Spring in the Front Yard

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything--William ShakespeareThe day the Lord created hope was probably the same day He created Spring --Bern WilliamsEvery spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment. --Ellis Peters

Gone Country

For Miranda's birthday, we had a "Farm Theme" party. After it was over, I just kept thinking, "that was so much fun." I think all the kids really loved it, too...I posted a ton of pictures because I had two fabulous photograhpers (Jeremy's aunt Dede and my cousin Corie) share their pictures with me and they all turned out so great. I have been planning on doing the farm party theme (how could I resist with Mark and Merilynn's beautiful setting and pet chickens and goats?) for about six months so it gave me plenty of time to look for ideas and snatch up farm-related items whenever I saw a good deal.

We had tractor rides, horse rides, gathered eggs from the chickens, fed the goats/chickens, 4-wheeler rides, face painting, presents and a game for the kids, lunch/cupcakes/ice-cream, and stick horse races. Although I had been planning this for a long time, you would think I would have had it all ready well in advance--but I was still up late and (very late) some nights last week getting it all ready. The biggest problem is the cake, which mostly has to be done the day before, but also the stick horses. I didn't discover a tutorial for them until the week before the party. They are made out of a sock, yarn, buttons, felt, and a large dowel. I instantly fell in love with them, and I'm so glad I sacrificed sleep for them--they were so cute and such a fun party favor. There were a few times I didn't think I would have time, but thanks to Holli and my mom, I was able to finish them the day before the party!

The only bad part of the party was when Miranda got thrown off the horse (it got startled). She landed on her elbows/back, but was okay. Jeremy even talked her into getting back on, and she was so brave, she did! Here is a picture after she was thrown off. She only had a scrape on one elbow and a light bruise. We're really lucky--next time we'll be sure to get helmets!
I should probably label all the pictures below, but I really need to get some work done tonight. So I'll just end with a good 'ol "Yee-Haw"!

Birthday Countdown

For the past month, Miranda has been so excited that her birthday is "next", so every day, she would ask if it was her birthday yet. So, I decided to make a paper chain with her to help give her some perspective. She loves tearing off a link each night but she's super excited for the three at the top that are after her birthday, counting down three days until her party!
She's having a farm theme party this year. I thought it would be fun for her to let her cousins share a little of the excitement of gathering eggs at her Grandparent's house. Miranda gets to feed the chickens and goats and gather the chicken eggs every week when we go to there. Anyway, in preparation for the party, I bought some little plastic farm animals for the kids but wanted to make them "more fun". So, I cut out some green, brown, and blue pieces of felt for grass, gardens, a pond, and some good old mud. I've made little 'troughs' for the animals to eat and drink from, too. But the best are the red barns. Merilynn designed them and helped me sew them--she is SO talented and they turned out far better than I had imagined. Here's a sneak peak:

This is after they're sewn, but before paint.

Waiting for the paint to dry. Merilynn also had some farm print flannel she was going to make Bradley some pajamas with, but when Miranda saw it, she fell in love with it. So, Merilynn and I spent a chunk of the weekend designing (and her sewing) a nightgown that wouldn't look too masculine or pioneer-ish despite the brown colors and tractors. It turned out cute, but most importantly she feels beautiful in it and loves it. I'm glad she doesn't need pink tutus and bows to feel like a princess! Lastly, for Miranda's actual birthday (not her party) she wanted a cake of course. Knowing I had a lot to do for her party and my work this week, I carefully to her, "yes, I'll make cupcakes" to which she quickly responded, "No! I don't want muffins! I want CAAAKE!" Luckily for my time schedule, I had a perfect 9" round cake in the freezer already with a crumb coat on it. After thawing and tinting store-bought frosting (cream cheese flavor of course) a pretty pink--ta da! A pink cake she was so excited about eating that she started to 'bless it' while I was trying to take pictures of her and the cake! I love that girl! Happy birthday, sweetie!

A Shy Pair

I made a dozen of these for our Ward Activity--a dance--last weekend. It was my first time using fondant on sugar cookies and I love the look, but was not happy with how fast they dried out, so they were a little on the crunchy side versus soft and chewy like I like! I need to experiment with a different sugar cookie recipe maybe...

We're excited for Easter! We'll be dying eggs tonight and planning a family egg hunt for this weekend. Some fun goodies have been purchased for the kid's baskets and Jeremy and I are really looking forward to Conference.

Along with that, Miranda's birthday is next week, and so I'm busy working on a fun party for her and some family. I also got a job a couple weeks ago--5 to 10 hours/week from home including every other month meetings and a Spring and a Fall Conference. It's with the UPTA, the Utah Chapter of the Physical Therapy Association. It's been fun so far, but definitely takes more multi-tasking with kids at home. Jeremy has been traveling a lot and having lots of success at work, so that's more good news.

We can't find our camera cord since we moved, so my camera is dead and therefore don't have many pictures to show. Hope we find that soon. And our printer cord. And some sharpies. And my address book. Don't ever move--it complicates daily life for a while. :)

It's the 10th

We made it. It's been close to two weeks, but we finally got internet yesterday! I can't believe how much I rely on internet for so many things and let's be honest--although my "smart phone" is nice and so convenient, it's a far cry from an actual computer.

So, today I spent most of the naptime delving into headlines and news, getting a good look at some of the Oscar dresses, catching up on all the wonderful blogs I have missed, Face Booking, and sending a few e-mails from a computer screen that seems ginormous--all while my Media Player serenaded me from the latest Lady Antebellum CD my sister gave me. Oh yeah, and during breakfast AND lunch, I let the kids watch Dora and YouTube videos of Elmo. They've missed it, too. BTW, this is my favorite Elmo video right now--Elmo with Jason Mraz--although you should also check out the songs with Adam Sandler and Andrea Bocelli.

