Happy Birthday Brittany!

Today is my Brittany's Birthday! She is nine today! Amazing! I still remember how fun it was to take these pictures when she was so tiny! She is my oldest and my only daughter and so will always be so special. She is such a smart, fun, cute, kind girl and I am so glad she is my girl! I am also glad she is my oldest because she is such a good example for her brothers and I think they are nicer boys because they have a nice older sister. Happy Birthday Brittany! We love you!

The Mad Tea Party Give-away!

My dear sweet friend Vanessa is having a Mad Tea Party today! No one throws a shin-dig like Miss Vanessa so go on over and check it out!

Even though I am on vacation I really want to participate so I am sending this little sweetie with some cake for you all. If you would like to have her bring you some cake in person leave me a comment with your email if you don't have a blog to enter to win her! She is my favorite color and though she only measures 9" tall and her cake is itsy-bitsy she really does love a party! I won't be drawing a winner until July 9th, after I return.

If you just can't live with out a miniature Miss Gingham her sisters will be back in the shop after I return and open the shop on the 10th. If you see one you love send me an email and I will save her for you!

Have fun at the party and eat some cake for me!

A new bag for Joshua

I made this bag before I left. It is small so I could pack it away for Joshy's birthday. I just stitched a fun patch of "cool"fabric as Josh would say to make it cute on both sides.

This is my favorite part though. I put pockets made from recycled Matthew jeans inside. Perfect for little cars!

Happy Birthday Joshua!

My baby is two today! I cannot believe it! Your last child will always be your baby right? He has been such a fun addition to our family. See how happy he is in these pictures? He really always has been this much fun! From his great little smile with the tongue poking out, to his crazy crawl the the fun little boy he is now, this kid has been a blast! I don't know what we would do without him! We love you Joshy, Happy Birthday!

We are outta here!

Hip-hip-hurrah! Today we hit the road! I don't know if I was this excited when we went to Hawaii! Really, I mean is there any place like the place where you grew up, especially when your family is still there?

Of course being me I had to try and squeeze a few last projects in before I go. One of our big activities while we are there is a big family reunion with my dad's brothers and their families. We haven't done this since I think I was twelve. Should be really fun! So I decided it would be fun to make every little famliy a copy of my grandparents wedding photo. Of course you can't just hand them a copy of a photo, you must collage it! So here they were yesterday trying to bake in the sun. All eleven of them. I know, I am crazy. It is what makes me the Michelle we all know and love right? Right?

So here is the finished result. I am really happy with them, even if the picture here is not great, it was late when I took the photo and I had to use a weird angle to keep it from glaring. Shiny, shiny modge podge. Love it! Most of all I love the perfect quote my super friend Tif helped me with. It says "There is nothing like a dream to create the future" by Victor Hugo. Isn't that perfect? Thanks Tif!

So think of me Friday when we are doing the big stretch to Utah, we decided to leave tonight and go as far a Tahoe to make it a bit easier on all of us. Let's hope no one gets too stir crazy. The kids will probably be fine, I will be the one going nuts! Oh, and I am trying to schedule some posts to post themselves while I am gone so don't abandon me altogether! Thanks for all the well wishes yesterday too! Love you guys!

Shop Closing!

Just wanted to let you know that I will be closing the shop tomorrow at 9am Pacific time due to our upcoming vacation. So if you have been trying to decide whether to add a little lady to your home it's now or never! Okay, not really never but until July 10th when I will reopen. Hopefully with a few new things if I am lucky!

Sunday Update on Monday

With Father's Day yesterday I am a bit behind but I still wanted to post my Sunday update, it is the one that is for posterity and somewhat justifies my little blogs existence!




This is Joshua's new trick. He swings on his stomach while his brother hangs on to make them both go while yelling "I flying!" Dangerous I know but how can I resist that?!

Kindergarten graduation. The serious graduate with his wonderful teacher.

And here he in the exit processional, again very serious!

















Last day of school. Matthew was so excited he couldn't look at me I guess.



And now that school is out we are playing with ice and water. How can you object to a project that melts away when they are done?

There was of course the birthday party, painting small canvases in this picture. Again highly reccomend small numbers so fun artsy parties can occur.

Another new Joshua trick. Open the freezer and help yourself to a popsicle. Looks guilty doesn' t he?

Happy Father's Day!!

We have the most fun Dads in our Family!

First there is Opa, William's Dad.

He always takes us on fun little rides when we go visit.

And how may Grandfathers would do this with their grandkids?

Apparently at least two!

Our Grandpa is lots of fun too! He even helps us with dress-up fashion shows!

Of course our own Dad has learned lots of fun from these
guys! He like snow too!

He takes us on fun adventures to discover great things like the balloon festival!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful Fathers to bless our lives, give us great memories and be such good examples! We love you and hope you have a great Father's Day Daddy, Grandpa, and Opa!

Guess we are turning into Hippies!

