New project...

I am so making this skirt! Easy and pattern free. Besides I have soooooo much extra fabric from Ruby's quilt...

Home free...

I never get a vacation. Vacation once you are a parent is hardly vacation unless the kids aren't with you...and that is a rare, usually one or two day vacation (though we have been blessed with longer trips...thanks to my parents and their willingness to watch the girls).

Anyway, I NEED a vacation! My BFF Megan is getting married on Saturday in Houston. Chris wanted me to use the miles we have accrued, and that limited my itinerary. So the best I could do was leave on Weds. and come back on Tues. He was fine with it...it was free, after all. So...off I go. I love her, I love her family, I hope to love her beau and I plan to help Megan like crazy until I see her off with Josh on Saturday night...then I plan to relax and gab with her saintly mother while I knit and take frequent cat nap breaks. Even spending time talking to a blank wall sounds appealing.

This is a vacation where I don't have to put on my clown act to talk someone into doing what is best for them. This is a vacation where I don't believe anyone will ask me to "wipe" their bum. This is a vacation where the only seat belt I put on will be my own, where cereal just might not be the main course three meals a day and where it will be assumed that I get privacy in the shower! Yummmmmmy.

Houston, HERE I COME!

P.S. If it seems like I have a few BFF's, I do. I haven't ever written about Megan, because once when she said that she had visited my blog, she mentioned something about how she didn't read it, she just scanned for pictures. rip off! That officially banned her as a subject of a post. I'll be working that angle this weekend though. For sure. She is definitely blog worthy.

Spring Fair...

Puyallup is famous for its fair. The real fair isn't until the fall, but it is twice as expensive, twice as crowded and not much more exciting than that smaller, one weekend spring fair. We usually end up hitting both, but everytime we go to the spring fair, we claim we aren't going to go to the real fair in the fall.

This was an odd year--certainly not spring-y...there was four inches of snow accumulation on Saturday an hour north of here at my parent's house! It was a brief moment to enjoy the fair, as the rest of the weekend was freezing and snowy/rainy!

Ruby loves rides. Loves, loves them. I think she'd go on just about any ride they have at the fair if there weren't minimum height requirements. I love that she was the only kid throwing her arms up in the air. I think she learned that at Disneyland.

My girl...

Ruby is so thoughtful! She loves to do things to make other people feel loved and happy (I realize the picture could use some editing, but I am short on time). Last week, she went downstairs while I was in the shower and she went to all kinds of trouble to set the table for the three of us for breakfast. She even got the milk out of the fridge. What a doll.

Usually when I am called upstairs to see a "surprise", her room will be clean, she'll be all dressed and if I am really, really lucky...her hair will be brushed. It's always a welcome surprise.

Familiar face, anyone?

I suppose I should ask permission to post these pics...since so many of you know the face. Who can resist though? This was a fun shoot. My friend, Angela's son is graduating. "A" is a talented kid with a great personality and I had fun taking his pictures.

Clouds, spirits, prayer and Snow Buddies...

Ruby laying on the couch looking out the window: Mom, what do clouds feel like?
Me (didn't really answer because I want to know what she's thinking): I don't know, I've never felt one.
Ruby: Maybe when we fly up to heaven--you know how we are going to fly up--we will be able to touch one.
Me (curious about the flying part): Maybe
Ruby: Maybe when we get to Jesus, he'll be in a cloud. We don't live again until everyone dies, right?
Me (realizing the "flying" might have something to do with her imagining resurrection, and our bodies reuniting with our spirits): Our spirits won't ever die, but yes, our bodies won't reunite with our spirits until after everyone dies. Our spirits will live in heaven waiting for the resurrection.
Ruby: Will our spirits talk?
Me: Yes
Ruby: How will we talk without a body?
Me: I don't know
Ruby: I think our spirits will talk by thinking.
Me: Maybe, that is how our spirit talks to Heavenly Father when we pray.
Ruby: Last night, the babysitter couldn't get the TV to work. She tried and tried and tried, but we couldn't get the sound on. Then I told her I would say a prayer, and it worked! I stayed up late and watched Snow Buddies.
Me: I'm glad you prayed.
Ruby: Mom, have you ever seen a dog pull a sleigh?

Gorgeous weekend...

