I love Jenn!

The funniest thing happened last week. I love visiting Jenn's blog. She has the most amazing artwork and very cute little boys. She has also become one of my favorite blog-land friends. So last week she was having a sale, clearing out some older pieces. Which gave me the same idea to have a sale. She bought one of my dolls, one that kind of looks like girls she paints I think. Then I was lucky enough to win a bid on ebay, on one of her paintings. So we sort of ended up doing an informal swap! My treasure came yesterday and just look at how wonderful! I could hardly stand to open it, it was so cute!

This is my painting! I can't believe how lucky I am to own this! Even though I am a blond, it reminds me of the friends I have in Utah that I have know since I was a little girl. We grew up together, got married around the same time and have been raising kids together. They are the best, and haven't even abandoned me after I moved!

This is what I mean about it becoming a swap, she sent other goodies too. A fun pin for my jacket, darling notecards and this amazing postcard that I am in love with. It is going right into a frame!

The good news for you is she is having a shop update tonight. she also has really cute tote bags I am thinking about for Mother's Day. Check it out, my treasures are even more beautiful in person. Thanks Jenn!

I also received my Easter basket from the swap I have been working on. Look at how darling! It was full lovely Easter goodness and I just loved it! Thanks so much Connie!

And finally this is my latest creation. The little bunny family. It is already pre-sold but let me know if you think I should make more, what colors do you think? I have a hard time getting past pink!

Home to Holly Springs

Have I mentioned that I love the Mitford series? I think I have but it is worth mentioning again. This series begins with At Home in Mitford and is by Jan Karon. It is the story of an aging pastor who moves to a small town in the hills of the south. It is not a terribly dramatic, or traumatic, it is just a lovely representation of an interesting person's life and the people in it with a bit of mystery and a fair smattering of humor. This is the latest in the series, about number 7 I think. In this book Father Tim,the main character goes back to his childhood town to revisit old memories and ghosts he has never put to rest. It was just as wonderful as its predecessors! My friend Tif and I were discussing this series yesterday and I think she really hit it when she said that she is not sure if the books get increasingly better as they go along or if it is just that we love the characters more and more. I found this one just as I was finishing Left to Tell. I really loved that book but I was really in need of something light that reminded me that life is really lovely most of the time for most of us, and this great visit with Father Tim really did it!

Now how do you feel about book series? Personally I love them as long as the author can keep up the momentum they create in early books. Sometimes they seem to loose steam and the quality of sequels is not as good as the first. But oh, I love when I discover a good series! Especially if I am lucky enough to discover it after a few books are already out so I don' t have to wait in between for the next one! I love a good book series because it does save me hunting for my next good read too.

Oh! And just in case you are interested, Emily from A black apple will be on Martha tomorrow! I am so excited! Her blog was one of the very first I visited when I started blogging and her dolls really inspired me to try making my own. It is like seeing one of our own make it big!

Easter is still coming to the shop!

I am having such fun making Easter treats that I have put another nesting duck in the shop to replace the one that flew the coop! I may keep adding a few things this weekend too.

The Easter Tree!
Here it is the Easter tree! We have now had a Halloween tree, of course a Christmas tree and now have an Easter tree. This may seem odd, but I am really enjoying them. It is the first year for both the Easter tree and the Halloween tree and I think we will do them both again. I guess we have had Easter trees before, but never this big. I have a couple of the little pastel, fake, twig trees that you see in Wal-mart and such, but this year it seemed fun to take all those little ornaments and put them on one big tree.

I have collected these little wooden ornaments over the years. Mostly from thrift stores and half price bins. They are not the really nice German ones, just the made in China variety but that is okay because then I don't worry about the kids with them. They had a great time dividing the ornaments and hanging them yesterday. I added a few ribbons for color today. It is sitting in a bucket with three paver stones from outside to keep it from tipping over. Then I just wrapped some cute fabric around it and Ta-dah! An Easter tree is born!




