Hi.

I'm so far behind on this blog, I'm not sure where to start. The fall was so busy for me with my market business. I had NO down time. I've been taking a break since December, but I'm taking out the sewing machine again next week. AHHH! Josh has also been a lot busier now that his private practice has started picking up. I'll give the highlights of the past few months. These are pictures from my camera. I have more on my phone, but we have smart phones now and my phone is so smart that I'm not smart enough to figure out how to upload those thousands of pictures all at once. This is my super edited version of the past 6 months. Get ready...

My babies are all in school! This was the kids' first day. It has been a huge adjustment for me. Now that the school year is more than half way through, I finally feel like I'm grasping a routine. I feel like I've graduated from my first phase of parenthood. Josh and I have a lot of fun/quiet lunch dates! It's strange, but good. I can complete tasks/thoughts without interruption. I can go places without packing bags or loading and strapping in kids. It's pretty sweet. I like this new phase. A LOT! It's really hard for me to do chores while the house is empty though because I'm so used to having the interruptions. Sometimes I wait until the kids are home before folding clothes, then it feels right. Still adjusting...

 Mom & Dad visited for a while in September. We took a trip to Ponchatoula to visit with my cousin, 

Court and his fiancee, Kristen.  

 We also visited my childhood friend, Amanda, and her grandparents. 

They used to take me with them on their family vacations, because Amanda has two brothers and needed a buddy. We have so many great memories-climbing trees, playing kickball, and making mudpies!

Court was usually playing right along with us, too.

After Mom and Dad left, I got busy sewing and barely looked up from my sewing machine until November, when I finally had enough inventory to hold me through the rest of the markets. At that point I was able to sew just one or two things a week instead of 40!

Afton attempted dance class either cried or sat against the wall,

so we decided to wait a while before we introduce that again. She wears the dance clothes around the house, so at least that money wasn't totally wasted.

The entire Montessori program from Pre-K to 5th grade took a field trip to the aquarium in New Orleans, so it was fun having all three kids on the same trip!

  Halloween, 2012 was so much fun. Here we are in front of our neighbor's "Frankenstein's Monster" for the 7th year. Sheesh, we've been living in our house for that long??

I found a dress for Afton that came with a matching doll dress. She was beside herself.

 Ian couldn't wait to decorate the tree for Christmas, so he did it all by himself and I left it just the way he decorated it, because he was so proud!

Afton was proud of her ornament hanging skills, too. 

Ayden was too busy playing one of his Wii games while I cooked dinner and his siblings decorated, 

so he put the star on the tree. 

That's all I have for now. When I figure out the phone situation, I'll do a post on our trip to Utah/Idaho, and get through January/February. Then I can randomly post as I please, just like old times. For example, Josh and Ian's birthdays! I'll be back super soon. PROMISE

Ayden and Dakota's Baptism

 On September 1st, Ayden and Dakota were both baptised.

We had a good sized crowd of extended family and friends who made the boys feel loved and supported. My Mom and Dad, for example, flew in from England the night before but almost didn't make it because of the hurricane that came earlier that week. Meredith and her family drove from Orlando. The storm did prevent other family members from coming. We missed out on seeing Travis and crew, TJ and her bunch, Brent's parents, and two of his brothers. We know their hearts were with us.
Other than the storm, everything turned out wonderfully. The groceries were back on the shelves just in time for Robin and I to empty them again.

Pictured above are the cousins helping Aunt Meredith with her talk on baptism. They were just too cute to pass up a photo op! (Thanks to Jeni for snapping this shot.)

Robin and I attempted a photo shoot with the boys a few days beforehand, but out of almost 50 shots, not one made the final cut for their programs! It was pretty entertaining though. These two never cease to put on a show when they get together.

Refreshments afterwards. Dakota and Ayden had fun eating their own body parts.

The dunking crew.

We are so proud of our Ayden. He handles the duties of being the oldest child very well. A few days after the big day Ayden casually said, "Hey Mom, you know what? I really like this Holy Ghost thing. It's been helping me make good choices!" Keep it up Ayden. We love you so much, and are enjoying watching/helping you grow into a fine young man. 

Swim, Swim, Swim...

This summer we joined our local YMCA which turned out to be great in so many ways.