I was going to do a new post with some real content to it, some work on Word, find a recipe for this week, put the laundry away (which my mom is SO kindly washing and folding for us since our washer/dryer are sitting in our garage still), but lets get real. It will happen later...Not tonight. I still have a dozen blogs waiting to be poured over tonight after the kids are in bed. Let's hope Jeremy shares the computer with me :)

New House

There is no better way to do "Spring Cleaning" than to move! I have been sorting and sorting and for about two weeks that's what I'll be doing during naptime! Anyway, it's coming together, and I love being in our new house. On Monday the kitchen went from this: To this (after about 5 hours): The sink is full of dirty dishes, and it's still not all organized how I would like, but it's functional. Here are some more pictures--love these "After" pictures!

Bradley's Room: I still want to add crown molding to the top of the bookshelves, some curtains, and a cushion for the bench. Front Room Master Bedroom (before furniture)

This is a "During" picture of what will be our office. I think this is going to be my favorite room. I love the windows and the new French Door. My parents were going to get rid of it so we inherited it from them--good timing! We'll have two big desks and a nice built-in bookshelf next to the fireplace. More pictures to come on that as progress is made!
And in the meantime, we've been LOVING our yard and the Spring-like weather. I still can't believe I have these huge trees in my backyard--so much fun! Thanks everyone for all your help with the move!

I'm Makin' Waffles!

My house has mostly empty closets and bare walls. Everything left to pack fits into five categories:
1. Not fun to pack (translate: won't easily fit into boxes).
2. Categorized as 'essential' items until their status expires in two days and 80% of the 'essentials' will become fair game 'non-essentials'.
3. Kitchen--pantry, cupboards, small appliances--and laundry room. I can't believe all the random things that collect in the laundry room.
4. Kid's rooms/some toys.
5. Furniture that waiting for strong, willing men on Saturday.

Today I plan to tackle the kids rooms and the pantry. I know, sounds fun, right? So when I woke up to fussing baby at 6:30 am, I brought baby out to kitchen and told him, "Baby, we're starting our day off on a good note--with Belgian waffles!" (For the full effect, imagine that in a voice that sounds like Donkey from Shrek.)

Then my heart sank as I realized that the waffle maker probably fit into the 'non-essential' category and had already been moved to our new house. Not wanting to see the truth, I peeked with squinted eyes into the cupboard....and it was still there! Jeremy must know my heart :)

Baby wanted held the whole time I made them, but no matter. He soon enjoyed the first one in his highchair and even shared a few bites with the begging dog. The blueberries that were on sale this week fit deliciously into each little waffle square on mine, topped off with light whipped cream. Mmmm, it just lifts the spirits.


By the way, I'm not sure where my camera is...hope to resolve that before moving day....The photo is from Flickr by HeatherMG.

A Little about My "To Do List" and My "Wish List"

We are moving Saturday--finally! I'm excited to move on to the next stage of life in a new place, but I'll really miss my good neighbors and friends here. Thank goodness for FB and blogs to help stay in touch!

The past two weeks have been very busy and so I'm feeling a little unprepared for the moving process, but thanks to Jeremy, we got a plan last night (for my sake--I love to write lists.) Now I just need to start crossing things off the "To Do List".

Just a couple notes on the last week, I did a GNO where I taught a few neighbors how to do fondant cakes. It was a lot of fun and their cakes turned out so great! I spent a lot of time last week making six batches of fondant and getting the cakes and all my tools gathered, but I didn't want them to pay me for it. They were so sweet, though, and bought me this wonderful "Thank You" gift that brought tears to my eyes! It's some fun tools for working with fondant with I have had on my "Wish List"--a non-stick rolling pin, rolling pin rings, flower cut-outs, and bake even strips for cakes.
I didn't take pictures from the fondant class, but I have pictures of the cakes I made for a baby shower on Saturday. It was for my good friend from Jr. High/High School/College. She had her baby a couple weeks early, so her shower was postponed a couple of months.

I made two cakes, one for the baby girl and one for her mommy. I haven't done much piping on fondant, so I wanted to try that out, but I found out it's much harder to get the perfect consistency for piping on fondant because it doesn't stick as easily as it does to buttercream frosting. After two batches of frosting and over an hour trying to get it right, I finally got something that would work, but I need to perfect the process for sure!

Wish me a product week-- I have a couple days worth of things I need to get done before I start packing up the house!

Newborn Sleep Gown

I loved dressing my newborn babies in sleep gowns--so much easier for middle-of-the-night diaper changes and so comfy for them to curl their little skinny legs up inside. When I saw this pattern on This Mama Makes Stuff, my sister and I had to try it out for her baby. Hers turned out so cute that I made some for some for my friends who are expecting this year. I love how they are made from T-shirts--well worn T-shirts just up the 'comfy factor'! This one was a man's XL and I actually got two out of it. Too bad I don't know anyone having twin boys!
My cousin and aunt helped me sew these four in about 45 min. per gown! I think I'm a little addicted to making these, though, because I still have two gowns left to gift but already want to get more T-shirts to sew up some more!

Grandma Wilson

On Tuesday my Grandma passed away. She was 93 years old. I'll miss her.

I did a video slideshow for the family and to show at the viewing. It's been tons of hours this week (and I can tell my kids have been watching a little too much tv/movies) but it's so worth it in the end. Here are some of my favorite pictures of her. My mom and her mom (my grandma) This is my grandpa (he passed away in 1999) and grandma holding me and my sisters. Can you tell which one I am? I'm on the left.My grandma and her younger sister and brother-in-law on vacationHer only wedding picture. This was her first husband. He died when she was pregnant with my mom.My cute grandparents in the 1960's--my favorite picture.