The Embody Family

Nine

2011-07-06T18:16:00.001-07:00

Someone turned NINE in June. It's hard to believe, but she sure did. She woke up on her special day to balloons covering her room.....
She waited ALL DAY to open presents with family...a couple of her favorite ones....
A remote control Helicopter...very cool...we all love this one.
and her long awaited converse...in her favorite hue.

We topped off the evening with her 'organic' Whole Foods cake that she asked for. I still can't believe she is nine...my baby...isn't a baby anymore. She had a great day.

Memorial Day

2011-07-06T18:07:00.000-07:00

I am kind of backed up on blogging....so here is a memorial day photo. We went to a cemetery so the girls could understand why we celebrate memorial day...here is my favorite.

4th of July

2011-07-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

We went downtown...sort of...and watched the fireworks. What a beautiful display of Nashville Fireworks. Hope you had a good 4th.

Our Trip

2011-07-06T17:47:00.001-07:00

Tim and I took a trip, we went to Chattanooga, just the two of us. It was a well deserved trip, my mom came and took care of the girls and the puppies and we just went. It was wonderful. We did a lot of walking and picture taking, well Tim did most of the picture taking, he is good at it. We woke up bright and early and went up to the mountains to get this shot of the sunrise. I am so glad we did, it is simply gorgeous. The night before we went up and drove around trying to find the best spot for this, and boy am I glad we did. Such a beautiful world we live in.

This in another sunrise picture he took...same mountain different place. Amazing.

On the same day we went to get the sunrise picture we took a train ride. It was only a 6 mile train ride, but it was fun, first time I had been on a train. It was lovely scenery.

We also went to Old Stone Fort state park. It has three waterfalls, this is one of them. We had such a good time...

Embody Happenings

2011-05-18T17:42:00.001-07:00

Emma has been as busy as an 8 almost 9 year old can be. She was asked to be a part of the BYU Ambassadors program that was here a couple of weeks ago. She got to dance and sing on the stage with some really talented college kids. We were really proud of her. She was on the principle's list this year for straight A's. She picked out the fabric for her Easter skirt...I made these ruffle skirts and they were well received.

Mollie she is growing up to fast. She started playing the Violin at the end of January, went to contest in April and got a first on her solo. She impressed the judge when she was asked how long she had been playing and relplied a couple of months. I was so proud of her...she got some chicken nuggets for lunch. She has been on her first temple trip, started YW, went on her first band trip to Dollywood, and was nominated to be a Young Ambassador next year in 7th grade, a really great honor.
Both of the girls are doing well, and are ending the school year beautiful young ladies. They make Tim and I so proud.

I have been sewing...

2011-04-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

I made some things for a friend that is having a baby girl soon. I made her a quilt....

(my quilting up close)

The finished product. I forgot how much I love to make quilts.

So what does every little girl need..a tutu of course. I had fun making this cute little tutu for my friend.

I made a couple of things that I usually don't make here are some wash cloths, made of flannel and soft channel fabric.

Since it will be summer soon, I added some ruffles to the bum of some onesies, it was so much fun making baby things.

Stormy Weather...

2011-04-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

We have been having some stormy weather down here in the south over the last month. One day I came home from work to find this tree in our yard...it's actually our neighbors tree. It did no damage to our yard, other than a couple of holes I found while mowing...he he. There have been so many trees being knocked over during our recent storms, crazy weather.

We are adding to our Family...

2011-03-30T17:59:00.001-07:00

Meet Leo....the newest member of our family...we are so thrilled!!!

Spring..and Tim

2011-03-30T17:37:00.001-07:00

I LOVE Spring...it's my favorite season..(except when it's fall) my favorite flowers are tulips and I LOVE it when Tim takes pictures of them for me. I also added a couple of other pics he has taken this spring.

Tim has been busy, really busy taking pictures not only of our Spring here in TN but also babies...we have a lot of babies being born in our ward (13 before August) so he is getting A LOT of practice. He sure does take some good pictures (maybe I am just a little proud). Here is a sneak peek at a new little guy..

Not only babies, but he spent a couple of hours taking pic's of this gal with her mom...this is just one of many great ones...

Happy Birthday Mollie!!!

2011-03-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

Here she is my birthday gal, she is growing up really fast right before my eyes. I can't believe it that she is actually 12.

I am so lucky to have such a really great kid, and now young lady, we are so proud of her. It's amazing how just one day they are small, and the next they are hanging with friends, talking on the phone, and busy with after school actives.

Mollie has started to play the violin, she is getting pretty good and already is reading music very well (must have gotten the music DNA from me :))

Now being 12 comes with some really new fun adventures...for one thing she gets to be in Young Women..our YW of our church came over and decorated Mollie's door. They put hearts on it telling her how excited they are to have her join them in YW. She was really excited to see that her door was all decked out. We had new beginnings this last week and were welcomed with open arms. What great friends she is going to make. Tomorrow is her first day...she is thrilled. Here is her door....

Being 12 also comes with an anticipated trip with grandma to NYC...in lieu of her trip in the fall grandma made her a quilt made with NYC squares...It is beautiful.

One more BIG thing that comes with being 12 in our house.....her own phone...yep we did it we got her a phone (with VERY strict rules too!!!)....she is so excited...

Happy Birthday my Mollie girl!!! You bring us such joy and happiness...I am so glad that you are my daughter.

Love,

Happy Love Day....

2011-02-14T19:04:00.000-08:00

Bubba is all decked out in his Valentines bow tie.

What would Valentines Day be if we didn't make 30 Valentines for classmates...

Gummy bears and Teddy Grahams makes for one great treat!

Apron

2011-01-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

I made this apron for a friends birthday, I was so excited to find the pattern, and then used some really neat fabric to make it. I also made french seams for the first time. I loved this apron pattern so much I made mollie one for Christmas too! I will get a picture of her in it soon, I will also post my Christmas creations soon as well.

Mollie's Loves to Cook

2011-01-19T18:59:00.001-08:00

Mollie showed some interest in cooking so for Christmas she got a cook book and some some cooking essentials. She made this cinnamon bread, some sweet rolls, and Emma approves them all. She has also made some rosemary walnut bread, a cake, cookies, etc. At one point we had so many baked goods I had to stop the baker for a couple of days so we could catch up on eating all of the yummy goodness.

2010-12-18T12:28:00.001-08:00

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This and That

2010-12-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

This year for teacher gifts we went simple. Something sweet for such 'sweet' teachers. I had a light bulb turn on when I saw some peppermint sticks on an advertisement....and wa..la.. we have these great little gifts. I must say I love mason jars, they are so useful.

The other day I was at the store and saw this little beauty, and I just couldn't pass her up. She was a splurge.. I usually don't buy a poinsettia at Christmas time, but when I saw this wee little gal she just had to come home with us. So she did, what a beauty.

Over the summer we went to the Flea Market here, it is a really big deal, we were just looking around and I found these three beauties standing out. When I went to ask about them the gentleman gave me a really good deal...to good to pass up. So now these lovely glass beauties are on my sewing shelf and I get to see them every day.

Love,

Snow

2010-12-13T19:20:00.000-08:00

It snowed here in Nashville TN, a little early for snow here in the south. It closed down school today and again tomorrow....the girls stayed busy making a cute snowman.

Happy Birthday to Tim...