Here in the northwest, we've had unprecedented cold weather...SIX MONTHS NEVER REACHING SIXTY DEGREES! When you live in the land of perpetual 60s, this is an odd thing...and I think it was a record of some kind. Thankfully last weekend there was a reprieve and we hit near 80 degrees!

It was nice timing, because we were up north for our friends' son Aksel's first birthday party. We went to see Horton Hears a Who in the morning with my folks and then went to the party. It was really warm and they had an outdoor BBQ, so we got to be outdoors. Of course, I had gone up the day before to stay the night and my parents' house, so the girls were in long sleeves and long pants. Oh well.
One of Aksel's new toys! Kelly (Aksel's mom) pulled he and Ruby around the yard in the wagon.

Askel was darling devouring his cake and opening his presents. He really got excited about the drum sticks that went with his new drum, and he quickly put good use to some plastic kid-size landscaping tools. He's the first grandchild on one side, and a new generation of grandchildren on the other, and it was comical and fun to witness so many adults gawk at him and worry if he had frosting in his nose or if he was eating too much sugar. It is so fun to see how that smitten kid-love looks as a bystander. I love seeing a kid surrounded by a dozen people who are totally in love with him...all kids should be so lucky!

Ruby got a minute to hold little Addison who was a super sleeper at just three weeks of age!

Alice was all over the cake as soon as Aksel was done...well maybe before too. Anyway she was going at it for more bits for a good twenty or thirty minutes!

More lemonade...

Sommer and her kids were down for a night last week, as her husband was out of town. We (you guessed it) sewed all night and then the next day, we had a lemonade stand before they took off. Across the street from our house, there is a huge hedge that lines the back fields of the local Jr. High. If we time our stand right, we can sell through our lemonade in a matter of twenty minutes! I'm always amazed at how many people driving by will stop and just love to give the kids a little money for a cup of lemonade. Thank goodness for people who love kids! The Jr. High students would pretty well pass us up entirely if we weren't shelling out the money for them to give to our kids. Anyway, the kiddos were thrilled, they were full of "Enjoy your lemonade!" and other darling customer service quips.

This lady gave them a dollar each! WOAH!

Our friend Ethan (and Rachel and Lauren and Kate) stopped by for a cup too! THANKS RACHEL!

The kids really drank a lot of lemonade...Alice focused solely on that responsibility...she may have even had some sips of cups that we wound up selling. Whoops!

Homeschool...

It is so crazy for me that I am going to homeschool (for now) my kids. I LOVED elementary school, (even had my 2nd grade teacher at my graduation and my wedding reception--my first and third grade teacher was at graduation too, but sent a gift to the wedding reception) and though academics were never the focus in middle school or high school (focusing on academics was not a requirement for good grades), I never missed a social beat, and really loved my whole public school experience. Mostly. I think. I do realize as an adult how heavy the social pressures weighed on me through some of those years. I was a little mean to those I didn't like...okay, a lot mean and I definitely belittled others in order to further myself. Well anyway, I'm not homeschooling for reasons of rebellion against my own experience, though I'm sure in some ways it is a factor. I have a lot of reasons for choosing to homeschool, but I find that when I state my reasons, it puts those who have their kids in public school on the defense, and that isn't the point. I'm just doing something that is right for my family...Ruby, specifically. For now. We'll see.

Anyway, I'm really excited about a co-op that I found. It is primarliy LDS, and meets at a Unitarian church fairly close-by. Apparently, because the general Christian population doesn't believe members of the LDS faith are Christian, we aren't allowed to join the local "Christian" co-ops. I was thrilled to find out that there are 22 families (19 are LDS) who are doing collaborative things in the interest of educating and socializing children...and they wanted us! It meets once a week for two and a half hours and Ruby gets to take three subjects that change every eight weeks. Alice gets to start in the preschool program in the fall, but for now, she's in the nursery.

For the first session (we just started), I don't teach, I just observe. In the fall I will teach one class and asist with another. They have eight classes going each "period". I love that the scouts post the colors at the beginning and we say the Pledge of Allegience, and I love that the kids are learning science, short stories, quilting, civil war, etc.

It is so fun to see all the things that homeschoolers get to do! Ruby made a mosaic out of beans today in her art class, and her own volcano in her science class. When they are around 7 years old, there are history simulation groups that meet weekly, book clubs that meet monthly, and weekly hiking groups in the spring and summer. In the co-op, they have a class for the older kids that focuses on teaching others. Each kid develops a curriculum and practices teaching and then one "trained" youth per session will have the opportunity to teach a class to the younger kids. Most of the kids start at the community college through running start when they are 16, and they are off to college with two years of college credit under their belt.

