured out how to nurse at the same time.

I have posted here and here about babywearing.

I also really like the carry in this video:



Also, to use a wrap as a sling, you can tie this bowline knot and you're ready to go. (That is what Princess is wearing.)



Almost every time I'm out and wearing Doodle, I get compliments on my wraps and people want to know more. I love it! It is fun to talk about it and help others learn more.

Love Journal

Many of us use a blog as a journal, me included. It is a great place to keep things as long as you back it up, to make sure it doesn't get erased. I haven't had this happen, but I know many who have. I also love to write in a paper journal. I've done it off and on since I was about 10 years old. I love to be able to go back and see what I was thinking (or not thinking) about. I also like to be able to get the memory boost. I have a horrible memory, but if I know about when something happened, I can go and hope that I wrote about it. It is really fun to look back at the same time in different years to see how my life was changing.

Captain Marvelous and I started a "Love Journal" several years ago. It is a place for us to write love letters to each other and leave them on the pillow or somewhere the other will find them. It is a great way to remember how we feel about each other and read about how much we love and appreciate each other. Just as long as we don't loose it for several years!

Making History

If you didn't see the speech, you should go watch it now! I think Barack Obama has what it takes to be a great leader! He wants to pull this country together! I love that he wants us all to work together, he isn't just making promises to do things for us, he wants us all to try to do the things we can to fix our problems!

It Really Helps to Unpack When You Move

We have started to miss some things that we had before we moved. I guess the whole "move when you're 7 months pregnant" thing made it hard. I organized things, but then I stopped when I just wanted to clear the floor. I ended up with several boxes that just got mixed in with other random things. So, this morning I went looking for the hair drier (I rarely blow dry my hair, so it wasn't missed until now.) and some Christmas decorations. I found those and some other decorations. (I should have missed them by now, but I still haven't gotten around to decorating this house--we've been here for five months!) I also found some books and memorabilia that I had forgotten about. I'm now going to start reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing to the kids. I'm excited! It's been many years since I've gotten those out!

So, I feel good about the progress in the basement. Right now, it looks worse than before I started, but there is a lot more order than before. At least I know where things are and they are together. I just need to do a lot of sorting and purging to have it to the point I want it. I'm tired of it for today, so it will be there waiting for me tomorrow!

Pressing Flowers

A couple of weeks ago Princess needed something to do. I also wanted to preserve some of my favorite cute little flowers.

What you'll need:

A very cute assistant.


Check!!

A cute basket (if you're going to take pictures) or whatever you want for carrying the flowers and keeping your assistant occupied and helpful.

Scissors for clipping the flowers.


Flowers that will flatten well. I used pansies, but you can use almost anything that will lay flat and allow a book to close on them. Make sure the flowers aren't wet, or you could end up with moldy flowers rather than dried, flattened ones.

A phone book or other book that you don't mind getting some possible staining on. Or you can be fancy and use some blotting paper. Newspaper between books works well, too. Just don't use paper towels. They leave bumpy marks all over the flower petals. Lay the flowers as flat as you can get them and be careful as you close them in to make sure they stay the way you've placed them.


Lots of big heavy books to put on top of it all.


Two weeks or so to wait depending on how thick your flowers are.

Check on them and when they are completely dry, take them out of the phone book. Be careful of how much you handle them. They will be fragile.

These are dry, though in the picture they don't look all that different from the just picked ones.


Now you are ready to get creative! I got out my laminator.


I made little bookmarks for myself and a few people who I have yet to decide on. I also made a larger card for Princess to play with. Now, she can play with flowers when the ones outside are covered with snow!


Have fun! I'm excited for spring, so I can do this again when I have more flowers to choose from!