Dad's Birthday

It was great. We went to dinner with the fam at La Ferrovia (gotta order the Spinach Cannelloni, it's the best!) for my dad's birthday. It was cute because my mom said to the grandkids to go give Grandpa a hug. My two girls ran to their great grandpa because they call my dad "Mommy's Daddy". I think it made my dad feel good that he wasn't old enough to be called grandpa.

Solution for Lost Mittens, Make Your Own

The girls and I were at the Ogden Nature Center for a cute little preschool class on the water cycle and heard about this class on Recycled Wool Mittens. I signed up and went last night.
Basically you need a couple shrunken wool sweaters (to close the fibers), some polar fleece, and fun button embellishments and you can sew yourself some handy dandy mittens. The exterior shell is made from the wool sweaters and the interior shell is made from polar fleece (oh so soft and warm). You can find sweaters at thrift stores, your closet, or garage sales. Joanne's just had an awesome sale on polar fleece and I am sure you can round up buttons just about at any craft store or junk drawer in your home. If you would like to watch the demo go to http://studio5.ksl.com/?sid=4456414&nid=61.
***The pattern on the website is set for adults (though I had to measure it against my hand and add a few inches on length). To make children sizes just use a copier and print at 80%, 60%, or 40% depending on the child's sized hand. Katelyn (nearly 4) can wear the 80% printout but it will probably fit her until she is 10.
Katelyn sporting her new mittens:

Adult (blue stripe), Child's (soft grey)


Video link from KSL (Jenny taught my class at the ONC):

Artist Moment

One of those perfect mornings! (Unlike the days when I don't change Sarah's pull-up fast enough and she make feces murals...) We'll just stare at these cute photos and erase those gag worthy memories.

Jeff/Jasmin's Birthday Party

Gotta Love an Awesome cake! Especially when there are two of them (my brother and my neice share their birthdays). Sorry Beck I didn't get a photo of Jeff's Nightmare Before Christmas Cake.

Taking a Walk in Daddy's Shoes

Sometimes I think they can't get any cuter. They kept calling out, "See you later, we're going to work."

Gymnastics Class

We started Katelyn in gymnastics for a few weeks. I don't think we will continue because suddenly the price quoted and the price after all the registration fees and first and last months tuition, etc just sounded a bit much for a 3 year old. She does love it though so...we'll have to see if I cave. They were really darling with her. She stretched, went on the rings, the jumping pit, the trampoline, and what seemed more like an obstacle course. We've been working on backbends at home, and Katelyn begs every morning if she can go to tumbling class. Sarah could not be left out of couse, so we dressed her up and after Katelyn was settled, made a Mommy and Me trip to the icecream store (read 39 cent cones at the drive-thru gas station). She was just fine with her special day too!

My 28th Birthday Party!

On Monday I sort of threw together an impromptu ladies luncheon for my birthday on Friday. I printed cards, dropped them off at homes in my neighborhood and my family, and anticipated a day with loved ones. I made Cafe Rio Burritos with Cilantro dressing and a side of Strawberry Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Chips (thanks Mel, Becky, and Kim for your generosity in sharing recipes). My sisters made me an awesome cake and icecream and we had a wonderful time catching up with everyone. Nate surprised me by taking the girls so I was able to sit down and visit. They went on a daddy daughter day outing and bought me some fun new clothes. It was one of those special days that everyone surprised me with gifts and so much love and kindness. It's hard to believe I have only known most of these ladies since July. I will forever treasure it because it really was that special. Thanks for celebrating with me!

Oh and Nate also took me out to the Importance of Being Ernest at Hale Theater and I just LOVED it! I didn't know anything about the play beforehand, but it was so fun!!!

Becky-Cake Decorating Extra-Ordinaire

Esther helping me blow out the candles...

Still smoking (should have known they were the trick kind), but we did find out our smoke alarm batteries had died.

Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam

Katelyn graduated from Nursery into Sunbeams this week. Sarah was rather distraught with being alone in Nursery but I believe she will soon grow to love her independence. Katelyn's cute teacher, Jana, made little goodie bags for the kids welcoming them into her class. Inside was a picture of Jesus, stickers, crayons, and a rubber CTR ring (choose the right). Katelyn had her ring on for about 3 minutes and decided to "help" Sarah go potty. She reached up to flush the toilet just as the ring slipped off her finger. This was Katelyn's first experience with self frustruation. She could only be mad at herself and boy was she sad. We had her "earn" her replacement ring with good deeds around the house and picked up a spare, just in case.