The Most Inspirational Woman I Know

There are some people in life that you meet and never forget. My mom is one of those people. Her warmth and love touch everyone she meets, however brief that meeting. Her laugh is infectious and comes easily and often. Happiness just seems to follow her.

(My mom at my wedding reception)

When I was little and people would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up, I most often said I wanted to be a mom. Nurse, dancer, singer, etc... were also sprinkled in there occasionally but I always came back to being a mother. There is a very simple explanation for why I wanted to be a mom. My mother is THE BEST.

If you were to look my name up in the dictionary the word stubborn just might be listed as the definition. Despite this my mother has always loved me and showed me unconditional love, even though I didn't always see it or appreciate it. The definition after her name would be love, joy and patience.

(mother's weekend my first year of college)

My mom's brain is overflowing with knowledge. When she wants to know something, she learns it. She knows a little bit about just about everything and more about the things she really cares about and she has the memory of an elephant, she never forgets! Not only does she know things but she possesses the ability to explain things on different levels. She gauges her response to each persons understanding and maturity and is a magnificent teacher.

As the youngest of seven I spent quite a bit of one-on-one time with my mom and leaned on her and learned from her in so many ways (definitely a mommy's girl). She taught me how to bake, and sew among other things and now she teaches those things to my girls.

I don't think she has ever killed a plant in her life, she has the greenest thumb you'll ever see and willingly shares that knowledge and love.

My parents instilled in me a love of reading, and every time my kids are with my mom they are begging her to read to them and she happily obliges, mush to their delight.

She is committed to serving others and finds joy in giving.  She serves everyone around her, with a smile. When each of my babies has been born she has come down and taken care of us all! I couldn't have done it without her love and support and gentle way of teaching me what I need to know to be a good mom.

There are some people in life who seem to always find joy in something.  My mother is one of those people. I am so blessed to have her as my mother and the grandmother to my children. She inspires me to not compare myself to others but to just be myself as a wife and mother and reassures me that that is more than enough. I love you mom!

Easter Fun

This year our Easter Celebrations had a new addition. Adult Easter Egg Hunts. Who knew they were a thing?

The Sunday before Easter my girls wore their Easter Dresses to church, they've been dying to wear them for weeks! 

They were so excited!!

About half way through the week before Easter a friend in another state posted a photo of she and her husband at an adult Easter egg hunt. My mind was blown!! I immediately started googling to see if there were any in my area. Happily, I found one. 

Sorry for the dark selfie, but we were super excited and antsy to start our Easter Egg hunt!! 

We had to pay a small fee to get in and each person could only grab one Easter Egg (there was a lot of candy loose on the ground), but if you were lucky enough to get one of the eggs, the rewards were good.  

Scott had egg number 2 and redeemed it for the cooler which had the corresponding number and I was egg 19 and got the air mattress. (The cute photo bombers did not come with the prizes)

Scott's sister was gracious enough to watch our girls so we could have a fun night out. We ended up taking the, uuhhh... scenic route to our destination, since I was the one driving, which made us a bit behind schedule.  Don't say anything, I am not always the best navigator... Our date night still went incredibly well and was a nice chance for us to talk and just be together. And the Easter Egg Hunt was pretty exhilarating on it's own!

Easter Sunday my parents and two of my clan of brothers and their families came over for dinner and an Easter egg hunt (the hunt was for the kids, not adults!! I ate enough candy while filling the eggs to make our whole block sick of chocolate.) My brother Andy brought a bubble machine, which really intrigued Lilly. She was more excited about that than the Easter egg hunt!

Being able to spend time with my family on Easter Sunday was the perfect ending to Easter week. 

B-29 Superfortress

A week ago, the only B29 Superfortress with active flying status came to SLC and so OF COURSE I had to surprise Scott and take us all up to see it. It was incredible (and much bigger than it looks in the picture).

There are some moments in life where you get close to an object and can almost feel the life that was lived and lost in it and the stories that were made there seep into your bones and your emotions. This plane represents the thousands (3,970 to be exact) of B-29s that were built during WW2 and that were used to fight for us. Being so close to history made me a bit teary when I thought of all the men that put their lives on the line, and many that lost their lives, after climbing into a plane just like that one, for the purpose of saving others lives and bringing peace to a war torn world.

While driving up to see the Bomber we found out that Scott's grandfather helped build some of the B-29's in WW2. Knowing that made the day extra special, since I didn't have the opportunity to meet him and our children won't either.

Now that I've been sappy enough for one day I'll tell about standing in line for an hour an a half in hundred degree weather with a 3 year old and a 1 year old at lunch time.... enough said.

My bangs were definitely wind blown but wind in a desert, on top of the tarmac at an airport is HOT wind. We couldn't keep Lilly confined to the stroller so we let her run free, which for her meant pushing around the stroller, which was fine with me, as long as she was happy!  

