The Sweet Life

County Fair

2011-10-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the little county fair they had out here a few weekends ago. It was a pretty small fair, but they did have the usual rides. The rides were included in the fair admission so we spent most of the time letting the kids do rides so we got out money's worth! The kids looved it. They also had a pretty fun petting zoo with lots of goats, an alpaca, a baby zebra, and a baby tiger you could look at.

This was the first ride the kids went on, and although it might not look like it from the pictures when they got off the ride Grayden was saying it was fun! Poor little guy was not having fun at the beginning! Kirsten was LOVING it! She is our little thrill seeker and she wanted to go on every ride!

Pony Island

2011-10-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

I know, I have been the WORST blogger this year! So here is what we have been up to the last couple of months.

We went camping at the Outer Banks of North Carolina to a place called Cape Lookout National Seashore. They have an island you can camp on and there is a herd of wild ponies on it. The kids called this "Pony Island". We had to take a little boat ride out to the island and the kids thought that was so much fun. Once we got out there we set up the tent and had a little campfire. It was so much fun camping on the beach. We saw about 6 ponies on the beach the next morning.

Kirsten doing her Pirate "Aarghh" with Captin Jack

Grayden thought it was hilarious to try and sit on Daddies face the first night when we stayed in a hotel.

Summer Fun

2011-07-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

We have been having a pretty fun summer out here despite the ridiculous heat. We had a movie night in the backyard a couple of weeks ago. We set up a tent and hung a sheet up on the shed. Stuart used his projector and ipad to play the movie up on the "screen". The kids LOVED it, and I am sure we will be doing it again. We have also been having fun playing in the kiddie pool, playing with their toys inside, and practicing letters and numbers. I have also been busy working on my new PDF patterns for my etsy store. Patterns for all my diaper bags and purses will be available soon.

(I am not very good at taking pictures in the dark, sorry.)

4 Years Old!

2011-06-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

This post is very overdue! At the end of last month Kirsten turned 4 years old! We had an extra special birthday weekend since Grandma Joanne and Papa came to visit, AND Aunt Carly! Kirsten told me she wanted to have a Circus birthday party, and she wanted to play pin the nose on the clown. She came up with that game on her own, which I thought was pretty clever. We also did a bean bag toss to "feed the lion". We had such a fun weekend with Stuart's parents and Aunt Carly. Kirsten kept telling Aunt Carly that she wanted a little sewing machine (like her cousin Sarah) for her birthday. So, Aunt Carly surprised her and got her a mini pink Hello Kitty sewing machine! She loved to come in my room while I am sewing and sit at her machine and pretend to sew too. Here are some pictures from the party.

Spring Carnival

2011-05-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

A little carnival came to town, so we had a fun evening with the kids enjoying some of the rides and getting cotton candy. Grayden was not so sure of the first ride when I told him it was going to go up and down. We ended up taking him off before it stared, and once he saw it going he decided it wasn't scary. After that he was game for any of the kid rides. Kirsten got to go on her first ferris wheel with Stuart because she is a big girl now. I think this is the first time the kids have actually been on carnival rides. It was really fun for Stuart and I to watch them having so much fun at their first carnival.

Grayden starting to worry about the ride. (This is when we took him off)

Children's Museum

2011-04-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

This morning we met some friends at the Children's Museum downtown. The whole place was set up like a little mini city with a post office, bank, grocery store, court house, doctors office, dentist office, and more. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the grocery store, and of course Kirsten found the theatre with all the dress up clothes. Here are a few pictures.

Spring is here

2011-04-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying the spring weather here. Last week we got some spring showers for a few days. It was nice and I kind of felt like we were back in WA for a few days. Last night we had one of the loudest rainstorms I have ever heard.

We have also had some nice sunny weather in there too. Last night it was warm and sunny (before the storm) so we played out in the backyard. The kids love playing outside in the backyard. Grayden is a typical little boy and he is always in the dirt. He will stay out there for ever just digging in the dirt next to the deck. Kirsten likes to get her "princess" clothes on and put on "shows" for us. She makes us sit on the deck and watch her while she sings and dances around the backyard. We sat on the deck and enjoyed some delicious fresh strawberries, then watched the kids play. It was a pretty perfect way to enjoy a spring evening.

movies inside their "fort" on a rainy day

Can't contain the cuteness

2011-03-11T18:53:00.000-08:00

What can I say? He is just too cute sometimes. How can such a cute little thing be such a stubborn little stinker sometimes? Let me tell you, he can. It's a good thing he is so cute.

Bozeman!

2011-02-24T06:44:00.000-08:00

It has been a very busy past month! After all of our house was packed up, we went out to Bozeman to visit the Henscheids. This was our first time out to Bozeman and it was so fun! The kids were so excited to see their cousin Claire. We happened to get there during the one cold week, and the temperature did not get about -2 F until the last day we were there! The kids still had fun even though it was so cold. We did all kinds of fun things while we were there like pony rides, sledding, playing in the playhouse, going to Yellowstone, cross country skiing, playing Farkle and the Bean game every night, and swimming in the boiling river when it was -4 outside! We were also able to leave the kids home one night and go out to dinner with Kirsten and Aaron.

Because it was so cold, I don't have very many pictures from our first trip out there, but we stopped by Bozeman again on our way across the country. So here are pictures from both trips. (You can probably tell from the pictures it was a lot warmer the second time we were out there!)

Ballerina

2011-01-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

Kirsten loves ballet and pretending to be a ballerina. Grammy was here visiting and got Kirsten and new play dress today. She had so much fun putting her outfit together then dancing for us. She always puts the most interesting outfits together! After a while it kept getting more interesting and she started getting silly, but that is our Kirsten :)

Christmas

2010-12-28T11:19:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas! We stayed home to have Christmas in our new house. It was so nice, we got to skype with Grammy and Grandpa in Alaska so they could see the kids opening presents. Then we headed over to Grandma and Papa's house to have Christmas dinner with the Hegewald family too. It was such a nice day spending time with family! We are going to miss being so close to everyone! I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas :)

Grayden got skis from Santa :)

Super Why the Gingerbread Man!

Kirsten would not take off the slip Grammy got her, she kept dancing and twirling!

She is always dancing

Grayden LOVED the "bad guys" Uncle Aaron and Aunt Kirsten sent!

