This thing I made.....

My mom signed me up for a sewing class at Scrapbooks etc. a couple months ago, moms sure know when we need a recharge day to just go and create and have fun :D And if you have not been to see the fabric at Scrapbooks Etc. lately, you MUST GO. If you don't sew, after 5 minutes there..... you WILL. I tried to go there one time to just find purple fabric for an apron for my SIL, and I almost had a mental breakdown trying to pick it out. There was just gorgeousness overload! And its definetly on the pricey side (9 bucks a yard) so you want to get it right. If you're in their system you get 40% one item per month so that helps. Anyway, this is the pincushion I made in the class. I loved how mine turned out, but most of the other fabrics people picked to use were equally cute, although totally different. Anyway, I'm totally in love with this pincushion /attached notions bag, its so handy to put stuff in while I'm sewing, and easy to take with me when I want to sew somewhere else. I can put my bobbins, thread, shears, and anything else I might need instead of having to lug around my sewing box.





It looks kind of small in these pictures but it is actually really big. The puncushion is like 6 or 7 inches across and it is really heavy. I loved making it and I love using it.


I also tried out some Picky Palate brownie stuffed chocolate chip cookies. They were really good, but whoah, sugar overload. They are HUGE and SWEET. Good luck eating a whole one!! But fun to try out.

High School Mama

We celebrated Cade's 8th grade promotion last week. We will be registering him for high school in a few weeks, and he is already going to freshman weights at the high school weight room every morning with the coaches to get ready for football next year. Caaa-ray-zee!! And then next year Sadie will be there too! Its all going by waaay too fast!

Such amazing 8th graders!! Every one of these kids are smart, fun, talented and/or athletic! They are a fun group and most are in our stake. I'm so glad and I hope they will continue to have great memories through high school.

Cade with his good friend McKenna and baseball teammate Brandon.

We are so super proud of you Cade!!!

Spring Stuff

Nothing too super exciting is going on. Spring is really crazy for me as usual. Since we are back in charter school land it is full of major science projects, major book reports, Cades baseball season at school, the relentless daily hours of homework, and of course birthday season. I'm way way too lazy to get pics off of my camera so for now its bare minimum ( story of my life right now) for this post till I muster up the energy to get my other laptop from upstairs. I do have this though :D

My baby Dayton is 8!! And all my kids are baptised. Milestones, eh? No more hosting the little after church luncheons anymore. I'm a little happy about that, since Ive now done it at least 10 times between blessings and baptisms, and thats just for my own kids! It really was a super special day for my boy. It was such a spiritual meeting. My sisters and I sang a beautiful fancy version of If the Savior Stood Beside Me and it was all I could do to hold it together. Sadie gave one of the talks and my MIL gave the other. It was really great.

Wyatts birthday was at Makutus island with 5 friends and his brothers. It was so fun....for them. HAHA He really felt cool getting to go there with his friends. In reality it was because I was too stinkin worn out to think of anything creative and then pull it off, so I told him since dad had to work on his birthday he wanted him to have an extra fun party. Haha.


Cade is playing baseball for Legacy Academy and is pitching and playing 3rd base. He really loves it, it has been a few years since he played. I think football is still his true love. He is going to BYU football camp this summer with his cousin Wylson from Missourri. Just what BYU needs, a couple of studly Lamb boys walking around! LOL We are so excited for him to do that and of course the trek this year.

Coopers highlight this year will surely be this week when he and cade got to be batboys for the Dbacks last spring training game. He worked hard and the players were really cool to them which I reallly appreciated. Mark was working lots of security for the Salt River Fields and we got the royal treatment that day. And his birthday is Saturday, so he will be partying all day and has requested a family dinner out at Golden Corral.

Sadie is super stoked for Girls camp this year, probably because I am going as the assistant ward camp director and we are doing a ward camp this year. We are going to have SOOOO much fun and we have already had one craft night where they made cute little buckets for their secret sister stuff. We have about 15 girls going and they are all great girls so it will be really awesome and kickback since we are basically certifying before we go and then just chillin in a beautiful cabin in Pinetop. My kind of camping!!

Mark has just finished working 7 days a week (LONG days) since mid February between out of town training, regular shifts, and every day off at the Spring training fields. We are SOOOOO grateful for the extra income but I'm not gonna lie it has been hard on us all. Sad that the gravy train is ending but ready to have dad around again. We are taking a recharge trip to Vegas with some couples in a couple weeks for 2 nights. SO needed! Mainly by me for being a single mom to all these kids and their activities. I need the break that is for sure.

I know, I know!

OK so call it a case of the winter blahs, but yes I realize it is practically March. I have been hard at work playing angry birds on my phone and avoiding all but the most critical of chores, so judge all you want!!! LOL Finally sometime last week (days are kind of flowing together so I can't be sure) I started a major home takeover/major make-under. I got pretty far with it, and I got my craft room put back together and set up so hopefully I can get back into the swing of ME again and not be so overwhelmed (or underwhelmed-whatever). There are SO many things I want to work on!! I have a VERY busy summer and the usual spring insanity so I kind of had to pull myself out of hibernation. It was SO much more fun to watch Regis and Kelly and the Doctors every day!! But now, I gotta work. The list is long, and NOT glamorous but here are some fun projects I wanna tackle in 2011:

Paint over all the red: Entryway will become muted large diamond pattern, fam room wall to match the rest

Repaint kitchen (including cabintes, add hardware, bakers rack, pantry overhaul)

Backyard (can I get a triple woo hoo!!!)

Flooring (I think I have Mark convinced to tackle this one as well)

Slipcover upstairs couches and move them downstairs, lighten up all decor (the black and red is depressing me)

Laundry room: (I would call it a make over, but its never been "made" the first time so we'll just say......functionalize it

Its sounds like a LOT, but the plans I have are ALL DIY and really just surface stuff. The back yard is the biggie, but the one I can't live without. I've gone almost 3 years.....at this rate we'll have grandkids that can't go out back and play. The flooring is gonna be a HUGE job but not very expensive, Mark can do concrete on it. Everything else is paint, fabric, and elbowgrease. If and when I get to each of these tasks, there will be LOTS of before and afters.