We are so thankful.

Each year we have a little decorated tissue box that we stuff with little notes that say what we are thankful for during the month of November and we read them on Thanksgiving day. Nothing wrong with that. Of course I have been collecting them and because of lack of space was trying to decide whether or not to toss them. So I decided to take the previous years (some of them at least) and put them on a piece of fabric on the table and then covered that with vinyl. This way we talk every day, at each meal, about not only what we are thankful for this year, but in the past too. It has been fun and I am very glad I didn't decide to junk them. I plan to do this again next year, incorporating this years as well. :)

Sisters!!!

Tonight I am having a girls night with my handicap sister Laura. She is awesome and although can get on my nerves when she tries to help me parent my children, she means well and is just trying to copy what I do as my 4 year old tries to emulate me. She bought some fake nails (one of her most favorite things!!) today while out with my mom so we put them on tonight. Even I put on a whole set! We had a blast! Then we played bowling on the wii (another one of her very most favorite things!!) while folding clothes...I am a mother first so I do have to do boring adult stuff too...overall things went well tonight and tomorrow is going to be fun too!! 

On a different note, after browning 3lbs of ground beef tonight, there was so much fat to pour off it was disgusting!! Better in a jar than in us I suppose...

And yes I am staying up WAY too late tonight!!! 

I love crocheting!

I told someone the other day I was a yarn artist. She asked what that meant and I said it means I can pretty much make anything out of yarn...and it is so true!! I love how versatile yarn is! And there are so many different sizes, textures, colors, fibers...it truly is an artists dream of variety.

That being said, I made Chewbacca tonight. Out of yarn. I did not create this but I did follow a pattern and was able to make it. He look so cute!! It amazes me what people come up with! There are so many VERY talented people out there. Thank you for sharing your talents so I could make this super cute gift!!

Rainbows and Unicorns!!

I am pretty much obsessed with making things for my children. Well I would be worried if I didn't want them to look super cute with mommy-made stuff!! So I had to make this super cute Unicorn hat from yet again, Repeat Crafter me. I just love that site and everything she makes!! I am also so very much in love with the way it turned out! It was supposed to have a row of pink on the bottom but Lily liked it without the pink so we just did the other rainbow colors. She is in love with it too and is again convinced I should mass produce them for all her friends at school....not sure what we are going to do about that :) Oh well. Here's some pictures of my little Unicorn!

Hello Abigail!

There is a little girl at our bus stop who is the daughter of a single mom and an older sister to a 3 year old boy. She is in kindergarten and absolutely adorable! She also LOVES Hello Kitty. She has Hello Kitty paraphernalia all over everything and is always wearing clothes with Hello Kitty on it. Now that it is getting colder, especially in the mornings, she does not have a hat. I asked her if she had a Hello Kitty hat and she told me no. So, I decided to make her one. She didn't know anything about it and when my husband gave it to her this morning, she jumped up and down with excitement!! I am so pleased that I could share my talents with her to make her happy. Her mother is such a sweet person and works so hard, it really is the least I could do for their little family. :)

 I will hopefully get a picture of her in her new hat soon. Until then, Gwenna was happy to model it!!

A flock of owls?

This morning we decided to get up and get crafty! We made a flock of owls...is that a thing? Little pinecone owl ornaments from Sara of Repeat Crafter Me and we just LOVE them! They are super cute!! 

We have a family ornament exchange every year and I love making mine. I usually do a yarn-artsy kind of ornament but decided to expand my horizons and do something different this year! I think they turned out so cute and it makes me really excited to give them to my sisters this year! 

Later today we went to storytime with a friend at the local library and did another craft. We made cute little bats with movable wings made of paper and string. Gwenna had a blast even though she plays shy and refuses to participate. 

Then we did some goodwill shopping with friends for stuff to make halloween costumes out of. We grabbed a handful of things that we will hopefully make into some costumes including a round tablecloth (twirly skirt), poofy sweater dress (princess dress top) and black sweatpants with a black turtleneck (ninja outfit). We will see how they come together!! 