Aunt Kirsten made these adorable cups for the Hegewald family! Such a cute idea Kirsten!

Giveaway!

2010-12-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

Check out this great blog Swell Swag. She features different etsy stores and does giveaways. Right now she is featuring my etsy store! I am also doing a giveaway to one winner on her blog. So check it out and enter if you want a chance at winning one of my zipper pouches or coin purses.

The Nutcracker

2010-12-12T13:29:00.001-08:00

Kirsten and Stuart went on their first real Daddy Daughter date last Friday night. They went to see the Nutcracker ballet. Kirsten was so excited all week to go "to ballet". I had to explain to her she was just going to watch the girls dance and she wasn't actually going to dance. She was ok with that, and still really excited to see the "growing up girls dance ballet". She got all dressed up in her Christmas dress, and I made her a new wool dress coat to wear. Stuart told me she sat and studied the program before it started, and when it started she kept looking down at the picture on the front, and then up at the girls. She kept whispering things to Stuart in his ear like "why are they doing that" and at one point she grabbed his face and whispered "WOW" in his ear. She was so excited and happy she kept grabbing his face and kissing his cheek :) She gets very affectionate when she is happy.

At intermission some of the ballerinas came out to take pictures with the kids. Kirsten said she wanted too, and then chickened out at the last minute and wouldn't let go of Stuarts hand. After the show was over she wanted to take pictures, but they weren't doing it and she was very upset. She got a special Clara ornament to put on the tree so she can always remember her special date with Daddy :)

Grayden had to have his picture taken too when he saw Kirsten doing. Gotta love the belly shirt and jammies :)

Winterfest

2010-11-29T11:35:00.000-08:00

So this is why I have not been posting in a month and a half! I have been so busy on top of moving, getting ready for my first craft fair. I signed up for a craft fair they do every year at the Peninsula High School in Gig Harbor. I have been sewing like crazy making bags, and baby shoes, and burp cloths for this.

I did not end up selling as much as I was anticipating, but it was a good experience. I got a lot of good feedback from people, and I passed out a lot of business cards. I had a lot of fun setting up my booth and packaging things up. Now I just have to get busy taking pictures and getting my etsy store up and running again! (Sorry for the blurry pictures, I can't believe I forgot my camera and only had my phone!)

Moving

2010-10-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

We are moving to our new house! Right now I am blogging when I should be packing. I hate packing, and I am at the point where the house just looks like a disaster, and I don't know what to do with half this stuff. This time I am not organizing, or wrapping, or marking, I am just throwing it in the box! Unpacking should be lots of fun.

Jack and Anna

2010-10-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were able to meet up with Mary and the kids since they were visiting her family a few hours south of us. It was so fun to see Jack and Anna, and get the kids together to play! We went to a few stores at the outlet mall, then went to a beautiful park so the kids could play. They had a great time chasing each other around. I just wish they were always this close so we could play more often!

Jack being a mouse :)

Grayden being a Unicorn

hugs

Leavenworth

2010-09-19T15:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went up to Leavenworth, a little Bavarian themed town a few hours away. I have never been there before and wanted to see the place. It was such a cute town, and it felt like a different world. All the buildings (including the McDonald's and gas stations) were Bavarian themed. We had a great time walking around and window shopping. We stopped and had some delicious bratwurst for lunch. There were huge flowers all over the town! There were gorgeous hanging baskets all down the streets, and most of the windows had flower boxes. The kids did not really understand that there was anything special or different, but they had fun walking around, and we got to see a little billy goat that lives on the side of the road.

Gorgeous flowers!

Family Reunion

2010-09-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had a family reunion with Stuart's side of the family. I think this is the first time we were able to go to the family reunion since we have been married. It was a lot of fun to see all his Aunts and cousins, and to see all the little kids together. They had a huge bouncy house, and huge bouncy slide. The kids had so much fun bouncing, and playing on the slide. We had a wonderful time playing, and visiting with family. Here are a few pictures of the kids playing:

Sweet Sarah

Sassy Sarah

Blue Steel

2010-08-31T10:18:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures of Grayden at the park the other week. This first picture of him with the pouty lips and serious face made me think of Zoolander.

Summer Nights

2010-08-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Kirsten and Grayden sitting on the front porch the other night. They were just being so sweet to each other, I couldn't pass that photo up.

Junk in the Trunk

2010-08-24T11:10:00.001-07:00

Kirsten loves to dress up. She cannot stay in a single outfit for more than an hour or so! This was outfit #5 of the day. By far the most creative I have seen so far!

(If you can't tell, that is the hood from her jacket)

Boat Ride

2010-08-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

We took Kirsten and Grayden for a ride on Papa's sailboat last week for the first time. It was a really hot day, so it was so nice to get out on the water with the breeze. Kirsten and Grayden had a lot of fun. They both got a turn to help steer the boat. We love living by the water!

(yes I wore a life vest because I am a wimp and scared of the water)

Kirsten wanted to go for a swim

Baby Tigers

2010-08-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to the zoo last week with all the little kids. One of the tigers recently had cubs, and they were out for viewing. They were so adorable, and were rolling around playing. Grayden was especially excited. He always tells me that he is a baby tiger. When we were in Alaska, he kept pretending he was a baby tiger, and that my Aunt Paula was the mommy tiger. After that he would refer to her "Mommy Tiger", and kept asking where the mommy tiger was. He was so excited to see the baby tigers playing, and to see the mommy too!

The kids had a lot of fun in the aquarium too. They love seeing the sharks and sea horses. We always take a ride on the carousel at the end of our trip, which is Kirsten's favorite part. It was a fun trip with the cousins!

Going Home

2010-08-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

We went home to AK a couple of weeks ago for my little brothers wedding. It was so much fun to be together with all my family! I love Alaska in the summer, it is always so beautiful and green. We had a bit of rainy weather while we were there, but it cleared up a few times.

Kirsten was so excited to go the Grammy's house. When we got in the first night, she was so excited to see all the same familiar things. I think she really remembered it, and it felt a little like going home to her. She was so happy to see all her old toys and everything.

All my siblings were home, and it was so fun to have all the cousins together. Kirsten and Jack had a lot of fun together, but Kirsten kept trying to get Jack to play princess with her. So when that failed she decided to dress Anna up.

