It's Pillow Case Mania!

Since before she was born, I've been wanting to make Sissy some pillowcase dresses.  They are so adorable and pretty simple to make.  I finally got around to doing it this week.  I made two!  I actually bought a really cute one from Tangerine Threads via ETSY.com and used that as a model.  There is a great video tutorial from the Crafty Gemini that I referred to as well.  I created my own pattern since I used material and not an actual pillow case - which you can do by the way!

Here are my creations:

You can't see it as well in this photo, but the blue in the dress really sets off her baby blues!

She had just woken up from her nap and I INSISTED that she try her "Minnie" dress on...You can see that Momma won the battle, but not the war!  Later on in the day, she was in love with the dress.  I'm contemplating putting a Minnie Mouse head applique on the bottom corner...haven't decided yet.  Any thoughts?

I've got fabric for 3 more different dresses yet.  One is a green print fabric that Sissy calls her "Tinker" dress...can't wait to make that one for her!  

Got It Back!

Whew!  It took some time and some experimenting, but I got my background back!  Go figure once I get everything looking just the way I want it, there's a glitch!  Isn't that just how life is sometimes?  But I'm a happy blogger again!

Birthday Memories

Gifts from Nanny and Pappy arrived after a busy day and an afternoon at the pool...As tired as she was it didn't slow her down when it came to opening her presents!

Thanks for the Minnie doll and Minnie jammies Nanny and Pappy!

Opening a gift from Riley...He picked it out and bought it with his own money...What a sweet brother she has!

Riley showing her the Cinderella toy he got for her.  Thanks Ra Ra!

Opening presents from Grammy...

Wonder what's in this box?

Thanks for the necklace, animal carrier and contribution to my trampoline Grammy!

Uncle Kevin and Aunt Cara helping celebrate Kendall's birthday.  They came over for dinner with their nephew, who both of my kids adore.

She's pretty intent on getting this one open.

But in the end Uncle Kevin had to help her out.

How appropriate!  An "I Love To Play In The Dirt" shirt from Moab!  Thanks Uncle Kevin and Aunt Cara for my Cinderella purse, Tinkerbell doll and my shirt!  (She slept with her Tinkerbell doll last night!)

Check out that smile for her Tinker cake!

She'd been wanting to do that all day since she had done it earlier...Crazy girl just wants to eat icing instead of eating the actual cake.  Wonder where that sweet tooth came from????

The only thing that would have made this birthday better for Sissy would have been if her Daddy was home to celebrate with her.  She had a great day and enjoyed playing at the park and seeing her friends, but no one can replace her Daddy...

Thanks to everyone who sent her birthday wishes!  Can't believe two years have come and gone already.  My little baby is growing up too quickly for my liking.  I'm trying to enjoy every moment and every stage.  She's totally into doing whatever Momma does...like play with her baby, pushing her in the stroller, cooking in her kitchen, putting on make up or putting gel in her hair.  She carries around her little pocketbook and puts on my heels and says "Bye Momma!"  She loves Tinkerbell as well as the Disney princesses.  Not sure where that came from, but I'll go with it...She still goes nuts for animals.  She actually begged to go see the horses at the park yesterday.  She talks about "duckie water" which means any body of water where ducks could possibly swim.  She loves to sing the ABC song as well as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Itsy Bitsy Spider, No More Monkeys, and Move It, Move It.  She has Brown Bear Brown Bear all but memorized and begs me to read her Pinkalicous whenever I can.  If she is allowed to watch t.v. she asks for Olivia or Diego.  Her favorite movies are Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo - we've done a lot of traveling this summer which is how she's been allowed to watch movies!  She loves to go camping and get covered in dirt from head to toe.  She often refuses to wear shoes which is why she's had a cut on her toe all summer - it doesn't get a chance to heal because she keeps stubbing it and reopening the wound.  She loves her trampoline which was her birthday present from us and her swing set.  

She's such a sweet little girl, but I can see the independent streak starting to become exposed already.  She is the type of kid who has to experience things before she learns from them, which is a hard thing for a parent to do.  We want to protect them and keep them safe, but at the same time, allow them to grow through experiencing new things.  She's a Momma's girl for now.  I remember Riley being a Momma's boy at this stage too.  She wants to know what I'm doing 24/7, wants me to hold her, wants me to kiss every boo boo whether it hurts or not.  Every morning she calls for me..."Momma!  I wake!"  Right now I hear her upstairs calling "I want my Momma!" trying to pull on my heartstrings and release her from her nap.

