Tradition

2006

2007

2008

2009

Olea knew what day it opened and was totally counting down. This year they had a new face pop picture op and it was the perfect fit for our little family.... Just a little photo editing to get us all in the same spread. Gary and I Love Halloween.



That would be Genève's head, not.... what it might look like.

And the picture of the night:

Olea has been having a hard time lately and it seems like Gary and I are always getting after her. Sometimes her choices' consequences really suck. Like when she chose to wear pants that were too long after being asked to do otherwise. During the duck races she stepped into a large puddle and it got totally soaked up in her long pant legs. She was put out because she wanted to play in the corn box but her pants were too muddy. She sulked off to this bumpy tube and I caught this winner. It is so perfect in so many ways. A few: She looks like she's sitting on the moon, (her name means moon) and the visual isolation shows what she was feeling. It's worth clicking on to see it bigger.

This little piggie is going to Market!

Hey, all those who live in the Utah County
or anywhere else who wants to make the drive.
(I meant to do this post sooner... but that's life)



Poppies at Play Craft Market

Saturday Sept. 26th

10:00-5:00

2056 E Cedar Trails Way

Eagle Mtn, Ut.

84005

Click here for a Google Map

I'll be there with my Tatties, as well as a whole bunch of other fabulous vendors selling stuff from peg boards, jewelry to cakes. Check out the blog at Poppies at Play Market.

Cash or check only and if you hurry and RSVP on the site you can get a 10% off coupon to most vendors. I accept the coupon. There's also complimentary refreshments, though how long those will last I don't know.

If you can't be there, don't fret, you can buy them online or come visit me.

It's easy. It really is.

I finally did it. I was told it was easy to make jam and it is. It turned out good too. I was one cup short of pears (had too many from Costco and they were ripening faster than we could eat them) and I was told that you can fill that gap with 100% fruit juice. Apple is best because it doesn't take over the flavor, but I only had orange. It worked quite well. And it is "beautiful" as Cyndi would describe it. It really is.

unto myself

Finally got Z down for a nap.
Tried to fix Olea's tinker box.
Tried to sand the dresser drawers, ran out of sandpaper.
Olea won't chill...
made a quick new header for the blog
Happy birthday unto myself.

Sheath, Scabbard

So, i have a little princess...


who also LOVES princey things like swords and such; I attribute this to Narnia and the fact that she is the adventure type. So the other day when she asked me to mend her princess dress and leave open a little of the hole so she could put her dagger in (hole was in the waist line), I knew it was high time we made her a sheath for her dagger.

Call it green, call it cheap, call it ingenious, call it brilliant, go ahead. :) or call it pack rat. Whatever.
When we moved into our house we installed all the blinds ourselves, so probably a year later or more when Gary decided it was time to get rid of the extra slats that have been chilling on our window sills the past year (still attached to the rest) I asked him not to throw them out.
"WHAT FOR?" (he thinks I am a pack rat)
"To make swords for Olea."
"Oh, okay, that's a good idea... a really good idea."
So Gary used his tin snips to shape swords out of the blind vinyl. At first he made really nice long broad swords, but Olea broke them off at the hilt too fast so now he makes machetes and daggers etc. ehhehe sounds really bad doesn't it?
So we have a stash in the garage and when ever one breaks off Gary goes out and makes her a few more and wraps the hilts with duct tape (a nice leather look right?)

So Olea needed a sheath right? well I figured that can't be hard. Remember the pants that exploded? Well before throwing them away I mined a few things off of them, buttons, ties etc. and the belt loops.
Call it green, call it cheap, call it ingenious, call it brilliant, go ahead. :) or call it pack rat. Whatever.

I pulled out the belt loops and some brown felt and had Olea trace her little dagger sword on a piece of brown felt.

Then cut out at least a quarter inch wider (seam allowance), cut another piece just like it
trim off the top of one so it is a little shorter and at an angle.

sew belt loops on to the back ( I did this after sewing it together and realized that it could be a problem if your beltloops were long enough to get in the way of your scabbard opening)

Then sew the two pieces together. ( don't look at the sewing, it will hold but it's not pretty (good thing it's on the inside) I was sewing with Zurich on my lap)

turn right sides out and decorate if desired, I was in a hurry and so was Olea so we kept it pretty simple. Thread on a belt (Olea happens to have a real cool one with a horsey belt buckle that we picked up second hand).
TADA! (or as me and the kids say: Tadasana!)