I can't believe I totally forgot to take my camera to the wedding reception! So I am waiting to get some from someone else. The reception was awesome! The food was amazing! Fresh grilled salmon, bbq chicken, spinach salad, and the best part cotton candy and frozen dipped bananas! It was great!

Here are some random pictures from the trip!

Two Years Old!

2010-07-28T20:03:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Grayden's 2nd birthday this last weekend. We had a fun bbq and very relaxed party with the cousins over at Grandma and Papa's house. The kids had a lot of fun running through the sprinklers. The older kids were even brave enough to get in the freezing Puget Sound water! Grayden's favorite movie is Kung Fu Panda, so we got him a panda birthday cake that he loved!

Here are some pictures from his birthday:

Kirsten was too scared to go in the sprinkler, so daddy had to help her once :)

Kirsten being silly, I have no idea what she was doing!

(I have to explain one thing: I thought I brought Kirsten's swimsuit with us, but it turned out I didn't. Thus the swim diaper, she doesn't even wear them anymore, but we had to keep her clothes dry)

The Po cake

Playing Princess

2010-07-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

My sweet little niece Claire was here staying with us for a couple of nights. Claire lives out of state, and it is so fun whenever they come to town and visit because Claire and Kirsten become even better friends each time. It is so cute to see them play together, and now that they are a little older, they talk with each other and play make believe. This morning they were princesses. They were spinning, and laughing, and singing and being silly. It was a great morning :)

Dungeness Spit

2010-07-06T18:14:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July weekend. Saturday we headed out to Dungeness Spit which is a couple of hours away from us. The spit is 5 miles long, and there is a really neat lighthouse at the end of the spit. The weather was absolutely gorgeous out there, it was sunny and warm and not too windy. Stuart carried both the kids pretty much the whole 10 mile hike along the beach! The kids had a lot of fun. It was a great way to spend the day together as a family. Here is our trip:

This was at the end of the spit. It says "Welcome to Serenity"

Kirsten chasing seagulls

I took this at the beginning of the spit, can you see the lighthouse?

Spilled Milk

2010-06-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

Grayden's new favorite thing to do it spill his milk all over the floor, then sip it up like a little puppy dog. Luckily my floors are very clean due to all the "spills" we have been having.

Sorry

2010-06-24T09:16:00.001-07:00

I have been the worlds worst blogger this year! What is my problem!? At first I was blaming it on our slow internet connection. Now we have upgraded to a faster connection, and I have no excuse. I will put new pictures up soon. I promise.

3 Years old

2010-06-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

Kirsten is 3 years old now. How did that happen!? It doesn't seem like it has been three years, yet in a lot of ways she seems older than 3 to me. She is full of personality! She is the queen of silly, very sassy, always sharing, loving to her brother, stubborn like her mommy, extremely independent, and full of imagination! We love her!

silly kids

2010-05-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

Not much new to report here. The kids wanted these goggles when they saw them at Target. So now they wear them whenever they get in the bath. Grayden usually won't take them off afterwards so he goes around the house with them on.

Caught red handed! Grayden pulled the plate of cupcake we made for mothers day off the counter. He managed to get the one he wanted, but unfortunately the others all landed upside down on the floor, so there were none left for Grandma!

He was shoving that in his mouth as fast as he could! I think he was expecting me to take it from him. (I grabbed the camera instead, lol)

I couldn't resist getting a picture of Kirsten and her curly bangs. I love her hair!

All about your heart

2010-05-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

If you haven't watched this video yet you should. I just saw it yesterday for the first time and it is a really touching video.

I really loved the song in the video so I searched it down. I couldn't find any place to buy it, it wasn't on itunes, but they had it on playlist.com so here is a link All About Your Heart

Saturday Hike

2010-05-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

The weather has been beautiful here, so today we took a little hike with the kids. Kirsten and Grayden had a ton of fun running down the trail and picking up sticks.

For Grandma

2010-04-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

This is what you get when you try and get pictures of four toddlers in coordinating outfits. Sorry it didn't work out Mom, we really tried!

Utah

2010-04-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in a month!! I have been so bad! We had a fun trip down to UT to see all my family a couple of weeks ago. It was the first time all my siblings have been together in a few years! It was a lot of fun seeing everyone, and hanging out with my brothers and sisters. It was really fun having the kids play with their cousins too! Here are some pictures from the trip :)

oops

2010-03-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but laugh when I found Grayden like this earlier this morning. You may wonder how that happens when you wear a diaper, right? Well, Grayden decided to lay down on top of the dog bowl full of water, which then spilled while he was on top of it, all over his pants. Maybe I am immature but it just made me laugh when I saw his pants! Kirsten was my helper this morning while we made rice krispies, as you can tell she was pretty excited about the treats we were making (and apparently she is into squinting now when I say smile).

a little photo shoot

2010-02-26T16:52:00.000-08:00

I had a little photo shoot with Kirsten today. I needed pictures for the new dress I made for my etsy store. Kirsten actually did pretty well at cooperating (I had to bribe her with marshmallow peeps) but I actually got some pretty adorable pictures of her. Just had to share them :)

A Visit from Grammy

2010-02-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

These pictures are a little late. My mom came out to visit earlier this month. We had so much fun while she was here! The kids were so happy to see Grammy when we got her at the airport, the both ran to her, and Kirsten got a little teary eyed she was so happy. We had fun going to the zoo, riding the carousels, playing at the park, and blowing bubbles! Here are the pictures from when Grammy was here.

This was Grayden throwing a fit. He was pouting and would not get up off the sidewalk!

Little Wishing Tree

2010-02-17T21:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have not been much of a blogger lately. A lot of you may already know I recently opened my etsy store. I have been super busy with that and taking care of two toddlers, I can't imagine why I haven't had time to update my blog! But I wanted to let everyone one know about my new etsy store Little Wishing Tree. I was so excited to finally get it started, and I have been really happy and pleasantly surprised with how well the last 5 weeks have gone! I have been pretty busy sewing up diaper bags and baby shoes. Here are a few pictures of some of the items in my shop. I am working on some super cute new things, and I will definitely give an update when those are in the shop.

