Sick Vic

Well, actually it's sick Brinley. My poor little girl has been throwing up all day & going through a record number of diapers! She was pretty tired at the park yesterday, but I figured it was because I had gotten everyone up so I could go walking with some friends. From there we went straight to the park & were out in the sun for about 3 hours. I made sure to put a thick layer of sun screen on her fair skin, but she would come and lay on the blanket by me under the tiny amount of shade we had every ten minutes or so. (It seemed like) When we got home she took a nap & then played fine all afternoon. Dinner rolled around & she wasn't really hungry, but at 2 1/2 that isn't too uncommon. This morning she had a big list of breakfast food in mind, but stopped after finishing the first item on her list. About ten minutes later I had a very obvious and abrupt answer to her uncommon behavior. Puke...all over my new couch. Oh well, it cleaned up like a jiffy. (Thank you micro fiber!!) Now if I could only get her back to "new" again!

This picture is from a couple of weeks ago-she is such a sweetie! I hate seeing my kids sick! :(

Grayden's Rag Quilt

Look at those cute cozy little toes! I finally did it, I actually finished a blanket for Grayden. I have enough material to make 2 others & all of it was bought when I was pregnant-19 months later and one is finally finished! My older sister (the rag quilt QUEEN) helped me start cutting the squares forever ago & then they sat & sat & SAT! Then, our ward decided to have a little workshop on how to make rag quilts. (Thanks Shary-R.Q. Guru) I pretty much knew how to do them, but this gave me the extra incentive to start working on mine again. I spent half of a Saturday cutting out all the squares & took them home with great intentions on sewing them together.....Fast forward 2 months. Yup, still sitting in the bag waiting to be done. Then, my niece came out to visit for Spring Break & I was able to actually spend time working on it & not worrying about the kids. (YAY for Makenna the lifesaver!!) I set all the squares out in a pattern that would work with the random materials I had. (I bought almost everything from the clearance scrap bins)Sewed squares of batting in the middle with a few not so perfect X's & then sewed all the squares & rows together.
Then I spent about three hours cutting. Yes...THREE HOURS. I will be buying the specially made "rag quilt scissors" if I plan on doing more rag quilts in the future!I threw it in the wash so it could get nice and frayed out & admired my sweet baby boy all cozy in his new blanket! Isn't he precious?!This one is my favorite-look at those perfect toes!

Freezer Jam

Strawberries were on sale a few weeks ago, so I bought some & decided to try and make my own jam. I don't have any fancy canning supplies so I haven't tried to do anything homemade in the past. However, I found this awesome "No Cook Freezer Jam" in the canning isle & gave it a try. The only thing you have to add to it is sugar! (well and the fruit of your choice!) You cut all the tops off the strawberries & then cut them into a manageable size for "squashing". Then using your potato masher you go to town on them!!When you are finished they will look something like this. (and if you were stressed about anything before you started you will now feel some of that stress has been relieved!)Next you mix the packet contents with the sugar in a large bowl.

Measure your "squashed" fruit & add to the mixture. Once you have mixed it well you let it sit for 30 minutes. (That is the perfect time to prepare the containers you are going to put the jam into)I washed my containers & spooned most all of the strawberry jam into them. It smelled SO GOOD!!These awesome little containers are sold right by the "No Cook" mix & were pretty inexpensive. The jam stays good in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or in the freezer for 1 year.There was a little left over that didn't fit into the containers, so the girls and I had a perfect excuse to try some right away. We absolutely LOVED it, and it tasted just as good as it smelled!There were a few people who I had been wanting to give a thank you gift to, so I bagged up some pancake mix & gave them some yummy strawberry topping to go with it!
The container for our family only lasted a few days & I already have more strawberries in the fridge to make some more! mmmm......

Sleep Deprived Humor

So, I am beginning to get a little delirious after spending the week in the shoes of a single mom. Matt went to Georgia on Wed-Fri & then had a day of drill only to turn around & leave for Rockford, IL. He will be back tomorrow, and every time I find myself alone with 3 kids for more than 24 hours my respect for single parents seems to multiply! Anyway, you get the idea, I'm tired....so onto the humor.

Tonight as I was starting the bedtime ritual Trinity thought it would be funny to streak around the room in her birthday suit for a while. I was laughing on the inside, of course, but told her in my best mother voice (in not so many words) that she needed to be modest & get dressed. I should have chosen more motherly words I suppose because a few minutes later Brinley looked at me from across the room & innocently asked, "Mom, do I have a bum cack?" I tried to hold my laughter back as I replied, "Yes Brinley, (snicker, snicker, tee, hee, hee) you have a bum crack."

