These are some fun Halloween outfits I love. I love having the girls match occasionally, it's fun. The first ones Marc's mom got for the girls. They have cats on the shirts. The others have spiders on them. "The girl spider has a bow, but the boy spider doesn't have a bow. Boys don't wear bows, they wear hats. But mommy wears bows and hats." (quote from Natalie) I think my favorite time of year is fall these days. I love winter cloths, pumpkin anything, hot chocolate, fall colors, the leaves changing and Halloween and all the fun that goes with that. Plus with colder days you are forced to stay in more and get things done around the house that are hard to do when it's so nice out. We have a group called music makers in our ward that gets together on Fridays and we sing songs with the kids and then let them play together. This month is Halloween songs and Natalie loves them all, we sing them everyday while we eat our lunch or periodically throughout the day.

Fun Girl's Nights

Well, with hockey season here once again, and Marc in school on Mondays and playing basketball on Tuesdays, I decided to make the most of the nights without him. So the girls and I have been doing fun crafts, going to the library and other activites, to make the time pass quickly and have as much fun as we can together. They grow up sooo fast! Here's one of our girl's night activities. We made cookies together while Marc was at a hockey game and then took them to some friends while he was playing golf on Saturday. We left the cookies at their doorsteps with a note that said You have been BOOED (an idea I got from Terica). Then we went to the ward hayride that night while he was at a hockey game. Last night during his basketball night, we went to a trunk-or-treat party at the school with some friends in the ward. The kids loved dressing up in their costumes and going around. They also had a firetruck there. Natalie asked the guy if she could get in and he let her sit up in one of the seats. Then he gave her a fire hat and a coloring book. Tomorrow night we get to go to the hockey game with Marc. The kids get in free if they wear their costume, so we're going as a family. Natalie is so excited. She crys whenever daddy leaves for the games and always asks if she can go with him, but she doesn't get in free anymore. So she gets to go Thursday and then again in December the whole family is going after Christmas. We're keeping busy, and having fun!

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!

These are bows I made for my neice Brooklyn for her birthday. I really hope they like them, it took me so long to make them, especially the rose one. Happy Birthday Brooklyn, we love you and miss you. Brooklyn and Natalie are 10 days apart, we wish we lived close so they could play together, hopefully we'll see each other soon.

We spent a great confrence weekend with Andy and Terica. This is Natalie and Jadeyn reading stories to baby Paxton (who is so precious and cute!). Julia and Maddox are our little kissing cousins. They are so cute together. Maddox comes up and hugs and kisses her and she just lights up. Then he was sharing his breakfast with her. It was a bummer to sit down and turn on the TV only to find out that Charter wasn't broadcasting it until the 15th and 16th. But we worked it out and watched on the internet. This didn't stop us from having a fun weekend together. Terica made cupcakes and we sang to mom and Andy for their birthdays.

Natalie was so cute this morning. I stayed the night at my parent's last night and stayed up til 1:15 helping Cami with a project on the holocaust. It turned out really good, but I didn't get much sleep. Anyway, Natalie came in around 8:00 and pulled back the curtains and said, "Mom it's time to get up. The sun is awake and the moon went to bed, so we need to play now. So get up sweetie." Then she stroked my face. It was so precious, I wanted to hold on to the memory forever.
And b.t.w. Cami called me after school today to tell me that everyone loved her poster(I'll see if I can get a picture of it). I helped her write a poem and her teacher said it was so good that she could take it and give it to the people at the holocaust museaum next week. I was happy to hear this because the whole project was making me frustrated and that doesn't happen very easily.

More Bows

So here are some more of the bows I've made, as promised. I haven't been doing the felt ones very long, those are the only ones I've made so far, I don't really have a method for those I just think up how I want it to look and start cutting, then I sew all the pieces together and put an embellishment in the middle. It's kind of hard to explain the other flower shaped ones with the rhinestone in the middle, if I do a tutorial on that I would have to use pictures to show how. Let me know if anyone has interest in learning or having me make bows for you, that would be fun.

Quick bow lesson

I use alligator clips for my bows. I get them at Sally's beauty supply, you can get 100 for $5. You can use almost any kind of ribbon. I buy whatever is on sale. To do the Cork screw bows, take dowel rods and wrap the ribbon around it holding it in place with cloths pins on both ends. Then put it on a cookie sheet and bake it for 30 min. at 250. Then I gather them in the middle and hot glue a ribbon (the tighter the better) and glue it to the clip, it's actually very simple. If you have questions let me know.

I recently got released from my calling as young women 1st councilor. It's been a big mix of emotions. I've been in the calling for 3 years now and it was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun too. I loved the closeness with the other leaders as well as the girls. I do feel like it was time. But I'm feeling a little lost right now, like part of my identity has been taken away. I know that must sound silly, but it's been a huge part of me for so long. It's almost like I need to find something else to fill the gap I'm feeling. The bright side is my house is more cleaner then it has ever been, EVER, and I'm actually doing the dishes every day, which is huge for me. Although I'm trying hard to get things organized at home, it seems like the more I complete on the list the longer the list gets. I've also come to the realization that no matter how hard I try, my house will never be or stay as clean as I want with little ones. I also have a false image in my mind that my house is the only one that's ever messy. Like the cleaning thing comes so naturally to everyone else, but I just don't get it. I have to keep reminding myself that others go through these stresses and feelings. Either that or I have too many OCD friends(he,he, jk). I guess what I'm really saying is now that I have more time, I'm trying to manage it very wisely and try to be better each day. That's what this life is all about right? The important thing is that I have a beautiful family, I love them immensely and I know they love me. I'm so blessed, everyday, to spend time with my husband and my little ones. They are my world, and no matter what happens at least I know I have them forever.

Making bows

So, I started making bows soon after Natalie was born because I decided they were too expensive to buy, but I love having them to match every outfit. I pretty much taught myself how to do it. Now I have lots of bows! These are the newest ones I've learned how to make. I thought they turned out so cute. Our ward had a service auction, but with points instead of money and I made these to bring. I've also been experimenting with felt bows, those pics will follow soon, along with some of the other bows I've made.

This was our fun art day, Natalie loves to paint. You can probably tell which one is mine. Julia had fun watching and eating cheerios. She makes this cute little monkey face that I just love.

Dallas

Marc's best friend Kyle and his family came up for a week in August and we had a blast with them. We did a day at the zoo and one at the Botanical Gardens. As you can see, they had a build your bird's nest, a cute place to wear costumes and be on a screen like you're on TV, and some other fun things. We also went and fed the Japanese fish, and they loved that. We also got to swim in the pool at their hotel and go out to dinner a couple of times. Kyle and Jill have two sons named Dallas(4) and Kyson(about 18 mo.?). Natalie and Dallas had such a good time together. Natalie says she is going to marry Dallas in the temple, where she will wear a white hat and a dress with stars and sparkles on it. When we asked her if we could come to watch, she said no, but we could come and take pictures for her if we want. We were rolling when she told us all this. Dallas said that he was going to "save the day" (like on Super Why) and marry Natalie. We aren't sure where these comments are coming from, but we are OK with this idea since Dallas is such a cute, sweet little boy. Natalie still talks about Dallas almost everyday. Sometimes when we go somewhere, she says "Are we going to Dallas' house, or are we going swimming with Dallas? or can Dallas come to the park, too mom?" I of course have to remind her that Dallas lives far away, but maybe we can go visit. We would love it if they lived close. Thanks for a fun week, I'm glad we got to know each other better!