Cousins

2010-01-25T19:09:00.000-08:00

I am so glad that we live so close to family! I love that my kids have cousins close enough to see every week or so. My sister in law Kirsten, and her daughter Claire came out to visit this last week. Clair and our little Kirsten are 4 months apart. It was so fun to have time hanging out with family. We went to the zoo with all the grand kids together, 7 kids under the age of 8! It was a little crazy, but a lot of fun. We also went to a fun park that has a little farm, with lots of farm animals you can look at. The little kids had so much fun chasing the chickens around. Anyway, I have been having so much fun spending time with family, I haven't put up a blog post in way to long!! So here are some pictures to make up for it :)

All the Rasmussen grand kids (I love this picture)

isn't she is so beautiful! (another picture I love)

playing at the zoo

This is Sarah. I had to get a shot of the outfit she put together that day. She is too cute!

Ellie was a little monkey climbing all over!

This is Kirsten's new smile

Grayden and the little goats

I caught Kirsten and Ben playing together. It was so hilarious, they would look at each other and squat down, then jump at the same time!

Ready.......

JUMP!

Catch Up

2010-01-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, I have to play a little catch up now. My internet has been a little too slow to upload pictures, so that is why these are late. We had a really nice Christmas at home. We spent Christmas Eve with Stuart's parents and sister. We have been having so much fun getting together with cousins and playing. Kirsten loves her cousins and talks about them all the time. We also took a short trip down to Utah for New Years. We got to spend time with my brothers and my sister-in-law, and I got to meet my niece Anna for the first time (she is 14 months old now!). It was so fun to get Jack and Kirsten together and see them play. They are two days apart, and they got along surprisingly well for two year olds! (Kirsten did try and put Jack in time out a couple times... sometimes I don't know what to do with her! I guess she is a typical first child.)

Kirsten with Uncle Mikie and Uncle Christian

Kirsten and Anna

The four cousins watching a show (this was the only way to get them all to sit still for a photo)

Anna the cutie

Kirsten playing with Anna

Here are some of the Rasmussen's grandkids on Christmas Eve

Kirsten got a flapper costume from Grammy for Christmas (she loved the shoes!)

She also got a Cinderella costume :)

Grayden had a lot of fun playing with gift boxes

Here you go Carly!

2009-12-18T11:24:00.000-08:00

I am sorry I haven't posted new pictures in a little while. We have been getting settled into our new place, and have been having fun being together as a family again. My sister and Mom have been dying for new pictures. Sorry this has taken so long Carly! We are still trying to work out some Internet problems at our house,
Anyway, we have had a lot of fun decorating and making Christmas presents. We have a big tree that we decorated, and also a little silver tinsel tree for the kids. Grayden's favorite thing to do it pull the ornaments off both trees and throw them all over the house. Luckily last year when I bought ornaments I got the shatterproof ones. I have to say they are the best thing, the look like glass but they are plastic. So now our tree is looking pretty sad on the bottom half. I got some pictures of the kids playing yesterday.

pulling ornaments off

I'm gonna throw it!

So my kids have a thing with blankies. Kirsten with her blankie and milk.

Grayden calls his blankie "baby" and it is his favorite thing in the world right now.

He's Home!!

2009-12-07T14:52:00.000-08:00

We have had quite a few changes since my last post. We have been super busy moving back down to Washington and getting settled in a new house. We were trying to get everything ready for when Stuart got home. Last night, Stuart finally got home!! We were so excited, and it feels so good to finally have him back. We had to get up at 2am to get over to the base where they came it. The kids were so happy to have their Daddy, and as you can probably tell from the pictures, once Kirsten got her arms around her Daddy she would not let go of him!

We Love You Grammy

2009-11-20T23:42:00.000-08:00

When Kirsten woke up yesterday she said "I want to make chocolate chip cookies with Grammy". Literally, that was the first thing she said when she woke up. I guess Grammy had mentioned it the night before, and Kirsten did not forget it! So Grammy kept her promise and had Kirsten help her make some cookies. The decided to make sugar cookies instead, so Kirsten could use her new rolling pin. Kirsten was such a great little helper, she helped Grammy count as she measured the ingredients, and she helped roll the cookies out and put sprinkles on them. She also helped test the dough to make sure it was ok ;)

We are going to miss Grammy so much! She has done so much for me this year, I honestly don't know how I could have gotten through it without her. Kirsten has definitely made a special bond with her Grammy. I know she is going to miss her so much. I know am also going to miss having a friend during the day, and another person to help me with my crazy kids. Thank you Mom for all you have done, we are going to miss you so much!

Be Happy Mommy

2009-11-16T13:47:00.000-08:00

I am so blessed to have such a sweet little daughter. Kirsten is my little bird of happiness (most of the time). When I am grumpy or frustrated or upset, Kirsten will try and cheer me up. She is always very aware and concerned about how others are feeling, and wants to make everyone happy.

I have to admit, I am usually a little flustered and grumpy when I am trying to get two kids and groceries into the car. My car is higher up, and my kids are getting heavy so I always have to heft them up to get them in their seats. Kirsten always notices when I am not happy and starts singing the primary song "If you chance to meet a frown". Kirsten looks at me and smiles and says "be happy Mommy!" and then starts singing her version of the song which goes like this "we don't have a frowny face, turn it upside down, and smile that frown away!" It always makes me smile immediately, and I realize that I need to be a happier Mommy.

Yesterday I was rushing around trying to get everything ready for church. Grayden was really tired and was just crying and would not stop. I was trying to get everything packed and told Grayden he would have to stop crying, and that I couldn't hold him right then. Kirsten looked at me and said in a very sweet calm voice "Mommy.... Mommy. It's ok, some days we just cry." I was a little shocked. Some times she seem much older than two and a half! She recognized that I was upset at Grayden for crying, and reminded me that it was ok. Sometimes Grayden just has to cry, and its ok. I went over and told Grayden I was sorry, and picked him up. I am so grateful I have been blessed with a little girl who can remind me to be happy, and not to get upset over insignificant things.

Snow is Here

2009-11-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

The snow has finally come. When we woke up yesterday and Kirsten saw the snow, the first thing she said was "Snow! Can I got outside!?" It was still totally dark, so she had to wait until the sun came out a little. Kirsten and Grayden had so much fun playing in the snow. Grayden crawled under the patio furniture that was covered, and the crawled back out. Kirsten was pretending the snow was ice cream, and was making everyone ice cream cones. It's so fun to be a kid when there is fresh snow outside!

