a rather tight pinch...

so we went to mcdonald's yesterday to play at the play area...i was feeling like i wanted the kids to pick something they wanted to do and this is what they picked...so we went.

about 1/3 of the way through our time there i started hearing blake cry...and then he wasn't stopping. so i went over and asked ethan where he was and he said he was standing at the top of the slide and wouldn't go down the slide with him (ethan). he also wouldn't go to the stairs to come down, or move in anyway...he was stuck. so here's me...34 weeks big, first i tried to go up the slide (it's a barrel/covered slide which is why he was scared of it i presume) but i kept slipping and needing stomach muscles i didn't have to get me up there. so that wasn't going to work.

then i went up the stairs, which are made for people ages 2-6, not people growing a whole other person...it wasn't pretty i have to tell ya! then i had to squeeze myself through a series of very small tunnels, and i finally got to him, and talked him down to me...then i had to get him out ahead of me...and contend with this other little kid who kept trying to go down before us...seriously he was right at my side the whole time and kept trying to get in front of blake...really kid? just hold your horses!

the best part? i was wearing a skirt! hahahahah! i am fairly certain i flashed some kids...oh well...you do what you have to, but i felt like i was being born again trying to get in and out of that play area with blake! yikes! needless to say he didn't go up into the tunnels again while we were there!

then when i sat back down after that, this older guy (who was sitting with his wife..grandpa of someone there i am sure) said something to the effect of, "i thought i was going to have to come in after you! or call 911...woman delivers baby on 3rd level of McDonald's play area..."

yep, that would be quite a headline!

Pirate Birthday {Arrrrr....matey}

the front door...

our treasure chest (started life as a styrofoam cooler...)

inside of treasure chest...(i put a box in the bottom of it, covered with fabric to raise up the goodies)

treasure bags...each kid got one when they came in...i freezer paper stenciled on them (of course) and just sewed raw, torn strips of fabric as handles...

all the bags...

we went on a treasure hunt throughout the house to find small treasure boxes i found at the dollar store that had their pirate accessories in them (one held bandannas, one had eye patches, one had tattoos and one had compasses). we gave the kids a treasure map with a picture on it of where the treasure box was hidden and then when they got that box, it had another map in it, with another picture of where the next one was and so on. clever idea by Kendall.

Kendall dubbed himself "Captain NO Beard" for our festivities...

all our little pirate friends...ready to play pin the eye patch on the pirate...

round three of cupcakes...swedish fish

messy boy!

and a fun time was had by all!

we also made treasure maps...and watched an episode of Jake and the Neverland Pirates...and opened presents of course:) it was really fun, the birthday boy had a great time, and that's what counts!!!

Fourth of July and Birthday...

Ethan had his sixth birthday party with the family...minus elise! we missed you! We went to Surprise and spent the day with Nana Kay and Papa Jerry and swam in their pool, ate delicious food...and had a great time! i am so grateful for all of our family who are so generous and loving and wonderful to our family and the kids! we love you! thanks for making his birthday great!

i made some quick embellished t shirts for the kids on the fourth...blake's has a red star...

avery's shirt has hearts (denim and red/white polka dot)...that is an actual headlamp she's wearing BTW...

birthday boy...has a matching stripe shirt with blake but no star...he was deemed old enough to escape my embellishing...this time! (6 years old! ga! how does this happen??)

first round of cupcakes (on his actual birthday)

second round of cupcakes, at Nana and Papa's house on the 4th! Idea from Hello Cupcake

Avery is showing us the Smencils Ethan got for a present...amazing scented pencils...i didn't know they existed but that root beer one REALLY smells like root beer! amazing!

No celebration is complete unless blake has at least half of his face covered in frosting! so funny!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaand...hopefully my mojo is back in full force...because i bought this oh so cute fabric online and it came in the mail this last week for baby Christian's bedding! i love it! i am excited to see the bedding come together!

pictures of Ethan's friend party (and round 3 of cupcakes) coming soon!

mojo...

where has my sewing motivation gone?

have you seen it?

i really need it back....so if you have it...could you please return it?!?!?!?!

Six Years Old

happy birthday eldest son!

(5 days old)

wow...time sure flies doesn't? it's amazing how far we have come. you were the start to our family, and we have learned so much from you, and continue to do so everyday.


you are bright, intelligent, happy, friendly, rough and tumble and very loving. we adore you.


thank you for being the big brother in our family. yesterday when you were on your date with nana and papa we missed you. i felt your absence and i was so happy to see you when you returned!


love you so much, buddy boy! keep on cruising...you are amazing to watch, happy birthday!

the monkey strikes again!

on sunday we were all getting ready for church and kendall comes over to me and says, "look where your son is..." and this is what i found. he'd climbed onto the bench next to the table and gotten up on the table...presumably to look at himself in the mirror...i'm not sure:)



before that, this is how we found him on the couch...he's like his daddy, he can sleep anywhere, through anything...cause i'm pretty sure that the kids kissed him like 10 times and they were scrambling all over the couch next to him! sweet kids:)

9 weeks...

9 weeks seems like a short amount of time. considering that you start a pregnancy with 40 weeks ahead of you and now we are down to single digit weeks...it seems a little crazy! and i feel like we have much to do. although, i am very happy to say that i was able to go through the kids' rooms, and bookshelves and the toy closet this week and take out probably 5-6 bags of stuff...without much complaint at all! it was fabulous. we make an effort to clean out things before birthdays (which is where we are now) or before Christmas...times when i know there will be an influx of new things coming into the house. and i think the kids are pretty used to it by now. they really didn't protest at all. but i do have a strict rule that they are NOT allowed to take things out of the bag once i put it in. No backsies.

the other accomplishment i was able to get through this week was to go through the boxes of kid clothes and organize them by age/size and get them packed up and labeled. i was very happy about that.

now onto my major list of other things to do: (sometimes if i write it down publicly then it helps me to be motivated...)

**baby bedding (this has been a big obstacle for me...i just didn't have any "inspiration" fabric...except when i got back from UT i kept thinking about this black denim my sister had at her house when i was there and i decided i was foolish to not take any with me and asked her pretty please to send some to me...and she said she would! yahoo! and so now i am onto a black/gray, yellow, green with a little bit of blue color scheme...)

**Need to get Ethan and Avery into their shared/bunk bed room. first phase to do the cleaning out, which i have done, second phase is to find dressers for people...we have one, need one more...then we need to get Avery a mattress. we already have her bedding she picked out at Ross...we should be good to go, hopefully by Ethan's birthday which is scary fast in it's approach.

**ethan's birthday party: a family one on that weekend...then a friend one the next weekend.

**i could go on and on with other sewing projects i want to do...finish the fishing hole project, make some washcloths, make another skirt for me, make a shirt dress (or two) for avery, have craft day at my house next week...it goes on and on...


i digress.....

i love this picture of blake...so funny!


before we left for UT, one of ethan's friends had a birthday party, which was SO MUCH fun, she's into tigers and they had a super fun party! they made a jungle room, netting hung from the ceiling...animals hidden all around, jungle noises...it was great! i made this bag for her (used this tutorial mostly)...and of course, freezer paper stenciled on it! i think it turned out cute:) my model was not super still but it's still cute:)

when your vacuum doesn't work...

it's a good idea to take it apart and find what may be blocking it...


ahem...


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