"That's really cool mom, thanks!"
I know.

sleep crutch

Unlike Olea, who always slept with soft things (to my recollection),
Zurich likes to sleep with his favorite and most likely the hardest things he can find.
Doggy, Car, Foma (phone), he tried truck aka Mater, but too pokey,
but that didn't stop him from sleeping with
the bathroom vanity from Olea's doll house one night.
Though I did have to dig it out from underneath him at 4am when he rolled over on it and started crying.
The softest thing he sleeps with... his blankie, obviously.

But it's all good because he's sleeping in a big boy bed and is taking naps again most days.

Life is good he can sleep with Ramone and Doggy if that is what it takes.

Kindergarten

Last night Gary asked me, "So are you going to cry tomorrow when your baby starts kindergarten?"
"Probably not."

Olea was excited to go and woke up on her own at 7:45am. I didn't have her pick out an outfit or anything like that the day before, I didn't want her obsessed with clothes and appearance. I just told her yesterday that her hair had to be brushed and done by me for school and she could pick her clothes but that they had to match. This morning I asked her if she wanted to pick out her clothes or if she wanted me to. She chose for me to. I picked out an outfit and she didn't want the hoodie shirt and just opted for the plain white shirt. Nondescript is good. I cut her hair Wednesday but I'm not totally happy with it. I was trying to keep it long but short enough that brushing it wouldn't be such a fight. ohh... I remember the days Olea wanted her hair french braided almost every day and would actually let me brush it with out a fight.
Ready for school.

She wanted to ride her bike and was totally good about walking across the crosswalk and on school grounds.

She and her friend "Bumblebee" were happy to see each other and did a happy dance.

I was glad there was also a little girl I know in her class as well who is a good, but shy girl. I just hope Olea attaches to good kids for friends. So seeing potential was comforting.
She was totally good, "Bye Mom." aka "you can go now"

After she got home we had a Popsicle while she called her Dad and told him how things went.
The Verdict: It was pretty fun!
Would she go again? Ya, totally!
good, cause if you do it "right" you'll be in school another 17 years. And so it begins...

And how did I fare? Went home fed the baby, cleaned up breakfast dishes, played cars with Zurich. And back to pick up Olea. Time flies when you are nursing a baby. :)

With school in mind, here is some interesting stats I figured out last night.
When Olea is 10 Genève will be starting Kindergarten.
Olea and Zurich will likely never be in the same category of school.
Genève and Zurich will be one year apart in school. That makes the spacing between our kids seem even more dramatic.

Bet you didn't know...

I have my own Ranch.
Like my camping attire?
This little ranch is up somewhere near Sun Valley Idaho. I must be rich...
We found it while going camping for a family reunion.
SWEET!

Table redo

The 1/4 inch thick glass on our dining room table top got broken. Since replacing it was pricey we decided to try plexiglass. The table is pine, VERY soft pine so just using the naked table top is not an option.

You can, and will have to imagine the before picture because I was so busy doing I forgot to get a picture. But, it was just a bare table top that I'd slid a few pictures beneath the glass. This time we were going to screw down the plexiglass since the weight wasn't enough to keep it on. So I went through pictures trying to find a good spread of conversational, milestones and cuteness and had 100 printed up at Costco using free prints coupons. We figured it would only take 50-80. I used little strips of the adhesive tape to just keep them in place as I arranged the prints. The ones on the edges I had oriented to be correctly viewed from the closest sitting point, but all the center ones I varied between upside down and right side up so the eye travels around the table. (Gary's idea, I'll give credit where credit is due) Gary drilled countersink in the plexiglass. The kids practiced on a spare board we had from the basement construction.

Arrange pictures. Put on plexiglass, screw down and seal edges with clear caulk. Viola! Dining room table.