I don't know if it was really that funny, but I could not stop laughing! Ah, I love my kids!

Busy Scrappin!

Catch Up Time

My friends and I did this on the blog we share to keep in touch (thanks for the great idea Britt) because we have had a little dry spell on our blog lately. I figured since I am in the middle of a dry spell with my own blog I'd go aheand and post it here.

So, here are five things that have been going on with me lately:

1. Out with the Old & In with the New
We sold our couches (that we have had since our first year of marriage) and bought a new one. Yes, we went from a couch and a love seat to just one couch. At first it was a little weird, but I really appreciate the extra space & look forward to adding a comfy recliner to the front room sometime in the future. Why? Well, the old ones had held up pretty well, but were starting to look a little droopy & getting more and more run down from our kids. We spiffy'd them up as best we could, stuck them on Craig's list, & they sold the next morning for $200.00! We were pleasantly surprised & lived without any couches for about a week. Our new couch is microfiber & the girls LOVE it! I am looking forward to how easily everything is supposed to wash off of it & Matt is glad not to have 2 couches to deal with when we end up moving again. Here is a picture of it from the Store's website. I think it looks much better in person-I'll try to stick a different picture on here tomorrow.

2. The first Step is Admitting you Have a Problem
I have made a personal goal not to go overboard with digital scrap booking this month. I got so excited with the challenges at Scrapmatters last month that it sort of overcame my life!! I ended up completing LO's for 14 different challenges & also did almost every speed scrap! Don't get me wrong, I had SO MUCH FUN, but my family suffered & I felt like my life was slipping out of balance. I now try to scrap on a reward system where I spend an equal amount of time cleaning or playing with the kids as I do scrapping. I haven't done a challenge for April yet, but I already have a few in mind that I am looking forward to doing. Oh, and I was totally surprised to find out that one of my LO's was a winner for last month, and it wasn't even random!! I was so flattered & still can't believe that I won.

This is the LO that got picked:

3. If It's Not Broke-Don't Fix It
Matt finally convinced me to get a new phone. I've had mine for a couple of years now & have really liked it, plus there was nothing wrong with it! My time had come up for a new phone & it was driving him crazy that I wasn't jumping all over the chance to upgrade. He would hint about it almost every time we were in Costco (because they have a Verizon dealer booth in there), so I finally told him that if he would help me find a phone I liked that I'd switch. I decided on a new Motorola, and was nervous that I wouldn't know how to use a new phone very well. I actually LOVE it & am glad that Matt gave me the push I needed to get a new one. Plus we sold my old one for $40 bucks! Yea Baby!!

This is my old phone:

And this is my new phone:

4. Do You Believe In Signs?
I don't know why but for some reason Minnie Mouse keeps popping into our lives lately. My niece Sierra was Minnie Mouse for Halloween, and her picture pops up on our screen saver occasionally & the girls always get so excited when they see it! Then, one day when it was snowing like crazy here I opened our curtains & noticed something weird down by the dumpsters. I was so curious to find out what it was, so I threw some shoes on & ran down with my camera to investigate. After I brushed the snow away my assumptions were correct-a HUGE paper mache Minnie Mouse! Then, about a week after that I woke up to find a mysterious plate of cupcakes on my counter that had been decorated with Jr. Mints, Mini Oreos, & Purple Frosting bows. Yup-Minnie Mouse again!! My visiting teacher had dropped them off at our door the night before. I haven't really been a big believer in signs, but I think someone is telling us to go to Disney Land! :) I'm ready for a vacation?

5. Life Comes At You Fast
So, it seems like I was in High School yesterday & today I have 3 kids-THREE! Trinity somehow went from being 3 months old to 4 years old & Brinley went from being my cuddly little mamma's girl to a very articulate 2 1/2 year old. Then there is Grayden who thinks he can turn one in 3 more months & I just don't know how I feel about that! How did the time fly by so fast?? I feel so lucky to have such energetic, curious, determined, smart, beautiful, and healthy children. The girls LOVE to help out with Grayden anyway that I will let them, so I finally decided to give them the opportunity to feed him. Brinley was armed with squash & Trinity with carrots-both ready to give Grayden the best meal he had ever had. Unfortunately more of it ended up on his face & the floor than in his mouth. Oh well, they all had such a fun time & now the excitement of "feeding Grayden" is old news so I can do it more efficiently in peace!