Charlotte's Stocking

As with every new addition to our family a new stocking must always be made. This year I was really torn as to what I should make. My mother suggested I use an angel. So I had my sister send me a photo of her angel stocking that was made. It is really just beautiful.

The more I thought about it the more I wanted to do a Russian doll. After all that was the theme her baby quilt was that was made by Grandma. (By the way I seem to be unable to write today - it could have something to do with the fighting siblings). So I pulled out the fabric I purchased from Kristen and thought I'd use her design as my template.

So I'll just put it out there, I'm not totally happy with the face but I had a little time pressure to deal with. I finished this stocking at 11:30 pm on Christmas Eve. I was so happy to be done.


I beaded her name like I did with Chas' stocking. I also decided the use her middle name to even the look of the stocking out since her first name is so very long. It's actually longer then Bonnie's given name.

It's hard tot ell but on the belly area I used white beads to outline that little white design. I had a lot of fun creating this little lady.

On a side note I now know why I am just not able to post everything I do or all the funny things that go on in our household. It's definitely not the babies fault. I have broken up at least three fights between the two older kids and it just doesn't seem to end. So until the fighting period ends, which I know could be never, the posts will continue to dwindle. So just hang in there like I will.

Christmas

Wow, Christmas has come and gone so quickly this year. With all our family activites I didn't find the free time to make all the gifts that I had wanted to. But oh well there's always next year right?


Here is Bonnie with her new pink guns!

Chas got a little Fisher Price vintage tv. He and the other kids love it.

All in all I think it was a great Christmas. The play area has been a disaster since Christmas with all the new toys being played with.

Snow!

We had our first snow on Monday. Bonnie woke up utterly excited and it was all we could do to get her to eat breakfast before she ran out to play. She loves the snow. Chas is slowly learning to like playing in the cold.


We are all about snow suits at our house. We've found the kids have so much more fun outside if they aren't worried about falling over and getting their pants wet. It took a lot of searching to find snow boots and a snow suit for Chas. He's still such a little guy. He can't even keep his gloves on his hands yet, but this is the first year Bonnie's been able to get her thumbs in her mittens.


Then unfortunately this little one hates being left out but it's so much fun for me to have her to myself when the big kids are outside. Plus getting pictures of her smiling is such hard work.

Who's that Boy? Part 2

Well you asked and so I am showing you the photo. Before I show it though everyone must promise to not make fun of me. So without further ado, here it is.


It look as if this photo was actually my kindergarten photo.

Just for the note this is a way better hair cut then the one I received in first grade by an older sister. In first grade I received a mullet - ugh, growing up in the 80s was painful for everyone.

Who's that Boy?

On Monday night I pulled out the Christmas Tree ornaments. I handed the ornaments to the kids and they put the ornaments on the tree or somewhere near the tree. We were almost finished when I pulled out some ornaments from my childhood.

In first grade we made Christmas ornaments with our photo on them. I believe this was probably a gift for our parents. That was the year of my bowl hair cut. Jay has always given me a hard time about that ornament and my hair cut.

Monday night I handed the ornament to Bonnie to put on the tree. Bonnie took one look at the ornament and said, "Who's this boy?" I asked her what. She showed me the ornament and again asked "Who's this boy?"

I laughed and told her it was me when I was a little girl. I asked Jay if he had heard what she said and he laughed. I think he felt justified in his laughing at the ornament all these years.

Boulder City Train

It turns out there is a lot of fun things to do with your kids while in Las Vegas.

This first night we were there we drove down to the MGM Grand hotel. They have a little lion display there that is free for the public to see. The kids thought it was really cool. The lion handlers were playing with the lions and so we were able to see them awake.

Friday morning found us over at the Hoover Dam. With three small children we didn't take the tour but we just drove over the dam. Jay & I loved it. Bonnie & Chas snacked through the whole adventure. Charlotte screamed the entire length of the dam and then some.


The next morning we drove back out to Boulder. There is a great train ride for families. The kids had a fabulous time, as did the rest of us.