You can see that Abby was super reluctant to get close to the big wheels. She told me that she didn't want to get run over! (At least we know that some of the things I tell her about why we don't run across people's driveways is sinking in....

After a l.o.n.g. wait in the sun we were finally able to go "inside" the plane. It felt like we were stepping back in time. I feel bad for the tour guides sitting inside the plane, wilting, because the temperature skyrocketed once you were inside!

 

It was pretty crazy to realize that a B-29 just like this one is the plane that dropped the atomic bombs. Looking at the technology that seems so archaic, but was cutting edge then, it almost doesn't seem possible.

Despite the heat and the cranky children it was a wonderful experience and I would definitely recommend going to see the Superfortress if it makes a stop near you. 

Many thanks to the Commemorative Air Force for making this plane and it's history available to the public.

Weekend Update

Forgive me for giving you a weekend update on Tuesday, but I've been a little under the weather.

We'll start the weekend on Friday for this posts sake so you can see the awesome lengths I will put my family through for good, free food. Thanks Chick-Fil-A for dinner!

I decided we needed to get out of the house and so I cut out lots of black cow spots, rounded up the safety pins and attached "ears" to tiaras and fox ears (from Halloween last year). Scott was quite surprised when he walked in to find his family had turned into cow costumes.  The wait wasn't too terrible and we ended up with awesome free Chick-Fil-A dinner that we took to the park for a picnic (is it a picnic when the food isn't made by you?). The sweltering desert heat (don't let the mountains in the background convince you it it isn't hot here) and the semi long line were the only drawbacks to our first Chick-fil-A free food experience and I think we'd do it again!

This weekend I also checked something off my bucket list! It may sound silly but I've always wanted to go to an estate sale. While out running errands I happened to pass a sign for an estate sale in my neighborhood. I flipped the van around so fast I'm sure the girls heads were spinning and off we went. This particular estate sale wasn't the things dreams are made of, but I have a feeling most estate sales are a little more professional and I have high hopes for the next one I get to go to (hopefully without the little one in the stroller and the toddler wanting to run from room to room trying on all the clothes and asking me to buy everything. 

Did I buy anything you ask? Why yes I did. Of course I had to buy something at my first estate sale!! Two LARGE umbrellas and a handful of scarves for the girls dress-up box. Maybe not the biggest haul or most amazing find but I'm pretty happy about it.

The weekend was rounded off by baths on Saturday night. When Abby informed me that Lilly was going to poop in the bathtub they were sharing. I, naively, brushed off her concerns since that has never been a problem with my kids. Lets just say that next time I will listen more attentively when Abby shares her sisterly insights with me (and I will not allow myself to run out of bleach ever again)! And don't worry, there are no pictures to share and thus scar your mind!

What things made your weekend memorable?

First 5k

The 4th was packed full of fun and firsts and we loved it!

I've been wanting to do a 5k for a few years now. I registered for one a few years ago and when I discovered I was pregnant with Lilly I dropped out for fear that training for my first race while pregnant would put too much strain on my body. (I have a harder time carrying a baby to full-time than the average woman, which I'll tell you about someday)

About two weeks ago Scott signed us up for the Freedom Run 5k and I was both excited and nervous! 

We ran as a family and I give major props to Scott for pushing the double jogging stroller the entire race, of which almost the last mile was very much uphill!! He set a great pace that kept me going steady for most of the race. We got some great shout outs from race officials on the loudspeaker for pushing a double jogging stroller.

It was an awesome race!! A good part of the race ran along the 4th of July parade route, before the parade started, and they had music playing and people cheering (those who had camped out along the parade route to get a good spot) which was a great motivator since I wasn't in quite as good a shape as I had hoped to be. It was a great feeling to hear my name called out as I crossed the finish line. 

And yes, we got the girls straight out of bed and put them in the car with snacks so those are their pajamas you see.

We are hoping to do another race soon, keep getting better, and maybe do a 10k by the end of the year!

Later we met up with friends at a park up the canyon, that the river runs through, for lunch and playing in the river.

After lunch we played games (learned some fun new ones) and eventually went home, grilled chicken for dinner and attempted to put our over-tired kiddos to bed early enough to sleep through the massively loud aerial fireworks that the people in our neighborhood light off at every opportunity.

Overall it was a great 4th of July and we had some awesome firsts as a family.

The Freedom 5k is supposed to one of the more fun races. What races have you enjoyed running?

First Haircut on Both Sides

Abby is three and a half years old and until yesterday had never had her hair cut. 

When I had my hair cut almost 2 months ago (wow, I guess I better go in and get my bangs trimmed!) Abby talked about getting her hair cut. Since she makes a fuss every time I brush her hair and try to get the tangles out, I decided it was definitely time to cut it. It took me almost 2 months to get up to courage to cut her hair. Don't judge! I cry whenever my hubby asks me to cut his hair and so he goes and gets it cut at Sport Clips. Again, don't judge! 