2010-11-07T15:55:00.000-08:00

Tim's birthday is on Halloween....we celebrated all day. I made him a cake...a very spooky cake. (this was my first attempt of making a birthday cake), he liked it....
I also made his favorite birthday cake he gets every year, a cheese cake. He loves this one too, and it was gone much quicker. We had some friends come over later in the evening, to help us celebrate....

The girls didn't want to go trick or treating, they got really excited to hand out candy to the trick or treaters that came to visit us. Emma was waiting by the door all night.
We also carved a pumpkin, I am into the letter E right now so I had Tim carve out an E for our doorstep. It turned out great!!

Of course Bubba had to get into the Halloween spirit, I made him a little neckerchief with a scarecrow on it. Doesn't he look great. All in all a good day.

Day in the life of Emma...

2010-11-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

Mollie gave Emma her camera for a day....this is her day.

Getting on the bus...this is our wonderful bus driver, we love her so much.

Emma riding the bus, how fun.
Shoes....
The rain outside....

Her friends, what a nice day.... HEHE

Happy Fall....

2010-11-07T15:45:00.000-08:00

We haven't been doing much around here but managed to make some Carmel apples and jump into some leaves.

We made some Carmel apples, I was craving them....oh...and were they good.

The girls raked some leaves up in the back yard and jumped in them. We had a really dry fall so it was more dusty than usual. They had a fun time though. Our big trees in our front yard were cut down this summer so all the leaves we had this year were in our back yard.

Newest Addition

2010-11-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

This is our newest addition....and how excited am I! I have been wanting a piano for so long, and now I have my very own. Tim actually found it on Craigslist, and we paid 75 dollars for it. We have had it for a couple of months, but OH how I love it.

(A very rare photo of me...I just love music!! It makes me less stressed).

Love,

In September.....

2010-09-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

The first weekend I went to a baby shower for these little ones....the next Thursday they were born...and the following weekend I went to see them.

This is Adam, he was born first....they are very sweet little ones....

This is his twin sister Allie she was born second. The both are doing well and are as cute as they can be.

Most of August....

2010-09-26T15:03:00.001-07:00

For most of August (after my birthday) I set out to sew for my newest niece and nephew....I made them (their mom) one of my bags, that is really big.
And some blankets. This flannel was so cute I couldn't pass it up.
I also made gifts for the baby shower.....these were the prizes for the winners of the games. I made some cute little purses.

After sewing for the babies I made something for my other lil' sis. I made her a DS case to carry her DS in. It even has places for her games.
Once the girls were back in school I guess I just went on a sewing frenzy...I made a lanyard for Mollie (they have to wear their ID's everyday at all times) She wanted me to make one for her teacher...I then made one for Emma's teacher as well. Lets just say the word spread and......

I have been making several ever since. These are just a few. I tie a ribbon around each one, it's all about presentation. HEHEHE
I also got some sewing in for my cute little twin nieces who had their first birthday, so I made them a soft small cuddly blanket......
and some softies with tags. They loved them. Now on to more sewing......HEHE

Back To School...Dinner

2010-09-26T14:56:00.001-07:00

(I haven't posted in a while, so I am going to catch up)

We had a back to school dinner, on the Sunday before the first full day of school. We used my 'special plates and glasses', we set the table nicely. We had pasta, salad, bread, everyone ate everything...we talked about the upcoming year, worries, excitement etc.

Each person had their own name card (or little book) which they could color in later.
I am not a very creative table setter, but we did have some neat crayon arrangement going on. All in all it was a really nice evening.

Until next year....(for this dinner)

Happy Birthday to me.....

2010-08-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

This year was pretty low key, didn't do much on my birthday....the night before though Tim surprised me with a surprise Birthday Party. I was so surprised. Apparently it had been in the works for a while, and Emma didn't even spill the beans. It was so much fun, I had a great time. Didn't take any pictures though...we do have this one of Bubba with one of my balloons.

I also share my birthday with a very special friend. I usually bring her chocolate, but this year I gave her some flowers....I used the idea from here.

Back To School....already???

2010-08-13T05:53:00.001-07:00

Well it's school time again, and the girls had their first day yesterday. It seems to get earlier and earlier each year.

Mollie is starting 6th grade this year...yep 6TH GRADE....I can't believe it. She had a great first day, and tells me this is going to be a great year. Some of her subjects....Spanish, math, reading, and music. She is pretty excited about this year, lets hope by December she still feels this way.

Emma Kate, she is in 3rd grade. She is thrilled to start school too, and loves that she has a pet guinea pig(simba) in her class. She loves her teacher. When I took her into the school, I was holding her hand and then as soon as we got in she didn't want me walking next to her( I was sad), but she at least let me walk her into her class. I met her teacher, and saw where her desk was.....she had some old friends in her class that were excited to see her, and chances to make new one. She said she is going to have a GREAT year too!!!
So I did a little sewing....Mollie was suppose to have a pencil pouch for school and I asked her if she wanted me to buy her one or make her one, and she wanted me to make her one. I was so thrilled. So she picked out the fabric, and wa-laa here it is. I also made Emma one even though she didn't have it on her list. It came out cute.

So now I am off to get my DL renewed...it expires on my birthday (tomorrow). Won't that be exciting.

Visiting Grandma & Pa

2010-08-13T05:37:00.001-07:00

This summer the girls went to visit my parents for a week. They had a lot of fun. Here are some of the fun things they did while they were there.

They went to Fort Massac, where they had fun and learned a lot.

While there they went to the river front, and this is the Ohio River, where Pa taught them to skip rocks....(they can't stop talking about how they learned this great skill...thanks dad).
They got to play with these lovely ladies...my sister goes running with my dad in the mornings and so the girls got to play with their cousins...what sweeties!
They also went to visit their other cousin too! She is also a sweetie, and the girls had fun visiting with my other sister as well.

While visiting my sister they went to the St. Louis Zoo. They got to see the Seals, penguins, ride the train...and much more.
To round out the trip they went to a Miners game (minor league baseball), this is Big John one of the mascots, they also got a baseball from pa and got to get it autographed by the mascots, and team players. All in all it was a good fun week for the girls. Thanks mom and dad for taking them, it really meant A LOT! Also thanks to my sisters for entertaining them as well.

Emma

2010-08-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

My little one Emma turned 8!!! Can you believe it? She was baptized the 4th of July weekend. We had special visitors come to her baptism. Tim got this picture of her before...it's a great picture, one of my favorites.

The above dress is the one I made for Mollie...the one below is the other dress I made her. A wrap dress with a blue sash....she loves blue.
Emma had a great day. We asked her what she wanted to do and she decided to go shopping, she got her hair and toes done, and went and spent some birthday money. She had family over for cake....here is a picture Tim took (who else right?) with one of her favorite things...cars. She got some of these for her birthday along with a rug that has roads on it.
She got an American Girl doll and Tim made her this bed for Ruthie. He did a great job, and she really loved it. What a great day to be 8!!

Love,

I made a Tie, I made a Tie!!!!

2010-07-07T17:32:00.001-07:00

Sooo for about 14 years Tim has been wanting me to make him a tie. He bought me a pattern, one year for fathers day I got really close, started to make it and then stopped. I didn't think about making another one until this year, and I DID it, I (Meg) made a tie. Tim LOVED it and was quite impressed for my first tie. He wore it on Fathers Day with pride.

