It's apron time again!

I have been working on a few different swaps the last few weeks. Every time I finish one I think I am going to post a picture for all my apron-loving-ladies in my swapping groups, but by the time I get around to it, I am in the middle of another one that I will need to post, so I just wait (how is that for a run-on!). I have made 3 in the last 3-4 weeks, but I was an rushed idiot and forgot to take a picture of my fall apron I made for the sassy apron swap. You will just have to trust me, it turned out really cute, however it did remind me of a turkey. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or bad.

First, I wanted to post all the adorable aprons that I have received and neglected to post and link. These swaps are so much fun. It is so much fun to get these packages in the mail.

This was my first apron I received. Val made it from reading my profile on swap-bot. I mentioned that I love red and yellow and have a thing for polka-dots. This apron has been used many times. I should have washed it before I took a picture...but didn't.

This on was from Lilla. This was a swap done on Booming Aprons for the Halloween Swap. It was really fun because instead of your partner being a secret, you were encouraged to email each other and get to know each other. She is great and I had a lot of fun getting to know here through her blog. She is really talented! I love the little witch appliqued on the side of the apron. I like to wear it when I am a little grouchy. It lets everyone know to back-off!

This apron was sent by Tracie. She had me as a partner for the Hittin' The Trails Apron Swap. I love this apron because it has rhinestones on it. When I wear it I like to stuff my bra with toilet paper and sing like Dolly Parton. It just feels like the appropriate thing to do.

This lovely apron was sent to me by Shawnee. When I saw her name on the outside of the package, I was thrilled. She is one of the "mothers" of the apron swaps. I knew it would be a good one, and it was. I love this it. I like how it fits and makes me look 10 pounds thinner! This is where I would have posted the Fall Apron I made, but you will just have to use your imagination.

I made this apron for the Vintage Apron Swap over at Garboodles. I channeled June Cleaver and created it after seeing one similar to it on the Internet. I love chicken scratch embroidery, so I trimmed the bodice and pockets with the checkerboard pattern. I think this was one of my favorite aprons I have made. I love the way the skirt was full. It really did look like I broke into Beaver's house to steal one from his mom.

This was the apron that was made for me in exchange for the gingham one. I can not even begin to say how much I love this apron. Robin read my blog and saw the little dress I made for Clara and then made me an apron out of matching fabric. I love the pattern, it is an old McCalls 1960 pattern. If you want to see some incredible work, check out her blog and her etsy shop.

This was the final apron I made for this round of swaps. The theme was "What I Wish I Would Have Done On Summer Vacation." The gal I made this for wanted to travel to Greece. I searched the web and found the picture below of one of the Greek Islands. I used it for my inspiration. I really like how it turned out. I even made it out of white sheets, so it has a "toga" effect.

How a 3-year old sees the election.

Thomas has found a couple of favorite new words.

Ba-Rock The Bama

John Da Cain

Every time an election commercial comes on he goes shouting both contenders names throughout the house. He says it like he is an announcing some WWF match.

He is so perceptive!

Those Lips!

I will never forget the day we found out we were having a boy. Steve and I always thought our first baby would be a girl, but as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I knew it was a boy. Steve had the same thoughts, but didn’t want to believe his intuitions until the ultrasound technicians confirmed it for us. I was so happy that our first one was going to be a boy.

I was also terrified after the ultrasound. His lips looked HUGE on the pictures. I remember staring at the prints and picturing this little boy with huge lips. I then saw glimpses of his future. He was the teenage boy with the enormous lips that girls were afraid to kiss because they thought they might get swallowed by them.

Then he was born. His lips were plump, but they were beautiful! They placed him on my stomach and my eyes focused right in on his adorable pout. His lips are one of my favorite features on his face (along with his eyes and ultra-white fake tooth).

I was going through the pictures from our recent trip to Salt Lake and came across this one. I had to laugh because of my earlier fears that are no longer existent.

Just because we love her.