I went to Sally's, purchased some scissors, went home and watched a million you-tube videos on hair cutting.

I often call Abby Rapunzel because of her long hair and so I figured if we watched Tangled while cutting her hair she would take it better (since Rapunzel's hair gets cut at the end and there is a happy ending :)

Abby couldn't hold still and so it took 3 attempts to get the final finished product.

It was a scary experience for sure but I conquered my fear and cut my daughters hair for the first time and I think it turned out okay. Hopefully from here on out it will easier, right?

Do you cut your children's hair, and if so do you have tips and tricks to make it easier?

Reminders

Some days as a parent are hard and discouraging. Some days I get frustrated and impatient and wonder how to keep doing this day after day.

But then I look at these sweet, cute girls and realize that I can't even imagine our family without them, and I just want to snuggle them close.

Provo Park Hop #1 Bicentennial Park

Every week this summer a group of friends and I will be visiting a new park in Provo to try it out, learn more about our town and find fun new places to play! Hopefully every Friday I will be posting an update about the park we visited the day before.

Yesterday we played at Provo Bicentennial Park. To be honest, the park was almost to Springville and didn't really feel like it was in Provo. Lots of parking spaces right next to the grass which was awesome, no walking through a crowded parking lot with kids in tow.

My friend Melissa brought a bow and arrows and helped each of the kids take a turn. Definitely the highlight of the trip!

The playground was nice and big with plenty of swings, which meant no fighting over swings which was great! Lots of big shade trees for the mammas to camp out under while our kids played.

The duck pond was kind of muddy, we only saw two ducks and they were hiding behind a big fallen tree in the water and weren't interested in the bread Abby brought and was so excited to feed them so that was a bit of a letdown for her. Lilly loves ducks, with a PASSION so I was hoping she would be able to see them but she didn't know what she was missing out on.

Lilly wore her tutu to the park and spent most of her time on the blanket eating snacks or chasing bubbles.

Overall it was a great park with tons of nice lush green grass for the kids to run and play. It was almost too big of a grassy area for little kids as we had a harder time keeping track of them. There is a HUGE hill that they can run up and then roll down.

We loved the playground, shady trees and large grassy area the most. 

What things are a priority for you when choosing which park to take your kids too?

Things we didn't do: 

Wetlands area with a boardwalk to walk on while you check it out.

Sand volleyball area

Disc golf course

DIY Kiddie Pool Cover

If you're like me, when you go through the hassle of getting your kids squirmy bodies into swimsuits, sun-screened and out into the backyard to splash in the kiddie pool, only to discover it's full of bugs, grass clippings and who knows what all it's very frustrating!

Solution: Make a kiddie pool cover to help keep out the unwanted creepy crawlies!

Supplies:

4 yards of fabric

3 yards of 3/4 inch elastic

Sewing machine!

Instructions:

1. Buy 4 yards of fabric

- Cut fabric in half so you have 2 pieces, 2 yards each

2. Sew the right sides of the fabric together (I didn't worry about ironing it open, it's going outside :) )

3. Lay the pool on the wrong side of the fabric and mark about 7 inches from edge of pool with a sharpie

4.Cut the circle out of your fabric

5a. Iron a 1/2 inch seam around edge

5b. Iron down a 1 inch seam around the edge

-Sew down the edge of the 1 inch seam to make a casing, leaving about 2 inches open to thread the elastic through.

-Attach a large safety pin to each end of elastic and secure one end to the opening in the fabric.

-Thread other end of elastic through casing

-Sew ends of elastic together with crisscross stitches

-Sew down 2 inch opening in casing and you're done!!

Try out your kiddie pool cover!

My girls loved that the water was nice and warm from sitting in the sun all day with the cover on without being full of bugs and junk!!

I followed this tutorial by Mama with three chicks when making my pool cover.

Fabric and Tulle Tutu's

Last week Abby was invited to a Princess Birthday Party for 3 of her friends who were born the same week. Princess attire was requested and most of her dress-ups are my old dance costumes so I decided to make her a Princess Tutu for the party. I've already had some questions from some of the moms at the birthday party about making a tutu so here it is!

I started with a selection of 8 coordinating fabrics from the Quilters Showcase Fabric Line at Joann's. I went back a day later and added 2 more fabrics from the same line. It's good quality fabric at a good price, which means I don't care too much about how fast the tutu gets destroyed. I got the fabric 60% off so I was even happier. Did I add a few extra yards to the cart for future projects? Perhaps.... 

Abby's best gal pal, Beth, was one of the birthday girls so I made her a tutu also. Abby's will be pink and blue and Beth's will be pink and orange.