We had a great time today at Brittany's birthday party. We had it early so we could fit it in before our trip to Utah. So we only had two friends and her. Highly recommend this! We were able to do more involved crafts because there weren't as many kids to manage. We tie-dyed shirts and painted canvases. I had so much fun tie-dying with the girls I started tying up everything is sight and throwing it in a pot.



Here are the girls working on their shirts.



And here is what I tie-dyed. I know it looks like I really got carried away but I had sort of planned on this happening so I had two new t-shirts to make into purple shirts for Brittany and Matthew to wear for spirit days next year. And then I took Karla's tip and threw in any shirt of mine that was dingy or stained.



I also needed a few baby gifts for my trip and I thought these would look cute tied up with a ribbon and would fit in my limited space.

So I guess this means we are all turning into little Hippies!

What are you doing for Father's Day?

So it is Father's Day this weekend! We have a kind of a tradition on Father's Day where the kids usually make something for our Dad to go along with his other presents but let's face it, it is hard to think of something kid-made that Dad will actually use. This year I like what we made so much I thought I would share and it is so easy that if you have a Kinkos or print shop near you there is still time to do it before Sunday.

We made these great notepads for our dad and grandpas! Each page is decorated with an illustration created by one of my kids. I got this idea from one of the moms in Kindergarten, she had each kid do a picture then gave it to our fabulous teacher. I think they are going to look great on Dad's desk.

So here is all you need to do. Have your kids each draw some pictures in black ink on white paper. We discovered a fine tip marker shows up best, only some of our pictures were drawn this way and I wish they all were. This was great because it kept my kids busy for awhile yesterday too! I had them each sign their pictures so Dad and Grandpa will know who drew it.



Then shrink each picture down on a copy machine. 35% worked just about right. Then you just take them to Kinkos and tadah! They can make it into a notebook for you! I see lots of these in our future!



What are you doing for your dads, I could still use some last minute ideas!

** Just because I love to share good news, I have to let you know my friend Tif is giving away this beautiful box so hop over there and see if it just might be your lucky Friday the 13th!

Throw-back Thursday!

I am sooooo sad today. It is the last day of school. I know, it should be a day of great celebration. It always has been, but not today. I don't know if it is because my little family has survived so much change this year that both my kids finishing such a great school year feel like a wonderful accoplisment or the fact that my kids are growing up so fast I have to mourn the lose of one more year of having "little kids".




Here they are this morning in the parking lot on the last day of school. That Matthew always closes his eyes!




The end of the year business has got me all nostalgic so for Throw-back Thursday I have been thinking of my own public school career. Here is how it started. My Kindergarten class in 1976. I am on the front row on the right hand side on the end. Miss Loveboxes herself is right behind me in the green dress and The Motherboard is on the other end of the front row. See when I say they are childhood friends I really mean it!




Here is how it ended. Sorry about the photo quality, it was a shinLook at all that big hair! So funny, this group of some of my closest friends drove to the school together and of course we had to primp in the bathroom before the ceremony started. All of a sudden we realized we would have to split up to line up for the proceessional and then turn in our gowns right after the ceremony. So this was our only chance to take pictures in our gowns together. Thus we have the graduates standing together in the bathroom picture!

I am sooooo grateful today for wonderful teachers. The ones who have blessed my children's lives this year with their kindness and patience. They have given them wonderful gifts this year, gifts of knowledge, self esteem, friendship and stability. There is no way I could ever thank them enough. Then there are the teachers who have shaped me. I am so grateful to them, again there is no way to thank them enough.

So now we need to break out the otter pops and swim suits and start the business of summer fun. The mother will try and stop her blubbeing now!

Cute for dinner!

In the midst of this somewhat crazy week I received my cute new apron from the apron swap!





Isn't it cute?
So this is what I made for dinner while wearing my cute new apron.




William has decided it means we are having a pretty good dinner when it is good enough to photograph! This is the barbecue chicken Tif blogged about yesterday and then I tried making a hoggie type roll out of my favorite french bread recipe to put it on. It worked really well and I will definitely be trying it again. I also made the Pioneer Woman's crash hot potatoes. They were really good and a nice change. My kids just liked having "baby" french bread. Pleasse excuse the lack of veggies on this plate there wasone, it just didn't make the photo!

A fun giveaway!

Hey one of my childhood friends The Motherboard, is having a give-away to celebrate her birthday! Go on over and wish her a happy day and maybe you will win her fun treasures!

The Host

In the middle of all this end of school madness I have been reading The Host by Stephanie Myers. For those of you who might not be familiar she is the author of Twilight and Eclipse or as I like to call them "the vampire books". This one is not about vampires but it is definitely science fiction. I am not a fan of science fiction so it took me awhile to get into this one. And even then I kept thinking "This is a Weird book!" But by the time I was half way in I was totally sucked in. Her writing is very captivating If you are even thinking or reading it you have to go read my friend Circe's post she wrote as she was reading it, hilarious! I have tried to decide if this was a book I would recommend, which is a different thought process than usual because the book is so different from what I usually read. I probably wouldn't have read it if I hadn't read the first two. I did end up enjoying it so I would recommend it, you just have to stick with it. I liked it, but didn't love it.

