May Projects

Maniac I am! I was given that quilt back to add a sleeve to the back so it can be hung on a wall but after that I have gone bizonkers with my crafting.

I made a stroller quilt for Levi out of material I have had since before he was born that was meant for this project. What is a stroller quilt? It is a long skinny quilt. . .

with a way to attach it it to the stroller. . . (snaps in my case but one could just tie it on)

and buttons to fold it up on it self so little toes can be inside and it can stay off the ground. Isn't that cool? I found the tutorial online but I have it in email for if anyone is interested



This pic was the 1st time I tried the quilt out and I can now see that I need to add some button holes higher up to make it short. I think I will make the next baby's stroller quilt 6-12 inches shorter or at least make the fabric at the bottom of the quilt more boring :)

I made myself a necklace birth stones, stars, new baby and all
I am exceedingly snap happy around here. I am converting all my velcro diapers to snaps because velcro is buggin! I have also exchanged velcro for snaps on all my bibs too. I bought the supplies at kamsnaps- if you sign up for their newletter you can hold off buying until there is a good deal.

Before

After

Lastly for May, I made a Double Reversible Shopping Cart Cover for my babes. I bought the pattern on etsy and it easy to make except for one small change I would have made to the pattern. If you are ever going to make one you can ask what that change is :)


More to come!!!

The Obligatory Mother's Day

I feel obligated to show you the customary Mother's Day breakfast in bed photo. Look at all those kids!!



Here is my SWEET brand new ride!! So excited!! Yup- over a stroller. I have used some pretty cruddy strollers in my time.

Dodecadi

As in a Dodecahedron that is a di. I have had so much fun being primary chorister/music leader/song leader whatever you would like to call it, even though it is a lot of work :) Most of my ideas come from online sources but this one was copied from a chorister that taught when Roger and I taught CTR 5 a few years ago. I thought I would add it to the online world. We use it on Review Sundays and the kids LOVE it! I made my own pattern and cut out the cardboard shapes and taped them together. After a child rolls it another child picks a song out of the can that I wanted to work on. My favorite was when a child rolled "Teachers Only" and the other pulled "Popcorn Popping". The kids thought that was hilarious. Good Fun!

Bye Chad

We were able to have Roger's brother close for the last couple months but he is moving on again. Come back soon Chad!!

Levi's Milestones

Understandably, this kid melts my heart!


Did you know he is my first kid to work some curls?? They are only in the back and how often does one take pictures of the back of their child's head?
I did here because he was crackin me up with how long he was playing with an empty raisin container. There are not even many curls here

Do you see that one little tooth up on top on the side? That was his 3rd tooth. Yup- on the side.

But now he has 4 on top. 2 in front, the same one on the side and on the same side one even further back. I am so glad he has teeth. At first the thought of no more gummy grins broke my heart but now I am ready for less whole food in the diaper region- ie raisins, black beans and chunks of olives. TMI

This melts my poor heart every time I see him walk. He is over 13 months and finally walking by his own choice mot of the time. He can't stand from sitting yet so he crawls to something he can stand up with.

I love this baby! I need to stop calling him baby though. I will say to one of my kids "The baby is kicking- do you want to feel?" and they will look at Levi. Not the baby for much longer!

Bubble Preschool

Oh! How I love the simplicity of bubbles!! We spent much time with such simple toys. They put socks over cut water bottles (which I had to bum off someone since we don't use them anymore) held on with a rubber band:



Flower pot holders from the local nursery:

and a cool bubble wand:

Karate Josh

Josh has been taking Karate from the same place for 4 and 1/2 years. He is a very committed boy. We feel like it has great things for his focus and commitment. Then again, it is Josh. He recently received his green belt and participated in a karate tournament. Horribly we(Roj and I- not JT) missed his kata part of the tournament for no good reason other than we thought we had more time. We did catch his sparring. Good Fun!

Finished Quilt

For obvious reasons I am deleting most of the words to this post. Thank you for letting me vent! Here is a Tshirt quilt I made and learned a lot from for a woman in my ward.

Before

After

The projects I love have been put on hold and/or forgotten as all my "free" time went to this quilt or to avoiding this quilt.

Right away I made these necklaces for Mother's Day. I stamped my mom and Roger's mom's family names on the washers. I did not get a good pic before sending them off into the mail. I spread the washers out so you can see them better but you really can't see them anyway.


I did squeeze this playmat in for my newest niece so I could feel some creative release. I used some of the same material I used on the quilt for Roger and I's bed plus some more. I love it!