It's been really fun to have the kids point out things and memories as we eat, it also sparks their memories of other things. Zurich will often go get a snack and set down to the table to point out "Mama, Dada, Eah, Beebee and Bobo." It helps keep kids at the table long enough to eat. ...But now, Zurich really insists on sitting at the big table, probably almost time for it anyway. :)

Oh so Reading is good

I like to read children's books. Who doesn't, really? Lately, I have found a few books that make me laugh out loud, I just love the wit and the reality in them.
Finds as of late:


I love Julius, for it's fab portrayal of the older sibling's response to a younger sibling. In one picture the older sibling is sticking pins in a voodoo doll of her baby brother. Sooo hilarious.
The Hocky family, ah man just read it. One part is a game they play in the country: "Find the driveway" we totally had to do that growing up when it snowed. Super cute books.

I hear lots of people complain about our local library out where we live, just that it's small and such. But I still haven't read all the books in it yet, so I think it's big enough. I LOVE having a library I can walk to again (we did that growing up, good times).

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

This weekend we finally finished this... not because it takes long, just because it takes me long to get to things. It's a flannel story play board of the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
My sister, who works for an embroidery design company ( I also worked there for a summer in college) sent Olea some embroidered figures for her birthday, to avoid shipping issues I said we could make the board part of it. It was fun, Olea helped color it and tape the flannel to the board.
You can find the instructions here... so I didn't bother making my own. :) especially since we didn't do the embroidery part because I don't have a machine. They have lots of different fairy tale stories to choose from.

Oh and back in the day when my sister was putting together the tutorial for the project she shared some of the boards with us when she came down and she used a picture of Olea playing with them in her tutorial.

4 month curse

I guess when my babes get to 4 months I start slacking... maybe that was Zurich's problem. I don't rightly know. But when I took Genève in for her 4 month check the nurse weighed her at least 5 times before we just did the whole my weight plus holding her and got the exact same number. So why did the nurse weigh her so many times?

Because she looked chubbier than 13.8 lbs. remember....

This is what I think it is: I think a few weeks ago she was more like the 15 lbs the nurse and I expected her to be, but then she got all distracted and so did I and I didn't make sure she ate her normal time and so she was just getting enough to get by. When I tell people that the child would starve if I didn't pay attention, it's true. She's just so darn pleasant and really doesn't cry. So after my trip to the doc I started paying attention to how long she was actually eating for... way less than she used to. OK so I need to start watching the clock again and making sure she's not distracted by the mass chaos that is life with Olea and Zurich. They are just so much fun how can she sit there with her line of sight so boring and hear all the fun they are having? So I have been paying attention and helping her to get a full feeding.

Genève loves to watch TV. I had her already out of the bath and I had turned on the TV to keep Zurich still while I diapered and dressed him after a bath and here she is arching and turning onto her side to get a look at it. She can also play with stuff, she eyes something and has enough control to get it and play with it for a while. She still doesn't LOVE tummy time but she is doing great but when she's done she'll just put her head down and close her eyes. She turns her head into a blanket from her Aunt (just like Zurich and Olea who like to have their blankies against or over their faces as they sleep) and loves to watch Olea and Zurich play and showers them with smiles when they turn their attention to her, well she's still a little leery of Zurich.

Other than being slightly down on her growth she checked out beautifully and handled the shots very well. Better than Olea... who wasn't even getting the shots, who cowered in a corner with her fists in balls shaking a little, panic plain on her face near to tears for her little sister. I wasn't kidding when I said she had needle trauma. Zurich was interested but more wanted out of the stroller because I was more than two feet away from him. After we got home he would come up and touch her band aids and say, "owie," and kinda tisk a little and then give her kisses on her shots because he's WAY into getting every little owie kissed. Ya, I took all three, what else am I supposed to do?

By the way, can I just say I Love our family doctor. He's just what we need in a family doctor.
While I was there he asked about a wrist I had wrapped (for some reason it's been hurting and I was trying counter pressure) and how I was feeling on the new thyroid replacement. I mean seriously, most doctors wouldn't even answer my questions with out pulling out a new chart for billing purposes, but he cares enough to know and suggest that next time I bring the baby in I get my levels checked again so I don't have to pay to have a separate visit with him, he knows what kind of insurance we have and is sensitive and helpful to that. As well as his nurse who is wonderful, once she carried Zurich out to the car for me in the rain and this time suggested an alternate way to do one of the vaccines that our new insurance won't cover, so that it reduced or negated the cost to us. I've recommended him to everyone new to the area who asks... which I should probably stop doing or I won't be able to get an appointment when I need one. ;)