I love how kids do this. This is the rabbit version of our family. Look closely, see Dad, Matthew, Brittany and Joshua. Mom has her back to you. Doesn't it look like she is commanding the troops behind her? Probably telling them to be kind to each other--again! I love how they always figure out how to represent our family during projects like this. There was also a bird family on the tree but I will spare you.

This is my one new Easter decoration. I got it at a thrift store last year and I really like it. It is a bit beat up but that actually makes me like it more. Her little cart is perfect for the kids eggs they have dyed in years past. Of course as soon as we got them out and realized the eggs we had were mostly from Brittany, Mathew and I had to make a few for him to contribute too.

Would you believe I really wasn't planning too much decorating and crafting for Easter this year because it is so early? And now I am surrounded by nesting ducks and rabbit parts! Oh well that is just how this girl seems to be made! Have a great weekend!

Bunnies! Bunnies! Bunnies!

Hi! I am back! Whew! I can't believe it has taken me until today to get back to the blog-land world! It has been a busy week. I managed to pull together my function Tuesday night for the ladies at my church and everyone seemed to have a good time. We had a service auction where everyone brought something like cookies or a homemade something, or they brought the promise of something like a music lesson, dinner or babysitting. Then they filled out a questionnaire that assigned dollar values to their answers and that is where they got their pretend money. It really was fun and I think they had a good time even if they did look at me like I said we were taking a trip to Mars when I tried to explain it in Relief Society on the previous Sundays. I guess you just had to experience the fun of the bidding wars and the silliness that this sort of auction creates to think it sounded fun. Anyway! I have been playing catch-up with my laundry and my kids ever since.

Brittany has been out early this week so she and I have had some craft time together. I decided to try something different and painted this bunny silhouette on fabric I glued to recycled canvas(read-one of the kids old paintings). I really kind of like its simplicity.

This one I think will be going in an Easter basket swap I am in. It is smaller and I cut the fabric to fit a little board I had and then added rick rack. I love rick rack! What do you think? Which do you like better?

And these have been my after-bedtime project this week. I got this pattern from one of Wee Wonderfuls free downloads and I really like it. I am going to try some different variations on this too. These two cuties are lucky enough to be going to spend Easter with one of my good friend's children in Utah.

Last of all I finally managed to get everything packed up and to the post office this afternoon from my little sale. Thank you so much for visiting it! It was good to clear out some room for new projects. And I learned a few things too. There will definitely be more pink haired girls and girls in brown and pink. Also more nesting ducks!

Well, believe it or not we have been working on an Easter tree. I think we have celebrated just about all the major holidays with a tree this year! It is just so fun! Pictures of that tomorrow!

The Sale and a Rat!

Okay, I know I said I was going to have a sale in the shop today and I still am. But! Not until 9 p.m. I am having a super crazy day today getting ready for a party for my church ladies (does that sound like Saturday Night Live to anyone else?) tomorrow night and so I am sort of losing my mind and running out of time. But I still want to do it, just look at all those girls in the really poorly taken picture up there. They need homes! And I am a little tired of looking at their pretty little faces. The real reason to have a sale is that I want to make a bunch of spring things floating around in my head and there isn't any room! I am going to sell them for $15 each instead of their normal $25 plus shipping, of course. And everyone will be listed that way in the shop 9p.m. Pacific time. AAAAaaaahhhh! Wish me luck with my craziness and have a great day girls!

The shop is updated!



I did manage to make a little offering for Lulu's celebration of the year of the rat. So many people in blog land have been creating lovely little creatures out of clay I wanted to give it a try. My little attempt is really more of a mouse, I was thinking Hunca Munca from Beatrix Potter. Here she is!

I think I will call her Rosy the Rat. She is in the Shop too.

The ducks are nesting!

Some of you may remember the nesting dolls of a few weeks ago. Well, they were so fun to do I keep making more. Brittany loves ducks and I am doing an Easter basket swap so I thought I would try making a ducky version either for her or for the swap. I really quite like how they turned out!













Here they are when they are nesting.


And here they are when they are not nesting.