I also made this, a needle book. Thanks to a good friend, and her needle book for inspiration, I made my own. It didn't take to long, but it sure did make me feel good to get another thing accomplished. Here is the front of the book......

and this is the inside. I tell you what it has already saved me time so I don't have to look for my needles...what a great idea. Thanks CI.

Not only do I sew...I cut bushes too, HEHE, that is a good one. I hate, absolutely hate doing yard work, anyone that comes over knows I grumble about doing yard work....but with a house it has to be done. I have taken on the project of our front landscaping. Now it doesn't look great but the bushes are trimmed and Mollie was so proud of my square bush that she needed to take a picture. Everyone that stops by she tells them that I cut a square bush. She requested a rabbit......she settled for a square. (I wasn't planning on cutting a square it just sort of happened that way. HEHE)

Flood of 2010

2010-05-19T18:27:00.001-07:00

The flood that happened here two weeks ago, well it changed us all. View this video, it shares a lot of the devastation that happened here in my town/city. I have actually never been prouder to be a Nashvillian. What wonderful people and kindness I have seen come to our town. We took care of each other, and helped our neighbors. Tim went out for a whole week and helped gut peoples homes, along side with others. It was amazing to see everyone come together in this time of need. We were without phones, and Internet for a week and a half, Tim and I would go and check on our friends, we would just show up....they didn't mind to much, we are so blessed.

Dad: This has some pictures I thought you might like to see..Bass pro shop under water along with the whole Opry Mills Mall. Opryland was also under water, they will be closed for up to 6 months. The river just swallowed them up. There is also the LP field where the Titans play, and pictures of West Nashville.

This is the flood from our front door. the street was starting to flood. We had minimal flooding, unlike some of our neighbors who lost everything.

This is a picture of the flood waters creeping up in our neighborhood. This is just a street away from our house. We were watching it so closely.
This is the little tree in our front yard, you can see the water coming closer to it. If you look beyond the tree you can see the water in the road....we watched it get higher and higher.
After the flood, we could actually see what all the water did. Water is a very, very strong and powerful force when there is a lot of it. It was incredible to see cars covered in mud (like this one) that were once covered in water. This is the street that leads to our house, near the old street we use to live on (which was under water too), this picture is of the aftermath. Every ones belongings on the curb, waiting for the trash trucks come to pick it up. There are streets and neighborhoods full of pictures like this one, every houses belongings on the side of the road (I have never seen anything like it, even after driving past it everyday, it still amazes me). The clean up has begun, everyday I see huge trucks picking up the garbage, the have become a staple in our neighborhood. It will take sometime, but soon enough it will all be gone.

Violet

2010-05-19T17:41:00.001-07:00

This post is about Violet. We drove 2 1/2 hours to pick her up, Mollie bought her with her own money. She did lots of research before we drove to get her, and when she saw her, she knew this little gal would come home with us.

Violet died today, we are all sad and mourning. Mollie wanted me to make a post about her because she meant so much to all of us. Here are some of our favorite pictures of her...RIP Violet....RIP.

She LOVED to eat Tim's glasses......
When she was out, well it's our heads that she liked to land on.
She pecked Emma all the time....

From Mollie: Sadly Violet had to go, I know we all loved her but she had to go. :( I love you Violet!!!

From Emma: Violet was a really good birdy, even though she woke me up, but she was still a really, really good birdy. She liked eating my hair and we all miss her terribly.

Violet was a great bird, she liked to imitate us, and the dog. She would laugh when we laughed, and when we sneezed she would make the same sound. She would also imitate Bubba....what a great little gal. .We will miss you Violet. (We are going to call grandma and ask if we can bury her next to Suzy (the fish), and Licorice (the hamster)). (Tim built her a coffin, and put her in the freezer, until we can get to grandma's) (I have had all the deceased animals in my freezer, what we do for our kids.)

Me

2010-05-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

This post is about me....I don't usually post about what I am up to, but I thought I would this once. I have been doing odds and ends here and there. First my health.... In April I was diagnosed with skin cancer...I know!!.. Right when I heard the C word my mind immediately went to, 'am I going to die' then I got a little bit past the initial shock and started thinking, no I am going to be fine, I am going to fight this, then I start thinking all kinds of weird things...then my doctor interrupted my thoughts brought me back to reality and said I will be just fine (I am sure my face spoke wonders). I have the kind that is curable. I had surgery (got 5 stitches on the outside and 5-6 on the inside, my kids thought that was cool) and now I am fine, they got it ALL (they took out plenty to make sure they didn't have to go back in, OUCH!!!).....now I just have to be monitored every 6 months and then 12 months, WHEW....my Crohn's well that is in 'remission' for now, WHEW...enough about health.

When not helping Mollie with her production of Guys and Dolls, (I helped sew the costumes), working and talking care of my family, I have been sewing, some of my creations are below.

For Easter, I made these skirts for the girls. They look so cute in person, the girls were so excited to have me finally finish them. This one is Mollie's she wanted a purple skirt.

This one is Emma's, anyone that knows Emma well knows that blue is HER color....
I made some homemade lotion for the sisters I visit teach....I made it for them as a mothers day gift, however between the flooding, and my forgetfulness they should get it this week.
My sister is my best advertisement for these bags. I love making them, (which is good because my other sister is having TWINS TOO!!!) This one turned out really well.

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE sewing for babies, so I started a new baby item. BIBS....these were so easy to make, I just loved making them.

I also have some other projects to do... there are these cute little bags all cut out waiting for me to sew them. I also need to get cracking on summer skirts and dresses for my girls......WHEW!

Love,

Guys and Dolls 2010

2010-05-18T16:58:00.001-07:00

Mollie signed up to be in the Drama club after school, and then when they announced they were having a play she decided to try out. She was cast as a Hot Box girl, and for the play her character and other Hot Box girls did a great little dance. Mollie did great in her play and we are all very proud of her.

This is toward then end when she was an extra in the city. So cute.

Tim took a picture for the directors, this is the whole cast...they all did such a great job.

Mollie

2010-05-18T16:53:00.001-07:00

Mollie was taking pictures with Tim one night and she caught this smoke stream. Isn't it cool?

(budding photographer)?

From the mouth of Mollie: "This is my favorite smoke picture that I took with my dad, plus it is my favorite color. :)"

The Drop

2010-04-30T21:35:00.003-07:00

My husband....what a talent he has for pictures. He has a friend that comes over and takes pictures with him every once and a while, and one night they experimented with water drops...this is the picture that Tim took....AMAZING!!! What a great shot.

11

2010-04-30T21:12:00.001-07:00

See this beautiful gal....she turned 11, yeah I know 11 WOW!!! (of course it was almost 2 months ago, but nevertheless....she is 11). She had some friends over for a movie party, and boy was it fun.

These are the treat boxes that they used to......
put the candy in from the candy bar.....
No party would be a party without cupcakes....

And when her guests left after the movie they got to take one of their very own movie kits...

Mollie loved having her friends over, and even though I didn't get the popcorn looking cupcakes done, or the concession stand more concession looking, it still was an all around great time. I did however kill all of the ants that invaded our kitchen that same day....and our pantry was on display that night because of it....but Mollie's friends were great, they told me that at least we can get and find things very easily.

Our snowman.....

2010-04-30T21:10:00.001-07:00

As I was downloading pictures off the camera, I found this one....Mollie and Emma made this little guy when we had our snow back in February. I thought he was to cute not to post.

He is at it again....