Grayden under the patio table

Crawling back out of the new found fort

Catching snowflakes!

Clearance Costumes

2009-11-07T21:23:00.001-08:00

I love going to Target and Wal-Mart for their after holiday clearance sale. I could not pass up these costumes for Kirsten's dress up box. Kirsten has been having so much fun playing in them. She kept saying she was Jessie (from Toy Story) tonight while she was riding her horse. The bug costume was from Old Navy for $2, and the cowgirl costume was from Wal-Mart for $1! I couldn't pass that up (even if the cowgirl hat looked a little more like a Peter Pan hat)

(Don't you love the socks over leggings look? That was all Kirsten)

Cutie

2009-11-04T20:40:00.000-08:00

Just had to post this picture of my cutie.

Cheeky Monkey

2009-11-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

Grayden's personality has really been coming out lately. He has become quite the cheeky little guy. He loves to do all the things he knows he is not supposed to do, like getting into the dog food, climbing on chairs and tables, and hitting his sister. When he is told not to do something, he laughs and tries it again. I can tell I am going to have my hands full with this one!

My Little Explorer

2009-10-30T17:34:00.001-07:00

Kirsten's favorite thing has always been playing outside. Lately every afternoon she will go get her boots and jacket on and go out in the backyard and play all by herself. She loves to walk around on the little trails through our trees and pretend things. I always see her out there talking to herself, and making believe. She absolutely loves it and would stay out all afternoon if I would let her. It has been pretty chilly the last week, in the low 40's, and it doesn't bother he one bit. I think she enjoys getting out in the fresh air. I went out with her today and took some pictures of her playing. I think these are some of the best shots I have ever gotten of her, mainly because she was so happy and having so much fun, but also because she would actually look at the camera! I love those rosy cheeks and big blue eyes! Here is my beautiful explorer :)

She had a little slip down the hill, but she was smiling again two seconds later, what a tough cookie!

The Mustache

2009-10-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks Aunt Paula for sending the fun wax mustache and lips, as you can see we had some fun with them :)

Homemade Halloween Part Two: the cupcake

2009-10-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Last Halloween I decided I wanted to make Kirsten a giant cupcake for Halloween this year. I have seriously been thinking about this for a year, and I had it all planned out in my head. I am so happy with how it turned out! How can you resist this cute little cupcake!? I used an upside down lampshade that I spray painted for the bottom that is held up by suspenders. Then I made the top out of fleece with felt sprinkles. I know it's not a scary costume, but I realized this might be the last time Kirsten will let me choose her costume. The good thing is she actually likes the costume and kept it on for the Carnival we went to. Cutest cupcake ever!

Homemade Halloween Part One: The Gnome

2009-10-26T19:30:00.001-07:00

Here is a little preview of Grayden's Halloween costume. We went to a Halloween Carnival last Saturday and this was my super easy last minute costume that I made for him (just a few pieces of felt). Grayden makes the perfect little gnome because of his rosy cheeks and he is kind of short and stout :) He was the cutest little gnome I have ever seen!

Playing Around

2009-10-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

Today was a really rainy cold day, so we stayed inside and played all day. Kirsten came in with a new "hat" on her head! Yes, that is her potty seat on her head, luckily it has not actually been used yet. Grayden thought it was hilarious to stand on the little table since he knows he is not allowed. He can climb up on it without using a step stool or anything.

I love how Gryaden looks really buff in this picture

Disney Princess

2009-10-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

Kirsten is definitely my girly girl. She loves all things princess and fairy. She has little Disney princess figurines that she loves to play with. Right now Grayden is in that stage where he wants whatever his sister has. So when she is not looking, he will sneak and play with her precious princesses!

Kisses!

Falling for Fall

2009-10-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

There is this little song on Noggin tv that they have been playing the last couple weeks that says "I feel like I'm falling for fall" and it has been stuck in my head. That is what I was hearing in my head when I was looking through these pictures from the other day. All the leaves have fallen and have made the lawn so pretty. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the leaves the other day. I know I have been posting a lot of pictures of Grayden, I am not playing favorites, he has just been more cooperative when I am taking pictures. Kirsten always runs away or looks the other way.

Gray in the Box

2009-10-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

I found Grayden playing in this box yesterday. He was pretty amused with himself and thought it was really fun. I love how easily kids can entertain themselves!

Reading Cook books

2009-10-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

One of Grayden's favorite things to do is pull my Mom's cook books off the bookshelf she has in the kitchen. It has become impossible to keep all the books on the shelf. He likes to pull them off, then sit on the floor in the corner and read them. I found him reading this cookbook the other day and I thought it was pretty cute, he chose the Cowboy cookbook.

Another Silly Day

2009-10-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

This is just the usual stuff that goes on at our house. Kirsten dressing up, the kids climbing into things, and Grayden being silly. This is his new face, if you tell him "Grayden show me your silly face" this is what he does. Just another silly day.

Lots of Sewing!

2009-10-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I have been working on a lot of sewing projects. I finally finished a few so I thought I would put up some pictures. I just finished this jacket for Kirsten. It's finally fall and I was so excited to make this jacket for her. I think it turned out so dang cute! I love this fabric, and the jacket is reversible which makes it really fun. I also finished a diaper bag for my friend out of the same material.

I found these patterns for felt cupcakes at Sweetie Pie Bakery Etsy shop. I made my niece Claire the cupcake baking set, and a tea set along with an apron for her 2nd birthday. These little felt cupcakes were so fun to make and they turned out so cute! I am definitely going to make some for Kirsten now.

The last picture is a little backpack that I made. Right now I have about 4 other projects I am working on. I am getting started on Halloween costumes which I am really excited about! I am also working on some diaper bags and pettiskirts to sell in my etsy shop which will be opening soon!!

Alaska State Fair

2009-09-20T23:47:00.001-07:00

Ok, this post is a little late. But I forgot to put these pictures up earlier. I took the kids to the state fair a couple weeks ago. The weather was absolutely perfect. All of my memories from the fair growing up seemed to be wet and muddy, but this year it was sunny and warm! We went during the day on a week day to avoid the crowds. They had a really great petting zoo with two adorable baby pigs, and baby cow, and lots of little goats. Unfortunately I was in there with both kids to myself, so I wasn't able to get any good pictures. We also had fun walking around and looking at all the other animals. My favorite part of the fair is always the FOOD! So, I had a yummy halibut taco, and share some some mini doughnuts and snow cones with the kids. We got some kettle corn and cotton candy to take home. It was a great day at the Alaska State fair.

