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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Do you remember the time? VIII

I know, It's not a Monday but it is THANKSGIVING! and that is what my flashback is about.

Every year as I was growing up we had Thanksgiving dinner with my cousins (my dad's brother's family). We did a lot with this particular set of cousins because they were about the same age as all of us and they were the closest set of cousins. I always looked forward to Thanksgiving with them.

We played games, ate our guts out, made turkeys out of candy, and played touch football (I was the youngest of the bunch and was too small to play most of the time. By the time I was big enough, everyone had lost interest. Being the youngest stinks!)

My most vivid memories were my grandma's stuffing. YUM! Olives on each of my fingers, figuring out how I was going to get out of eating the yams my aunt would force on my plate (BARF!!), and dreading going around the table and saying what we were thankful for like you would dread getting kicked in the head. I sure hated that. I know I've mentioned it before, but it's a shy person's nightmare to bare their soul while everyone stares like that.

The tradition has died as both my aunt and uncle have passed away, all the kids on both sides have grown up and moved away. I miss it. What I wouldn't give for a game of touch football (I might think differently after about 10 minutes) and my grandma's stuffing.

BUT.... I'm glad that we can have a deliciously yummy dinner at my house, with my little family, with a huge stack of movies from Reams and pumpkin pie all for me. And that I can skim through the black Friday adds and toy with the idea of joining the madness. That I'm warm, that my family is here and safe and happy.

On another note:

I'm so sad about this.

I've been in those caves. Twice. I've been stuck where he was stuck. I was only stuck for maybe 45 minutes but it scared me so bad that I remember thinking in my 17 year old mind that I never wanted my children to go in there. And contemplating how I was going to keep my teenage kids from going. I was 17. I'm no super dare devil, but I'm not a chicken either. I panicked and cried like a baby in front of my high school crush. My brother loved it there, and teased me for not liking it.

My heart aches for his wife, his brothers, his family and everyone who tried so hard to rescue him. So sad!

Monday, November 23, 2009

I dont wanna grow up

Marisa is 2.5 now. And, she does not want to grow up. I think it's going to have to be a forced issue.

She loves her crib. We're just going to have to take it down and give her no other choice but to sleep on the floor or her bed. I'm afraid she might choose the floor.

I think that we might have to stop buying diapers and give her no other option but to use the potty or the floor. I'm sure she will use the floor. UGGGG!!!

I know, I know, she won't wear diapers and won't sleep in the crib forever, but it sure seems like it. I'm definitely more interested in the potty training. I've had way too many diaper changes in the last year.

Anyway, on to the more positive things.

This girl loves to sing and adores books. She will read/sing books for hours.

When asked what she wants for Christmas, she says she wants "pink". So I guess it's up to us. It just had better be pink.

She LOVES nursery, which is wonderful. I'm hoping it makes leaving Ezra there in 5 months that much easier.

She cries a lot still. I don't expect it to ever end. I'm preparing myself for that.

Her personality reminds me of myself. Shy, yet wants to have a good time. So, things like getting her pictures taken go a little something like this:

She is excited. She practices her smiles, she giggles and cheers when we get there. Then, she won't smile, move, talk or do anything but pout the whole time. After leaving in frustration, she's happy and talks excitedly about how she had her picture taken but wasn't happy for her pictures.

For reference, I cried for my kindergarten pictures. I don't expect her to grow out of it until about mid high school. :)

On to pictures:



Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Rambling On My Mind

We don't have a whole lot going on, maybe that is why there isn't much to write about. Or maybe it's just more of the same, or maybe, just maybe I'm tired. I try to go to bed early but I usually end up lying there waiting for sleep to come only to stay awake way past when I normally fall asleep.

My kids had are finally recovering from the time change (yes, that was like, three weeks ago) However, Marisa, who used to sleep until 8 now wakes up at 6:30 or earlier. It doesn't matter that much since Ezra wakes up about then anyway, but I have a sneaky suspicion that she's a little more grouchy than usual because of it.

Roman has said a hand full of strange things lately.

One was on the way to work with daddy on Saturday:

"daddy, if you get your nose stuck in a vacuum you just gotta go on with your day, right dad?"

Marisa has been practicing her "talking nonstop" skills lately.

She will ramble on and on just mixing together all the words she knows. Sometimes the end composition is pretty funny. However I can't remember any specific things. I will try to pay better attention, but honestly, it's that type of talking that I try to block out..... for sanity purposes and all.

That's all I've got. Random, I know. My next post will be awesome..... or not. You never know. :)

I've been thinking about doing a poll, or a post about Sesame Street.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Then I Could Wish You a Merry Christh-mith

I remember very clearly singing that song in First grade, since most of us didn't have all our teeth. I thought it was so funny!

Well, Roman's tooth has been loose FOREVER. I was starting to think that his gums had decided to re-attach themselves to it and he would be stuck with it for the rest of his life.

Every day for months he would come running to me to have me wiggle it for him.