2010-04-01T22:46:00.001-07:00

The assignment this time....to make a computer cabinet for Whole Body so that customers could use it and print off good info about vitamins, supplements, etc. We went through drawings, models, and here is the end result. Beautiful. Tim also got a really great award the other day at his yearly store meeting. He was named the outstanding associate of the year for 2009, in the whole southeast region. A job well done, what an honor, and great accomplishment. Now how will he top that in 2010?

This and That

2010-04-01T22:32:00.001-07:00

Mollie had a project a little while back, and her assignment was to make an element that the teacher assigned, her element was Sodium. We thought about this for a long time, how to make it creative and still look great. Well this is what Tim and Mollie came up with. They made a prototype...and then made the real thing. Mollie did almost all of the work herself. She used a saw, jigsaw, wire cutters, paint etc. She worked very, very hard on it...one of her best projects so far. I am very proud of her job well done. (she did receive an A)

One day a couple of weeks ago, I got a call at work from Emma telling me that she was handcuffed to her coat. I really didn't understand what she was saying at first, but then when I realized what she had done, I got a good chuckle out of it. She couldn't get out of her coat, or get her backpack off. Luckily Tim came to the rescue, not before getting a picture. HEHE She is something else.

Sewing...DS Cases

2010-04-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

The girls got a Nintendo DS for Christmas this year....after a few months of trying to find a good pattern, I finally made them a little bag to hold all of there accessories along with their DS. They have a pocket for their games and enough room for everything. What a big hit they were. They love taking their purses with them when we need to go somewhere. Of course they had to model them....

Gymnastics

2010-03-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

So we finally signed Emma up to take gymnastics...man does she LOVE it. She has so much fun every Saturday, I always ask her if her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. This is her favorite thing to do climb the rope. She asks the teacher every week if they can climb. When she first started out she only got this high....then we encouraged her to go above the black tape....now she can climb almost to the top...her goal is to ring the bell at the top.

After climbing it is sooooo fun to jump and land in the pit. The girls LOVE this pit of foam. I think Emma just wants to get to the top so she can drop in the pit. I am not sure if I could watch that, it makes me sooo nervous, but she loves it.

Happy Valentines Day?????

2010-03-25T16:47:00.003-07:00

So....Valentines Day. I had great plans to do such great things this year. I was going to make things for those I loved, and well that didn't really happen.

Tim got me these beautiful flowers, I was so excited.

I did manage to make Emma Valentines chocolate suckers.....They turned out really well. Much better than the homemade Carmel's I tried to make. Oh, well there is always next year.

Hello!!

2010-02-07T17:21:00.001-08:00

We are still here.....

A couple of weeks ago I got a text from my sister and she was asking me if our school had canceled yet, because Nashville was suppose to get 'some' snow....I replied Yes, in fact they closed school before one snowflake had fallen.......much to our surprise this is what happened...

This is Friday night, we enjoyed the snow all day and also then at night. Nashville shut down for the whole weekend. We have 30 snow plows for our city, and the roads weren't cleared until Monday, and it still was a little slick. Crazy. (my kids don't have the appropriate snow gear, and Emma really hated getting snow in her shoes, she wouldn't change into pants either. silly girl).

The girls wanted to measure how much snow we were getting, they also decided that Bubba needed to go out too.....well Bubba does not like snow. It was to cold for him, he kept shaking it off, and tried to walk with out touching it. SO funny. He was glad when it melted.

More snow pictures, we did get more than we thought we would, and for Nashville it was a good amount. We had such fun enjoying the snow, and the girls loved to be able to play in it. I am glad that school is back in, we have no more snow and our schedules are back to normal. It was fun while it lasted.

Just a couple of things....Mollie tried out for her schools production of 'Guys and Dolls' and made it. She is so thrilled, her performances will be at the end of March. She is a doll, she recently had some other rolls added, so it should be fun to see how it all comes together. Now to get on sewing with her costume. She is also taking drawing lessons from a friend of Tim's that he knows from work, and she is really enjoying those.

Emma is doing well, we got a really good deal on some gymnastic lessons, so she has been enjoying them. She smiles the whole time she is there, as soon as I remember to bring the camera I will get a picture of her there.

Love,

Merry Christmas

2010-01-03T16:48:00.003-08:00

It's a little late, but here is our tree in all it's glory. It looks like a postcard picture, thanks to my own photographer.. Tim. Merry Christmas, I hope it was a lovely as ours was.

Gumdrop Tree

2009-12-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

I was trying to think of creative ways to spread Holiday cheer to some of my friends, and I came up with this... I used a cone, some foil and a lot of gumdrops.

After getting all of the gumdrops on the tree, I packaged it up to give to my Visiting Teachers, along with some of my co-workers.

The Shelves

2009-12-13T19:26:00.001-08:00

When I married Tim I knew he was very smart, he has a lot of knowledge and a lot of skills. In the last year I have seen a lot of his knowledge and talent come out. He works for Whole Foods in HR, but sometimes they give him projects to do, he made a desk, a Popsicle stand, and some end caps. His last project were these shelves, he designed them himself, and they turned out beautiful, I am so proud of him.

The shelves started out like this, on paper, in a diagram, and then a cute little model.

Remember I mentioned in an earlier post that over Thanksgiving break Tim went to his parents house...well this is what he was doing, building shelves. He did some cutting (a lot of cutting).....
Some measuring.....
Some consultation....
And here is is plan....out of wood. Great isn't it?

We then took the shelves home and he went to work sanding and staining. Emma even helped him stain. It took him a little over a week to get all the pieces sanded and stained.

One shelve done.....

Here they are complete..stained and in place. They fit perfect and turned out beautiful!!

This is the display, the floral department was so thrilled to get their shelves. They look so nice I am so proud. I saw them in person the other night, they look so nice, he did such a great job.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-13T19:16:00.001-08:00

We went to Grandma and Pops house for Thanksgiving this year. In all the years that Tim and I have been married I have never cooked a turkey, this year was no different (hehe). Tim cooked the turkey this year, and it was so yummy.

The girls helped peal the potato's with Tim. They really like to help in the kitchen.

After lunch the girls got to help pop get firewood gathered. Mollie, Emma, and bubba manning the tractor. Pops let Mollie drive the tractor, I didn't believe it at first but sure enough she was driving. She did a great job and told me that in a few years she could get her license, for driving if we lived on a farm. I guess we just need a farm. HEHE

Emma and the Rockettes

2009-12-13T19:03:00.000-08:00

Emma wanted to see the Rockettes for the longest time. She would tell me over and over how she wanted to go see them. One night I looked for seats for the longest time and then told her we just couldn't afford it. We were then given tickets, although I didn't tell Emma we were going until we got there. Her face through the whole show was so neat....she made if fun for all of us. Those Rockettes really know how to put on a show, it was so fun.

Grandma's house

2009-12-01T19:34:00.003-08:00

Over Thanksgiving break the girls spent their time up at Grandma and Pops house. Tim is building a shelf for work (more on that later) and needed to use his dads tools, and garage, so the girls got to tag along. On Friday Grandma helped them make these great Christmas Trees. They both turned out so good, and they were quite tasty as well. Thanks Grandma!! ( Thanks for the pictures too!)

Emma

2009-11-20T19:21:00.000-08:00

I have a good friend, who handed down Emma some clothes. She was SO excited to get some that she put on mostly everything that she received. She is so funny, she was ready to go out and show off her new look.