Later this afternoon we made a crown for Gwenna's princess dress and she couldn't be more thrilled!! She was so excited to help make it and she is so very proud of her new crown! We got the idea of making a crown from Repeat Crafter Me but ours is much more covered with glamour! :) 

It even has a big "G" on the front. She wanted to even wear it to bed. Lets see what else we can get done tomorrow!!

Rockin!!

I have been finishing up several projects started a LONG time ago...mostly just mocking me from the UFO bin in my room...taunting me that they were left unfinished...I hate that...

SO, I decided to be proactive and get them done!! I like to do a small project to get me "in the mood" to craft so I whipped up a pair of lace undies for my daughters American Doll! Quick knit and turned out a bit baggy but otherwise very cute!

My daughters almost entirely homemade doll :) the dress, bag, hat and undies are all homemade.



I also finally finished up a really nice dress for a friend of mines daughter. It is absolutely adorable!! I don't know if I would ever make it again as the way it is constructed is tedious and painstaking. I was happy to make it for her and I am 100% sure her daughter is going to look amazing in it! Here is a snapshot of it...

Overall I think it is a beautiful creation and I am proud to say I have made it! :) Special thanks to my sister Sarah from Bruington Photography for the amazing pictures!!

Lastly, I was talking with my older 2 children who are in elementary school last night and how today was wear your favorite rock shirt or band shirt to school. Well neither of my children have any shirts with band insignia or titles on them so I decided after seeing a super cute hat with a guitar on it on a blog yesterday, I was going to make it for my son so he would have a rockin' hat to wear!

Thanks Sara of RepeatCrafterMe for the awesome pattern!! He loves it and it looks so cute on him!!

Now to go finish up some other things :) Have a great day!!

A full day

This morning we attended the 3-mile event Mmmove and had a blast! The kids ran, walked, strolled, rode and slept and we had a wonderful time. It was exhausting but a lot of fun. We also spent the afternoon hanging around Roanoke, VA at several places. I didn't realize how sore my feet were until I sat down! So glad to be home!

I received a message from a long time friend this morning and it really reminded me of just what is important, but yet so fleeting. Time. Almost any parent will tell you in regards to your children, they grow up so fast! And that is completely and absolutely correct. It seems like 20 years is a long time, but really it's not that long. Time marches on relentlessly and although I crave ME-time, I am finding myself craving quality time more. And not because I want to torture my children or my sweet husband, but because I know that if I do not seize the opportunity now to spend that quality time with my children, I will choose to waste those moments and I want memories, not regrets.

SO, I have devised a plan of action!! (I am all about making lists and planning...not so great on the follow through but great at the planning and listing!) This summer, during our electronics fast, I will make certain that I am spending at least some time every day (not specific allotted amounts, just time in general) with each of my children individually. Baby is easy since I nurse him still. He gets the most 1 on 1 attention from me everyday. I have beefed up our craft box so we have lots to do when I hear the inevitable, I'm bored!! There's nothing to do!! I can simply direct them to the craft box or the activity shelves and they can select something. Or they can read. Reading is great! We are also planning weekly trips to the library!! Not for story time or anything like that but to check out books since ours are 'so boring!' We are already going out for a walk/run/jog almost daily. It's healthy and good to get outside and helps them see we are not couch potatoes either! I just hope things go smoothly this summer. I am sure there will be snags, bumps, hiccups and issues along the way but overall I think the kids will be happier for it and our family will be better off because of it.

p.s.-we also have outside stuff to do so I'm bored will just not wash!! (and if they think it should, they can wash the dishes or the clothes) :)