Kirsten trying to eat her snow cone

I know neither of the kids are looking, but this was the only picture I got with all of us in it. This cute older couple saw me taking pictures and took this for me.

I don't know why Kirsten makes this scary face every time I ask her to smile. Maybe we need to practice in front of the mirror with her.

Kirsten was pretending to laugh

Mmmm..... mini doughnuts

"More please!"

My halibut taco, yum!

Silly Girl

2009-09-17T20:16:00.001-07:00

My girl being silly with her favorite bird.

Rainy Day

2009-09-12T16:44:00.001-07:00

Today was a rainy fall day. Kirsten finally go to use her favorite new toy, her princess umbrella that Grandma brought back from Utah. She has not put it down for 3 days, and has been waking around the house with it saying "Tut tut, looks like rain". So today she actually got to use it in the rain! Grayden also had fun playing out in the rain. Grayden has been teething again, and as you can tell from the last picture, he is drooling a lot!

My Little Animals

2009-09-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

Her shirt says "Cuter than a cupcake"

Grayden's favorite new thing is to stand on the coffee table and stomp his feet.

Oh Shoot

2009-09-02T21:39:00.001-07:00

Today I decided to try a little photo shoot with the kids because they had cute matching outfits. I knew very well going into it that it was not likely to work, but I thought "hey, maybe they will be good for me and sit right where I ask them to". That of course did not happen, I don't think I got one good shot of both the kids! But here they are anyway, because it actually turned out to be kind of funny. I should have know you can't keep a one and two year old from playing with a draped sheet!

So, I was hoping to get more pictures of the kids if front of the sheet, but his is what it turned into:

(I know this one is totally blurry, but it was too funny to see their little faces)

fall is here

2009-08-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

Kirsten trying to squeeze by the bushes without touching them

Grayden picking up fallen leaves

Just Cute

2009-08-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

Just a couple cute shots of Kirsten and Stuart watching a movie together.

Girdwood and Whittier

2009-08-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

Stuart and I stayed at a B&B in Girdwood for a couple of nights. While we were out there we decided to go check out Whittier and Prince William Sound. This was my first time out to Whittier. We got really lucky and the weather turned out gorgeous, so we decided to take a glacier cruise and see the sound a little. The cruise was awesome, I think we took over 200 pictures. So here are the highlights from Whittier and Gridwood.

the gorgeous stained glass window at the B&B we stayed in

In the Mat-Su

2009-08-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

I am still catching up on all the photos from while Stuart was here. We had a fun hike out at Independence Mine up to Gold Cord Lake. It was a gorgeous day, and we had some awesome views. I think it was one of the first days this summer where it was clear enough to see Denali. Stuart and I went on a bike ride with my Dad out at Eklutna Lake. That last picture is when Stuart decided he wanted to go for a dip in the freezing lake!

The Zoo

2009-08-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

Last week we took the kids to the Alaska Zoo. It was a lot of fun, and Kirsten was happy to have her Daddy there this time. We got lucky and the polar bears were both out eating, and then decided to go for a swim. The petting zoo was open, so the kids had fun petting the goats. Grayden just wanted to grab their little tails. Kirsten rode on Stuart's shoulders most of the time, that was her favorite thing. While we were looking at the eagle exhibit Stuart and I were talking about what impressive birds they are, and how an eagle could easily take out Rosco (our chihuahua). We went along and looked at the rest of the animals. Later that night when we were at home, Kirsten saw Rosco on the couch and said "The eagle scare Rosco." I couldn't believe she had been listening to our conversation and then remembered and understood it. I have to say, what a smart little cookie.

Kirsten kept saying "the polar bears eating dog food!"

Seward Sea Life Center

2009-08-19T10:40:00.001-07:00

I am playing catch-up on my posts here. While we were in Seward we went to the Sea Life Center with the kids. It was a lot of fun, but Kirsten was more interested in running away from us than looking at all the sea life. Grayden was having a good time watching Kirsten, and then wanted to do everything she did. He was not too happy to be in the stroller, and wanted to run around with his big sister.

Exit Glacier

2009-08-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

We went on a little family trip down to Seward last week. While we were there we took a hike up to Exit Glacier. It was a little gray and cloudy, but it was still a lot of fun. We had to carry both the kids on our shoulders because we didn't have packs to carry them in, but Kirsten and Grayden were both having fun being up high. We got lucky and the rain didn't start until we got back to the car.

This is pretty much how the trip went, Grayden throwing a fit

Kirsten was having fun running down the trail.

Grayden the monkey in the car, eating crackers with his toes.

This was the last hour of our drive, screaming kids :)

Together Again!

2009-08-11T20:44:00.001-07:00

Stuart finally made it here! After 4 long days of traveling for him, he got in early Monday morning. It has been almost 7 months since he left, so we are very excited to finally be together again! Kirsten and Grayden were so excited and happy to see him when they woke up on Monday. I was pretty surprised Grayden was very excited when he woke up and saw Stuart, I was worried he would be a little freaked out. When Stuart left Gray wasn't even crawling yet, and he has grown up so much. Grayden gave him a big hug and snuggled on his shoulder for about 10 minutes. Kirsten woke up and saw him sitting there and said "Daddy! Hi Daddy" and gave him a sweet kiss and hug. We have been having so much fun together in the last two days. Stuart is still adjusting to the time change, but we have had fun playing around the house and at the park. I am so happy the weather decided to be nice again, so Stuart could see how beautiful Alaska can be in the summer! Here are a few pictures from the last two days.

Princess Pettiskirt

2009-08-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

I am so excited because I have wanted one of these pettiskirts for Kirsten since I first saw them in Carmel a couple years ago. They are pretty pricey if you buy them at the stores, so I decided I wanted to make her one. I found a few different tutorials online, and ended up buying a kit from Dream Spun Kids Etsy store. So, after a LOT of shirring and sewing, I finished it (it took me about 9 or 10 hours). Kirsten loves it, she was been running around all morning saying she is pretty. When I first put it on her she said "Oooh, I'm Cinderellie!" I think that's what every little girl needs, a skirt they can feel like a princess in!