Projects

2009-11-20T18:25:00.001-08:00

There is something about fall that brings out the projects in school. Last weekend we had two projects to get done (and there are many more before Christmas).

Mollie had a project for art and she had to create FOOD ART. She decided to do a beach scene. She made a cake, I made some 'ocean' for her (sugar and water boiled with food coloring, which I learned from Duff on Ace of Cakes ). She used brown sugar for sand (which she learned from Cake Boss ). Then we added the necessities, beach Volleyball, sand castles, umbrella, and of course marsh mellow people. She got a 100, great job Mollie.

**my girls and I are hooked on these cake shows, we record them and then watch them on the weekends if they complete all their jobs.

Emma had a little different project. Emma had to make a disguise for Tom the Turkey. She decided to make him a princess, she did a great job. You can hardly tell this is a Turkey, right? Got to love Emma's fashion sense. The heels match the dress, (I have to admit I really enjoyed making this little skirt) (thats the ONLY part I helped with hehe).

~My name is Tom Turkey and I'm afraid as can be!~~
~~I'm wearing my disguise so you won't catch me!~~

Pumpkin Carving

2009-11-20T18:14:00.001-08:00

OK so I have been lacking on my posts lately, I want to say it's because we just don't have that much going on, well not that much 'fun' interesting things happening. So here are a couple of posts.

Mollie had an Achievement Day (this is where girls 8-11 get together and have activities), and they carved pumpkins during this activity (they have since had 3 more activities, I am way behind). This is Mollie's pumpkin, she did a great job considering she was just got bitten by a dog. She is fine, her hand is healing well, (her right thank goodness, not her left), she will have a nice scar to show off.

Here is the pumpkin all lit up. She did great, I love the crooked mouth.

Our Trip

2009-11-08T17:02:00.001-08:00

We went to Southern Illinois (my home town), so that we could be there when my nieces were blessed. Below is my sister and her family. Chrisy, Shawn, Ella, and Sophie. What a great day.

My big brother came down for the blessing as well, he brought 4 of his 5 daughters. With my girls and my sisters daughters it was a houseful of girls.

(From L to R...Hope, Cailin, Madelyn, Sophie, Alaina, Ella, Mollie, Emma, and Emma). Fun times.

Here is a picture of everyone that came. Shawn's family is on the left, and my family on the right. It was a really great day.

Happy Birthday!!

2009-11-08T16:56:00.001-08:00

This handsome fellow had a birthday recently (we won't mention age!! hehe) He is a Halloween baby, and we celebrated his birthday at my parents home. There was cake, good food, and not to mention presents!! Happy Birthday Tim.

Guess where I went......

2009-11-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

We went to see my sister and her new babies, finally! I couldn't be more thrilled. I had a really good time taking care of these cute little girls. This other cutie is my other niece Alaina. She likes to be in pictures.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-08T16:35:00.001-08:00

We were visiting family over Halloween weekend, and for trick or treating we went to the local mall. There were A LOT of people there, but the girls had so much fun with their cousins. My little ones are a candy corn and a sock hopper.

Tim

2009-10-23T19:03:00.003-07:00

Tim has been enjoying his camera over the last few months. They have been on many trips together. He took this at The Stone Door State Park here in TN. He went there with the scouts on a camp out. He took this picture along with several others, but this one is my favorite. It looks so peaceful, you can almost hear the waterfall.

He has also been taking more abstract pictures like this one. Can you guess what it is?

Pepper

2009-10-23T18:30:00.003-07:00

So this spring, I planted a garden. I planted 6 cucumber plants, 2 tomato plants, 2 green pepper plants, 1 red pepper plant, 1 cantaloupe, and 1 watermelon plant. I had great plans for all of my garden goodness. Well it didn't go so well... here is my crop. One lonely little pepper. I didn't even have the heart to eat it. It sure is cute though, maybe next year will be better.

Mollie

2009-10-23T18:25:00.003-07:00

I have discovered that mowing really isn't that bad, with a few conditions. It has to be dry, not hot, windy, and in the evening. When you have all of those things combined I don't mind mowing. Oh, and there is when your daughter decides she can mow, now that is cool. Mollie mowed the front yard for me one day. She did great....at getting the grass cut at least. We had a very creative pattern in our front yard. At least it was a "short" pattern. HEHE

Emma

2009-10-23T17:54:00.001-07:00

Emma had her fall music program, she was so excited about it. She got to play the maracas for a song. She is the one in the brown with the orange monster mask on. The kids were mostly excited to wear the masks, when the teacher asked if they wanted to remove them they said no.

Emma is really attentive to her animals. She has a pet fish (suzie) and this snake. She makes sure that Suzie is fed each night and is still swimming. She also has to clean out her snake cage along with feeding her. Every Friday Courtney eats, and boy is she getting big. Here is a picture of our creative child taking care of her snake. Interesting way to get to her isn't it. Just look down at the other picture.....

Now this is the way to get it done. I am luckily not around when this happened, but Tim thinks it was quite creative.

Remember this post???

2009-10-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

We were so young!! HEHE

Happy Anniversary to us 10-11-1996

Here are some of our stats: (updated)

13: the number of years we have been married.
4: pregnancies
2: the number of children we have (Mollie, 1999; Emma, 2002)
2: babies we have lost
8: the number of places we have lived
2: states we have lived in (IL, TN)
12: years we have lived in TN
25: number of jobs we have had (both of us included, from what I can remember)
1996: year we were married
10: month we were married in
11: how many pets we have had over the years
5: current amount of pets we have
3: people near to our hearts we have lost
2: college degrees
9: cars we have had
10: colleges we have attended (together)

What a 13 years it has been, good, bad, happy, sad, whatever the time we have made it together, and for that we are proud. Here's to another 12, and many more than that.

Happy Anniversary to us!

This year we bought ourselves a treat (had to pay for more car work than we had originally planned, so we stuck with a really low key day)...from Whole Foods...can't wait to eat it. Yummy!!!

I tell you what one year has passed, not much have changed. We live in a new place, I have been working more, the girls are a year older. We are still really proud of our success.

Love,

Where's Bubba

2009-09-26T10:04:00.001-07:00

Mollie takes lots of pictures I found this one, and thought it was cute and funny. Where is Bubba?

Sewing

2009-09-26T09:56:00.003-07:00

So we welcomed Amelia (my brothers newest addition) to our family so I made some things for (her) them. I just love sewing for babies. I made another diaper case, they are so fun to make.

A receiving blanket....
as well as this blanket. This one turned out well, I had fun making it.

*note to self...get a ruffle foot for my machine. (maybe for Christmas):)

Lizard

2009-09-17T06:42:00.003-07:00

So we found this in our house a week ago, and it scurried out of our reach. Emma told me it went into the closet, and of course this was my messiest closet, so I cleaned it out. Much to my surprise he came out, and Bubba found him. Bubba caught him and it was such a commotion around here that after we found this.....

I turned around and found Emma doing this.!!! I laughed so hard. I asked her what she was doing and she said,"mama that lizard scared me so bad, I couldn't get my breath, so I had to breathe into a bag." Of Course!! So funny!!! **
**The lizard was released with no major injuries.

Welcome Amelia Violet

2009-09-07T19:04:00.003-07:00

This is the NEWEST addition...Amelia Violet my brother and his wife Kristin's new baby girl. Yep another girl, isn't it great.