MIA but not AWOL

I have been offline for a while with my blog and business but I have not been idle. I have lived and breathed homeschool getting our kids finished up for the year and boy does it feel good to be done!!! That being said, I decided to start off this summer with a bang and we are all walking/running in a 3 mile event this morning, which I am actually a sponsor in with my business! My brother Stephen created an event and he needed things to give out to everyone that participates. Well, I kept having ideas of things made of metal that were personalized after I got an awesome personalized necklace for Mother's Day. SO, what do I do? I decided to try my hand at metal stamping! It went ok at first and I definitely got better as I went along. I made 130 metal stamped necklaces to give out! That is a LOT more work than I thought it was going to be. Some did not turn out as awesome as others but they all look pretty good for something free. I also either put my card stapled to it or a sticker with my logo and business name on it. I had some help from my kiddos and they had a lot of fun afterward with the extras making up things of their own. Overall a success? Yes! Will I be doing a lot of metal stamping from now on? Probably not. I will offer it as an option in my store because I think the idea is awesome but there is a lot of other people out there who offer so much more variety and options that I can offer. Here's some shots from the venture...

My proud little happy helper! :)

My husband Allen is also donating 2 shaker cups with packets of shakeology from his business so we are anxious to network with local people!

Feeling definitely lighter!

I am not a "minimalist" by any means but I do think kids these days are bombarded with too many toys, too many video games and way too much television. I admit we own a wii and also have an old gameboy. Other than that we have a DVD player and dish network with a DVR which is awesome but allows us to veg more than if we did not have it. In addition the kids have a plethora of toys...too many in my opinion. The wonderfully sweet Mr. Carter is a big kid himself and loves to go down the toy aisle at stores and inevitably we buy more toys than we should. In our little tiny house we live in, this is getting to be more and more of a problem. So...what can we do?

I have not been an active fly lady user in a long time so it surprised me the other day to get an email from fly lady. Ironically it was about decluttering and some tips. One of the tips was to think of things like toys and clothes as consumables instead of things to get emotionally attached to. If a toy costs $20 and it makes your child happy for 2 months and breaks, consider it $20 well spent and move on. It really helped me look at the children's toys and clothes as disposable instead of potentially permanent fixtures in our homes.

Let the decluttering commence!!!

There was excitement and enthusiasm as well as some tears shed. In the end, we all feel lighter and happier!! 6 trash bags of garbage and 8 trash bags to donate and the floors are clear....until its time for a tea party!!! After that, game time! The kids are super happy even though they hardly have any toys...who would have guessed?? I love it!!

On another note, little Sam busted his lip again tonight! Poor baby's lip was bleeding and is bruised pretty good. Didn't slow him down much! He is a moving machine!!

It wasn't so bad!

At least that's what Lily told me when she fell off her horse today during riding lessons. Some railroad ties were dropped off (literally) in the middle of Lily's lesson and made the horse jump from all the noise and she fell off. Fortunately she didn't have her feet in the stirrups so she just slid off the side. She still hit her back and behind so she's pretty sore tonight! In spite of that, she says she loves horseback riding and does not want to stop! I say good for her! Nothing like literally getting right back up on the horse!!

After lessons Lily, Noah and another girl that was there helping out took a tractor ride! They were so excited to get to ride the tractor they will probably big Bill about it every time we come for riding lessons!! He was super great with them and very patient. We just love Mountain View Equestrian Center where Lily rides!!

Another thing that was fun today was Lily finished her doll quilt!! We machine quilted it and then I added binding for her. She also cut out pattern pieces for next weeks project of an apron for her doll. She seems to love sewing, which is nice. Grandma even gave her her very own pair of sewing scissors!! She was so excited and told us all she needs now is a sewing machine! :) It's been a really good day!

To cure what ails...

There is nothing like a bath to cure what ails you. At least that is what my 7 month old son believes and he would prefer to play in the tub the majority of every day. Today when he was being fussy and nothing really seemed to make him happy, I decided it was time for today's dose of tub time! He loves the bath so much and today was no different. The only problem is that he is getting so fast it is hard to catch good pictures of him anymore. Here's what I caught today...

