Crafty....

I met this girl at the gym who brings her kids into the kids club. She has two little girls and they always have the most adorbale clothes and she always has the cutest bags. Turns out she sews a lot of their cute things. I told her I had been wanting to learn how to sew, but don't have a sewing machine. She invited me and another friend of ours over sat. night for a little girls night. It was so much fun! She had boxes and tubs of CUTE fabric! So, before hand, I bought this little number at the goodwill for $1.99...not big on the stripes. They were a little too much. But I really liked the color of the lining underneath. So......

We turned it inside out and I sewed the hem up over the top of the skirt...I thought it turned out super cute and it was so easy!

I love the blue color! It's so summery :)

As you learned from my last post - Evie is obsessed with ice cream cones so i made this super cute shirt for her! I just brought one of her plain white shirts with me and used some of my friends scrap fabric. She used some iron on paper to get it to stick to the shirt. Then I sewed around the edes to make sure it stays in place! I couldn't believe I did it! It was so easy :) My friend also gave me an old Singer Sewing machine that is broken and she told me I should see how much it would cost to fix it because the older ones are all made out of metal so they last forever! Sweet deal, if you ask me! I would love to get into sewing more, maybe develop some sort of talent...maybe ;) My attempts at getting Evie's picture in her new shirt was a little, ahem, difficult...

"Smile Evie"..."look at mommy Evie!"

"Miss Evie. Say Cheese!"

Ok, I'll take it...this was the best shot I got!

Last summer, before we moved from Boise, I found some old windows at a garage sale and I got them for $5 bucks each! It took me FOREVER, but I FINALLY did something with, well, one of them :) Thanks to my oh-so talented Sister in-law Rhonda, for the coffee filter wreath (but I did a ball) idea! I thought it turned out cute! It goes really well with our bedroom furniture and quilt!

I honestly didn't think I had a crafty bone in my body, maybe I still don't, but it was sure fun to try it out!

Obsessed...

So Evie has a new obsession - rocks. Yes, that's right, rocks! Everytime we go out of the house, she finds new rocks to add to her collection. There is an empty lot right across the drive way that is filled with dirt and rocks. I had her pose with her new "Belle" sunglasses we snagged at walgreens for $2.99 :) If you look behind her, on top of the wipes box, you can kind of make out the 10 rocks she had collected that night

My friend took some pictures of Evie and me the other night and this is what took place "behind the scenes"

Me trying to convince Evie to put the rocks down so they weren't in every single picture we were going to take~

Evie declaring "my rocks" I tried to tell her that mommy didn't want her rocks, that she could have them back after we were done...she wasn't buying it. So I pulled out the only thing I could think of: pure bribery. And let me tell you, it worked like a charm. All I had to say was "ice cream cone" and she was trying to get rid of those rocks like they were diseased. This is yet another obsession of hers lately - Ice cream cones. Not sure why or how, but it happened!

Whenever I would try to get her to smile I would mention the "ice cream cone" and she would put her arm up and declare "i kee ko" and no we don't teach Evie the hail Hitler sign, which she looks like she is doing in this picture! We did eventually get some good pictures. Not very many of them had Evie smiling..maybe next time. Oh, and MAYBE we will include Owen next time too :) Geesh, if the man wasn't trying so hard to provide for our family, maybe he would be around more often ;) I'm grateful to have a hard working husband!

Proof that I did, indeed, get Miss Ev's her beloved "I Kee Ko"

A new me :)

