New Beginnings

Last night for New Beginnings they had the girls dress up. Clarissa wore her bridesmaid dress. She also took an armful of Amber's old formals to share (I was so impressed she thought of that). The girls dressed, and had their hair and make up done at the church. It was a short and sweet meeting. Very nice.

Oh, now my photo editing program won't work on this computer--- it's getting very hard to post pictures!

Skirt

I finished sewing this skirt in December- except for the hem. I couldn't get it right. So, I put it away. Then a few weeks ago I thought of taking it to a seamstress in our ward. She hemmed it beautifully and only charged me ten dollars. Now I have a comfy skirt that matches almost all of my sweaters. Don't feel guilty if you don't sew! I could have bought the skirt cheaper in the store! I just had an itch to sew something. Itch scratched- ahhh.

Breathe

photo from last spring

I love this quote: Sometimes we feel that the busier we are, the more important we are... as though our busyness defines our worth....we can spend a lifetime whirling about at a feverish pace, checking off list after list of things that in the end really don't matter. That we do a lot may not be so important. The Lord has often enjoined us to invest the energy of our minds, our hearts, and our souls in those things of eternal significance- that is essential.

- Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
Press On, pg. 5

Finished Bags

Hurrah! I finished a project.... I love thinking up ideas. Unfortunately, I sometimes,(well, frequently), get distracted and don't finish them. So, yippee! Here are all the bags that were made in January. Kind of cool how each girls personality shows in their selection of fabric. Project completed!

Barefoot Roses

I have been admiring this fabric for about a year. I finally broke down and bought some. I just love the full blooms and the fun greens and pinks. I found mine at http://www.fatquartershop.com/ I want to make Emily something- maybe a fun skirt or jumper... mmm... it's fun just to think about. (Oh, the fabric is called Barefoot Roses by Grand Revival). You might want to check out the designer's blog. It is called Grand Revival Designs.

Bummed

I was so proud of myself. I signed up for a woodworking class offered by the local college! I am terrified of power tools, but I talked myself into facing my fears. We were invited to bring a project to work on- I selected this cool bed (realizing that the teacher would probably have to help me simplify it, it's by Broyhill by the way).

So, I got my pictures of the bed ready, printed a map of how to find the shop, and then got a phone call that the class had been cancelled. I just about cried... oh, well maybe its for the best. They might have changed my name to "the one armed wonder" after I had a go at the saws (o:

"Super" hero

Halloween Picture

I'm sure it's normal but S has started wanting to be different than E. So, if she will pray - he won't. If she sits quietly during prayers- he won't, etc. I don't want this to be a permanent attitude! Well, the other day he came in while I was saying my prayers. So, I included a little speech for him- how I hoped he would grow up to be strong and obedient like Nephi, etc. etc. He came over and very quietly whispered in my ear.... "no, Superman". I guess I had the wrong hero.

I'm going to have to work on this.

Hair Product Review

Hi, here's a quick hair product review. I have very dry, curly/ frizzy hair. The CHI silk infusion makes it soft, shiny and straight- but it's pretty expensive. If I use too much it makes my hair look oily. It does last a very long time, because a little goes a long way. The infusium (frizz)ology works great at controlling frizz (doesn't add as much shine) but it's very inexpensive. I just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone that is frustrated with frizzy hair!

Best-most used so far- Christmas Gift

Vtech camera

I never know what the "best" Christmas Gift will be. It's kind of fun to guess and see if I'm right. Last year it was the small bow and arrow set with suction tips. I think it cost five bucks. E and S have used those all year long!

This year I think it might be the camera S received from Santa. S has dropped it plenty of times but it still works fine. It has all sorts of fun things on it. You can scroll through background/stencils to put crazy ears and noses on your pictures before you take them... that feature is hard to explain! There are games on it. One takes a picture S has stored on the camera and breaks it into six pieces, shuffles it and lets S put it together as a puzzle. Even the college age kids had fun taking pictures with it. You can also make video clips.

Of course the quality of the pictures isn't worth bragging about- we haven't even put them onto the computer. S and E just love taking photos and looking at them on the back of the camera. They've already gone through one set of batteries (suggestion: think rechargeable batteries). Last year E received a Strawberry Shortcake camera that broke the first day- this is definitely an upgrade!

Fabric Purses

Amber's bag

While we had Charitie and Amber here we decided to have some craft fun. We went to Hancocks and each girl picked out her own decorator/designer fabric (at 50% off). Then we went home and started working. Amber decided to use hers as a scripture bag-purse. So, she quilted the sides, put a cell phone pocket on the outside and a R.S. lesson manual size pocket on the inside. Charitie's has a cool dimensional pocket on the outside and a hidden pocket within a pocket on the inside. Now I need to help Clarissa and E make theirs.

We used Simplicity pattern number 9779- but we altered it because it didn't have the quickest sewing instructions (they wanted you to make bias trim to sew to the raw edges of the lining and the purse exterior. Instead we just sewed the two parts together, left an opening and turned the bag right side out.

Dollar Store Find

Okay- one day at the dollar store (Dollar Tree) I saw these sturdy clothes pins and I thought they'd make great "chip clips". You know, to hold half used bags of food closed. I think there were sixteen of them in a package. Well, they work great. They have a really tight grip. I even put them on half used bags of vegies and pop them into the freezer. No more stale cereal at our house!