Amelia Violet Russell was born on Sunday September 6, 2009 at 4:55pm. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 11 oz. and measured 19 inches long.

Welcome baby Amelia!! What a cutie.

The proud parents.

2009-09-07T19:02:00.001-07:00

Chrisy and Shaun holding their babies...The babies are doing great, getting ready to come home I hear. That means Auntie Meg will be seeing them soon!!

More pictures!!!

2009-09-07T18:57:00.001-07:00

Here is my mom holding the girls......

followed by my dad holding the girls......
followed by the TWINS holding the TWINS......cool isn't it!!! My sister on the left is the proud mama!!

Ella and Sophie

2009-09-02T06:43:00.003-07:00

I can't be there in person yet, so I am living through pictures that my sister has taken. Here are the girls in their first matching outfits. Sweet.

The grandma's get a chance to feed the girls, one for each, isn't that great. Can't wait until it's Auntie Meg's turn.

My Sisters Babies!!!

2009-08-27T05:05:00.003-07:00

Welcome Ella and Sophie!!

They are here, and they are cute. Here is a picture of the cute little ones. Oh, how I wish I was there. Soon, I will visit soon!!!! Congrats Chrisy and Shaun, we are so thrilled for you!!!!

First Day of School

2009-08-24T19:11:00.003-07:00

The first day of school has come and gone, but I still wanted to post pictures of my lovely ladies. Mollie started middle school this year. I am not sure who is more nervous me or her that day, but we both did fine. She found some of her friends from last year and so that made the transition easier. It is definitely different, tonight she and Tim were doing her homework, equations solving for x and y. She loves it though, she feels really grown up....me well I wish she could stay younger a little longer.

Emma started 2nd grade, she loves it. She loves that she is 'older' and already has a date on the calendar for her reading time with her old class. She loves to read to the younger kids. She also likes that Mollie is in a different school, she feels so 'old' (that is what she told me). She was so thrilled to start homework this week, man I don't know where they get it.

My Birthday Present

2009-08-24T19:05:00.001-07:00

Mollie knows her mama well, she knows I love music and playing music, so she and her dad got together to make me this...a musical pillowcase (she did all the work). I love it. I have it on my pillow now. She did a really great job. Thanks Mollie.

So....

2009-08-20T06:32:00.003-07:00

So....in between working, vacations, summer and such I managed to do some sewing. I made this.... (diaper bag for my sister, I forgot to take pictures of the inside but I made some pockets)(I also got to use some of my favorite fabric, which I bought some more of after finishing this)...

and a couple of these....(she is having twins so I had to make two diaper cases).....
Not to mention these. Two quilts of course. Identical fabric different colors. They turned out nicely. I was so excited to quilt again, it has been way to long.....

And I threw in one of these....a Diaper cake. My sister had a shower that I helped plan so I made her (with Tim's help) this lovely cake. It turned out better than I thought it would.

All my sewing was for her...this lovely lady (my sister) who is having two sweet girls. Couldn't think of anyone better to sew for.

Love,

Baseball

2009-08-19T06:30:00.001-07:00

So my dad (pa) loves to play baseball, he is even on a team(which is really cool around our house). The girls have been so excited to go see pa and gramma so that they could play ball with him. So to round out our vacation we stayed home to visit with the family and the girls got to play some baseball with their pa. He pitched the girls hit (they did better when pa pulled out the T ball stand). Mollie did quite well at hitting the ball.

Mollie being left handed, of course had to hit that way, but it actually worked well for her.

Emma I am afraid has her moms depth perception. HEHE She did OK though, when she hit the ball you had to really watch, I almost got knocked out.
My cute niece hitting as well. She is so sweet.
My twin sisters aren't they beautiful, here is Chrisy (the one pregnant with TWINS) and her husband Shaun and Laura, and if you look hard you can see the wise one (me sitting on the stairs) hehe.

Love,

My Birthday

2009-08-15T07:04:00.001-07:00

So I had another birthday.....I had a real low key day. Tim (who knows I LOVE cake) surprised me with this (love that guy). He also got me a book, I am usually not a reader but have picked up on it lately.

The candles, if this was only how old I was. HEHE
I got them in just one breath, whoo hooo!

Love (the birthday gal),

Life

2009-08-13T19:00:00.001-07:00

Isn't this peaceful? Tim took this picture on his way to work the other day, what a beautiful picture. He has been taking some really great ones lately which will be another post, I have a lot to post.

This is not what I am feeling. So I have been sick, yes I am always sick, but in a really bad flare (which means I will probably be laying around for my B-day which isn't all that bad except I feel really bad and I will miss doing my usual pampering because it would be really hard getting a pedicure and having to run to the BR all the time) I digress anyhoo..., I was feeling a little bit sicker than usual, so I went to the DR. Well I have a sinus infection, so I got some medicine.

Mollie did her garbage duty tonight since our garbage comes in the morning, and when I went to take my antibiotics, guess where they were? Yep in the garbage out at the curb, in the bag that I told her was garbage, because I thought it was.

So guess what I did? I got the flash light and went digging. Guess where it was? In the very bottom of the smelly can. This is a huge can too!! I had to stick my whole body in the garbage to get it out. Can you say YUCK, (yep Laura gross, took a shower, thought about bleach) (sister humor).

My lovely little girls were out there with me, even though it was their bedtime (got to get a lot of sleep for the first day of school), we were pulling out garbage, what great little ones I have. (Tim well he has been busy, with home teaching, YM photo club, and a store meeting...whew I have missed him this week).

Now do I have the guts to take it, I mean I cleaned the package with cleaner, I guess I just hope that the antibiotics help fight what ever gross things that got left on it. YUCK!!

Have I learned anything from this, yep... I will from now on remove my medicine and put it on my night stand. HEHEHE

Now I am off to bed. Thanks for listening.

Love,

City Museum (there are a lot of pictures to this post)

2009-08-09T17:19:00.003-07:00

For our next journey we went to the City Museum. This museum is made out of all recycled materials, it was quite a fun experience. To go around noticing all of the items used was neat in itself, but to add to that there are so many things to slide, climb, ride etc.
This slide was made out of conveyor belt, and Tim was really enjoying himself.
Here is me and the girls running on the giant hamster wheel. I am not quite the adventurous type but I can have some fun.
Outside there are so many things to climb. There are these wire tubes all over and really, really high. Emma had a really great time, she loved climbing really high, it's a good thing Tim did as well, you wouldn't catch me up there. HEHE

Another slide, more fun this time we got Mollie and Alaina coming down. Mollie took Alaina down many slides and climbed with her, they had a good time together.
Tim again, going down the slide, but this time he took a picture from his point of view, very clever.
Here the girls are playing on skate board like ramps. It was so neat to see kids just playing.
Under the train tracks. Emma and Alaina were small enough to fit, they posed for a picture.
The giant pencil.
See here I am having fun too, I can be fun sometimes.
Emma loved swinging on the rope.
The Roof:

You can also go up to the roof for more fun. WOW is all I can say. It was another nice day in St. Louis, not to hot, and so we got to enjoy the roof. We were at the museum all day, and the roof was our last stop. This picture was taken by Tim from the top of a Ferris Wheel (nope I passed on this one).
Emma is driving the bus that was hanging off the building. She thought is was kind of creepy when you opened the door and could see down to the street.
Yep, Ferris Wheel on top of the building. Nope didn't ride it, I don't think I would have been allowed because of previous Ferris Wheel freak outs (I don't believe my dad or my sister would have let me get on) no need to worry I didn't want too.
Another slide, the girls loved all of the slides.

