Sewing Projects

First let me say... I don't really know how to sew. I love that I have a sewing machine and I tinker around with a few things: hem pants, sew on a button, sew a straight line. But I've never really been 'taught' how to sew. I'm not really sure how to read a pattern. That said... I'm really excited about my little sewing projects I took on this Christmas. For some people this may not be a big deal. But for me it is!

Here is Allison modeling one of the apron's I made for my neice. I made an adult size one for her mom also, but didn't take a photo.





In our family gift exchange, we have Jason's sister this year. She has 3 girls. I made them each a flannel Christmas pillow case with matching pj bottoms. They live out of state so it was tricky to make them without trying them on. My boys are roughly the same ages so they were my models. They were thrilled to be trying on girls pajama bottoms! ha ha My kids each have a Christmas pillow case that we only use during the month of December. We pack it away with the Christmas decorations and pull them out again the next year. I thought I'd do the same for my nieces.





And a few pillowcases for nephews on my side of the family:


I made Alli & her doll some matching pj bottoms also. They are already wrapped so that photo will have to come after Christmas.

Halloween 2010

A few days before Halloween, Allison's preschool class went to the pumpkin patch. I love this annual tradition. Here is a photo comparing last year and this year. She's growing too fast!






Saturday night, we went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat party! Daddy had to work so we stopped by the fire station for a brief visit and then on to the party.


The party was great. There were lots of carnival games, face painting, chili & bread, room to room trick-or-treating, etc. Alli and two other sunbeam friends were kitty cats. So cute!


I loved the kids costumes this year.
Ryan had a hard time choosing but was very excited once he did. Now he can't wait to try out real football and is awaiting next years sign ups!


Darren got out his airsoft guns and gear and was totally in his element! No surprise there.


Blake's proved to be the most challenging costume this year. He FINALLY decided the night before the party what he would be. His favorite candy bar! Happy to have him excited, I ran to the fabric store and spent Saturday morning throwing this costume together. I think it turned out ok!



My little kitty cat decided her costume ages ago! Since we already had all the pieces except for tights, this was pretty easy. I thought she would change her mind in the days and weeks leading up to the big day, but no. She did not waver. And I'm glad. She was adorable! She watched the calendar daily, counting down to Halloween. She was so excited!!


I was so impressed at our Bishopric who really got into the spirit of things! They not only dressed the part of prisoners, but took it to the next level by enclosing themselves in a jail cell made of PVC piping. They closed off the clerk's office foyer at the end of the hall and passed out candy from pie tins. It was perfect!




Darren won a prize for his 'cheeseburger' pumpkin decorating. He did the entire thing himself, including cooking up a one pound hamburger patty.



Oh, and I was there too.


Happy Halloween!!

Fire Station Play Date

Before school started up again, I took the kids bowling along w/ their friend Conner. Bowling is always a fun past time with my kids! Afterward, we made an impromptu stop at the Fire Station to visit Dad. We got more than we anticipated during that visit!




Boys climbing on fire trucks:



Jason thought it would be fun to give the kids a ride in the fire truck. He buckled them in and drove them around the block. What a treat! (I have no photos since I was in the truck too). When we got back, Jason parked the ladder truck in the driveway and raised the ladder for the kids. They thought that was pretty cool. But that's not all:



He asked the kids who wanted to climb UP the ladder!! WHAT?! Blake was our first volunteer. Each of the kids took a turn after. So did Mom.


BLAKE:



RYAN:


CONNER:



ALLISON:



MOM:


This was an extra fun visit to the fire station. A couple weeks later, Jason transferred from this station (44) to the station closest to our house(42). It is bittersweet because he's always had a desire to be at station 42, but his home has been at station 44 for about 10 years.

School Year 2010-2011

This is Allison (cuter than cute) on her way to preschool. She goes in the afternoon and she loves her small class of only 7 kids. Her teacher is Mrs. Jack whom she also loves. She loves crafts, puzzles, books, recess, snack time and just about everything else preschool!



Here are the big brothers.. all decked out for school. We somehow missed Darren this year. I think he was still sleeping when I was taking this photo. I can't believe his school starts at 9am!

Darren's 13th Bday

I am still in shock that Darren is now a teenager. Yikes! We had a fun couple days of celebrating. His birthday was on a Friday. His first birthday gift was a surprise. I tricked him by leaving his lunchbox empty except for a note that told him to meet me at the front gate of the school. When he got there, Allison & I had a large pepperoni pizza, soda, gum & licorice waiting for him to share with his friends. I could see the excitement and surprise on his face when he walked up. Score one for "cool Mom!"