I was called to be Primary Chorister over Christmas which has also helped with my creative release but I am gearing up for some things for the wee one growing inside me.

Loving this Reader

No explanation needed to understand why I LOVE this picture. She is a read-a-holic that is hard to keep a supply for. Thank goodness we have an amazing library with a phenomenal selection. Too bad it takes 20-30min to get there. The one 3 min away is crud. Go Rory Go- ignore those pesky brothers!

Music Preschool

Our preschool boys have been getting a little too rowdy in our educational preschool so we had to switch it up a little bit and do some more activities. I was a little sad since the program helped Simeon learn to read and there are still a few boys who are learning. However, it allowed us more time to more crafts. I decided to make a bunch of instruments with the boys. We made rhythm wands, jingle bell bracelets, shakers and collage drums and I gave them spinners. We had a lot of fun especially since I happened to find Star Wars music set in marching band style. Next time I have it (which should have been last week but Levi is really sick) we will lots of fun things with bubbles.

Tball Season Again

Go Simmy!

Honestly, baseball is one sport I was not interested in my friends doing but the long time between my child doing anything so much more sweet and worthwhile since I have some of my closest g-friends to chat with. In fact, I have missed Simeon's turn at bat a few times due to conversation. Oh well.

This One Year Old of Mine

So- yeah- 2 weeks ago Levi turned one. This little babe of mine is such a pleasure to have in our home (except when he is sick like he currently is because he cries a lot when he is sick unlike my other children- cough cough). I love all the little sounds he makes and the drooly kisses, and the look of love in his eyes. We haven't noticed any strong personality traits in him yet which is kind of nice since strong personality traits can often be interesting to handle. He knows what he wants but he isn't totally tyrannical about. He likes to get into things but he isn't a daredevil. He likes to play with his siblings but likes even more to be near me. He doesn't like toys just pots and tupperware and such. He isn't ahead of the ballgame in anyway. He only has three teeth- two on the bottom and one side one on the top. He crawls well and has been cruising for months but has no inclination to walk. He babbles a lot and will occasionally mimic a sound we are trying to get him to say but no real words. He loves to point and I love knowing a little better what he wants. He waves bye bye when I get my shoes on or when when I get near the door or when he gets near his bed. He thumps his chest when he sees Roger like they are monkeys. When he does not want something I am offering he shakes his fist and brings his fist under his chin. If I keep offering he pushes it away. He sleeps great in his bed but not on the move. He thinks sticking out his tongue at food is funny. He handled weaning this week like it was no big deal. He like to crawl all over me when I exercise. He has no stranger anxiety but feigns shy more than the others did. He likes strawberries, grapes, bananas, beans, cheese sticks, dinonuggets, oatmeal, eggs, english muffins with peanut butter, greek yogurt with flax seed, quesadillas, and water. There are a lot of things he will not eat or drink- like milk. I hope you feel you know my sweet one year old a little better.

We had a little party with Roger's brother Chad, sister in law Andrea, and kids we watch for date night swap and every other swap thing we need. I made him a very healthy whole wheat, carrot agave cake. He didn't really go for it but we loved it. I bet he would have if it were chocolate.




Just in case you wish you were there I included a video:

Easter Camping

I am no good at holidays. I stink at them. I can't lie and I am not very festive. Sometimes I try and others I do not


The best I can seem to do for Easter is an egg hunt with friends a week before.


We talk about the important parts of the religious holidays but as far as the "fun"stuff goes I stink. Roger made it better but his cool camping trip had more to do with Spring Break than Easter. After watching morning Conference he took them camping for 2 days. Chad slept one night there and Levi and I met them there during the day and stayed through dinner.

We got them all snorkeling gear but I promised them that 2 years ago.

I hid eggs. . . in stinging nettle. Yup- I lose.


but the trip was a blast- rain, earthquake and all.

Hoedown!

Once again our ward had another dress up party and this time it was a Hoedown. Who knew this Texan didn't have any Cowgirl Clothes?? Give me a break! Our camera was not happy with our moving around. Go figure.

We ate a yummy dinner and Jt and I joined the dancing. It was actually a little complicated for the wee ones. I had wished they had normal dancing but the Caller was really old and hard of hearing and was not down with any nonsense. Josh did great and Levi loved being along for the ride.





I love love love love X10 my Ergo Carrier. I can still carry him on my back (and front on the occasion shhh) at 21 weeks. These pics were from a month ago and I am growing bigger.



Good Fun!