Thank you to all of you who pray for her, love her and help us raise her.  She's a dear child and I can't wait to see what her future holds...just wish the future would slow down a bit!  I'm enjoying this little girl stage too much!

Birthday Thoughts

I've never been the creative type when it comes to expressing myself through words.  So I have been putting a lot of thought into how I want to share my experience of being a parent to a beautiful 2 year old princess.  I looked up scripture, poems, quotes, and song lyrics.  It was a tough decision to find exactly what I was feeling in terms of letting go and watching Kendall exert her independence while making her feel safe to fail at these new things, knowing that Momma will always be nearby to catch her and get her back on her feet to try again.  I came across numerous songs that touched my heart and a few that brought tears to my eyes, but In My Arms by Plumb by far expresses exactly how I feel.

Being a mom is such a tough job, and being a mom of a daughter is such a blessing.  I pray that in the years to come, we will continue to grow in our relationship and closer to each other.  I love her more than life and know that God has given me a huge task of showing my children His love.  Stormie Omartian says in her book Power of a Praying Parent, "Parental love is the first love a child experiences and the first love she understands...parental love is often the means by which children actually open themselves to God's love and come to understand it early in life."  Loving our children is one of the most important jobs we have as a parent.

Here is a touching video that includes the words to the song, In My Arms by Plumb.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Happy 2nd Birthday Kendall Regan!  I love you!

 

In My Arms - Plumb

Your baby blues, so full of wonder

Your curly cues, your contagious smile

And as I watch you start to grow up

All I can do is hold you tight

Knowing clouds will rage

And storms will race in, but you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around

But you will be safe in my arms

Story books full of fairy tales

Of kings and queens and the bluest skies

My heart is torn just in knowing

You'll someday see the truth from lies

When the clouds will rage

And storms will rage in, but you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around

But you will be safe in my arms

Castles they might crumble

Dreams may not come true

But you are never alone

Because I will always love you

When the clouds will rage

And storms will rage in but you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around

But you will be safe in my arms

 

Welcome To The Gun Show!

This picture is just more evidence that this kid needs to be enrolled in Little Gym for the fall:

This is her new trick at the playground where Riley has his Arts & Crafts summer program.  She hangs from the bar and then swings herself back and forth!  Before long she'll be able to do a skin the cat!  Crazy little gymnast!  Wonder where she gets that from????

Too Much?

Think we've been trying to fit too much into our days?

Guess Sissy thinks so...she refused to eat her sandwich so I told her that she had to finish it or she would have to go straight upstairs for her nap.  She only ate a few bites before this happened!

Another Yummy Treat

This morning Sissy and I were the only ones who were up early.  She slept in her crib last night minus the side rail - getting ready for her big girl bed that will arrive tomorrow!  She woke up, still in her bed, calling "Momma!  I wake up!" and waited for me to arrive before hopping down out of bed!

So while Riley was still sleeping we decided to make some popsicles to share with her friend Natalie who is coming over to play after Riley's swimming lessons today.  It was the first time she's really helped me make anything in the kitchen and it was so sweet.  She pushed the sticks into the cups and kept counting them for me, "one, two, three, six, nine, ten, eleven."  Hey, at least she's got them in numerical order, right?

We tried No Drip Strawberry Popsicles:

1 box strawberry jello

18 strawberries 

1 package strawberry Kool-aid

*Boil 2 cups water and mix in jello for 2 minutes until dissolved.

*Remove stems from strawberries and mash in bowl with drink mix.

*Mix jello with strawberries.

*Pour into popsicle molds or use Dixie cups with popsicle sticks.  If you cover the cups with aluminum foil and then push the sticks through, it will help them to stay in place while they freeze.  

*Place in freezer for at least two hours.

ENJOY!

Happy 4th!