I have decided to let them try their luck in the shop. They are there now. I have been rather neglectful of my little shop lately. I am going to have a sale there on Monday to clear out a bunch of stuff that has been hanging around too long so come back and check it out. Especially if you have any little girls wishing for a soft doll in their Easter basket!




Spring really does seem to be coming around here. We are having a park day this afternoon and I am wearing short sleeves! I just bought this cute puffy sleeved shirt that I like so much I am going to swallow my evil pride and show it to you, because isn't part of the fun of a new top getting to show it to someone? And Matthew and Joshua just don't care that much. And let me tell you the cute little self portraits that Emily and Marmee put on their blogs are masterpieces. I just spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to take a decent photo of myself. Although that is some measure of how much I like this top. Look how contorted my poor hand is! It is so warm today I even put Matthew in short sleeves for school today but he won't take off his jacket. "My arms are too skinny Mom!" Well, skinny isn't my problem but white and naked feeling and a bit wiggly is!





I just can't get enough of these flowers and I am much happier with the lighting in this one.

Another yummy treat!

Has anyone noticed I post a lot more treats and desserts than I ever do dinner items? Can you see where my priorities are? So here is another one. I made this a long time ago, just after William was diagnosed with Celiac disease. I think it was the first normal recipe I found that just happened to lack poisonous flour. That was when I learned those are usually the best gluten-free recipes. For some reason I hadn't made it in ages and when a craving for a treat hit while our visitors were here I decided to try it again. It is sooooo yummy! Unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture until it was mostly consumed but you get the idea. Don't be fooled by the poor photo though, it really is a torte and not at all brownie like. We at it with a dollop of whipped cream on top. So if you are craving rich chocolaty treat and are willing to through caution to the wind regarding calories(and those New Years resolutions!), give this one a try.

Chocolate Torte
Combine the following in a medium saucepan:
2 pkgs semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup butter
1 C sugar
1/2 c light cream
Heat until it is melted and combined.
Beat 6 eggs until frothy. Slowly whisk chocolate mixture into eggs. Line the bottom of a spring form pan with aluminum foil. Pour mixture into pan and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes until a knife comes out clean. Cool. Remove from the pan and chill. Yummy!

Oh, and I am making it again tonight.

Here is today's picture, it really is big!

Some pretties and a lesson on life


Look how pretty flowers are in California in February! I just had to share the flowers I picked yesterday to bring inside to enjoy because we never experienced anything like this in Utah. I think they are Camellias and Cyclamen. I also had to share them because apart from the two rose bushes out there I don't see too much else that is going to bloom so I have to enjoy these while I can.


I also have received some great treasures from The One Heart One World event. Look at my beautiful collaged print and fun ceramic heart I received from Ursula and Laurel.I just love them! I had so much fun visiting all those great blogs, and of course it is always fun to win a goody!












And finally we got to have that lesson on life all parents dread. Well, one of them at least. One of the fish was bottom up yesterday so now there are only three. Sigh. Back to the pet store. (and I should tell you that sad face on Mr. Matthew is totally staged)


My delight in the return of spell check was short-lived, it is gone again. So please forgive my spelling!

Good books

I just finished this book my friend Liz reccommended last night. Of course after I finished it I couldn't go to sleep. It was that kind of a book. I sort of just wandered around my house after I finished being grateful for everyone and everything in it. It is the amazing story of a Rwandan woman who survivied the genocide by hiding in a bathroom the size of a closet with six other women for three months. Now that alone would probably make this worth reading but the faith in God that she used (and I mean used it physically) to not only survive, get rescued, help others survive and then to unbelievably forgive the insane murders who destroyed her family, country and way of life. I know there are lots of books that make me wonder what I would do in the situation presented but this one really blew me away. Of course I wondered if I would be strong enough just to survive what she did(doubtful). Then to see the relationship she developed and strengthed with God made me really wonder if my faith would have the strong roots hers did to make that kind of life-sustaining relationship grow. I think we Mormons tend to sometimes think we sort of have a corner on strong faith. This book reminded me of how many other amazing people have faith that makes mine look like the mustard seed. She develops a personal method of approaching her life and goals. She says "I was living proof of the power of prayer and positive thinking, which really are almost the same thing. God is the source of all positive energy, and prayer is the best way to tap in to His power." What a great thought! So thanks Liz, I love a book that makes me appreciate my life more, resolve to better things in my life and see things a little differently and this one definitely did!