Good Cop, Bad Cop

There is a nice overpass about a half-mile away from our house. It just opened up about 2 years ago, and it is pretty much the best way to get over the freeway and into the money-sucking valley of fast food, strip malls, and the grocery store. There is something about this overpass that makes me feel like I can fly my mini-van down the hill at warp speeds while raising my hands above my head with the kids and shouting “WEEEE.” It’s a great overpass! I have never gotten a ticket there (or anywhere else in a moving vehicle), but I was able to have my fun on it before it became the neighborhood speed trap.

I don't really feel sorry for the people who don’t know about the cops sitting at the bottom of the hill with radar detectors in their hands and dollar signs in their eyes. Most of them are going way too fast. Plus, the traffic stops are something to look at and discuss when traveling home from errands.

So, here was today’s conversation…

Me: Oh, it looks like they got someone.
Thomas: Why did that police man stop them?
Me: Because they were going way too fast down the hill.
Thomas: What is the police man going to do with them?
Me: He is going to give them a ticket.
Thomas: So now they can go to the movies!

I really should explain to him the difference between movie tickets and traffic tickets, but these conversations are just way too much fun, and I hate to take away his innocence. I have been trying to explain to him that cops are nice people, so this little conversation helped the "good cop" definition. Hence, for right now, I am just going to continue letting him think that the nice policemen are handing out tickets to the movies.

Do I really need a title?

Yesterday, I had to run to the grocery store for some $30.00 cucumbers. Have you ever had them before? They are the ones that are really only $.79, but by the time you walk around the store and the three year old reminds you that you are out of things like green Jello, chocolate doughnuts, and ice cream sandwiches (did I mention I was on Weight Watchers?) those 3 cucumbers end up costing you quite a bit more time and money than expected.

The item that made the trip even more fun was the triple pack of pool noodles. No, we don’t have a pool, but Kid Fitness uses the pool noodles to do exercises with, so we had to get them. I was fine with the new exercise equipment because it only set me back a buck due to the summer clearance going on. However, they were a little hazardous throughout the grocery store. If you ever want to have some fun shopping, give two noodles to your 3-year old, and the other one to the 9 month old baby.

That is all I am going to write. I am going to let your imagination do the rest.

Oh, who is Kid Fitness? You are so missing out if your Public Television Station doesn’t get this fabulous show! For some reason Thomas is quite impressed with this kid friendly Richard Simmons wanna be jumping around in tights. So impressed that I now have to make him a Kid Fitness Halloween costume.

She's been out as long as she was in.

Clara's expression is the exact way I feel about her being 9 months old! Complete Shock! She is getting quite the little personality and I am beginning to see the feisty red-head-ed-ness come out in her. She knows what she wants and knows how to get it! She is still only crawling and cruising on the furniture (thank the heavens!). She can let go of whatever piece of furniture she is holding onto and stand unassisted for a split second.

One of my favorite things to watch is her interactions with Thomas. She absolutely adores him and tries to mimic the things he does. She loves to wrestle with him and can actually put up a good fight. Every morning, when she sees Thomas, she grabs him in a headlock and kisses his face. I am so happy they have each other.

Here is the part where I write that I want time to slow down. However, no matter how many times I say it, hope it, or wish it, it's just not happening!

Kind of the first day of school.

Today, Thomas had his first day of school. He still has 2 more years before kindergarten, so I decided to do a "joy" school with some gals I know. He was very excited to go, and I was thrilled that it didn't take an act of congress to get him to stay without me!

I had clothes all picked out for him, but he insisted on wearing his Superman shirt. I probably should have combed his hair before he left, but to tell the truth the thought didn't even cross my mind until I posted this picture. Oh well, I'll make sure to do it for the first day of real preschool next year.

Question

Why does a baby fall asleep 1 mile away from home after crying for 60 + miles?

He is not always cute.