It was a really fun day, thanks everyone for making it happen. We had such a good time and are still talking about it.

St Louis Zoo

2009-08-09T16:49:00.003-07:00

We went to St. Louis for the second part of our trip. Our first stop was the St. Louis Zoo. We had a really great time, this zoo is free and it has SO many animals. The girls and Alaina had such a good time together.
Most of you know how Emma LOVES snakes. So we had to stop by the reptile house, and boy did she have fun in there. We looked at each snake where they are from and if they were poisonous or not. She has decided that Courtney, needs to get a log so she can hang from it like those snakes.
Here are the girls on Phil the Gorilla. Phil was a Gorilla that my dad use to see as a little boy. The zoo really loved him and so did the people who visited him. He is stuffed somewhere in the zoo to this day (see here). This always seems to be one of the last things we see when visiting the zoo, I remember as a child stopping here for a photo as well.

Take me out to the Ball Game....

2009-08-09T16:33:00.003-07:00

We went on Vacation a couple of weeks ago, first on the list was a Miners Baseball Game. The Miners are a Southern Illinois Minor League Team, and so it was fun to go and watch them play. We had really good seats, and the weather couldn't be better. Here are the girls with Big John one of the mascots, and you can see Lucky in the background taken a rest I guess. There was also TNT which was a stick of TNT. That's Alaina with the girls, my sisters little girl.
Before the game the girls got some of Pa's hats and were all set. Here is Emma sporting hers.
Of course there is a jumbo TV, at the game here is Mollie cheering for the home team, Tim got a picture of them on the screen, pretty neat. My mom is on the other picture showing her team spirit. What a great start to our Vacation.

July 4th: Revisited

2009-07-28T22:33:00.001-07:00

July 4th was almost a month ago, but we didn't get a chance to do our fire works until just two weeks ago. It seemed to rain every time we could get up there. So we finally got to watch them and boy was it fun. Tim's brother also came and enjoyed them with us. Here is a picture of Mollie and her cousin Elizabeth. ( I believe Mollie took this picture).

One picture I got that wasn't that smokey.

Here was one of our favorites, just push play and watch it, it was really fun.

Picinic

2009-07-27T19:59:00.001-07:00

Tim and the girls found a new park to go to one Friday while I was at work, they wanted me to see it. So Tim got everything organized and after I got off work we went to the park and grilled Hamburgers, it was a really fun evening. Here are our dinner guests there were so many I just laughed and laughed. It was fun.

Emma tried to chase them away so Tim could eat, but they just kept coming back.

Emma's Birthday

2009-07-12T18:21:00.001-07:00

Emma turned 7 a couple of weeks ago, I posted about her party, but later that night we had Pops and Grandma come to eat some cake with us. She also opened a few presents.

Emma loves the Little Miss Mismatched things so much that we bought her some flips flops, and some bedding. She also got some pj's. She already owns the socks, which she loves so much. She loves that she doesn't have to find matching socks. (Once I get her curtains hung, I will get a picture of her bedding, it is so cute).

Grandma made her a beautiful quilt, which she also LOVES. Thank you grandma.

Love,

4th of July

2009-07-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

This 4th of July brought some rain, so we weren't able to light our fire works (that will be next Saturday). We spent our fourth with Tim's parents and his grandma. It was fun, we ate, Tim played cards, gave bubba a haircut (clipped his ear which bled for a long time). We waited for the rain to stop but it wouldn't so we lit a few sparklers and then headed home.

On our way home we had a car accident. It was raining, our van hydroplaned and we rammed into the guard rail, and then went speeding into the median where we bottomed out and landed about 8 feet from oncoming traffic. Luckily we weren't far from Tim's parents and they came right out to help us. What a night. We got our van towed, switched a tire out and drove our battered van home (on the back roads). We are all ok, no serious injuries, we are really sore today and the girls are still a little bit clingy (which is fine, I am clingy too).

What a scary experience, I feel so blessed that it was not worse than it was.

One funny story: Mollie was in the back seat, she was really shaken up. The fire men (about 6) of them were around us making sure we are all ok (what nice men). Mollie started screaming, I couldn't understand what she was saying and I looked at the firemen and told them to help her I can't get to her...they switched into HIGH rescue mode, they all decended on the van we had 4 firemen all trying to get to Mollie from the one door. She was in the very back and one seat was in the way, Tim went to the other side trying to get to her as well, he put the seat down fast, and Mollie was still screaming, she didn't want anyone to touch her. We had 4 firemen in the van getting gloves on, asking her the day, who the president was, and finally she yelled out, 'my zipper is caught in my skin!' It took a while but then we realized she was trying to zip up the side of her skirt and got her skin nicked in the process, the firemen kind of chuckled and did a really good job at checking her out. They made her laugh and all was fine. HEHEHE
One other thing, while we were waiting for the police to finish and the emt guys, the firemen were watching fire works with us that were being set off from a fireworks stand just off the exit. So we got to see some fire works after all, just not in the place I expected to.

**(We are taking the van to the 'van doctor' (Emma's words), Emma to the doctor, (Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever check up), and myself to the doctor, (I am having some really bad back and neck pain), tomorrow).

Here are a few shots of the sparklers, even Tim got in on the sparkler fun.
Mollie was the most decked out gal I knew. Her outfit was very patriotic, even her socks.

Another one gone....

2009-07-05T19:58:00.001-07:00

Well, tooth number two for Emma, she was so excited. Her tooth fairy Rose came by again and left her a nice tip.

Trading Buddy

2009-06-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

I participated in a Summer Trading swap, which is where we are paired up with other lovely ladies and we swap a small gift. We can give what ever we would like. I got paired up with a lovely lady who lives in CA, she just had a baby boy. I am so glad we got the chance to meet. This is what she sent me, very, very thoughtful.

She sent me rock soap, because she lives in the desert.

She knew I like to write, which a lot of people really don't know, and so she sent me these little cards with ideas of something to write about, along with a really great journal to keep my thoughts in. I am so excited to know her and to have been given such a thoughtful gift.

Love,

The Party

2009-06-28T16:35:00.001-07:00

We had a water party for Emma, and it was a good thing we did it was HOT. She picked this flip flop pinata, which was a whole lot of fun. The first swing however, knocked the plastic piece it hangs up with right off so I had to get creative to hang it again. It was a really big hit (hehee).

We had a water balloon fight which the kids loved. The water balloons were a little bit hard to break, which made for creative ways of popping them.

We filled up our small little pool for a cool place to sit, and well it didn't hold that many but they all seemed to fit in. We also had our favorite game the dukie pond, and the kids really enjoyed playing it and then getting to find a prize. It was a really nice time for all, and best of all Emma had a really good time.

Love,

Happy Birthday Emma

2009-06-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Our Emma is 7 today. We had a party for her yesterday and she invited all of her friends. She had a water party we ended up with 11 kids, we all had a really great time.

I am not much of a cake maker, so I got her these great cupcakes with her water party theme.

I found a cute pattern for little paper baskets, and made them for the party. They were also a big hit. I personlized each of them so there would be no confusion. I also personlized brown paper bags so that they could keep all of their goodies in them.