Well after such a serious read I am definitely needing a lighter book. I was so excited when I was at the library yesterday and discovered Jan Karon, author of the Mitford series, has a new book! So I will let you know how that one goes but I am pretty sure it won't be keeping me up at night, unless it is to finish it!

Little Books

Well, our company has gone and now we are settling back into our normal routine. It sure was fun having our Oma and Opa visit the last 10 days but I guess we can't keep them forever. For one thing they might end up permanently crippled sleeping on our hide-a-bed! Before the left this morning I decided to try and get some little birthday treats ready to send for them to pass out at the next family gathering. We have a large majority of our family birthdays in February, March and April so I decided to just send one for each of my nieces and nephews so no one would be left out. I decided to make these little blank books for them. I saw them on Angry Chicken's blog I think awhile back. These are for the boys.
And these are for the girls. As you can see my tendency to get carried away took over again. I just couldn't stop making them! they are just a piece of scrapbook paper cut the same size as blank white paper. I cut white copy paper in half (5 1/2 x 8") and then cut the scrapbook paper to fit. I zig-zagged down the middle with my sewing machine after folding them in half and there you go! We took some to church and my kids had fun with them. Hope the cousins do too!

And hey! My spell-check is working again! Yeah!

A new quilt and new members of the family!

I finally finished putting together one of the two quilts I need to send home with Oma and Opa. I like the way it turned out. Now I just need to finish the other one.

And here are the kids with our new family members. The school had a program that gave the kids coupons that they used at local businesses if they read the local newspaper. So one of the things they decided to do was get fish. After they earned a tank we went to get the new little guys yesterday. Boy are these guys popular! Joshua can't even tear his eyes away long enough to smile for you!

Well we are off to explore one more time with Oma and Opa today!

Visiting San Francisco!
I didn't want you to think I have disappeared altogether, but we have been so busy having fun with our company there hasn't been too much time for blogging! I thought I would show you our little trip to the City on President's Day. We got a babysitter and rode the BART for the first time and it was great! We will definitely be taking vistors to the city that way again. We visited Chinatown and Coit tower. Here is William starting the climb up to Coit tower with his parents.
There were great views of the Golden Gate Bridge when we got up there. Can you see all the fun sailboats?
And it is always fun to be in the valley of sky scappers. I love this view. We managed to visit Fisherman's Wharf too. It is amazing what you can accomplish when you don't take kids with you!

I love presents!
My sweet friend Tiffany sent me a fun package for Valentine's Day! I love everything she creates. This sweet little box that came with President Hinckley's B's is so tiny.


And look, new pretty earrings!
Thanks Tiff! She has lots of goodies in her shop too!

A Trip to the Beach!
We took Oma and Opa on a little road trip this weekend and found a great little beach somewhere between Santa Cruz and Half-Moon Bay. It had lots of things to explore Dad found a huge ole piece of seaweed to scare Brittany with.

There were lots of tidepools to check out. We found starfish, anemone and little crabs.




It was a fun adventure with Oma and Opa!
And here is a heart we made for you in the sand!

It is a good thing we went when we did, the sun is gone today. Hope it is shining where you are!

How was your Valentine's Day?
This pretty flower was blooming inour yard and I just had to bring it in!
Of course we needed cupcakes for the kids.
And a big ole german chocolate cake for the Dad. And I must say, for a gluten-fee cake, it turned out quit yummy.




And this was one of my better ideas. Instead of having valentines floating around the house for weeks we used contact paper and the kids made them into placemats. Joshua just had to be in the picture too, if you look closely you can see the evidence of how he enjoyed Valentine's Day!