I will say socially, they are different than other kids. I don't find them for a second socially inept, but they are bypassing many of the social hoops that I felt pressured to jump through...the ones that didn't apply in college at all, that didn't really serve me in my long term development toward adulthood. For whatever reason, I don't worry a bit about the social aspect of Ruby or Alice's developement. They have two really social parents and between co-ops and classes, they will spend a good 12-15 hours a week interacting with their peers socially...I only mention it because it tends to be the first thing people throw at me.

It will be an interesting first year, but I'm really excited about it! I have my bad days and maybe I even have more than most, but when it comes down to it, I can't fathom the full day away from home in first grade. Kindergarten is hardly more of a commitment than preschool, but I don't think I could start Ruby and then pull her out after kinder, so we are going to start it this way and see where we wind up.

Should be interesting! Wish me luck!

Vans are not toys...

Alice loves playing in my van. She sneaks in the garage and has a hay day playing with my makeup and pretending to drive. She's good enough now to get the key in the ignition, so I have to bring my keys in the house and lock the van doors now.

Once, she managed to cram a bunch of spare change into the steering wheel, so that it bounced around in there while I drove. It was really mortifying when my horn would start honking persistently at the wrong moments. Once, I was in the YMCA parking lot and it was really cold and rainy. I was driving slowly to allow for the pedestrians to hurry to their cars when my horn got hit just right by a flying penny and it honked full blast for like thirty seconds. The woman who was in front of my van holding her daughter against her in the rain was so mortified, but all the dirty looks in the world didn't stop my horn from honking. So embarrassing!

Anyway, the other day she was thrilled about something and pulled me out to the garage to see. She had taken two dolls out there and strapped them both into she and Ruby's car seats (yes, my 5 year old is still in a 5-point harness...yours should be too! Soap box, sorry.)

If we are home for more than five minutes she will head out there to play, and be so disappointed when the doors are locked. "Doors locked, mommy!"

"Yes Alice, vans are not toys!"

Catching up...

I don't know why I have been blog lazy lately, but here's my effort at getting up to date. I wouldn't worry about being up to date, but I do plan on preserving our family memories in a blog book...google it, it's a great concept (and I'll let you know how it works when I try it).

Here's Ruby with her requested breakfast in bed. It's so fun to shower kids with the simple things that let them know that they are loved. Chris fixed it for her on Saturday morning, and she was thrilled.

Conference weekend, we didn't have great weather, but we'd had the flu at our house and it felt good to get out for a break from the HOUSE! We went to a dog park in town and enjoyed watching the dogs play.

Stone loves to roll around in any water he can find. The ground was really wet and muddy, but that didn't stop him from rolling around really good in a shallow puddle.

The girls and I went to the play area eventually and had a fun time being the only kids playing at a really wet park on a fairly wet day. Ruby amazes me with her determination. She kept trying the monkey bars until her hands were red and on the verge of blisters, it was cute. Again, I attribute some of that to her piano class.

It was a nice break to go to the park when Chris and I literally tuned into 8 hours (in two days) of the biannual general church conference that is broadcasted by satellite right to our family room couches. The girls did really well. There were two sessions (that we could view at home) a day for two days with two hour breaks in between, but they just enjoyed the down time with us all sitting around together. We played puzzles and snacked and stuff, and tried to do fun things in between. I really enjoyed the weekend.

Nearing diaper freedom...

Oh happy day! Alice woke up first thing this morning and went to the toilet, took her diaper off and went number one. Then she started hollering for a sucker. I had to remind her many times that only if she puts "chicken" (see previous post) in the potty she gets a sucker, but not for "pee pee". So after breakfast, she said, "I have to go pee pee really fast!" (She ends every sentence with "really fast" these days.) She went into the bathroom with Ruby as her coach and to put it nicely, she earned herself a sucker!

We've been talking to her about potty training for awhile now, and I knew when she was ready, she'd start...and I think the time is here! I hope, anyway.

Is it right for me?

So Chris uses Old Spice (no, gracias) deodarant for old men (in my opinion). I am always buying him other options, but this is his preference. So the other day, he came home from his favorite place, Walmart, with some hair and body wash combo by Old spice. GAG! I immediately had to tease him because he doesn't really have hair, and to my knowledge, the only people who actually use on wash for both things are newborns.

