Giggles!

Rock Stars!

Play group today was at Ashley's house and she has this really fun music toy that all the kids love to play with. Left to right: Lucy 14 months, Anna 16 months, Ty 9 months.

FHE

A group of us had dinner at "Kenny's Diner" (owned by our Bishop's family) for Family Home Evening on Monday night. It was a lot of fun and the food was yummy. They have really good fried chicken.

9 Months Old

Here is our big boy. He has grown up so fast. He is still trying to walk, he takes about 3-5 steps a couple of times a day. I am trying to get it on video, but it is at random times and never when I am ready with the camera...of course.

He is trying to throw bear off of the couch to have the spotlight all to himself.

Project #4 - Table Runner

I made a table runner to match the kitchen curtains. It's really simple and was quite easy to put together. I'm deciding whether or not to quilt it in some sort of design....ummm....what do you think? I have 2 more projects that I want to finish then I am done...for now. We'll see if I get to the other 2, I'm getting worn out! HA!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER!

Today is Spencer's 30th Birthday!! Happy Birthday Spencer, we love you!

Yesterday we had a little party at our house after church. We had so much fun with all our friends and even more fun watching all the kids play. Thanks everyone for coming!Chocolate cake with white chocolate raspberry cream cheese frosting in the middle with chocolate frosting on top!! YUMMY!!

Project #3 - Quilt for Baby Ian

Ian Weber was born July 2nd, to my oldest sister, Jennifer. He was barley over 6lbs when he was born and still is just so small. I wanted to make him a quilt a long time ago but never got around to it. When we got back to Virginia, I was going through my fabric and realized that I had enough leftover fabric from the quilt I made Ty to make something for Ian. I got the design idea from Amy Butler. She has free patterns on her website. Enjoy baby Ian!

First Steps!

Yesterday afternoon Ty took his first steps! It was really exciting. He took one step, stopped and balanced and then took 2 more steps. He did this a couple of times. Then today he took 3 steps. We were so excited and proud of our little boy. Now, after I thought about it, I'm not so sure I want him to be walking yet. Seriously, he is only 8 1/2 months old! I'm sure he will be at this stage of 1 or 2 steps and balancing for a long time, but still. Anyway, it was very exciting!

Play Date!

We had a playdate with a couple other moms and kids at Boxerwood Gardens on Friday. Ty had a blast climbing on logs and playing in the stream. He also loved playing with other kids, he gets so excited.

Project #2 - Pictures for Ty's room

I found this cute painting online, but it is $100. Sorry, totally not worth that much money! But...when I was in Utah over the summer, I went to a scrapbook store and they sold this painting in a 12x 12 piece of heavy paper (without the personalization) for only 75 cents!! I bought it and I also found 3 other pieces by the same artist. When we got home I found 12x12 frames at Walmart on clearance for $5.00! So, for about $6.00 each, I got 3 cute pictures to hang on his wall. (the last one is hard to see, but it is all the States)
So don't be afraid to frame paper, it works great!

Recipe Blog

I would like to introduce you to BIRD FOOD. Bird food is my recipe blog. This blog is more for me than anything but I thought it would be fun to share with all of you what I am cooking. It is full of recipes that I make regularly, new recipes that I love and just fun food to make and eat, and I am always adding new recipes and pictures. Feel free to try one or just see what I am cookin'. There is a link on my blog on the right-hand side, or click here. Enjoy!

8 Months Old

Ty is now 8 months old. He is 21 lbs. and 29 inches tall (which is in the 12 month range!) He now has 6 teeth and more are coming in. He goes up the stairs like a pro, we are teaching him how to go down. He is very vocal and loves to talk and make noises. He can reach things that we don't think he can and surprises us everyday!

Project #1 - Curtains

We just moved into our new apartment and it needed a little extra decorating. The kitchen is a wonderful dark 70's brown and I needed to brighten it up a bit. I found some jazzy fabric that I fell in love with and thought it would be perfect for the kitchen. Here are our new curtains! I love how they turned out and it brings in that extra umph I was looking for, without being too overwhelming.

Summer Reading

I had the chance to read some books over the summer, thanks to Ty taking long naps. I really enjoyed getting back into reading. I used to read a lot but haven't in a while. Here is what I read while in Utah.

For One More Day by Mitch Albom is the story of a man who gets the chance to spend one more day with his mother, who died 8 years earlier. For One More Day takes readers to a place between life and death in a story of redemption and one man's struggle to deal with his ghosts.

“The Five People You Meet in Heaven” Albom’s achingly moving and inspirational tale of an elderly amusement park worker who dies thinking he was a nobody on earth has stirred readers around the world. “Eddie” is killed trying to save the life of a little girl during a tragic ride accident: he wakes up in heaven to learn that the first stage is where you meet five people who were affected by your life, some of whom you might know, some you might not. Eddie’s “journey” through his life and the people he touched opens his eyes to the interconnectivity of us all.

First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes . . . a baby carriage? Isn’t that what all women want? This is the witty, heartfelt story about what happens to the perfect couple when they suddenly want different things. It’s about feeling that your life is set and then realizing that nothing is as you thought it was--and that there is no possible compromise. It’s about deciding what is most important in life, and taking chances to get it. But most of all, it’s about the things we will do--and won’t do--for love.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, translated from the original French (the book was a bestseller in France) is a tale centered on, of all things, the Cultural Revolution of China's Chairman Mao Zedong. Anyone who takes for granted the freedom from government that Western cultures enjoy would do well to read this book. But this wonderful novel (novella really) is not about politics,except in a cursory way; nor is it a treatise on the evils of China during the reign of Chairman Mao. It is, instead, a gentle, wise and humorous tale of two teenaged friends, young boys, and of a young teenaged girl, theseamstress of the title, whose striking beauty charms them both.



John Boyne's novel is the gripping story of two boys --- one the son of a commandant in Hitler's army and the other a Jew --- who come face-to-face at a barbed wire fence that separates, and eventually intertwines their lives.

It has been ten years since twenty-one-year-old Charles MacKenzie Jr. ("Mack") went missing. A Columbia University senior, about to graduate and already accepted at Duke University Law School, he walked out of his apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side without a word to his college roommates and has never been seen again. However, he does make one ritual phone call to his mother every year: on Mother's Day. Each time, he assures her he is fine, refuses to answer her frantic questions, then hangs up. Carolyn's (Mack's sister) passionate search for the truth about her brother -- and for her brother himself -- leads her into a deadly confrontation with someone close to her whose secret he cannot allow her to reveal.

Timeless and entertaining, exotic yet simple, this fable breaks down the steps in the journey we all take to find the most meaningful riches in our lives. Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who dreams about finding a treasure in the pyramids of Egypt, shows how along the way we learn to trust our hearts, read seemingly inconspicuous signs, and understand that as we look to fulfill a dream, it looks to find us just the same...if we let it.

I still have a list I am trying to get through so hopefully Ty's naps will continue.

Cooking With Grandma

I left Ty with my mom for a few minutes to run an errand. When I got back this is what I found.

He was having so much fun squealing and laughing that we let him play in the flour a little while longer so I could get my camera and take these pictures.