Thomas: Mom, can I have a Crabby Patty? (interpretation: Crabby Patties are really York Peppermint Patties. Unfortunately, Thomas has been watching a few episodes of Sponge Bob Square Pants much to my dismay. Because he is into that imagination stage, “things“ have started to become other “things.”)

Mom: No, you need to eat some lunch before you have your snack.

Thomas: Mumbling under his breath Well, I just need to find a new mom then.

My first thought: Ouch!

My second thought: Good! I must be doing something right because I believe all kids feel this when they don't get their way, thus, I am not as big of a pushover as I think I am.

It could happen....

When I was little, really little, like 6 or 7, our whole family piled up into our old 1960-something white family van and we went to stay with my Aunt Mary for the Thanksgiving holiday. My Aunt lived in a ginormous log cabin deep in the woods. The remote location removed from any type of civilization was Lake Arrowhead, CA. We had a tradition of spending Thanksgiving with my mom’s side of the family, and we were so excited to go play with our cousins, who happened to all be close to our same age (meaning my older brother had someone else to assist him in terrifying me).

After the festivities, all us kids made our way to our rooms for the night. I was bunking in with my cousin, Leslie. While we were playing, or maybe even fighting over some toys (we were really good at that), my older brother, Tim, and Cousin Chad came into the room to tell us that they had heard some noises outside. They continued to inform us that when they had looked out the window, they had seen a man in the tree playing bagpipes. I was scared to death! I thought for sure he was going to break into the house and play us to death! The next morning, Tim and Chad continued with the story and took us out to see the footprints the scary Scottish man had left behind.

So, there you have it. The reason why I am not particularly fond of bagpipes. I knew you were dying to know.

*** If you know this musician, please don’t tell him I was defacing his picture on my blog. I just picked him randomly off google. I would hate for him to get angry and come play outside my window at night.

It's not everyday your dad gets an elementary school named after him.

Friday was a huge day for our family. My dad was given the honor of having an elementary school named after him. He worked for the school district for 30 years, serving as principle for 27 of them. In 1991 (or somewhere around there) he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. During 9 of those years battling cancer, he also served as Stake President. He was a wonderful man, and even a better dad. In August of 2003 he retired from the school district, just 3 months before the cancer took his life. We are so lucky that he lived so long with the cancer.

We found out that the school district was going to honor him with the naming of a school in 2006. It was very exciting. I wish he could have been alive to hear that they were honoring him like they did, but to tell the truth, he probably would have been completely embarrassed by it.

I was a teacher for 6 years. I have spent a lot of time in elementary schools. I can't even begin to tell you how strange it is to walk on a campus and see your fathers name on the school plaque. It is even more strange to walk into the building and see his picture on the wall and various memorabilia from his life displayed in the hallways.

As the namesakes widow, my mom was given the opportunity to cut the ribbon. The lady helping her is Sherrie, a teacher that worked for my dad for 20 + years. She is the one who petitioned the school district to name a school after him.

I think the principal and vice-principal wanted to see if they could make my family cry. They had this man playing the bagpipes throughout the ceremony. I usually do not like the bagpipes (that's another story for another post), but they were very appropriate and very touching.

This is my whole fam-damily. From left to right: Tim (brother), Steve (you should know him by now), Spencer (nephew), Me, Bryan (brother who should be very happy that I didn't post the other picture I have of him), Camille (Sis-in-law), Crystal (sis-in-law), Mom, the rest are my nephews and niece: Hayden, Liam, Harley, Jett, Clara, Maverick, and Thomas.

Once we were inside we were able to check out all the classrooms. The boys were so excited to be able to hang out on furniture just their size! Thomas was thrilled with all the drinking fountains. He ran from room to room searching for them.

The kids were happy, just extremely hot.

Tagged - Good Things Come In 3's

This really cool new girl in my ward (and new friend), Pattie, tagged me.

3 Joys

1. Being a stay-at-home mom

2. My Marriage

3. My kids

3 Fears

1. Loud noises in the night

2. Aliens and crop circles (I know they are not real, but the idea of them scare me. Even though I have this fear, I will still watch Signs whenever it comes on TBS.)