I started by cutting the fabric into strips 3 inches wide, the width of the fabric. 

Cut the strips down to the length you want. I did a variety of lengths to give it more visual appeal. My shortest length was about 18 inches and the longest was about 26 inches. Most of the longer ones ended up being orange and going on Beth's tutu (she's taller than my little one). I wanted the tutu's to be a little longer than the ones you buy so that Abby wouldn't grow out of it too soon.

 I cut the tulle a little longer than the fabric to give it a fairy-like look and more movement. I didn't take pictures because it was about 2 in the morning and things were getting blurry!

I think tutu's are cuter when the ends are pointed instead of cut straight across. Use a rotary cutter and cutting mat to cut the ends into points.

I sewed a simple seam around the outside of the strips to help control the fraying and let me wash the tutu. I am hoping that on a gentle cycle with cold water the fabric and tulle will hold up. We'll see! This was the most time consuming part of the whole process.

I measured Abby's waist and cut the elastic 2 inches shorter to allow for stretch. She's three and a half and I ended up cutting the elastic just under 18 inches.  

I used 1/2 inch elastic. Overlap the two ends and sew them together using several crisscross stitches for stability.

I used the slipknot method for tying Abby's tutu and when I use the leftovers to make Lilly a tutu I will try the double knot method and let you know which I prefer. You can slip the fabric in front or behind the elastic. I found that putting the elastic around my leg helped keep it stable and the elastic from rolling.

Loop the ends through the folded edge of fabric on the top.

Pull it "tight". Not too tight or it will stretch out your elastic, you can always go back and tighten it if needed.

Orange and pink tutu for Beth. I alternated the fabric and tulle doing about 2 strips of fabric per doubled layer of tulle. Once the fabric and tulle were tied the way I wanted I cut and tied ribbons around the top. I used a variety of sparkly, and regular ribbon. I ended up using about 20 fabric strips and 15 doubled tulle strips for a three year old.

Abby getting a mermaid painted on her face at the Princess Party. 

Abby and her best bud, Beth, rocking the tutu's and princess crowns. You can see that Abby wasn't satisfied with just being a Princess, she wanted to be a Fairy Princess and wore her wings all day.

I learned SO MUCH from this process and had a great time. I will definitely be making more of these cute tutu's and look forward to different color combinations and techniques. 

What color combinations would you do?

I hope I covered everything! If you have any questions or want more specific measurements, just hit me up!!

Mamma Bear Instincts

Yes, I am THAT mom.

Yesterday we ran to the mall to run an errand and I took my kids to the mall playground to release some pent up energy once we were done. The mall has a great treehouse playground with dinosaur bones "half buried" in the ground for the kids to play on. Lilly has figured out that she loves slides and swings and Abby loves anything playground related.

The behavior of some of the kids was appalling but the most appalling thing was the indifference displayed by their parents when they even noticed their little hooligans running around wreaking havoc.

When you as a parent take your kids to the playground, then sit back and let them run rampant it drives me bonkers!! I'm okay with your kids running around crazy as long as they stay away from my kids. Once they start climbing UP the slide that my kid is waiting in line for, cutting in line, pushing or hitting my kids my mamma bear instincts kick in. Yes I will make your kids go to the back of the line, no matter how many times I have to redirect them to the back of the line in a 2 minute time period. I will keep them from going UP the slide while kids are waiting to go DOWN the slide and I won't feel a moments regret from marching your kid over to you when they push or hit my kid. If you won't do it, I will.

You may not care about teaching your kids about respect, obeying playground rules(and life rules in general) or being a decent human being but I DO care about teaching those things to my kids and I will not let your kids ruin my kids trip to the playground and give them bumps and bruises they don't deserve.

Look at these cuties! Who wouldn't unleash the mamma bear inside when necessary?

Twinners

My girls were very patient this morning when I put them in the double jogger and headed out for the first run of the season with them. They laughed and giggled with every bump and turn. It was rather short, because, lets be honest I'm out of shape, recovering from a nasty cold and those girls are heavy! But I went, and I will continue to go! After about a mile and half we arrived back home and the girls were let loose in the backyard to play.

Just ignore the jungle we call a backyard! We are supposed to hear back from Home Depot today about how long it will take to fix the lawnmower! Yay! Before you know it our backyard will be whipped into shape! And no, that's not snow, just a plethora of blossoms from our neighbor's Chinese Elm Tree.

Abby loves pulling Lilly around in the red wagon.

And Lilly loves having a ride!

Such good friends!

So excited to give me the flowers she found!

It's impossible to get both girls to look and smile at the same time!  

I love putting them in cute coordinating clothes. It's hard to tell but Lilly's shirt is also navy and white striped and it has a pink bow.

I am so blessed to have two beautiful girls who remind me to slow down and appreciate the little things in life!