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Stormy

2009-06-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

It has been a little 'stormy' here in our home for the last few weeks, sorry about the no posting. So....this summer has brought so much stuff. We have had a broken toe, tick bites, sunburns, emergency dental work, fevers and that is just this last week. HEHE All in all is has been fun.

Mollie: She broke her toe, and limped around for a while, and currently has a sunburn, and not to mention a tick bite.
Emma: She had emergency dental work done, (put her to sleep and everything) due to refulx is what I am told, now she is being diagnosed with Rocky Mountain Spotty Fever, which is from a tick bite as well. She is on medication and her doctor is watching her (through me). She should be fine, we cought it early enough, thank goodness.
Tim: Well he is doing great, had a great Fathers Day, (he got some much needed kitchen equpiment), well as for ticks, or bites nope not for him, his is very GOOD at applying bug spray.
Me: Well my stomach has been acting up, because of stress and all of this activity I guess, other than that I am good.

The girls and I went Letterbox hunting last week, and we went to a place near Tim's work. Well we followed the clues, (didn't wear bug spray) and it led us into a small wooded area. I tell the girls to stay there and let me venture out to find the box, when I turn around they were right behind me. Needless to say we DIDN'T find the boxes and all that we left with were a bunch of TICKS. They were everywhere. We thought we pulled them all off, but still found some in the car. OH, well I think that is all the letterboxing we will do for a while.

So we are still here, doing our regular stuff. (Tim took this picture, when it storms here he goes outside to get pictures (crazy) but this one is a good one).
Love,

Letterboxing

2009-06-11T15:56:00.001-07:00

It was Tuesday, so that meant our Letterboxing hunt. This one was really fun, we went somewhere we had never been before. Believe it or not this trail was in the middle of town (not downtown) but really close. It was a beautiful walk, and we enjoyed our self. One thing we saw on our walk was the location of deadliest train wreck in US History (read about it HERE). We took Bubba with us, but since he hadn't been on a walk for a while we had to carry him back to the car (poor bubba). When he gets tired he just stops and lays down and won't move, good thing he is really small. HEHE

Bonnet

2009-06-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

The youth of ward has gone on a Pioneer Trek, and I was asked to make a bonnet for one of the YW going. She brought me her fabric and here is the result. Don't you love the Model. Since making this one I had another YW ask me to make one more, so I delivered hers last night. It was quite fun making something new.

Pillow

2009-06-02T22:15:00.001-07:00

This is Emma's favorite pillow. She loves it, she has other pillows on her bed but she insists on using this one, and this one only. She has had it since she was born, it was made for her by my SIL. This pillow is getting to the point that if I wash it any more, the fabric will keep getting a little thinner each time, ending in a 'pillow disaster'. As Tim and I were waiting for Emma's surgery to finish, we were talking about this little pillow and how it has traveled everywhere with her, and how it needed a pillow case to protect it. So I made Emma a couple of special pillow cases to protect her special pillow. I have to admit I had to convince her that it was OK to cover up her pillow, so that it can last her much longer.

Today

2009-06-02T16:47:00.001-07:00

Today the girls and I went Letterboxing. It is actually quite fun, you find places to go and clues HERE, then you go hunt. We found three today in the park near our house and have decided to make it a weekly event.

Here are the stamps we collected today. We had to stamp twice for two of them, because it wasn't stamping very well. We also left our stamp. Next time I will bring a pencil, I forgot this time. The girls had such fun finding these little treasures.

OUCH!!!! Today while cutting some blinds for our room, I had my finger in the way, and oops I sliced it open. It is quite deep and it hurts, but I needed no stitches, thank goodness. I am OK, just a little shaken up.

Laundry

2009-06-02T16:40:00.001-07:00

Since moving into our house it seems like we have laundry everywhere, and no where to put it. So I made these laundry bags for the girls to keep things better organized. Mollie's is the purple one and Emma's is the one with stripes. I went to goodwill and found the pillow cases so my project cost me $1.50. I am not usually this thrifty, all in all they will serve there purpose.

Spike

2009-06-02T16:38:00.003-07:00

So Bubba had a slug in his hair and Mollie washed it out for me. When he came back outside he looked like this. Emma then quoted one of our favorite movies and said,' I will call him spike'.

box

2009-06-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

I made this little box for my mom for mothers day. Had to wait to post it, and ended up waiting almost a month.

I am going 'SEW' crazy!!

2009-05-25T09:30:00.001-07:00

I have been sewing a lot lately, not sure why, but I have a list of things to still sew. I am just amazed because I can sew and leave out all my things and they aren't in the way. Maybe that is why I am sewing more, more room I guess. I made these two skirts Saturday, I love the fabric, from my favorite fabric store of course. Bubba decided he needed to be in the picture as well. When I sew he sits under my chair, what a cute little dog.

I have more projects on the way, this year is skirt year I guess, I am making them for me and the girls. I have a couple of more to do, so stay tuned.

Emma

2009-05-25T09:23:00.001-07:00

So Emma had her end of the school year awards, this is Emma and her teacher. She really loves her teacher, she did a great job this year.

Emma and Ella, best friends forever. Ella is exactly the same size as Emma and they hit it off the first day. She really loves her, and Ella loves her as well. What a cute little pair.
So here is Emma singing her song they sang for us. Her and Ella are wearing the same color shirt (planned of course). Emma is having her surgery tomorrow, she is a little bit anxious. Although she knows exactly what is going to happen, still nervous though.

Last Day of School

2009-05-20T17:22:00.001-07:00

So these lovely two ladies have made it through their school year. This was taken at the beginning of the year, and since then they have both out grown these cute little outfits. They are both excited about being out of school, and excited that they get to be out of school for a little while. Wow, this year sure did fly by, it was a good year, for both of them.

So other things: Emma is having surgery again on her ears. She was just getting to many ear infections since January so they are going to fix them again. That surgery is scheduled for the day after Memorial Day.

I have been a little frustrated lately, my garden, well it's not going to make it. Here is the frustration, I saved money for it for a couple of months to get the right stuff, and now I am watching my money being eaten away, and dying right before my eyes. I believe I might have put it in the wrong place, but hey I am new to this yard, I don't know it well. Everyday there is something else dead. I am going to have to save again and hopefully have money before it's to late to plant anything. I am going to have Tim make me a box, which I think will work better.

I have been sewing and I made myself a skirt. My mom was here a couple of months ago and I bought a pattern for a nice summer skirt, so I made a test run, it is nice, however it is to big. I am going to have to make another one, with fabric I actually will like, and make it a little smaller. We shall see how that turns out, hopefully better than my gardening skills.

Love,

It finally happened.....

2009-05-18T15:01:00.003-07:00

Emma lost her FIRST tooth. She has been waiting patiently and has been wiggling, wiggling, and just like that it was out. She was thrilled. A tooth fairy named Rose came by and left her some money, how lucky.

New Home

2009-05-18T14:58:00.001-07:00

We were at goodwill the other day looking around and we found this big vase, so we bought it, and look got a new home. Suzie loves it, she swims, and swims. Mollie took this picture and well she cut the top off, but you can still see how big it is.

4th Grade

2009-05-18T14:41:00.001-07:00

Mollie's 4th grade awards/program was this month. Here is her class.

Mollie is receiving her awards. She did really well, it was so cute.

This is a clip of the class program. The music teacher stood right in the way but look past him and you could see Mollie.

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-11T16:43:00.003-07:00

Tim made this for me for Mothers Day, I just love it.