3. My kids being seriously injured

3 Goals
1. Get my house organized, especially my sewing / craft room

2. Loose 20 pounds (14 to go)

3. Get up earlier M-F and get stuff (scriptures, exercise, shower) done before the kids get up. I always seem to do well on this for a while, it is just too hard to keep up.

3 Current Obsessions
1. Vintage kitchen items like aprons and embroidered flour sack towels

2. Photography - these are a few of my recent faves. I still have a lot to learn, but I will get there one day.

3. Sewing

3 Surprising Facts
1. I am a pop-culture junkie. I check the online magazines on a regular basis to see what my favorite celebs are up to. Just to give you an idea, here is the conversation Steve and I had last night at midnight. I had been in bed for about 30 minutes and he was just coming in.

S: Why are you watching Chelsea Handler?

M: I'm not, I don't like her.

S: Then why is it always on when I come in the room at night?

M: Because it comes on after the news.

He starts laughing at me.

That's right, the news I am talking about is E News Daily. I find that it is not as depressing or scary as the news on local stations or FOX news. I choose to watch the weather channel to get my weather forecasts, so I am really not missing out on anything.

2. I must to have the TV on to fall asleep. I need the white noise. I have broken the habit after the birth of each child, but as soon as they went to sleep in their own bed I started up again.

3. I was born with two thumbs on my left hand. You can still see part of the bone from the thumb that was removed if you look at my hand. If I hit it on something by accident, it hurts like the dickens! So much worse than if I were to injure another finger.

This is the best picture I have of it. It was removed when I was 18 months old.

I am only picking one person to tag on this round, and that lucky person in Robyn C.

I'm really not on blogging strike.

I was accused of a horrible thing today, by more than one person. I was accused of being a bad blogger because I haven't posted in almost a week (gasp). I am usually pretty good about posting because I consider this to be my journal, and I am just anal about making sure I document the happenings of my family. (It is my journal, but note I didn't add "personal" before journal because there is no way anyone will ever read that, unless they are standing over my dead body.)

I really haven't had too much to post about, unless you consider the following post-worthy...

1. I went against everything I believe in and stand for this week when I let Thomas pick out super-snazzy Spider man light-up sandals. Not only do they have lights, they have 3 lights on each shoe! Thats right people, do the math. Six flashing red lights that will act as emergency lights if our mini-van ever breaks down (if only I could be so lucky). I guess I have passed that point in mom-hood where I have given up on dressing him in designer duds everyday. He about had an aneurysm when he saw the sandals and better yet they were only $7.50. Who said money can't buy happiness?

2. My BFF posted this picture on her blog. Yes, that is my child in the shirt he wore for 2 days straight. I thought the mangy hair also added a nice touch to the picture. (Please refer to the comment above about giving up on designer duds.) If you want to see why she posted it, click here...it was pretty funny (and so is she).

3. I joined Weight Watchers last week and lost 6 pounds. I was pretty happy about it, but lately I have been a raging lunatic clamoring for anything that can be considered junk food. I think there are stages to dieting just like there are stages in grief. I think the first stage in dieting is joy because you see that you can get results when you actually put down the ding-dongs and replace it with tofu. The second stage is rage, because you realize you can't chow down on the bag of dark chocolate chips calling your name in the freezer. I'll let you know what the 3rd stage is when I get there.

4. I have been busy sewing some things I need to finish up (I'll post about them later) so my house is a disaster. Steve gave me a little extra cash to play with this week and I have seriously been considering hiring a house keeper to come in and deep clean my house so I can run away from the mess that the four of us have made. One of the perks when I am pregnant is I get to have my house professionally cleaned once a month. Oh, how I miss those days of puking and feeling horrible!

Ambitions of a 3-year old.

Ambition #1

Fireman

Ambition #2

Policeman

Ambition #3

Chef

Newest Ambition

"A black guy that can run fast"