Sunday Update!

Boy has this been a busy week! So much going on with the kids at school and me at church. And I haven't messed up an forgotten anything yet! Now watch I just jinxed myself and now I will never get through this next week! So here is what we did last week. I had to spend the first couple of days of the week getting ready for a mother/daughter activity at church for our enrichment night. It was really fun and I think everyone had fun but boy am I glad it is over! The next day was the Hoe down at school. Our area used to be pretty rural and they have a rodeo that is in it 90th year this year. So as part of the end of school activities all the grades learn a different square dance and then perform them on the playground for the parents. It really was a fun morning.

Here are my little cowboy and cowgirl on their way to dance their boots off.

Here is Brittany's class dancing.

And Matthews class.

He and his friend got just a little bored waiting though.

I was really impressed with all the kids. Of course costumes make the whole thing more fun!

By the time we got to Saturday we were all glad to have a day to just hang out I think.

Brittany gave Josh some scooter lessons.

I think he may be a natural!

We all went and saw this movie. It was pretty good. Really pretty to look at, the way they portrayed China. Not real heavy on plot, but who really expected it to be. I don't know that we will buy this one on dvd but Matthew really enjoyed the Karate

And today after church the kids picked cherries off our own little tree. They are a different variety than we are used to. Yummy though!

So now we are going to bed early to be ready for the last crazy week of school. Tomorrow Brittany has a swim party at school(well the rec center really), Matthew gets to try school lunch, Brittany has a daddy daughter date with her dad, there is a field day and kindergarten graduation and of course the marvelous last day of school! Man, I am really sleeping in on Friday when it is all over!

Being June Cleaver!

I finished a couple of fun aprons yesterday. I needed to make something with all the crazy kid stuff going on around here. So I worked on these. I needed to finish one for the apron swap I am supposed to send off Monday. To tell you the truth I made this one first:



And then I liked it so much I couldn't bear to part with it! I know, that is awful! But this swap you didn't communicate with your partner and so I don' actually know her favorite colors. So how tragic would it be if I sent it and she didn't like pink so she never used it! I couldn't stand the thought,especially since it is all my favorite colors. So I made this one.



Truthfully it actually turned out better, it was the first time I had used this pattern. I love this pattern! If anyone invites me to a bridal shower anytime soon they will be getting one of these!

I just love how I feel a little like June Cleaver in it! Honest, I feel like making a better dinner when I am wearing it and how can that be bad!

Throwback Thursday!

Well, this is going to be a birthday edition of Throwback Thursday. My sister's birthday was last week and my Dad's is tomorrow. I missed my sister's so I am going to combine the two here and it gets kind of long so bear with me!

My dad is the cutest dad ever!

How many dads do you know that would let their baby sleep on his head! I love this picture.

Here is a similar one with Dad me and my little sister Tiffany.

I have always adored my little sister. It has been so fun being her big sister and I take that title very seriously, whether she wanted me too or not! I still love her this much!

My Mom always made us the cutest matching dresses growing up. There were matching purses to go along with the gloves too. I always loved dressing in matching outfits. I don't even remember why we stopped. It wasn't at my suggestion I am sure, we would probably still be doing it today if she would let me!

I think this is my all-time favorite family portrait. Beats everything we have had since! Aren't we just the cutest family ever?! I think it is my dad's too. I understand that now I am a parent. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just freeze snatches of our lives and hope back in. I think this would be one of those for our little family. I think we would all hop back in this picture for a day or two. My parents created such a fun, safe, loving place for my sister and I to grow up and we had a great time doing it together!

See the dolls we are got this Christmas morning? Well there would be looooots of time spent playing with them and the dishes. I had lots of friends growing up but they were sort of an extra the way I saw it. I played pretty much every single day, especially in the summer with my built in best friend Tiffany. The poor little thing was always game for whatever imaginary thing I cooked up, and really she was very good at imagining too!

Because this is a birthday post it only seems right to put a birthday cake in here. It just happens to be mine but I will share it with my sister today. I am entering the ugly stage in this one but my sister is still super cute!

Here we are with my dad on a long awaited trip to Disneyland(mom is taking the picture not that weird woman walking behind my dad). See how happy my dad looks there in the middle of girls? He always seemed that way. Always swore he was happy to have to girls and be the only man in the house. Some men might have wished to have the odds evened out a bit but not my dad. He always made it seem he was so lucky to have two girls.

I am so grateful for the family that I come from. I would not be able to raise the family I have now without them. My mom and dad both taught me how to raise children. My dad showed me the kind of man I should look for to marry. My sister helped me discover how much fun growing up can be, something I try to remember with my kids. Happy Birthday Dad and Tiff!