Finished

I finally finished all the Christmas things I had to get done. All I really have to do is make Chas a stocking but if that doesn't happen I know he won't be too mad. It's only his first Christmas and I don't think Bonnie had one her first Christmas.

The one thing I'm super happy about is finishing Bonnie's Christmas dress. We took some snap shots today and of course she was goofy - I long for the days of her cute smile in photos.



Since she was being such a goof I opted to take her head out of the photo. I was really happy with how the dress turned out. I bought the pattern from Sugar City Journal and finally got around to making it. I was really nervous about making the dress but once I got going and read the instructions a million times I felt ok. It was so nice last night to see the whole thing come together - I finally feel like I can do more than make dolls and quilt. This is exciting.

Sewing

A few months ago I bought a new Bernina. This last Tuesday I went to my first Mastering your Machine class and I learned so much. The first lesson I learned and put into effect yesterday was never touching the round nob the moves the needle up and down. Yesterday I did hands free sewing!

After I had bought my new machine, I had told my nieces that they could have my old machine. Plus I figured this way the girls can get better at sewing while not ruining their mom's machine. Since I'm here at there house all weekend I brought it over for them to give it a try.

We waited to begin sewing till three of the kids were down for their naps. That left only three kids awake, plus my brother was hanging out and Danny preferred to hang with Mike than the two sewing machines.

We got the machines out and I set them up. Then I began with the basics. We went over winding the bobbin, threading the machine and needle, and sewing not too fast. Although a certain blond haired niece just thought it was funny every time I told her to slow down. All in all I'd say the girls had a blast. They were working on projects for Christmas and I must say I was really proud that instead of wanting to buy things they thought it would be more fun to make them. My oldest niece put together a block of fabric and I was so impressed with how well it all looked together - I think she might have a flair for matching fabrics together.

Then slowing all the kids woke up and it was time to put the machines away before their littlest brother destroyed all that we had worked on. I found it to be such a fun afternoon myself.

The Joys of Children

I promised my sister a while back that, sure I'll watch your kids for a weekend. No big deal right? With her four and my two it adds up to six kids - I informed Jay last night I am done at three. I seriously was in bed by 9:30. I don't think the little ones were even in bed yet.

We have had some funny moments though.

This afternoon I tried to put Chas down for a second nap (he refuses to sleep and I really don't know what is going on). I walked into the kitchen where the three older kids (a 3 1/2 yr old, a 2 11/12 yr old, and a 1 1/2 yr old) sat eating their cracker snack. They all had this funny look on their face and got really quiet.

Next thing I know I hear Scooter, our dog, chomping away on crackers. They were getting such a kick out of feeding the dog. Apparently this is just a right. Of course I couldn't keep a straight face - it was totally funny. So I told them nicely, OK we need to stop feeding the dog.

Well that works part of the time. I'm going to need an extra car just to get Scooter home next week - I guarantee he is going to put on 15 pounds!

Gone

I am away from home. My oldest nephew passed away on Wednesday night.

T-shirt reads Crazy Mama

So yesterday amidst all the insane hours Jay and I have been putting in I thought I need to visit my mom. This Sunday Jay heads off for Phoenix to go to a conference and I thought why the heck do I need to stay home. So with the click of a button I bought two plane tickets to Vegas. One for me and one for Bonnie - Chas will sit in my lap. Don't ask my why I am traveling on a plane with two small children but it's not for that long and I can easily handle an hour and a half of screaming.

Now that I've gone and purchased the tickets I can barely sit still. Three days with my parents and with no plans at all. I am planning on relaxing with the kids and visiting the park a lot. The park is very close to my parents house.

And although winter is trying to set in here - it's still summer in Vegas! I am so excited.

Utah

In an attempt to get Bonnie to not whine as much on the car trip we bought a Scooby Doo coloring and sticker book. Alas it didn't work. The first three hours of our trip from Idaho to Utah she whined and fell asleep five minutes before we stoped for gas. We couldn't believe it. I laughed and told Jay at least she doesn't disappoint - we always know she'll whine in the car. I was totally laughing when I said this and he looked at me and said you love your family don't you. And I said yep I do - and I do, they are just so freaking awesome.

We left Jay in Logan to watch a BYU game with my sister's husband and three boys. Turns out my sisters baby (he's seven) tried to start a fight with three men sitting next to them. The were cheering for the other team and totally thought my sister's baby was so cute - apparently baby was yelling Aggies suck and other silly phrases. Sister's baby was so proud of himself.

Saturday found my sister and I leaving Jay with Bonnie and us heading out to fabric stores. Again we found my sister's baby telling Jay funny things. Sister was telling Jay he can eat anything he wanted. Sister's baby piped up and said "if you need to know where anything is in the pantry just ask me. I'm in there everyday!" I just about lost it - he is such a character.

Really the one thing that made this weekend great was spending time with family and many many giggles. I think that is always my favorite when we can relax and just laugh.

Sunday was the best. Jay, me, sister, & sister's hubby headed up to Salt Lake to a religious conference and it was so awesome. We were so lucky to get to and just enjoyed ourselves. Here is Jay smiling for the camera - we were pretty high up and off to one side of the conference center.

We headed home and enjoyed a relatively quite ride home. The kids were exhausted beyond belief. I enjoyed it while all three people slept in the car and I just sang out of tune to some of my favorite music.Hope everyone else had a great weekend.

My little girl

We have so much fun with our little Bonnie. Her manners and sillinessr make us laugh long after she's gone to bed for the night.

Yesterday we moved all of the office furniture off the front porch to the front room while soem workers adjust the level of the floor on the office/porch. This means Bonnie has access to all the files that are at her height. So last night Jay and I were working on some documents together at my computer. All of the sudden we hear a rustling of paper and a rip. We both turned around and ask Bonnie what she was doing with the paper. When she hears we've noticed she is doing something she shouldn't she throws her hands up in the air and runs away giggling. Now how are we supposed to discipline someone who is so darn cute when she gets in trouble.

I finally finished a simple dress for Bonnie. I had some extra fabric so I made her a little bag to carry her books with. I really love how it turned out.

On Being Mommy

When I gave birth to Bonnie I was really scared because I didn't know the first thing about being a mom. Now that Bonnie is 17 months old I feel I have a much better handle on the situation. I also never had any clue that spending time with Bonnie would become more and more fun as time went on.

Yesterday we went out to play in the yard with scooter and it was so much fun.

One of her favorite things to do is walk Scooter. While we were outside we found those seeds that when I was a kid we called helicopters. These seeds you hold up with your arm and then let them free fall. When the helicoters fall they twist in circles. Bonnie got such a kick out me showing her this that she kept playing and playing with the helicopters. I really enjoyed just watching her giggle and clap at how well she had done. While we were playing I realized all the wonderful memories Bonnie brings back to me about my childhood.
I'm the young sister here with my older sister Jeni. I can't even begin to talk about all the fun we had as kids - we were a very large family. I remember many forts being built and destroyed. Another fond memory is all the birthday parties we had for our family. I could go on but with seven kids there just tends to be so many wonderful memories.

Well on that note have a great weekend. I'm finishing up Bonnie's first sundress and maybe starting on a second. I do have some gifts I have to finish up for baby showers for next week. Looks like it will be a busy crafting weekend.