After school, Darren opened his presents and checked out his Snickers cake. (not one of my better accomplishments) There weren't many gifts, as he only wanted CASH, to save up for an airsoft gun he wants. We got him a couple outfits, and saved the cash for last. I tried to think of a fun way to jazz up the cash gift... I think I succeeded:

I taped one dollar bills together, end to end, and rolled them up. I made a slit in a box and he had to keep pulling until they all came out. This was fun for all the kids!



A family tradition of ours is that the birthday kid gets to pick the restaurant of their choice for dinner. Darren chose Wood Ranch. Yum! His friend Michael shares the same birthday so we invited him along. After Wood Ranch, Jason took the boys to an indoor go-cart raceway (MB2) for a couple races. Score one for "cool Dad!" The boys had a blast and I think Darren had a pretty cool 13th birthday!



The next morning, Grammy came to visit Darren. She brought a couple cousins along with her and we all went bowling.



We thought this was a pretty funny picture... I haven't ever seen a 3-way split of the pins like this. Nice shot Darren!


I'm so proud of Darren. He is a great kid and I feel so blessed to have him in our family. Although we have our moments, I am truly impressed with the young man he is turning out to be. He is kind, thoughtful, repentant, compassionate, fun.... the list goes on. I appreciate Darren's dedication to his priesthood responsibilities and am proud of him for developing his testimony in Jesus Christ. He sets a good example for his younger siblings in doing so. I love you Darren! Happy Birthday my teenager! Please don't make our next few years together TORTURE!! ha ha

Lake San Antonio

One last quick family get-away before school started - 3 days at the Lake!
We loved it here! We camped right on the lake and kept the boat anchored in front of our camp site. We were practically the only boat on the water for most of the time. It was a blast!



This is where we camped:

Look What I Did!!

 

I canned peaches. I've never done something like this before, even though I've always wanted to. The whole process intimidated me. But thanks to multiple friends who encouraged me, gave me advice, ideas and supplies, I was successful! I was quite proud of my achievements, and also learned what to do different next time. I also made peach crisp, frozen peaches & peach raspberry jam, with some of my near 50lbs of peaches. (thanks for the recipe Jenni!) Now when my peach tree gives me too many peaches next year, I'll know what to do with them!

Magic Mountain

Part of my birthday fun this year was a trip to Magic Mountain! It was a special Fire/Police event where the park was only open from 6pm - midnight for those who had a wristband. This meant NO LINES!!! It was amazing! I haven't been in 16 years and there were so many new and exciting rides. And to not have to stand in lines for hours was great! We had 2 other couples with us (yeah.. no kids!!!) and we had a blast! What a fun date night. Can't wait for next year!

Swim Lessons

Allison was so excited to start her first swim lessons this year. That is, until she got there and realized what was actually going to occur! The enthusiasm ended there.


We started like this... barely putting her mouth in the water to blow bubbles.. and not wanting to get her eyes wet AT ALL!



And after two weeks we were at this!! Swimming a few feet on her own! And she's getting better every day! Yay for awesome teachers who didn't cave in to her initial wimpers and whines!! (Miss Bonnie Jones)

Allison's Candyland Birthday!

Many of you have been asking me for photos of Allison's birthday party. For those who don't know, I planned for months for Alli's Candyland party. I basically turned my backyard into a live version of the Candyland board game. Unfortunately, I don't have the best pictures from the day to show all that we did. I was too busy with 15 3 and 4 year olds to man the camera. So Jason was in charge of the camera and didn't take as many as I would have liked, or the kind I would like. Oh well. Here are a few of what we have:

This is where the game board begins. It's Plumpy's Gingerbread Plum Trees. The bushes on the left are covered in purple balloons for plums. The kids drew the color cards from the actual board game and moved the yellow 'game piece' on the colored spaces taped to the ground.


The first stop was 'Peppermint Forrest.' They played a bowling game with red/white striped pins and won a red/white striped chinese yo-yo and candy cane stickers. In the background, the snowflakes are part of Queen Frostine's area, which came later.


My dear friend Kate helped me by doing the lettering for Alli's birthday sign. I added colored cardstock and ribbon to finish the look. I love how this turned out! Thanks Kate!



This is the Lollipop Woods where they played a ring toss game to win lollipops. Yum!


There were other stations and activities that I don't have good pics of. We did a musical chairs-type game in Gumdrop Mountains, laced Fruit Loops on necklace when stopped at Lord Licorice, etc.

I loved the idea of my cake, but I ran out of time to do the finishing touches. I had candies to trim it with and a few other items, but just couldn't make it happen. But Allison thought it was great, and that's really all that matters!






Cousins Hannah & Gavin


Happy Birthday to my baby girl, who is growing up way too fast!!