Yesterday, while playing in the play place at Carls Jr and eating a chicken star (FYI, I strongly discourage him to eat while in that thing, it makes me shiver and gag a little just thinking about it, but somehow he slipped past me. Let's not even bring up the fact that I had to go in there to fetch Marisa this time... oh wait.)

Back to the point. Roman yells down.... "MOM!!! My tooth came out!!!! I was eating my chicken and my tooth fell out!" It was this point that I scrambled and yelled for him to bring it down for me (talk about bio hazard, and I had not yet ventured into the cave of germs and didn't want to to go search for a tooth) He was busy showing it off to some random kid.


You would have thought that Santa just came to Carls Jr. and brought him a trampoline covered with every wii game on the planet. He was SOOOO excited!!! Jumping around and being silly, and grinning and telling us the incredible story of his tooth... again and again.


Oh, silly boy. He insists that the Tooth fairy only brings one quarter for each tooth.


That darn tooth fairy just can't get it right because she brought four.

I remember loosing my first tooth. I was five. I was excited to go show my teacher.

The first thing Roman said is "I can't wait to tell my teacher!" Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Summer Nights

This post is for me....so please don't feel obligated to read it. But you are more than welcome. It's just a little long.

I wanted to share the story of "the dress" since I really haven't said it all (I know, can you believe there is more?)

When talking about our upcoming Christmas letter (grrrrr) Shane asked me what the highlight of my year was. Honestly, it probably was making the neighbor's wedding dress. So either I didn't have a lot going on, or I really enjoyed making that dress. I think it was a combination of both. So... here it goes, the story of my summer nights 2009.

Richelle (the bride) got engaged in June, maybe May. The first thing I thought was... I hope they don't ask me to make the dress. :) It was really just a passing thought, I didn't really think they would ask me. I've done a little bit of sewing for Lauri (the mother) and we talk often (usually turning a quick trip over to the neighbors to borrow an egg into a half hour gab session) But I've never really had more than a quick conversation with her daughter. If I were her, asking me, would be the LAST option.

Come early July, Lauri calls me and tells me this story about how they've been dress shopping and have tried a lot of things on but nothing spoke to them until they went to a dress shop up in SLC. This is a pretty posh place. They have many designer gowns, they don't let you take any pictures, they custom make/alter your dress so it's perfect etc. etc. It was at this very nice place that they found the perfect dress. Then they found the price tag. WOWZA! The dress cost more than both of our little cars cost us. But, it spoke to her.... what to do? Run like the wind! And they did, but didn't quite know what to do about this dress that she fell in love with.

They contacted a woman who copies dresses for a living who is up in Orem maybe (I think she may have even been in the news before) and she quoted them a better price but still much more than they wanted to pay. Then... she did it. She asked me if I could sew the dress... OK well, not exactly. She wanted my opinion on how much it should cost to sew etc. and she kind of asked if I thought I could do it. I said, I will look at the pictures but would make no promises. In fact I warned her that I don't even like homemade wedding dresses much and didn't even sew my own wedding dress for that very reason. I sew fluffy skirts all day for crying out loud! And I sew for big bellied, flat chested, no hips children. But I told her I would at least look and share my opinion.

Richelle and Lauri came over with a laptop full of pictures of this dress. Here are the pictures they shared. WOW! I looked over all the pictures and thought about it a bit and said I would need to talk to my mom (who would have to be my savior if I had any problems), and I would need to research fabric prices and really think about it but that it looked do-able. DID I REALLY JUST SAY THAT!?!?!?! I didn't even trust myself to make my own dress once upon a time.

I milled over it a little bit more, researched fabric, looked at the pictures about a MILLION times and consulted with Shane. He said "don't do it! You're going to ruin that dress and then they are going to hate you" (I think those were his exact words) Talk about supportive. Actually it was a good thing, because I needed to know that I REALLY thought I could do it. After all, all the cheering on and sweet talking in the world that he could do wouldn't help me if I screwed it up.

I didn't give any firm answer to Lauri for a while. Actually, I'm not sure I ever gave her a firm answer. However, I showed her the fabric I had found, and some patterns I thought would work. I even bought a vintage pattern from 1980 (yes, the year I was born) because the current selection just wasn't quite right. Then, they threw caution to the wind and bought the lace, brought it to my house and we got started. Just like that. And I felt good about it. It really surprised me.

I made a mock top so I could practice on $2/yd fabric instead of $60/yd lace and she came over for many fittings throughout the 6 weeks of sewing. It was fun! I really enjoyed watching her envision the dress. I was amazed at her trust, as I had never done anything like this. And I felt like a part of something special. It was cool.

The dress is actually two dresses. One underneath made of a polyester satin. I sewed this first to get an idea of how the pattern would act. And to get warmed up on the less expensive fabric. It went together swiftly and easily. Whew!