Dress Up

2009-08-01T22:55:00.001-07:00

Kirsten is really into dress up lately. Every morning when she wakes up she says she wants to wear a "princess" (this is what she calls any dress or skirt) and she puts up quite a fight if I try and put her in pants. She also usually wants to have two dresses on, and her tutu on top! She is getting the layering thing down. Today we had a clothing exchange at our church. When we got home Kirsten pulled out all the clothes I had gotten, and started putting them on. As you can see, this girl knows how to play dress up!

One Year Old!

2009-07-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late. Grayden turned one last Saturday. I can't believe how fast he has changed into a toddler! I don't know what happened to my baby. All of the sudden he is walking around, talking a little, and looking like a little boy. He loves to follow Kirsten around and play with her. He is such a little boy and loves playing with sticks, and dirt, and soccer balls. He is also my big eater, he loves to eat! He has started feeding himself now, and gets a little upset if I try and feed him. He is such a sweetheart though, he will always give hugs and kisses, and loves to cuddle with mommy:). We are going to have a real birthday party for him when Stuart gets here. Here are a couple pictures from his actual birthday, playing with sticks.

'Bampa'

2009-07-28T10:08:00.001-07:00

Grayden said his first word on Sunday. When I got to church with the kids, we sat down by my parents. When Grayden looked over and saw my Dad he got really excited and said "Bampa! Bampa!" really loud. He really loves his Grandpa, every day when Grandpa comes home from work, Grayden starts waving his arms in the air with excitement when he sees him.

Grayden in his new birthday present.

Look at those Lashes!

2009-07-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

I found Kirsten in the bathroom yesterday doing her makeup! She found my mascara and was trying to put it on. So she not only had a red scraped up nose, but a couple black eyes too.

Ouch!

2009-07-26T16:08:00.001-07:00

Kirsten took a spill this morning while we were going out to the car to leave for church. I was putting Grayden in the car while Kirsten was stepping off the porch and tripped, doing a face plant right on the rough pavement. The poor thing scrapped up her nose pretty bad. She was a tough girl and only cried for a minute, and then was fine.

I think the joker is back....a little scary

Sleepy Kids and Muffins

2009-07-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

So the kids have still been a little under the weather. My Mom came home from a walk today with the kids and they were both fast asleep! I also caught Grayden making one of his faces while I was feeding him today. He is in this stage where he will just screech or yell if I am not feeding him fast enough, or if he wants something. He always wants to hold the spoon and try to feed himself, and tries to grab it from me any chance he gets. Grayden is a fast little guy and usually gets a hold of it before I can block him from flipping the food everywhere. I try to let him feed himself as much as possible, but I usually have to help him along.

I made some muffins this morning and thought I would share. I make these muffins a lot, and I was experimenting with dressing it up a little bit. I came up with this, and it turned out so delicious, I thought would pass it along. Krusteaz brand makes the best muffin and bread mixes. I don't know why you would name your baked good Krusteaz. It doesn't sound very appetizing and it makes me think of the Simpsons, but anyway. My favorite favotie is an Oat Bran muffin mix and it is so delicious! Trust me, these are not you normal bran muffins. They are always super fluffy and sweet, and they have a little bit of cinnamon in there too, yum! The other great thing is you only have to add 1 cup of water!

Cinnamon Crisp Oat Bran Muffins

1 box Krusteaz Oat Bran Muffin mix

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 flour
3 tablespoons melted butter

Make muffin mix as directed and pour into muffin pan. Combine sugar, flour, and oats in bowl. Add melted butter and stir until it forms fine crumbs. Spoon topping over muffins. Bake as directed. I topped mine with a powdered sugar drizzle made of powdered sugar and milk.

(Next time I think I will add some dehydrated apple pieces to the mix to make Apple crisp muffins.)

Sick Kids

2009-07-21T20:27:00.000-07:00

We have had a couple of sick kids today. Kirsten pretty much just lied on the couch most of the day. But I guess when we get sick we get a little silly, because right before dinner she played dress up, and put on her tutu, her shoes, and her swim bottoms on her head. I let her watch a movie while we were eating dinner since we had company, and when we were done I went in to get her and this is what I found. The poor thing was all tuckered out!

Grayden the happy boy, even though he has been sick for 4 days!

Pony Rides!

2009-07-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

We headed downtown to the Saturday market this morning for some fun. When we got there I was so happy to see that they had pony rides set up. I think I was a little more excited than Kirsten, she was pretty serious the whole time she was on the pony. They both got a turn to ride on Fireball, the little red pony. Grayden loved the pony ride. He was smiling, and petting the pony the whole time. When we got him off he kept reaching for the pony, and screaming.

Pony rides, halibut and chips, kettle corn, and cotton candy, what a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

My little cowboy!

We have a climber

2009-07-17T18:46:00.001-07:00

Oh dear, we have a climber. I keep finding Grayden like this. I finally had to put the cute little chairs away because I can't keep him from climbing on them. He did manage to get down once without hurting himself, but he had a couple really close calls and I had to catch him. This is probably just the beginning.

Candy Shirt

2009-07-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

Just a few random pictures from today. This is my absolute favorite shirt of Kirsten's, I love the colors, and the style, and the fact that is has candy all over it!

Grayden's New Do

2009-07-15T23:41:00.000-07:00

Grayden's hair has finally grown long enough to start doing it again. So I gave him a funky little hair do the other day just for fun. I think he looks pretty cute. You might notice a nice scratch and bruise on his forehead. Grayden is in that new walking stage where he just falls down a lot. He can't look down while he walks, so he is constantly tripping on things and bumping his head. Luckily he is a pretty tough little guy, but he is always getting new bruises on that forehead! He hit is forehead on the foot rest of the bar stool the other day and had a nice straight bruise right across his forehead for a few days!

Freezer Paper Stencils

2009-07-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am probably the last person to find out about this, but just in case I'm not I thought I would share this with everyone. My sister-in-law Mary made Kirsten the cutest little Tinkerbell shirt, using freezer paper as a stencil then painting over it. I decided to try it and make Grayden some shirts the other night and it is really easy, and looks so cute! It is kind of like doing your own screen printing. I am definitely going to do more of these. You can just by cheap plain t-shirts at Wal-mart and make your own cute custom shirts.

