2nd Entry

This is my 2nd entry in the Lil Blue Boo contest!
Take this cute pattern
and two old t-shirts


...and you can make this! I used the old t-shirts to make this skort. I loved how I didn't have to hem the under shorts - the pattern guides you to just use the existing hem - sweet!! I appliqued the skort and top (I bought the t-shirt below) with a rose motif from some cute brown and pink floral fabric I found at Joann's.


See the cute little undershorts? I know my sister will love that for my niece!

Seams In My Dreams and Chapped Lips

I have been hard at work on some sewing for a contest! This has been very different from my usual rate of just doing a few steps here and there when I am up to it. I have been pushing it hard and will crash afterwards, but it feels good to get things done that I want to do! Just before I fell asleep last night, I realized my mind was just full of seams and fabrics, and appliques........ Also, I have chapped lips. Why do I get this from sewing so much you ask? Well, apparently I stick my tongue out between my lips when I am sewing on my machine, especially if it is something I have to really watch and be careful with. Skiing sounds like a better excuse for chapped lips, or hmmm... maybe kissing... but hey, I get mine from sewing.

The contest I am entering is this one.

It has been really fun to push myself to create something

a little different and see what I could come up with!

OK first up is a dress I made from this pattern. I added some gathers to the middle piece and the bottom piece and then made these fun rosettes for the neckline.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I told Jake I needed him to make me a valentine this year, and he sat right down and made me this. What a cutie. He printed the real heart out from the internet and cut it out. The Feliz Cumpleanos is because he is silly and learned it the other day in Spanish class. :)

I have been working on these two skirts for a while and am excited to share them! I love the colors of this fabric line all together like this. This is Sarah's outfit:

And here is Elise's outfit:

And here is the sweetest little punkin' ever in her outfit:It ended up a bit too big, but I guess that means it will still fit her in the fall!

Jake is 14

He has been for a couple weeks! I guess I am finally somewhat resigned to the fact that he is just going to keep growing up on me. He looks like a 16 year old, so I guess I can be grateful he is still only 14! I love the person he is becoming. He is so much fun.

Here he is opening his presents.

This is the cool little finger drum set my parents gave him, which looks like his big drum set that he got for Christmas. Yep. He really did. I can't believe I did it. I found a great set on ksl classifieds and got some mute pads. He loves them, and sounds good (and loud.) My camera broke on Christmas Eve(!) so I haven't shared pictures of Jake and his drums yet, but I will.

And here he is....

driving! I let him drive around the church parking lot for a bit. I was worried this would lead to a lot of asking if he could drive all the time, but even though he loved the opportunity and did well, he said it scared him a little and he got his fill for a while.

And here's a silly picture of my brother Curt just for fun.

I'll be sharing some sewing pictures soon so tune in!

Chuck is Back!!

Chuck, how do I love thee?

This show just makes me smile. The mixture of goofiness, romance, fast moving spy stuff, comedy, etc. I love it. It looks like Zachary Levi has gotten more buff for this season. I guess it's all that Kung Fu he's been learning.

I am so excited this show is back for its 3rd season! If you missed the first 3 episodes, you can watch them for free here!

Some sewing!

It felt so good to get some sewing done before Christmas!!

Ooga Booga jammies for these three



Pictures courtesy of Tiff. She is such a good photographer!

Matching skirt and birdy top sets for Sarah and Elise


close-up of embroidered applique

Christmas and my dad

We had the most amazing Christmas. It was just SOOO good to be with family and all the people I love so much. Being with all the kids every day just fills me up like nothing else does, and my family members all bring something to our family equation that I love. Here are some of the fun pictures (thanks to Tiff for the best ones!):



Elise loved the big kids

The kids' favorite thing was to lie on the floor in a row and take turns having this gorgeous baby sit on their backs!


Jake climbing the pole

Sword fighting - all the kids against Pa - what a good sport!



All of this was made more exquisite because of some news we got in the last couple months. My dad has cancer. He has had immune system problems his whole life and things were getting so much worse with not being able to fight anything off and then keeping it colds/sinus infections for months, that he insisted on more immune system testing. I'm glad he did. They showed that his IgG was way too high, and the other immunoglobulins were all very low. That is indicative of a rare cancer called multiple myeloma. This was confirmed with test after test. He needs to start treatment right away, and the treatment for this is extremely aggressive. He will do a 96 hour full-time heavy duty chemo cocktail the first time and then they will give him six weeks to recover, and then do it all over again. He will have stem cell transplants of his own stem cells to start fresh and hopefully build a new immune system. Then he will be on chemo drugs for about 1-2 years after the initial 5 months of heavy chemo. He is in very strong health otherwise and is quite proud of his low cholesterol and 117% lung capacity! Because of this, the doctors have high hopes that he could live for years after this treatment, and this helps us to cope with the fear of what is coming with the chemo.

I love my dad so much. "Beyond amazing" doesn't even describe him. He has been the greatest second dad Jake could ever have. He has given us so much I could never list it all. Most of all, family and the gospel are first priorities for him, and he and my wonderful mom have built our family on these precepts which have made all the difference in my life.