Then, I had to do it. I had to cut lace for the overdress that was far more expensive than any fabric I had ever cut. I sometimes panic about cutting fabric that is $10/yd. That's expensive stuff! But when it came time, I spread it out on my living room floor, admired it and cut it into 12 lovely pieces without a single tear or even a mistake. (OK, one mistake, I should have marked the pieces, because after they were cut, I spent forever trying to identify them again)

This wasn't just cutting, you have to cut lace along the design in the lace, then you have to make sure the design in the lace on the piece that its going to attach to will line up design wise too. It was stressful, but I was blessed with a clear brain (a rare thing as of late) and confidence.

Sewing lace is easy though. It is SLOW. I would sew for about 2-3 hours a night and I would barely get one seam done. I had no idea it was going to be like that. I kept telling myself (and probably other people) that I thought it would be done in a week.... for about four weeks. LOL
Luckily, I had plenty of time.

Once it was starting to look like a dress and not a heap of lace on my sewing table I started to get SO excited. Richelle came over with friends to show off, she giggled and swooned and I felt happy.

Then before I knew it.... it was done! I was so excited to have it done. I wasn't sick of it but it had been a lot of time, probably over 70 hours. And all of the sudden, I didn't want it to go away! It had been 6 weeks of admiring my work, loving it and enjoying it and I was so proud, then it was going to be gone. And then it WAS gone. :( The check, while nice, wasn't nearly as fun to look at, show off, giggle about.

I still look back and can't believe I sewed a wedding dress, and that she liked it, and that it went so smoothly. From the beginning to the end, I hit very few snags, I had to re-do very few things. It fit her so well, and turned out a lot like the dress I was copying. In fact, the only real differences were 1. The lace (the lace on the designer dress would have cost $200/yd Mama Mia! ) 2. Richelle's dress was a tad more modest (the one we copied was pushin' it a little) 3. She wanted a longer train.

I half expected several panic attacks, lots of tears, many nights spent fixing mistakes, panicked calls to my mother and perhaps even buying a whole bunch more fabric and throwing away my first attempt. But through it all, I had a overwhelming feeling of peace about it all. I know, it sounds strange to be so "spiritual" about a dress, but I really think it was what I needed right then. Three kids had been exhausting from the moment Ezra was born and I was feeling just emotionally and physically drained! The dress was a great get away/have fun/feel good about ME thing in my life. I'm SO glad I agreed to do it. And while it did take up many of my nights (thanks Shane for not complaining about it), It didn't take any time away from my kids during the day.

As for doing another one.... maybe someday, but I'm not going into business just yet.

Here comes the bride

More pictures YEAHHHHHH!!!! Ok, so the pictures from the wedding are up on the photographers blog!

Take a look.

http://dustinizatt.com/blog/richelle-and-bryan-wedding-utah-wedding-photographer/

I've been stalking his blog daily just waiting for the pictures to come up. The turned out great!

And guess what???? There will be more. She had her bridal pictures taken a week ago out by The Great Salt Lake. I can't wait to see!

Oh.... here's a few from the 2nd photographer:

http://amylashelle.blogspot.com/2009/10/2nd-shooting-richelle-bryan.html


That is all

Friday, November 6, 2009

All I want for Christmas

The first person to correctly tell me what Roman wants for Christmas gets a prize (yet to be determined).

Here is a clue:


Have fun!

undone!

Sorry, the last post was deleted.

Lesson learned. I can't handle a good debate, so I will not be asking your opinion on hot topics again.... at least for a little while ;)

My next post will be about food, cats, or puppies, or children... Something more fun and undeniably agreeable. Stay tuned!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Trick or treat smell my feet

Halloween 2009

What fun we had.

We've been preparing and waiting for Halloween for a while now. Somehow I managed to have everything sewn long before Halloween because of a party that was planned at our church. Then they went and canceled it. We were pretty bummed.

Trick or treating and Halloween have to be one of Roman's top five favorite things in life. Marisa, was not so sure. We kept telling her about it and asking her if she wanted to dress up and get some candy and she diligently said "no thank you".

I thought she was nuts. The girl loves candy.

The first breakthrough was her dress. When I finished it she instantly fell in love with it's flowing pink silkiness.... and what little girl wouldn't?

Then we found a princess candy bucket at Walmart for $1.

Then, the real breakthrough. I told her I would go with her. That settled it. She was game! And, no one enjoyed it more than her. I wonder why she though I wouldn't go with her?

So, this year, since my kids are young and don't have a chance fighting against me, we went with the whole theme thing-Nintendo characters. Roman of course wanted to be Mario. Who better to play the part of his brother Luigi than Roman's brother Ezra? Marisa wanted to be Luigi at first, but I convinced/forced her to be Princess Peach. She was OK with it once I had a dress to wave in front of her.


The neighbor boys were also Mario and Luigi. Too bad Ezra was asleep when they came over.


Poor Ezra, the mittens were quite debilitating. He couldn't take off the hat or crawl for that matter. But isn't he cute? He was a real trooper and didn't complain until the very end when it was really getting dark.


We had so much fun and got lots of loot.


I love my little goblins.