Our Oma and Opa are coming to visit this week so I may not be in blogland quite as much as usual!

Happy Valentine's Day! And We Have A Winner!
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you have lots of fun expressing how important the people in your life are to you! I love Valentine's Day. Not only do Iget to remind my cute husband how much I love him, but I think it is great for doing the same for my kids, their teachers, family, semi-strangers... So I hope you have loads of fun today because I just love all my bloggy friends too!

I used the random number generator for the first time and my winner for the OHOW give-away is....
Toni from 3amdesigns!!! You really ought to go check out her blog, she does amazing paper quill work.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Yeah for nesting dolls!


I signed up for a swap on swap-bot for Matryoshka dolls and I have really had fun making these. Here is my finished set of dolls before they head off to Washington.



I have also been tagged by Natasha to share some weird or random facts about myself. I have decided that I must be really boring and not all that weird because I had a hard time coming up with 7 this time around. I will give it a try though.




1. I love this machine! It is my cocomotion machine (I love to say its name too). I like to think of it as my Mormon coffee maker. I have been letting myself have a cup on cold mornings with a banana for breakfast. I just love it!

2. I usually paint standing up. This is a result of trying to paint with little kids around. If I sit down they are all over me.

3. I took a pottery class with William when I was 8 months pregnant with Joshua. I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea, pretty hard to straddle the wheel with someone in the way, but it was really fun. I would like to try it again someday.








4. I love to stay up late and do my little crafty things. The house is nice and quiet, there are no interuptions and it is just my time. I usually put on some show William would hate (although I am slowly converting him to the Gilmore Girls), and just do my thing. That is how Miss Nesting Girl and her children were created. I really loved this project and will definitely be making more. It was a great little project to work on in bed watching tv.


5. I was horribly uncoordinated as a kid. My mother was asked to take me out of the dance class she put me in when I was 6 and maybe try something else! This was before we discovered the wonderful Clytie Adams school in our town, she probably wouldn't have given up on me so soon but that was the end of my dance career and the root of my tendency to overcompensate for my kids and try to give them lots of chances to learn control over their bodies so they won't feel inadequate like I did as a kid. If there had been a way to graduate from high school and college without P.E. credit I would have found it! The good news it this deficency has no real effect on my grown up life. And really how often are you reallygoing to need to climb that dumb rope in gym?


Well, it looks like I could only come up with five this time around and they are rather lame at that. Hope you will still like me!


And hey, is anyone else having problems getting the spell-check to work on their posts through blogspot? I now realize how dependant I am on that, please forgive any typos I miss!

Spring just might be coming!
Yes, it is true! Spring really might be coming. I have to post these pictures today to give my family in Utah hope that one day all their big piles of snow will melt and they will have pretty flowers like these primroses again.

It has been just gorgeous here this weekend. The kids had a great time at the park after school Friday.


And then they got the swingset going yesterday afternoon. They didn't even want to come in for lunch so we had a picnic outside. That is Mr. Joshua pointing Hello to you!

Hope some sun is shining where you are today!

Teddy Bear Quilts

Welcome to my sweatshop!

I spent the day yesterday putting these quilts together. We had three babies born to close friends and family in November and I haven't sent baby gifts yet. Hubby's mom and dad are coming to visit next week and said they would act as postman for me so I decided to kick it into high gear and see if I could get three quilts done. They were all boys, I don't think we are ever going to get girls again around here, so I could make them the same. This is where I go a bit crazy because I figure it will save me time to set things up like my own little sweatshop and do them assembly line style. Great idea, but it does create a giant project.

So my bright idea was to buy this cute sheet with the teddy bears on it from Ross and then three plain sheets and cut them up. I even had enough for an extra to put away for the next boy baby. So today I will be trying to get them all sewn up before the kids mess up my piles. Joshua has another ear infection but the silver lining there is that he will probably take a giant nap if the past couple of days are an indicator. So that will be my day, with some laundry and floor scrubbing thrown in. What are you up to today?