More than anything, I teased him because it was OLD SPICE! Come on, Old Spice is for people over the age of 90, right?! Chris isn't on the same page here, so I told him I was going to survey my blogging friends to prove that Old Spice is not for 30 year olds. Who named the stuff after old spice anyway? According to my knowledge, spices don't get better with age. Besides, there are more appealing words that mean old...like antique, aged, worn in, well-loved or heirloom...but "old"? "Old" carries a negative meaning, am I right? Even "older" is a little softer, suggesting that something is older than another thing but not necessarily "old".

The other night, Chris was laughing at something and called me in to laugh with him. It was the above commercial for the exact Old Spice wash he bought and it was pretty much marketing the wash to all hair types and all ages, but in a really fresh way...if you watched the clip, you know what I mean.

Once upon a time, I needed new makeup and Chris was with me at the store when I was selecting my new fancies. I clearly remember him suggesting a lip color called, "Shimmering Nude" because he liked the name. There were many other funny names he found, and all I'm saying is that he wasn't picking up the colors called, "Old Herbes de Provence" or "Rotten Chutney".

Is there a double standard here? I am sold lipstick called, "Lust" (by Laura Mercier, it's bold, but great) but I am supposed to salivate when my young, strapping husband walks by leaving a trail of old tarragon, sage and cloves behind him? What's your take...only share if you are going to side with me!

Craigo's Update...

Last night at Pack Meeting, we had a magic show by a really good magician in our ward. In conversation after the meeting, I heard him tell someone how he used to manage a grocery store in Rexburg, Idaho while he was a student at BYU-Idaho. As alum, I had to throw in my Rexburgian knowledge, so we got to talking about our old stomping ground (of course, I was there like EIGHT years before he was...I am shocked that anyone is really younger than me, but that is WAY younger, I was somewhat shocked to think that I am that old, here I thought I was talking to my equal...after all, he has more kids than I do).

You can't talk about Rexburg and not mention Craigo's...and guess what!??? HE WAS THE MANAGER THERE! He totally has the recipe for the famous sticks! Sure, they are in 50 lb. measurements, but he said that he divided it by 25 and things it will work. How could it not? I'm not entirely sure he's going to give it up. Maybe if I promise I'll keep it a secret? It also has some commercial baking ingredients in it, but can't you buy anything on ebay? I know a baker at the local grocery store.

What are the chances?

Quilting me...

So maybe you've noticed that I haven't been my usual blogging self. That is because I have decided I MUST get Ruby's quilt done. It has been awhile, but here are some pictures of the basting stage. I hate this part. Sommer and Mimi are also making quilts, so they joined me for a late night of quilting. It was long and frusterating, as my machine wouldn't cooperate once I started quilting, but at least I'm done cutting and piecing! I have had the project permanently out in my family room/kitchen so that I can work on it more frequently.

Here's Ruby's quilt (with dark basting stitches on it). I like it fine. Of course there are many things I would change about it. I might have allowed for a double sashing, and I would have avoided the bold reds because they are too bold for the color scheme. I also would have done an entirely different pattern, but the fabric was close to sold out when I finally got around to ordering it and I had to use 5" charm packs for all the squares. I don't want to write down all the saga of what it took to get to this stage, how many times I changed my plan and how much fabric I cut that I didn't use, because I'm hoping I'll forget those things with time. Anyway, regardless, it feels like an accomplishement to see something that I made that will be a PERMANENT fixture in Ruby's room for the REST OF HER LIFE! :) The collection I used was "Celebrate Spring" by Sandy Gervais.

I feel like I am living vicariously through Sommer's quilt. I have been in love with this collection for so long. When she was getting close to finding out what she was going to have, I showed it to her and she loved it too! When she found out she was having a boy, she ran with the collection and created this pattern on her own and chose which of the many different fabrics to use. She is really making the most darling nursery out of it all, with really great original sock monkies and neat art by a local artist and all the beautiful touches a nursery should have. I'm so excited to see it when it's all done and to meet her little one in a few weeks! I think she found almost the entire collection at Christa's Quilts online, and she was really satisfied with their service.

