Fall weather inspiration

 

I love fall.  It is my absolute favorite time of the year.  I love the cool weather, the upcoming holidays, and the shorter days.  When that first day of fall weather hits I start thinking about making homemade bread, canning, pumpkin pies, and using the fireplace.  This year, the canning bug hit.  Two years ago I made about 20 jars of plum jam but this year I wanted to use fruit from my garden.

My good friend Theresa, who moved away a few years ago, was quite the avid farmer/gardener and a totally awesome do-it-yourselfer.  Before she left, she gave me two of her grape vines.  I planted them back along my fence line but didn’t do much else with them.  We had some serious problems with irrigation and I never saw the vines grow.  I assume I had killed them.  This year, after some serious backyard renovation and irrigation repair, the vines started growing like weeds.  I couldn’t believe they were still alive!  We had so many grapes – I didn’t know what to do with them all.  Enter – fall weather and canning.  This is what we picked just the other day:

 

And this is what we got in the end:

Yummy homemade grape jelly.  How awesome is that?!?

Embroidery

 

My sewing machine is so awesome.  I love embroidery but don’t have the talent to do it (or the patience).  My machine will transfer a computer picture to any cloth surface.  I wanted to make something special for Julia’s 2nd birthday coming up.  So I made this:

Last year, I was at a meeting for YW and a woman was speaking about her daughter.  As she was talking, she displayed a picture of her little girl, about 1 or 2 years old, sitting next to an embroidered pillow that said, “I am a Child of God.”  I thought it was the most awesome picture I had ever seen.  It was really grainy and old but the message of how precious this little girl was, not only to her parents, but her Heavenly Father, just warmed my heart.  I knew I wanted to do the same thing for Julia.  I actually made this pillow last year but J was not old enough to understand it’s meaning.  She may not understand it this year, but I want to give it to her and take a few pictures because I want her to know now, and in the years to come, how truly precious she is.

Drum Roll…

 

 

Can you freakin’ believe it?!?

A little bit of heaven

 

I think I slept weird the other night because I woke up in the morning with a horrible back ache.  I shouldn’t say “ache” but pain.  More like I pulled a muscle while I was sleeping (pathetic, I know).  I had Cade throw his nasty, bony elbows in my back in hopes of working the kink out to no avail.

I have super strong jets in my spa so I decided to go out tonight and keep my back on those jets until the kink or my skin was gone.  I stuck my foot in the pool – just to see where the temp was at….90 degrees folks.  Heaven!  I decided to swim some laps.  I think the pulled muscle while sleeping finally convinced me some exercise was in order.  How I could refuse 90 degree pool water at 10 p.m?!?  Needless to say, the spa took like 5 minutes to heat up so I swam laps until I got tired (not long) and then sat in the jacuzzi.  It was so awesome!  I felt amazing when I got out.  Seriously, it was like heaven.  The best night I’ve had in a while.  =)

I’ve been busy

 

Besides growing a little human being, I’ve been super busy.  Since having a little girl, I’ve decided to re-kindle my love for sewing.  I have made the most amazing stuff.  Last year for Christmas I made several gifts for the kids as well as an awesome advent calendar.  As I’ve been sewing more and more, I’m finding that my sewing skill is getting much better.  I’ve been able to successfully put in zippers! I used to avoid all patterns with zippers and buttonholes because I heard they were super hard.  But, I’ve done it and am really proud of how much better I’m getting.

I’m going to be teaching a class to the YW about sewing.  I have this super easy pattern for skirts.  In fact, check out the tutorial from MADE if you’re interested:  HERE.  I swear, that girl is SO talented.  Needless to say, I poach all sorts of ideas from her website.  She always has tons of ideas and they are very easy.  As I was saying, I will be teaching the girls how to make these skirts and I am really excited.  It never ceases to amaze me what you can make with a little thread and fabric.  I feel so creative when I sew.  I hope I can impart some of my excitement to the girls.  Not to mention the savings.  I can bust out one of those skirts for probably $7 and it would be way cuter than something you could buy. Anyway, I hope they learn how important it can be to have these types of skills whether its sewing or something else.  Here are a couple of things I’ve made for Julia.  I’ve sewn a lot more but only took pictures of a few outfits.

 

Guess What Revisited

 

 

Yep, due in February. =)

Another Disneyland Post

Yes, we love Disneyland.  Last week I turned 39.  Hard to believe, I know.  So, we went to Disneyland.  The older boys didn’t really want to go with the little kids so they stayed with my mom.  We got a great deal on the Grand Californian Hotel which is located inside California Adventure.  We figured with J’s crazy nap schedule it would be better to stay closer to the Parks.  What could be closer than in the Park?

The hotel is amazing.  It looks like a lodge, decorating in the Arts and Crafts style.  There are amazing pools, equipped with waterslides and a kiddie pool.  They also have a spa!  We drove up on Wednesday evening.  Victor and J went to bed early while Henry and I went on all the big rides.  My poor hubbie gets sick on the bigger rides so he likes to hang out with the princess.  Henry and I didn’t get back from our thrill-seeking adventure until midnight. 

The hotel has a program in which they open the Parks up early for those who are staying in the Disneyland hotels.  Victor and J got up early and went while Henry and I slept in.

Apparently, they hit every ride in Fantasyland, Pirates and the Haunted House before we met up with them in the New Orleans quarter.

We decided to go eat at New Orleans square but not before we were serenaded by a few pirates.  J danced along while everybody clapped and cheered her “squat” dance.

After we ate lunch, we went over to California Adventure.  We wanted to head toward the hotel so J could take her nap.  She loved the rides in A Bug’s Life.

She was having a great time until she got stung by a bee while waiting in line for the Ladybug ride.  She was crying and holding out her poor finger.

We decided to take her back to the hotel.  It was so nice that it was right there.  After the Advil kicked in she was doing great.  We called it day and decided to hit the Park early the next morning. 

We got to the Park before it even opened.  Surprisingly, there wasn’t much of a line until we got in the Park and discovered this:

A fairly large crowd waiting to go on the rides.  Smart of Disney to keep the shops open while you wait, eh?  Right before they officially opened they started playing music which sounded a lot like the William Tell Overture.  I thought we might get trampled.  J was clapping feverishly as Henry danced a jig.  Obviously, they weren’t afraid.

We went on Small World and a few more in Fantasyland before deciding to head home.  We had so much fun.  I spent a lot of one on one time with Henry which was nice since J needs so much attention right now.  J had a great time, mostly with daddy.  It was a great trip and a perfect birthday!

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