Lazy day

Today we didn't have anything important to do or anywhere to be so today we dubbed "lazy jammie day" and spent the entire day playing together and watching a movie or two. It has been so much fun and I actually got quite a bit of knitting done while supervising appropriate sportsmanship and watching shows on Netflix the kids just HAD to show me. :) I even rewarded them with the Smurfs dance game on the wii when they were finished with baths and were ready for bed!! Overall it's been a wonderful and enjoyable day. The children have gotten along the majority of the day which has made it all that more enjoyable! Now it's time for sleep and quiet...tomorrow comes way too quickly. At least we get to go to church!

While taking the included picture, I said 1, 2, 3...and Gwenna started to say 4 as I snapped the picture! What cute kiddos!! We also have all gotten to take turns today being the Incredible Hulk! Sam even wants a turn. :)

A wonderful Valentine

2 dates in a week is a record I think!!! I am such a lucky girl!!! Mr. Carter had a training class today so he got the evening off...first Friday night off in over a year! So it totally screamed date night for me and as soon as I heard he was going to be home I arranged for the one young woman in our ward to babysit. She is such a gem and the kids just love when she babysits!! Everyone wins!!! We didn't do anything super exciting but did manage to get to a yarn shop for me and got birthday gifts for Noah. Top off the evening with a DQ blizzard and everything's just peachy! What a wonderful end to a wonderful week.

Hard working Thursday

We have had a garden every year for as long as we have been married and so this year, we are going to have a garden as well. The difference? The kids are going to be the ones tending it, under my watch of course! I have always been the one to do almost everything from starting seeds to endless hours of weeding to harvesting, mulching and composting. I am ready to share the jobs!! That being said, today we all went outside while baby Carter and Mr. Carter were napping to do a little more hand tilling and weed/brush removal of our garden space. Lily, Noah and Gwenna worked alongside me for over an hour and a half!!! I was beyond grateful for their helpful and happy attitudes and hard work. They worked carefully and diligently almost the entire time. Korey and I went to the store yesterday and got a child size hoe and shovel along with a pair of work gloves for each of the children. They like to dress the part if they are going to be asked to work! :) I know that planting a garden is important for our family. It isn't just about having fresh veggies that will feed our family, but it also about teaching the kids about hard work and the blessings of the harvest that we get to enjoy. They get to see that patience, planning and hard work will pay off and that we will have enough to bless us and our neighbors as well. They are excited about it and I am too! Here's a quick picture of everyone hard at work! (except me of course since I am behind the camera!)

On another note, the hat I made for Gwenna last night conveniently fits Lily as well and so I took some shots of them outside today in it! Here those are :)

Wednesday

Today was a good Wednesday. The kids were happy and getting along most of the day. My sister in law Korey came over and we enjoyed spending some time together before she was so good to tend our children so Mr. Carter could take me out for a pre-Valentines Day outing. We were able to go out to a nice dinner alone at a local Mexican restaurant we had never been to before. It was really nice just getting out and being able to talk and enjoy each others company without the constant chattering of children. Then we went to DQ and got a delicious chocolate chip cookie dough blizzard, which we shared. It was really great having time together tonight and we cannot thank Korey enough for all her help! Especially since she kept baby Carter at home!! He was mildly cranky and did not take a nap like he was supposed to but overall, I think he did very well for being away from his parents for the second time in his life.

On a separate note, I have been working with the kids during school time on memorization, music and reading. We are currently singing lots of primary songs from our church's children's hymnbook and the kids just LOVE to sing them! They are doing so well and are so enthusiastic I just am so excited that they are anxious about having school singing time. It is so refreshing after all the grief I used to get about having school time. We are reading the scriptures (currently in the 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon right now) and are working on memorizing 1 Nephi 3:7. The kids are doing very well with it and will have it down very soon. They are also memorizing the Articles of Faith and are working to pass them off with their teacher at church on Sundays. We have down Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and are working on 6 this week. I am so very proud of them and feel so lucky to have such wonderful children!!