We swam at the pool at least three days a week, sometimes four or five. It was a win-win, because the pool was an excellent incentive for the kids to cooperate and suffer through one hour of child care while I worked out, knowing that they could swim when the hour was over. We have the tans to prove it! Josh has been utilizing the gym too, and has the bod to prove it (wink, wink!) Keep it up, daddy-o.

The Plunge

I've been trying to decide what to do with the time I will  have this school year when ALL of my kids will start school. I've brainstormed a lot over the past year or so. I thought of going back to school, but I still can't decide what I want to be when I grow up. Training to be a yoga or spin instructor was another idea. The project I decided to focus on and have jumped full force into, is sewing and entering the following products into the Baton Rouge Arts Council to sell at the Art Market which coincides with the Red Stick Farmers Market on every first Saturday of the month. Today was the deadline to submit my work, so I've been sewing like crazy and came up with this:

 Boy rompers or "John-Johns". With the art market I have to be artsy, so I created the dinosaur and car appliques and will have more-like snakes, airplanes, gators, monsters,etc...

 These are ingenious. Pacifier/Teether Holder and bib in one!

Same thing, I create the appliques. These will be made to coordinate with the dresses and rompers, along with some to sell on their own.

  Headbands with flowers

I think the judges will love these repurposed pillowcases. 

I took the term "pillowcase dress" literally and found and will have to find more vintage pillowcases to transform and embellish.

The "artistic expression" in these dresses is simply my ability to choose two contrasting fabrics to coordinate with each other into sheer fashion perfection (heh-heh).

My model. I made it all in her size so the dresses wouldn't be made in vane.

No dress is complete without a proper ruffle butt!

There you have it! I hope the judges like my work. I made sure every stitch was perfect, and used the serger for a professional finish. Cross you fingers for me! I'll know if they accept my work in 2 or 3 weeks...

In the meantime, and also if the market doesn't work out for me, I will have this all for sale for whomever is interested.

My Very First Black Eye

When I was a kid I used to wish that I had a broken arm or leg so I could wear a cool cast and have my friends sign it. I used to scream as loud as I could to make my voice hoarse on purpose. My knees were eternally scabbed from bike/skating crashes. I always wondered what it would be like to have a black eye. Well, the fourth scenario has come to play. At 33 years of age, I have earned my very first shiner. So, how did I manage this, you might ask yourself? I can't say that I got in a fist fight with another mom over the last navy blue uniform jumper in Afton's size. I can't lie and say that I collapsed from heat exhaustion and somehow managed to whack my eye on the way down. Nope. My black eye came in the most non-threatening way imaginable-while playing hopscotch with the boys. I was drawing our squares on the pavement, and Ayden was hunched over drawing the numbers and jumped up fast whacking the back of his head into my eye bone. I curled up on the lawn and cried like a baby. I'm no Chuck Norris, people.

Happy Father's Day, 2012

Happy Father's Day to my hubs and my daddy, two of the coolest men I know. We just enjoyed a manly breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, grits and eggs.

 I wonder how many griddles are working overtime this morning in honor of all of the dads out there...

I wish my dad (in Idaho) and Josh's dad (in heaven) could have enjoyed it with us.

Charles Holloway, thank you for showing me through your example what kind of man I should look for.

You set the standards pretty high! (I found a great one, by the way.) I miss you!

Spencer Hutchinson, if you can feel my vibes, thank you for raising up such an awesome man for me to enjoy my life with. I wish you could be here to see how amazing he is to me and your grandkids! You would be so proud. I know I am.

The classy family photo above can be explained in the link below:
We did yet another crazy video from across the globe.
Who knew how swampy Idaho and England can be?

http://vimeo.com/44173691

Mother's Day 2012

This is a little belated, but I have to share this video with you. For Mother's Day this video was filmed separately in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Twin Falls, Idaho, Knoxville, Tennessee, and East Grinstead, England. Then my sis, Dixie, edited all of the videos and compiled them into this masterpiece for our mother. Mom has been battling cancer with all of her might for the past 4 years. It has been a difficult time for her and all of us who love her so dearly. I don't wish this experience on anyone, but I also know that we aren't the only family dealing with such a frustrating struggle. I am so grateful that Dixie thought of this excellent idea and put it all together. We love you, Mom!! You truly are the best around;)

http://vimeo.com/42071616