After we moved to Moses Lake, I realized there wasn't much to do. Ok, so it didn't take too long to realize that! It's hard to move to a new place where you have no family and no friends around. One day I decided to go to Hastings and look around at their books. I ran into this little gem:

and for only $5.99! I was familiar with this regimen because my brother and sister in-law AND sister had done it a couple years back and as a result had changed their body for life! I bought it and read it in 2 days! I had already started going to our local gym, because lets face it, there was nothing else to occupy my time so I might as well get into shape, right?! I decided to take a chance and do the challenge with the one person I had really gotten to know up here (Hey Jenny!). I let her read the book and then we got together and took our measurements and talked about our work out routines and eating habits. It reminded us of something we would have done in high school PE or something ;)
I've never been one who has had to worry about my weight, but there is something satisfying about making a goal, setting a plan of action and seeing results. I started in March and since then, I have lost almost 7 pounds! I've also lost -
1 in. from each arm,
2. 5 in. around my chest,
3 in. from my waist
3 in. from each thigh
4 in. from my butt
1 in. from each calf
At the beginning I was doing really well with the calories and what not. I would even make separate meals for me or adjust mine to be low cal but now I am more maintaining than anything. This book puts a lot of emphasis on weight lifting. And I have never been this toned before! For me, the gym is like my second home. I have made a lot of friends there and it's nice to be able to share an interest with other people and grow friendships from it. I love working in the day care there and Evie loves it too! I don't share this post to brag, but to let you know what I have been up to lately :) If anybody out there is looking to change up their current lifestyle, buy this book. You won't regret it!

Where's the sleep fairy when you need her?

Last night was one of the longest nights of my life. Evie refused to go to sleep last night. She didn't finally fall asleep until after 11:00pm, which means I didn't get to bed until after midnight. Well, she decides to wake up at oh, I don't know, 4AM! She said she was hunry (hungry) So we go downstairs and she eats some cottage cheese. I try to lay her down SEVERAL times and she would just cry and cry and cry. Finally, I had her come in our bed....still NO SLEEP! 7am rolls around and I have to get ready for work. Yes, we had to work from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm today! All the while, I just KNOW she is going to be cranky pants Evie today. I check on her after the shower and she was still awake watching Max and Ruby, her favorite show. After I get ready for work I go downstairs at 8:00 am and this is what I find.....

Boy, was that fun waking her up for work 10 min later. Poor thing. She was exhausted all day...........she did have a rather large bowel movement later in the morning and that is the ONLY thing I can think of that would have kept her up all night long. Oh, the joys of being a mother :) Sweet, little stinker!

Summer is here!!

Our first trip to the aquatic center. We bought a season pass, and it's a good thing we did, because Evie LOVED it!! Even when the wind picked up and the sun disappeared behind the clouds, she was swimming like a little fish!

WICKED.....and a time for growth

YEP! I saw it and I LOVED it! I almost cried several times through out because the music was so powerful. The season finale of Glee was filmed in New York and one of the scenes Rachel and Kurt sneak into the Wicked Theatre and they sing one of the songs on stage and I immediatley got goosebumps. That's right! It was THAT good and I would DEFINITELY see it again!!!!

Went to Boise the middle of May and spent lots of time with family. We bought our tickets to this show almost a year before it came and we got AWESOME seats for a GREAT price. I didn't take any pictures of my trip because I was too busy enjoying it!

I still miss Boise and all of our friends and family there, but Moses Lake is treating us well. I was reading in the conference edition of the Ensign yesterday and there was a talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson entitled "As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten" He mentions in his talk that "God uses another form of chastening or correction to guide us to a future we do not or cannot now envision but which he knows is the better way for us." Although it has been hard for me and at some points feel resentment for this past trial and the way our prayers were answered - I am coming to realize that the Lord loves me and my family and that he does have a specific plan for us. He has something great in store for us and we just have to be faithfull and learn to rely on His time table, not our own. Owen is getting great experience with this job and it's crazy to think that he has already been there almost 8 months now. Its so nice to be able to have him home every night. A lot of people have been telling me that I am going to be hating it when he has to work 12 - 13 hour days, but compared to his last job, when he was gone 4 nights a week - I'll take the long work days :) Life is going well for us. We are happy and grateful for the challenges Heavenly Father has given us because it has made us grow in ways we never could have with out them.

LOVE this girl!

I am in love with this little girl right here! I know I am biased, but she is THE cutest thing in the world!! She makes me smile and laugh and has such a funny little personality! I told you she loved accessories. She doesn't leave the house with out her sunglasses :)