I wasn't going to post these pictures of these projects I have done because of all my silly insecurities (pictures aren't very good, projects aren't perfect, others could do better, etc) but I decided to go ahead and do it. Here are a few of the fun things I have done the past few months. I have sewed, crocheted, and crafted off and on throughout the years, but have not done anything crafty for a really long time. I made pillows for my couch and remembered how therapeutic, fun, and good for the soul it is to create something. That and my sister Brenda introduced me to this really cool site Make It and Love It. Just a little addicting. Between that and other fun sites here and there, there are so many ideas floating around in my head. Now if I could find the time to do all of them. One thing at a time, I guess!


I needed a place to hang my necklaces and found an idea on Make It and Love It, but changed it a little to use up scrap lumber (free) and I found the hooks for $1 a piece!

This basket was a Bunko prize, so I made these balls out of styrofome balls, hemp, hot glue and spray paint.

I am really proud of this one. Brenna and Braelynn like to wear dresses and skirts but they also like to play outside so I don't let them wear nice ones. This was an old skirt of mine that I bought years ago, (like 5 or 6) and loved it, but I washed it with something else that bled and stained the skirt. So I made this skirt, and the flowers for the shirt and one for the hair that you can't see in the pictures with the material. Brenna was the first one to wear it. When I asked her to hold still so I could take a picture, she started posing like this on the piano bench. Then of course Braelynn had to join in too!



I made a bulletin board for my kitchen. This is one that Veronica made all by herself with the leftover materials, but mine has different fabric.

And this is just a few of the hair bows I have made recently.

And Again

If you don't understand this post, you can go here to read more.

It happened...again!

No stitches this time, just a few steri strips and bruises and puss and swelling.

I didn't intend on this blog becoming a rundown of our injuries, but I am going to share because it is almost comical how often it has occurred in the past few months! Well, it probably will be when the pain and swelling subside.

On Tuesday morning, Samantha and Tyler were supposed to be brushing their teeth in the bathroom. Instead they were messing around. In the process of that, somehow, as Sam was leaving the bathroom, she tripped and then Tyler fell against her, causing her to hit the tile floor in the hallway mouth first.

She came out with four cuts on the colored part of her lip, a gash on her lower lip right above her chin, the fattest lip I have ever seen and a nasty bruise on the bottom of her chin. I don't have a picture because I keep forgetting and now she is in bed. That is OK, it is pretty gross, some of you wouldn't want to see it anyway!

As I was finding the post to link back to our last injury, I realized that it was one day away from being exactly one month ago that Brenna got her stitches. At least this time we didn't need a doctor or ER or InstaCare. Just a good friend down the street to help me confirm that it didn't require stitches and to steri strip it for me. Maybe I should just go buy some for next time....

Cathedral Gorge-revisited

The kids have a five-day weekend this week and on my list of fun things to do was to visit Grandma and Grandpa Smith in Caliente. We were only able to stay one night but it was a nice trip. I have decided that it doesn't matter how long or little we stay there or how many times I remind my kids that we will have to leave eventually and we will come back and we need to not cry and scream when it is time to go, the younger ones still cry when it is time to go home. They all did it. I am trying to remember how old they were when they quit doing it so that I can look forward to Brenna and Braelynn not doing it.
We really didn't do much but visit the skate park/park and then to to Cathedral Gorge. I posted about it here when we went in 2008.
Here are the pictures from this trip. Grandma, Grandpa and Cory and Melissa with their kids Hafen, Hudson and Sayer were there to help us explore the caves.

New houseguest

We have had a new little addition to our house for the last few days. It won't be around for long, however. It is going away today. This afternoon, to be exact. After his last show-and-tell.
His name is Chomper.
He is a leaf bug. I was going to try to take a picture for you, but he looks, well, just like a leaf so....

I just tell you this because it reminds me of a funny story about Tyler. It will make sense in a minute.

So, Tyler has no problem playing with bugs or worms, or when he goes hunting with his Dad, I hear stories about how he picks up dried cow/elk/deer poop and throws it at his dad. Girls, however have cooties.

A year or so ago, I asked him to take the clothes from the washing machine and put them in the dryer. He went to do it, opened the dryer and realized that part of the contents of the dryer were his sisters underwear. He was so grossed out. He begged me to let him do another chore instead. He even got so desperate as to offer to do two chores instead of having to touch those clothes. By this point, it was just too funny to let him do that. He finally figured out a solution: He put socks on his hands and then preceded to empty the washing machine so he didn't have to touch girl underwear.

As I was watching him take the old leaves out of the jar this morning and touching what he deemed as poop (I don't know what it was and don't want to think about it) I tought of this story and wanted to post it so I don't forget in a few years!

Pickin' Pumpkins

We took advantage of the beautiful fall weather yesterday to go to our local pumpkin patch and get our pumpkins. It doesn't have any of the fun things that everyone else blogs about, but it is a tradition that we have been doing since Samantha was little.
We had a great time, as always. Joe's rule has always been that you have to be able to carry your pumpkin, so that explains some of the pictures. Braelynn was very adamant that she could carry hers all the way to the car, while Brenna was content to just pick it up and let Braelynn help her carry it.
We finished off the outing with a stop to the park and then home for some chili and cornbread.
By the way, did you know you can cook cornbread in your crockpot? I have done it twice now and it turns out really good. For my favorite cornbread recipe, click here.

Special Request

When I asked Braelynn what kind of cold cereal she wanted for breakfast this morning, she told me she wanted a kind that wasn't crunchy and one that floated to the top and didn't sink to the bottom.
Just thought it was funny and wanted to share....