On a crafty note, I am still diligently working on a dress for a very special little girl...it is taking much longer than I had supposed but is turning out more beautiful than I hoped! So that's good. I whipped up a hat tonight for Gwenna to match the one I made for her American Doll she got from Aunt Sarah for Christmas this year. She loves to be matchy and I made 2 others before this one trying to get the sizing right! Very tedious but worth the smiles I get in return. I am still being playfully teased by Mr. Carter for not finishing his scarf that I started last year for him or the socks I told him I would make him years ago!! I feel just awful about it but I keep putting it off for whatever reason I am not really sure....hopefully I will get to them very soon so he will have to find something else to tease me about! :) I still have a couple other projects in the works that I need to get done. It is hard to find the amount of time needed to complete the projects I have going while juggling homeschool, house work, cooking, cleaning, nursing and mothering. I love what I do and I do my best to manage my time the best I can.

Ooh! I almost forgot! I added sewing to Lily's curriculum this past Monday and she took to it very well! She told me repeatedly how fun she thought sewing was and is already starting a list of things she wants to make. I helped her get started on the sewing machine and she sewed a patchwork quilt top for her American Girl Doll! She had to do quite a bit of seam ripping but did a very nice job! Next Monday we will work on putting a border on the quilt, adding batting, hand quilting it and then binding it. I hope her enthusiasm remains as we progress to harder projects! Sewing is rather rewarding in an instant gratification type way, much more so than crochet. Lily has been taught to crochet by myself and a friend of ours and it is just not something that she is interested in doing. At least she is discovering what she enjoys and that really is the point.

I hope to get to blogging a lot more so look for more coming your way soon!! Thanks for reading :)

Loving life!

My 7 year old is taking riding lessons and today was her 3rd lesson. She has been learning to ride on a lunge line and has been walking and trotting without hands to help her learn balance on the horse. Well today she learned to post trot without hands and she did VERY well!! I am so very proud of her and a tad jealous in the whole, "I wish I could have done this when I was younger so I will live vicariously through my child" kind of way. She loves riding (as I knew she would!!) and is doing very well so we are looking into buying her boots, a helmet and some kind of breeches. Fun = expensive when it comes to horses and the more fun it is, the more money it costs!! Oh well. I would pay for it 3 times over to see the look on her face!

I just wish her sister was as thrilled...and I am sure she would have been had she not been FREEZING!!

Life is good. What more could I ask for?

Another step...

I am so excited today!!! All of my work so far with starting up my business has been to family and friends so you can imagine how great it felt to ship a package today to someone I do NOT know!! I know it sounds silly but I am so excited! I even took a picture on the way to the mailbox :)

(excuse the messy hair and shirt...I painted the bathroom and have been working hard today!!)

I hope everyone else has had a wonderful day today!! Now to relax and enjoy what's left of quiet time with my babies! :)

Doing better!

I have just gotten out 2 orders and have another 2 almost ready to go. I am so thankful to be busy but a little crazy as we are also starting to paint rooms in our home. One at a time I told the kids today as we were picking out paint...one daughter wanted HOT pink for her room while the other who shares the room wanted black! My son wants lime green for his room or any color that would annoy his sister the most. I still think its going to be a lot of fun and definitely a learning experience. That mixed with my business, homeschool and my husband's work plus 2 at home jobs, we are a BUSY family!! Overall though, we are still having fun and enjoying being together which is vital. Here are some shots of what I have been working on! :)

This is the only way I could get a shot of him with it!!

Back in the saddle...

So thankful the holidays are over!! I had a wonderful holiday season with my family and friends but I am very thankful that for now, they are over and it will be a while before they come again! That being said, it is time to refresh my online presence and for that, I have redone my blog and also my website! Including adding my new logo!!

 I am not sure how to put it on my blog yet, but I have got it up and running on my website so take a peek when you have a chance!! I am busy catching up on all the first of the year special orders and should have an empty plate by the end of the month so be looking for updates around February 1st when I will start actively adding more to my shop. If you would like to see anything I do not have listed just let me know and I can whip something up! :) Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!