I also have a 10 year old!

 

Well, and I now also have an 8 year old and 5 year old, but I’ll have to get to them a little later.

So at the end of October, Emma turned 10! I hadn’t known this before, but turning double digits is apparently a big thing. So Emma had her first friends party! I know, most of you are probably having friends over for birthday parties for each of your kids, every year. But this was our first time for any of the kids!

With her birthday so close to Halloween, Emma thought it would be fun for everyone to dress up.

And they each got to paint a pumpkin.

And she also wanted to do a piñata. As fans of AFV, I was not sure if it was a good idea. :) But we made it work, and nobody got whacked!

You can see we hung the piñata on the end of our fruit picker. Then Adam stood on the deck (which has a railing), and held the pole out. It worked pretty well.

And of course she had so much fun opening presents.

Sydney enjoyed the party too.

Emma requested a bat cake to go along with her Halloween themed party.

She is growing up so quickly and beautifully. Emma is such a great big sister. She loves to read, and she is so smart. I still can’t believe that she is 10!

I have a one year old!

Ha! That was four months ago! :) But at the beginning of October Sydney turned one!

She didn’t really seem to get the idea of opening presents. But I like how she looks cross-eyed staring at her new polar bear.

She was more excited about her cupcakes. :)

The kids and I made lion cupcakes for her. I found the idea in a magazine awhile ago. I love to see how creative the kids get.

Now that she’s almost 16 months, here are some of the things about Sydney:

• SHE IS STILL NOT WALKING!
• She has 12 teeth
• She loves playing with/being entertained by the big kids.
• She goes up the stairs really well (and even came down the other day without me knowing it) – and loves when she can escape upstairs and play with the big kids.

• She’s a really fast crawler
• She’s starting to make animal sounds
• She loves to read books
• Her favorite show right now is Dora, but she was really into Wubbzy for a while.
• She has big beautiful green eyes and long hair.

Of course as a mom I could go on and on. She has been so much fun to have in our family! Happy Birthday!

Phineas and Ferb

Are any of you Phineas and Ferb fans? We got hooked on them last summer. :)

Here is Spencer’s Ferb imitation.

(Have I mentioned before that Spencer makes me laugh?)

The Fullmer family came to town!

Over the summer my brother Chris, his beautiful wife Fenna, and their kids came and visited us for a few days! It is always so great to see them!

Maddie, Mia, and Linus

We had such a nice time just hanging out and letting the kids play together.

I think this is a nice picture of Chris. I always love to hear him play his guitar!

Duck-duck-goose on the lawn.

            Linus and Spencer deep in conversation. I always wonder what         little kids talk about. :)

Of course we took them to the Capitol Building for a tour.

And then of course their visit had to come to an end. I’m wondering why my kids know how to make such silly faces!

We are so glad that they would take the time to hang out with us for a little while – it was too fun and we miss you!

Some Summer Pictures

 

As always, I’m far behind in updating the blog. But I like to eventually get the pictures posted, 1. so that whoever might read our blog can see what we’ve been up to, and 2. so that I have written notes on at least some of our pictures.

Here I am watering the garden. There’s a cabbage in the farthest box (which Emma got free from school, and which we never ate because it was too full of cabbage worms, and it also stunk). That empty box was my potatoes. I planted probably 15 starts last year and only 3 grew! What’s up with that? Also it looks like my onions and peas were doing well, and the tomatoes were on their way!

This is Spencer. I can’t remember for sure now why he was doing that, but it seems like he told me it was the best way to dig without getting dirty. Funny boy. :)

Cute little Sydney.

Here we are enjoying Chocolate Fountain with John and Megan and their family, and also Adam’s cousin Melanie. So tasty!

The kids at the Discovery Center.

Here’s Ben at the bubble blowing station.

We also took a trip to visit Adam’s parents. Roasting marshmallows is definitely a favorite thing to do there!

Well these are a few of our summer pictures. It’s amazing how much the kids have grown since then. And it looks really nice right now to be warm. :)

More Projects!

I don’t have Christmas pictures to put up yet, so instead I have some projects to show that I worked on before Christmas.

These first three bags I made to try and sell. My sister Jody goes to boutiques a few times a year and sells her beaded socks. She has always said that I’m welcome to send her anything to put in her boutique – so I finally did!

This bag is corduroy on the outside with a stripy cream/green upholstery fabric lining. I appliqued, then straight stitched the tree and leaves. This bag and the next one are about 12” wide and 11” tall.

This bag is a satiny celery green on the outside, and is lined with the same fabric that the bow is made of. I knew when I was making it that it wasn’t going to be everyone’s style – but I really love it! (Now I think I need to make myself a skirt out of the polka dots, trimmed with the green!)

This last one I crocheted out of a chunky cream yarn. Then I lined it with fabric – the same fabric I used for the flower (which fabric I bought at my cousin Leah's Etsy shop). This is the only one of the three which sold – which actually was not sold at her boutique, but at her work a few days later. So the other two are still available if anyone is interested. :)

It was really fun making some cute bags just for the fun of it. I was able to be creative without a specific use in mind.

Okay, on to Christmas presents! I started working on these probably 3 months in advance. All of these items are for Adam’s side of the family.

First is a lady bug super cape for Sarah.

A purple pillow case with ribbon trim for Rachel. I also made a blue one for Daniel, but forgot to take pictures.

An apron for Pa – for when he’s making divinity or fudge. Yum!

And an apron for Megan. The yellow fabric was also bought at Leah's shop.

I made Grandma stationary/notecards for Christmas.

And a coin purse for her birthday (which is Christmas day).

I had so much fun thinking of what to make, and then doing it! We’ll see how well I do this year making gifts. :)

A few projects

 

I’ve been doing a bit of sewing lately. A good part of it is Christmas gifts, so I can’t post about those yet. But I’ve taken pictures of a few projects (from a long while ago) that I can show you.

First is a super cape for Rachel! I made it for her birthday this year. I also made one for Daniel, but I don’t have pictures of his. Rachel’s is pink polyester on one side (remember I’m trying to use up what I have instead of buying all new fabric) :), and purple crepe-backed satin on the other – with the satin side showing. This is a leftover from my bridesmaid dresses! (Who wore the purple one? Megan maybe?) And it has a Velcro closure for easy on and off.

Next, I made wallets for the boys for Easter. This one is Spencer’s. I didn’t take pictures of Ben’s. Which reminds me – I am obviously not very good at setting up the scene for taking pictures. Maybe I’ll learn in time.

I followed this tutorial to make it (which was not the easiest tutorial ever). The boys really like them, but they don’t hold coins very well. :(

The last thing I have to show is a coin purse. This is the first one I made. Again, sorry for the poor pictures. But I am so pleased with it! I bought the clasp at Joann’s, and followed this tutorial to put it together (except that I didn’t stitch mine by hand – although I’ve considered trying it, since it might actually be easier).

I used upholstery fabric that I have on hand for the outside (thanks Mom for all those upholstery samples!), and a simple muslin for the inside. I’ve made a couple others since this one, and I have a couple more in the works. (But of course, no pictures yet). So many fun projects, so little time…

P.S. I have no idea if my links are going to work. I know I’ve put them in before, but they are acting funny today. So if they don’t work – I’m sorry. If they do work – then please disregard this note. :)