Parker's 11th Birthday

 Parker started off his birthday with 2 boxes of his favorite cereal, Cookie Crisp.  He was kind and let his siblings have one box. 

 I asked him to hold up 11 fingers, so that I could look back at this photo.  He came up with 10 fingers and a big toe. 

 Then he decided to find a brother to help him out! 

 Opening his family presents. He stood on the piano bench the whole time.

 Playing football at his party with friends.  They also played soccer, basketball, capture the flag, and had a pinata. 

Then it was time for pizza and root beer!  We also had homemade lemon Oreos with ice cream sundaes. 

 He has a great group of friends!  His friends gave him some awesome presents!

Patterns for Pirates Women's Raglan

I bought this fabric and the Patterns for Pirates Women's Raglan Tee from Girl Charlee.  I printed the pattern.  The fabric came in the mail on Friday, and by very late Saturday night I had two new tees for myself. 

Overall, the pattern seemed pretty good.  In general, I would rather buy paper patterns, because I really don't like printing it all out and taping it together.  The instructions for sewing were pretty straightforward and easy to follow.  For the pink tee I used short sleeves and a straight hem.  For the anchor shirt I used 3/4 sleeves and a curved hem.  The anchor fabric is pretty light-weight, and was probably not the best choice for the main part of the shirt.  It was way too long, so I ended up cutting about 5 inches off the bottom.  I had measured it , but now wish I hadn't cut quite so much off!  Because it is so lightweight and stretchy, I think it doesn't hang as low because the extra weight on the bottom is gone.  Oh well!  I'm still considering making it a straight hem and adding a blue band to the bottom.  We'll see though what I think after wearing it.  The other change I made was to take the side seams on the main part of the shirt, as well as the sleeves, in quite a bit.  The sleeves were huge at the bottom, and not very flattering.  I like them much better.  Again, I think the anchor fabric is thin and stretchy which made it seem so much bigger than the pink shirt. 

 

I was reminded again of how much I love my serger.  I haven't used it much lately, and it took me a little while to remember how to thread it, then rethread it to sew the coverstitch for the hems.  But I love how professional it looks.  The pink shirt did get a little wavy at the bottom, so maybe I should buy hem tape for the next one.   I just love the transformation from piles of fabric to a garment that I can wear! 

Women's Session

"Our Father in Heaven is concerned not just about our comfort but even more about our upward progress."
Pres Eyring
Women's Session Mar 2017

This quote stood out to me. Sometimes as a mother I feel like I am always looking for ways to progress in my own life, and also to help my children learn and progress.

It is hard for me to notice progress or improvement when I look from one day to the next, but easier to see when I can reflect on what it was like a year ago. Seven months ago a dear friend began to teach me to play the organ. After a couple of months, she introduced the foot pedals and I could barely play a single note with my feet . I am still not very good, but I can see progress. She sees potential in me to improve, even though I was ready to quit this week because it is uncomfortable!

Yes, it would be more comfortable for everyone if I didn't have my children do certain things. They don't want to do chores or SAGE practice tests or practice an instrument or homework. It makes them uncomfortable, and is not easy for me either. But I continue to push my children to do hard things because I know it will help them to progress. Just for the record, today my kids did have to clean, practice piano, do homework, practice for SAGE testing, and they all survived.

123456

123,456 miles on my van! I had to stop and get a photo. It happened a couple days ago just as I pulled into the circle to drop off my kids for school. I think our van had about 39,000 miles when we got it, and only had one child. A lot has changed in 10 years and 84,000 miles. This van has taken us to school, church, piano lessons, dance, tumbling, gymnastics, friends houses, family reunions, funerals, home, shopping, and many other places. Just feeling a little sentimental about this great van we have!

Valentine Week

Spencer with Grandparents at the airport

 

 

Valentine flowers

Gummy Spiders

On day during October we opened the mailbox to find a package from Grandma and Grandpa Parks filled with gummy spiders for the kids.  They loved it!  I'm guessing Grandma saw them in the hospital gift shop where she volunteers, and thought the kids needed them.   I had just read this book to Spencer, Aaaarrgghh-Spider, about a spider who wants to be a pet  https://www.amazon.com/Aaaarrgghh-Spider-Lydia-Monks/dp/0618737510 

Thanks for the fun treat!

First Day of Kindergarten

 My youngest started kindergarten!  He was excited to go the first day.  He started one week after the other kids. 

Up the ramp to the playground

 He came home in this t-shirt.  He said he hated his first day of school, but I don't really believe that. 

Parker wanted to be in the picture with him.