Click here for a great tutorial on how to do this. Here is a great photo group on flikr with stencil ideas. And here is Grayden modeling his new shirt.

A Tribute to Real Heroes

2009-07-08T23:32:00.000-07:00

I know I don't normally write on this blog about things other than my kids. But I felt like I needed to share this with people.

I read a post today on another blog and she had a link to a really touching video (link at end of post). Lately I could not believe all the attention the media was giving to Michael Jackson's death, it was a little upsetting. Since Michael Jackson has died, Fort Richardson has lost 4 soldiers in Afghanistan. Since MJ's death, overall I believe we have lost 20 soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. I just wish that we saw more gratitude and support in the media for those REAL heroes. I watched this video and it made me bawl (of course) but mostly because it was so touching to see all the people who were saluting the fallen soldier. I am so grateful for the people out there, like the people in this video, who show their support and gratitude for all the sacrifices our soldiers are making, especially those paying the ultimate sacrifice. I too am so grateful to live in this country, and I am so grateful and indebted to all those who have served and sacrificed so we can be free.

I wish we could see things like this on the news.

Click here to watch A tribute to Staff Sergeant John C. Beale

Heat Wave

2009-07-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

So we have been having a heat wave here in Anchorage. 80 degrees!! Yes, 80 degrees is a heat wave, it was actually a record high for July. I decided we should take advantage of this hot weather and get a kiddy pool. Usually these are not feasible in the Alaskan summers, but with this weather it finally is. It still took about 6 pots of hot water from the kitchen mixed with the hose water before it wasn't freezing. Grayden decided it was still too cold, and would scream every time I put his feet in. Kirsten on the other hand was loving it. She was having so much fun going down the slide, and splashing around. At one point I tried to get Kirsten to come inside, I got her to the door and got her swim bottoms off and she took off back to the pool. Then she grabbed the swim bottoms and said they were a hat, and out them on her head. That explains the bottoms on the head in half the pictures.

Kirsten singing in the hose

Going down the slide!

Look at that fun pool, it was so cute!

Enjoying some Mighty Mini Popsicles. (These are the best! Mini little Popsicles for kids, that don't melt as fast!)

Best Buddies

2009-07-07T22:59:00.000-07:00

We went to the Alaska Zoo with our friends Lauren and her daughter Hailee. Kirsten and Hailee are the same age, and they have become best friends. They were having so much fun at the zoo holding hands and running down the trail together. Hailee was so sweet and let Kirsten carry one of her stuffed animals. It was absolutely adorable watching them so happy together.

Oh Gray Gray

2009-07-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

Oh Gray Gray, how can you go from this one minute....To this the next minute....

I think someone is teething again.

Look at those Curls!

2009-07-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of my little curly-q after church today. Her hair was extra curly today and looked adorable!

4th of July

2009-07-05T00:20:00.001-07:00

As you may have noticed lately, most of my pictures of Kirsten are either from the back, or she is not looking at the camera. Kirsten has not been a very cooperative model for me. I don't think it is because she doesn't like having her picture taken, she just doesn't like to do what I want her to do. I am hoping this is a 2 year old phase, and not just a really stubborn child. It is getting a little frustrating though because Kirsten is absolutely intent on not letting me get a good picture of her, and she looks so cute all the time I want to get pictures! She doesn't just not look at me, she will look the other way on purpose, or even turn around and run away. So, I am sorry, I know these are not the best pictures but she looked too cute in her red white and blue! So we went to the parade in down town Anchorage this morning to celebrate the 4th. It was pretty fun. Grayden was loving it and waving his arms, and getting really excited. Kirsten was only mildly amused.

Here is Kirsten pretending she doesn't hear me saying "Kirsten, look at Mommy! Can you show Mommy"

This is Kirsten running away from me, but I still liked this picture because you can see all the curls in the back of her hair.

This is one of my new, all time favorite pictures of Grayden

I can't believe how grown up Grayden looks in this picture! What happened to my little baby!?

High Tops

2009-07-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

What is it about baby size high tops that all the sudden makes them so cute? I am not normally a fan of high tops, but these were just too cute to pass up. I found them at Kid to Kid for $5, and they were brand new, can't beat that! Grayden was having fun walking around in them yesterday.

Summer Picnics

2009-07-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

We had a little picnic in the backyard the other day. The weather is so beautiful we are trying to spend as much time outside as possible.

I saw this picture on my camera and thought "oh my, that hair is out of control!" I didn't really realize it until I saw the picture. So I took her in and did her hair up in some piggy tails, see photos below.

Grayden was crying because we left him on the blanket and he didn't want to crawl off because he doesn't like the feel of the grass.

Her hair looks much better, don't you think?

Summer Skirts

2009-06-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

The weather here has been absolutely beautiful lately and it inspired me to make a couple new summer skirts for Kirsten and I. I have had some Amy Butler material that I love sitting in my closet waiting for me to make it into something. Yesterday I found this great tutorial fromGrand Revival Design for making a girls ruffled skirt. I thought it was so cute, I love the two layers in contrasting fabrics. So I made one last night for Kirsten. The tutorial is just for sizes 5-6 so I had to make it a little smaller for Kirsten, but it was actually a super easy skirt to make. I was able to do it in just a couple hours.

I actually make the skirt for me a few weeks ago. I took an old skirt and used it to make a pattern, then I added the pleated ruffle along the bottom. The skirt was actually pretty simple. It was basically two rectangles with half inch pleats spaced two inches apart across the top. I then top stitched the pleats down about 3 inches so it would lay flat. I love the way the skirt turned out. I think this material is so pretty with the lace and flowers printed on it, perfect for a summer skirt!

Snow Cones

2009-06-27T15:20:00.001-07:00

New Bike

2009-06-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Kirsten has been asking for a bike for a few weeks now. Every time she would see a bike at the park or on a walk, she would say "I want da bike!" and then have a major meltdown when we kept going. When Grandpa got home the other night the first thing she said to him was "Grandpa, I want da bike". So I decided it was time to get her a bike. We found this cute little tricycle at Target that is just her size. I like that the seat is lower so it is easy for her to sit on. She can reach the peddles but she hasn't quite figured out how to push hard enough to make it move. She has been having a lot of fun sitting on it, and riding it with her bird.