My First Project

I finally decided to try my hand at sewing so I headed to the library and found a "How To" book on sewing. I opened my brand new sewing machine and spent about a half hour going through all the instructions on how to fill the bobbin thing, thread a needle, etc.. For my first project I decided to make a picnic blanket to keep in the back of our car. I wanted a blanket that was water-resistant on the bottom but soft on top (and that grass didn't stick to). I found the cheapest material I could in WalMart's $1.00 bin in case it ended disastrously.

Well once I had gotten home I realized I didn't buy any batting for the blanket so I creatively cut up some old towels we had around and sewed them together to use as batting! Long story short, it was so hard to sew with such heavy material and the lines were incredibly crooked but now we have a picnic blanket to use all summer!

Tough Guy

Phil loves playing intramural sports. He loves it so much that he keeps playing when he needs to be in an emergency room instead. This past week Phil was playing football on our ward team and he not only busted his lip on one play but later smacked heads with another guy and split his eye open. Still wanting to play, his teammates found some gauze and tape and wound it creatively around his head. They got some pictures of their "fine work."
When Phil got home he just jumped in the shower, briefly mentioning to me that he cut his eye. It wasn't until I noticed him spending much too long in the bathroom getting ready for bed that I came in to see what he was doing.
Phil was busy cutting away at bandaids trying to create a butterfly closure to hold the sides of the gaping hole in his head together. I freaked at seeing it and told him he HAD to get it stitched up and that we were going to the ER tonight. Phil had other ideas and anyone that knows him, knows how stubborn he can be. Since he works for a hospital he just figured he could wait until the next day to go get it checked out. So in the meantime I helped him create a bandage that held the wound shut as best we could and then I Googled away on our laptop everything I could learn about needing stitches and the timing involved. Turns out his type of cut could still be sutured up to 24 hours later so Phil got up the next day and headed to work where he got 4 stitches and a tetanus shot. Oh boy, I am pretty sure this is the beginning of boys and their injuries in our house.. I can just see little Phil's running around breaking bones and me being worried everytime they leave the house... Boys will be boys right? Here are some pictures of the stitched up Phil. It looks like he's been in a fight :)

Girl's Week

This past week I got to spend in Oklahoma with my three sisters, my mom, and all my adorable nephews! Since we all live in different states (Washingon, Ohio, California, Idaho, Oklahoma) we planned to get together for a week for some girl time. We went to the zoo, sampled each other's recipes, went on daily walks to parks, swapped mommy advice, and I even got a surprise baby shower one night! It was so much fun to be with all my sisters and play with my nephews all day long. When I flew home yesterday I was completely exhausted (and still a little sick from the cold bug running through us all). Today I am recovering by sleeping and doing as little as possible :) After this week I have learned to be more appreciative of the sleep I get to enjoy for 3 more months! Here are some pictures of the week:

The cousins meet!

At the zoo (and getting major t-shirt tan lines...but hey! its color from the sun and I'll take it!)



My mom and I were the extra set of hands and eyes all week. I loved the practice. This is my 2 year old nephew Brans I'm pushing at the zoo. He is so funny and made me laugh all week. For some reason he has this fixation on bears, crocodiles, bad guys, and "toynaders" (tornadoes). And its not that he's really scared of them, just wants to know if there are any nearby. A prayer he said was "bless us no bears get us, no monsters get us, no birds get us, amen." I think the most heard words all week from us were reassuring Brans there were "no bears."

The babies' first time in a swimming pool. We took the opportunity to tan a bit in the wonderful Oklahoma weather. I didn't post the pic of me in it, of course, cuz I looked like a huge whale in a bikini (I forgot a swim suit and thats all that would fit me) and you wouldn't want to see that.

Twilight

For all those who share my love for the Twilight series, here is a link to "meet the cast" of the movie coming out in December. You might have to copy and paste the address in a new browser. I am excited to see what they do with the movie although I am sure it will never be as good as the books!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD6DFloIXyE

P.S. Stephanie Meyer's new book "The Host" is being released today so get your names on the waiting lists at your local library! I just did and I am already #19 on the list for the 4 copies they'll be getting!