Everyone at the beginning of the train ride.

The kids looking at the rocks!

There are so many more photos to share but it will have to wait for another day.

Bonnie turned 4

I wanted to post this last week but found myself on vacation and really just having way too much fun to do anything serious.

Last Friday our little Bonnie Jean turned 4. I can't even imagine where the time has gone.

Here is Bonnie only minutes old.

With the birth of this little girl our entire world changed. Last week we were able to celebrate with my parents her birthday. This was such a big deal for her. She was talking about this party for weeks before it happened and anyone who listened learned she was going to Grandpa & Grandma McLean's house for her birthday. I think it turned out just as fun as she thought it would be.

Opening her princess castle. She was very excited.

The look of happiness, I think.

My Mom helped big time on getting the princess cake created. Thanks Mom, we know she loved it.Bonnie & the cake. I just love that she's petting the Barbie's hair.

There is so much more that I want to say concerning these past four years, but I've got a million things to do. We arrived home last night and then it took another two hours to get the baby asleep. There is so much cleaning to do it's not even funny. I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I thought the older Charlotte got the more time I would have to get back to blogging. Boy was I ever wrong. It seems now that she has become somewhat easier the other two have taken up the slack. It seems the older ones are going through a phase and I have to say I really don't like it. There is way too much fighting going on.

Then yesterday I laid Charlotte down on the floor. She doesn't get to hang out on the floor very often because if you saw my last post pics you'd see big brother loves her. He loves her very much! But yesterday she had a few quiet moments on the floor and I turned around just in time to see her plop on her tummy. Yep she rolls now! It's really cute, she gets on her tummy looks around and is like crap I don't want to be here how do I get back. Jay was trying to show her how to roll back last night. She is just so darn cute.

On the baby front she is much longer than Bonnie ever was. So the clothes Bonnie fit into during the winter don't even fit Charlotte very well. Charlotte's 4 months old but fits into anything larger than 3 month old clothes. I discovered that the poor kid doesn't have a lot of dresses and if there is one thing a baby girl needs, it's lots of dresses. So the kids & I hit the fabric store last weekend and picked up two patterns and a shoe pattern. I'm so excited to start sewing for Charlotte. I cut out the first dress last night and can't wait to have it ready for her this Saturday.

The other big project, which there always seems to be one, is getting the laundry room organized. Now that Jay is in scouting in again full time, this time as an advisor out side of church, he has a lot of scout stuff that he needs to have at his disposal at all times. So I think we'll be getting the shelves I've been asking for in the laundry room! So this will be kind of fun to see what we can do with the area.

Since I can't leave a post with a photo here is my big sister with my two babies.

This was taken all the way back in August, when someone didn't have any neck control. Now she holds her neck up so well.

The many forms of love

There is a big sister in my house that loves her little sister. They like to spend their afternoons smiling and looking at toys together.

Bonnie shows her love for Charlotte in many gentle ways. In the morning Bonnie loves to come into our room,hop on the bed, and talk to Charlotte. Sometimes after Charlotte has woken up from her nap Bonnie goes in and reads her a book.

There is a big brother that loves his sister fiercly. I adore how much he loves her, but he's like a bear and doesn't know his own dangerous strength.


When Chas is around I keep a close eye on him. So does Charlotte, but she watches him because she loves him as much as he loves her. He makes her smile all the time.


So in the end on the days I'm just so frustrated with the kids, I just have to remember the little things. Because the day to day drama that has now taken over my life isn't nearly as great as the little things. Sorry for the sappy post but right now in the quiet evening that is how I feel.

Halloween

Wow has the month of October just flown by. We've had so many different events it's nice to look forward to a somewhat quiet November.

On Friday night we carved our pumpkins. We invited over Grandpa & Grandma, and Aunt April. It turned out to be fun night. While they finished carving pumpkins I started cutting out the sugar cookies. We decorated the cookies on Saturday.



