Bathrobe Nativity

I know you are all laughing at this because you all do the same thing in your families...act out the Nativity story from the Bible in bathrobes, old ties, sheets and fake jewelry! Am I right??? We always have our Christmas Eve party at my brother's house. We eat lots of food, do a little acting and play some games. Good times!

Happy Birthday Ty!

My baby boy is 3!! Yikes! He is so much fun. He loves to play with his dinosaurs and his army men. He loves reading books and watching movies. He also is a crazy good dancer and is pretty awesome on the air guitar! He and Spencer dance around playing air guitar almost every night. I got to get a video of that! He is very animated and keeps us laughing all day long. Love him to pieces!

I just have to say that Spencer and I made these awesome dinosaur cupcakes for Ty. Spencer did most of the work and I think they turned out great. I have made and decorated cupcakes before but molding a dinosaur out of fondant...this was a first!

A Shout-Out!

I just want to give a little shout-out to some of my siblings.

1. My sister Jennifer started an organizing blog, which I am so happy about because she is a genius at organizing! I mean literally a genius. She has 6 kids, 5 of them are boys and so I'm sure you can imagine what her life is like. But, she is so on top of things and has everything and everyday in order. She is amazing! Anyway, if you want to read her blog, click HERE. Also, she just started making and selling these organizing files. If you are interested in buying one send her an email at organizedbyjenn@gmail.com.

2. My brother Brandon started making these wood journals. He is so talented and has done many wood projects over the years like frames, their fireplace mantel, their kitchen cupboards which are beautiful, remodeled some of their house...anyway there is a long list. His wood journals are so beautiful. We got one for Christmas and I love it. He opened a new etsy shop called Leatherwoodbooks and he has already sold a couple. To see his etsy shop click HERE.

3. My sister Lori is co-owner of Red Fox Furnishings. They do custom upholstery and decor. They have been in business for about 2 years and have done an amazing job. They have an awesome clientele list and get praises all the time about their quality of work. So if you are in Utah and need some awesome quality furniture made or re-upholstered check them out HERE.

Happy Halloween!

Ty was a Power Ranger, Kate was a fairy and Spencer and I were mad scientist. We had a big party at my brother's house. We had 3 different kinds of soup in homemade bread bowls, homemade root beer and scary cupcakes. There was about 30 or so people there, all family! It was so much fun. Baby Luke was Superman. Michael was a Tiger.

My sister Steph and her husband Josh were my Grandma and Grandpa.

My mom was a gypsy.My sister, Holli, was the Tortilla man from Toy Story 3. She and my mom made her costume!My sister, Lori, was an Indian.My brother Brandon and his wife Becky were Will Farrell and Jon Heder from the movie Blades of Glory. My brother-in-law, Curtis, was a scary man with a mask and gun.

I'm Grandma!

My mom puts curlers in her hair every morning and the kids are used to seeing her like that. One morning after breakfast I was doing the dishes and Ty was off playing, or so I thought. A few minutes later he came into the kitchen and announced loudly, "Look, I'm Grandma!" We serisoulsy split a rib laughing so hard.

Paw print cupcakes

My mom is really good friends with the author of this new book called, "Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me." She was having a big book signing at Borders and asked if I would make some cupcakes. I made 300 small cupcakes with little paw prints. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. She loved them and they were a big hit!

Picking apples with Grandma

Ty and Kate picked apples with Grandma in the backyard. Kate seriously cracks me up, she tries to carry so many things in her arms. She does this with everything from toys to clothes. I am pretty impressed with how many things she can fit in her arms sometimes.

Happy Birthday Kate!

Kate is 1! We had a small birthday party for her last week. She is walking, says: no, mama, dada, hi and bye. She just started giving and blowing kisses, it is the cutest thing ever! She is 21lbs (50% range) and 30" tall (90%) range. She is getting a little more feisty with Ty, which is really funny to watch. She loves to talk on her toy cell phone (such a girl) and squeals super loud when daddy gets home from work. We love our little Kate! I made her this shirt for her birthday party.

And we can't forget the "bear" picture. This is the last one.

Camping

My whole family went camping a couple of weekends ago. I went up with Ty for the evening. It was fun to be in nature, around the campfire, eating smores, telling stories, eating more smores, laughing and eating the homemade popcorn I made.

This one is "pesto" popcorn.This one is "pimp it up" popcorn.

And this is "cinnabun" popcorn. Super Yummy.

Ty and his cousin ate almost the entire bag of the "pesto" popcorn.

My sister-in-law made this awesome dutch oven chicken for dinner.

Doesn't get much better than this!

My mom had some water damage in her kitchen and so she is having her entire kitchen floor ripped up and a new floor put down. Which means NO KITCHEN for 3 WEEKS!! We moved everything into the garage and this is what our "new kitchen" looks like. I have a new love for the microwave, I had no idea how much microwable stuff you can buy at the store. Needless to say, we are going to have to go on a detox diet after this from all the crap we are eating. Awesome!

11 Months Old

Kate has started walking! She loves it and gets so excited when she is walking towards someone, especially Ty. Ty will hold his arms out and she will squeal and walk/run into his arms. So precious. Kate is such a doll and we love her so much!

Saving money sewing =$0 spent!!

I went to Target and Wal-mart to get some new summer shirts for Kate and was very disappointed with the selection and price, I left both stores without buying a single thing. Trying to be frugal and save money I started sewing instead. I used fabric that was given to me, I used fabric I already had in my fabric stash and I used an old pair of pants too. Here is what I made without spending a single dime!! Total = 5 shirts, 1 pair of pants, 1 pair of shorts and 1 pair of pajamas.

I made these shirts using THIS tutorial. This pattern is great because if you extend the length then you have a dress!

This one I added a little ruffle type detail down the front.

This one I used 2 kinds of fabric and added a little flower to the front.

This one I moved the elastic casing in 1/4 inch, which makes a cute ruffle around the neck and sleeves.

For this little tank I used the same pattern but didn't add the sleeves, I lined the bodice with the polka dot material, gathered the top and added the ties.

Pajamas for Kate! The pajama top is the same pattern. The bottoms is from THIS tutorial.

These pants for Kate and the shorts for Ty were made out of an old pair of pants of mine. I used the same tutorial for the pajama pants above. For Ty's shorts I took the back pockets off of my pants and put them on the sides of his shorts for the "cargo shorts" look.

I love this kimono. So cute and very easy. I used THIS tutorial.

I am really pleased with how everything turned out. It only takes me about an hour to make 1 shirt. You should really try it. There are so many free patterns and tutorials on the Internet, and I'm sure you have some old clothes in your closet that you could use for the fabric. Be creative and have fun and, of course, SAVE MONEY!!