Mimi and I walked into Pacific Fabrics to see what we could find for her baby girl, and the very first thing she saw was THE ONE. Is it any wonder why? The color in these pics is horrendous, but you can see how great her choice was. It looks so pretty! See more info on this collection here.

Our little swimmer...

Here's Ruby at swimming one evening. Mimi (the breaker of all the rules) took her camera and snapped a few pics for me. You aren't supposed to take pictures of the kids at the YMCA. I'm so glad she did! I hate that rule! Ruby just loves to swim. She can swim laps on both her back and face down, and is really happy that she can look forward to swimming in the lake this summer with no life preserver.

Band Fieldtrip

I didn't have my camera the day we went to the orchestra field trip, and I was really bummed.

Then I forgot my camera AGAIN when we went to the band trip! Thanks to Mimi for getting some shots of my girl having fun. So Mrs. Steck, the best piano teacher around, takes the kids on two field trips to two different public school music classes. Both classes were at junior high schools and had really great teachers. The band trip was the best because the teacher uses the Suzuki method to teach his students, so they played all of the songs that the kids know how to play on the piano, and that made the experience extra fun for them. When class was out, the kids were invited to play the percussion instruments, and Ruby had a lot of fun making noise.

I was so impressed with Ruby because she showed a lot of confidence in front of the whole class of older kids! Every time the teacher asked a question of the younger kids, she'd raise her hand up high and answer him. I love how much this class has taught her about being a trier and doing things in front of others. She is playing with two hands at the same time now and she just gravitates toward the piano all day long for more practice. If there is ever a stranger and a piano in the same place, she will never miss a chance to show off her skills, as no stranger has ever been anything but amazed that someone so little can play so many different songs. She falls somewhere in the middle of her class, but they don't know that!

After the trip, it was back to the studio for sharing day and to celebrate Bach's birthday. Ruby played "Lightly Row" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and shared one of her singing barbies. Then it was birthday time! Mrs. Steck made Mrs. Treble and Mr. Bass party hats for the kids and gave them each a cupcake.

FUN, FUN, FUN! Thank you Mrs. Steck!

Craigo's Breadsticks

Anyone who went to school in Rexburg (at Ricks College, now BYU-Idaho) at a time when Craigo's was open, knows that the best-worst meal for a late night was not their pizza...but their breaksticks! Yum. I remember sharing an order with my roommates and laying around on the floor lamenting at how full we were when a guy I liked (Lynz, I don't want to say his name because you never know who's reading, but he was, oh yeah...the ONLY guy that ever called me to go anywhere, or really close...sophomore year...bunkhouse...) called to see if I wanted to go get a bite to eat. I WAS SO FULL, but I had to take him up on his offer!

Anyway, that is beside the point. After conference, I made the kids some homemade pretzels and I had a little dough left over, so I thought maybe I could make up a little Craigo's heaven. Not so. They were fine, but not crave-worthy.

I googled, "how to make Craigo's breadsticks" and got nothing but a few good reviews. Anyone know how?

My five year old...

I never get around to taking pictures of my kids. I mean, candid shapshots at the park, yes, but getting them ready for a picture I might want to frame, no. Today was the day. Alice spend all day laying on top of me sleeping (and when awake, she was throwing up), and Ruby and I needed to get out of the house in the worst way. Chris got home, and we were off. She was really excited to take pictures and I let her wear some tinted lip gloss, which was the icing on the cake for her. I got a few I really like (thank you Sam for your request, because it pushed me to do it). We took a few inside the house, then we headed off to the park for more. We had so much fun being together just the two of us, and I realized that we don't do that enough. She must have exclaimed, "I'm having so much fun with you!!!" like once every five minutes, and she'd say, "I love having just the big girls together time!" it was fun that she put us in the same category. We played at the park for about two hours before it was time to call it a night. (Sadly, she has a forever reminder of her chickenpox right above her eyebrow.)
Ruby wearing a hat that my Great Grandma Slingsby made for me. I always loved this hat! It's not every day that you see a bobcat...on a leash! This "cat" was at the park walking around with young kids that live with it. It was pretty amazing to see it up close, as they were parked next to us, and they were leaving about the same time. Apparently, they have a special permit and bought the cat from a local breeder. Who knew? In our last neighborhood there was a pet wallaby! Same story!

Beware of "J-dog"...

This has to be one of the easiest kids to take pictures of EVER! How adorable is he? Mimi and John make 'em cute.