I used the nighttime setting on the camera so we could show that the pumpkins were glowing. The pumpkins stayed nice and still but as you can see the kids were not able to stay still. Bonnie is behind her pumpkin, Chas is behind his pumpkin, and I carved the white pumpkin.

For Halloween I decided the kids needed to be cowboys! They had the red hats I just needed to add a few pieces of clothing and they'd be ready to go. I sewed up a vest for Chas and added his badge. Chas was the deputy! Then with Bonnies outfit, I had started with this one first, I kind of had to adjust as I made it. In the end I really liked the way it turned out. I also sewed up a skirt for Bonnie to wear because she is a girl and cowgirls need skirts. Bonnie's badge read Sheriff. So we had a Sheriff and a Deputy. They also had guns that they wore in the holsters.



We also tried to get a shot with Charlotte in her carseat with the kids.

Hope everyone else had a great Halloween.

Allison & Mike

Allison & Mike
Originally uploaded by DanMcLean

This is my new sister-in-law, Allison. I like this photo my dad took. These too are such good friends and we're so happy she's joined our family.

Apple Pie

Time Continues On

This photo was taken in April of 2008. That is my oldest nephew, to the left of me, who has his arm around me. I believe Jay took this photo of the siblings & parents. Now Calvin didn't have his arm around me because we have a special bond by any means. No, This was the weekend we discovered Calvin was taller than me!!! I knew the day was coming but I didn't think it would of arrived so quickly. My little baby nephew who I remember feeding at Dauphin Island when he was a wee baby was now taller than me.


This is Calvin and Bonnie down in Las Vegas about a year earlier (October 2007). This is a funny photo because Bonnie was playing under neath Calvin's large rock throwing area. I just remember this because it was funny.


This is Boomer with Bonnie in this photo. Boomer was Calvin's dog and he was such a good dog to everyone.

One of my very last memories of Calvin was after he got his cell phone. Now Calvin had a few rules concerning this cell phone of his. One of the rules was that it had to be in my sister's room at night so he wasn't down in his room texting all the time. Well the weekend we were visiting the room we staying in was above Calvin's room. Jay and I were laying on the air mattress trying to fall asleep and we could hear giggling in the room downstairs. Since we knew Calvin was alone we figured out he was texting. It was just so funny to sit there listening to him giggle as someone texted him something. Jay and I enjoyed hearing him laugh that we just couldn't snitch on him.

Apples, Apples, & more Apples

What's in that wagon you say? Well take a little closer look.



Why it's a wagon full of apples. These were picked off the tree in my back yard. Now it's time to start making pie!!

The Great Balloon Chase

This morning Jay headed out for work as he does every morning. He gave me a call on my cell but I didn't hear it, I have this weird ability to turn down my ringer and I have no clue as to how this ever happens. Thankfully he texted me so I could figure out the coolness he was telling me.

As I was in my bedroom I could hear this odd noise but since next to our bedroom is the Baptist Church parking lot I assumed maybe it was something going on there. So I heard the text noise from my phone. I checked it out. Jay's text said, there's a hot air balloon in our backyard. Oh cool. I ran out back and could see it through the trees. The kids couldn't see it very well though.

I looked at them and said, "Let's chase the hot air balloon." It took a little coaxing but I finally got them in the car. The balloon was moving fast but when we got to the end of the road I could see it was just in the neighborhood by my house. I drove down the road and sure enough the balloon had landed in the road!

The view from the car.

The kids instantly thought it was so cool. So we stayed and watched them deflate the balloon. I found it pretty fun myself.

The kids checking out the balloon.

Right after this they put some hot air in the balloon and it totally scared Chas - he stayed attached to my hip after that.

Taking the balloon down.

Bonnie being silly as the balloon was deflated.

I think our family may have a future in balloon chasing, I think it's better than chasing tornadoes!

WIP

Just thought I'd show some progress on the cross stitch I started for Chas last summer. It's his birth announcement and I just love it. I made one for Bonnie back when she was a baby.

Oh yeah & if you forgot what he looked like, here's a photo of him with scooter.

This dog is so patient.

Ever have a week where the stars align & you can get a lot accomplished?

Well last week I had been thinking of an outfit to make for Bonnie. I bought this cute fabric while visiting my sister last month. So I got to thinking about making a dress and started looking on the internet at patterns. Then after a while search I remembered I had tons of magazines with patterns in them. I pulled out my Ottobre magazines and flipped through them. I found a cute jacket that I thought would look nice on Bonnie and so I traced out the pattern and began cutting. Figuring out what size she was in centimeters was probably the hardest part. Then the next day I began sewings. On Sunday I finished up her skirt. I had so much fun making this outfit.

Don't worry I'm not trying to protect her identity. Currently Bonnie is in a stage where she doesn't smile at the camera so I figured I wouldn't include the crusty look on her face. Bonnie loved the outfit and kept telling me she was a princess. Now I did think about shortening the skirt but then I remembered how she is always sitting improperly in skirts so I figured I'd keep it long. After letting her wear it on Sunday I do realize I need to tighten the waist just a little.

Then last night I finished out a project that was started many years ago. When I started it I didn't really know what I'd do with the embroidery. But then a few months ago I saw the two pieces and figured out what I'd like to do with them.

There is also this second wall hanging.


I hung these two wall hangings in the office/guest bathroom. I love the way they look and actually makes the small little room homey.

Other than that I spent the rest of the week being Mommy & house keeper. The first job I love the second I think I could do with hiring someone else to do the job!

The past few days

Friday Night:

Boise was a sweltering 75 degrees and 0% humidity.



But hey at least we've finally got them playing in the sprinklers!

Sunday:


My sad attempt to take a cute photo of the kids dressed nicely. I ask two things of them. First, sit still. Second, Bonnie hold Charlotte up. I don't think either request was heard.


Tuesday:


Charlotte contemplating if she'll smile at the camera.


Of course she'll smile. She always smiles for mommy!

The Kids

I've been wanting to do a little photo comparison of the kids for a while now. As little ones they all look so very much a like to me. But then that is my opinion, just like I think they are all the cutest babies in the world. I'm allowed to feel that way, I'm Mommy.

We begin with Bonnie Jean.


Hands down Bonnie had the biggest cheeks of all the kids. Look at those adorable kissable cheeks.

Now to Mr. Chas.



His top is so correct - he stole my heart. To this day Chas is still our smiling little character. Jay described him as a cute stuffed animal - you just want to hug and make him giggle all the time.

Now to sweet little Charlotte.



Charlotte isn't as old as the other two kids are in their pictures. She is our long skinny little girl who has exploded with smiles all the time. I am so amazed how much she adores he siblings & parents. When I get her up in the morning she is just ready to smile & brighten everyone's day.

Thrifting and Such

On Tuesday my sister watched the two older kids. So that meant it was just Charlotte and me for the day. This is usually my day to get a lot of work done (for the office) because I'm not interrupted.

After dropping off the kids at my sisters I thought I'd hit a thrift store. I've been dying to go thrifting but with three kids it just isn't something I can do on my own. Here are a few things I found.


This first record was the biggest score of the day. Bonnie was so excited when she saw it she ran around for a bit screaming Scooby-Doo!


A few more for the record stack. I had fun trying to get the kids to sit still for photos. I know so silly of me.


I found this record and neither Jay or know who the musician is but we both loved the cover. I figured the cover was worth the 50 cents I spent.



The cross stitched chairs were not thrifted. I finished up the green cross stitch chair earlier this week. I hit the fabric store and picked up five hoops. I am thinking I'll use the other two hoops to put some fabric in. I'm planning on hanging the three chairs in our bedroom. I've been thinking of doing the cross stitch for a while I just hadn't gotten around to it. I started the blue chair after I had Charlotte as a way to get myself to sit still so I could heal. How silly I had to find something to keep me still.

Last and not least a cute photo of Charlotte.