I realize my posts are a little out of order, but that's how my life is these days!  Our neighbors host a July 4th Parade and Cook out every year.  We shut down the street, put out lots of canopies, even had a red, white and blue arch of balloons for the start/finish for the parade.  Everyone brought a dish to share and it was so much fun!  The kids were encouraged to decorate their bikes, scooters, strollers or wagons for the parade.  Here's what we did for Riley's bike:

Here's what we did for Kendall:

This was her ride for the parade...She wanted to ride her scooter, but I knew she'd get plowed over by the big kids and it would take her too long to get around the block so she had to settle for the wagon decked out in red, white and blue and a flag.

Riley and his buddy next door beside him, ready to take off in the parade

Our other neighbor had 3 bounce houses that he blew up for the kids to play in that day as well.

We had such a great time and are so thankful for neighbors who include us in their ward activities.  We are so grateful for God giving us wonderful neighbors in every place where we have lived.  He always brings the right people into your life at exactly the right time when you let him.  

Later that night, we headed over to Bob & Laura's house for dinner.  We met some of their other friends there and were surprised at how much we had in common!  It's such a small world!  We didn't get to take the kids to see fireworks because it doesn't get dark here until around 10 pm and they had such a long, busy, fun-filled day that we just came home and put them to bed.

We had a wonderful July 4th weekend and are so thankful for the freedoms we have in this country!    

Is It Yellowstone or Jellystone National Park?

If you ask our kids they will tell you Jellystone because that was the standing joke all day.  We decided on a last minute, unplanned for, unprepared for trip to Yellowstone!  It was so much fun - I think partly due to the fact that we were flying by the seat of our pants and experiencing something new with little to no preparation!  We had some advice from my cousin and from my dad about must see things, etc. but that was about it.  

We were on a hunt for bears.  We were hoping to see this:

But instead, saw a lot of this:

Riley will tell you that the buffalo forgot to shave because that's what Andy kept trying to convince him of and Sissy will tell you about their poop because all she remembers is seeing one poop and now she understands why buffalo patties are so big!

We entered the park through the east gate with the plan of touring the park in a counterclockwise direction.  Our first stop was to check out some steam pots along the lake.  Riley was fascinated right away.  We had warned him about the smells so he'd be prepared...We told him it would smell a lot like Daddy's farts!

You can see in this photo below some of the remaining damage from forest fires.  It's amazing how the forest just reseeds itself over time.

There were so many questions from Riley all day...He was a sponge and absorbing everything we could tell him about the Earth's surface and crust.  Andy gave him the analogy of a tea pot and how when I use my tea pot to make the water hot, it steams and releases that steam out into the air.  It seemed to make sense to him, but he still had a bizillion questions!

Here is some of what we got to see while we were there...We didn't get to it all...saving some for a future trip.

This picture below basically looked like boiling mud!

Walking through here was like being in an outdoor sauna...kind of reminded me of Jax, but a lot more stinky!

Sissy refusing to walk

This guy was just laying over by the steam pot...free steam bath I guess.

This guy must have been getting a steam facial...

Doesn't it look like there could be a dragon inside there?

My climbers...

Monkey see, monkey do...

There was an older woman next to me who was freaking out over the fact that I let my kids climb the rocks...little does she know they are both good climbers and there was no way I was going to stop them.  They needed to get some energy out after driving around in the truck!

The summit - well, at least as far as mom and dad would let them go without spotting!

"Go home Mommy!" was what I was hearing during this shot...I think she just wanted to get back to her normal routine!

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

We hiked a trail that ran along the side of this canyon.  It was beautiful!

Kendall was so curious about what everyone was looking at so she had to see for herself

"Duckie water right there Momma!"

These pictures are from the Artist Paint Pots.  Aren't the colors incredible?

This reminded me of marble that should belong in someone's kitchen.  The colors were awesome!

The blue of this water made me want to go to the Caribbean!

This was a mini geyser compared to what we got to see later in the day.

"Thar' she blows" - Andy Chunko.  Old Faithful earned it's name by erupting right on time.  What an incredible sight.  We had fantastic seats and Riley was thrilled to see it in person.

On our way out of Yellowstone, we decided to drive through The Grand Teton National Park...it's on the way home so why not?  Talk about beautiful views.  

Can you imagine how gorgeous it would be first thing in the morning with the sunrise shining on it?  We're going to time our next trip that way.

Just breathtaking!  I think the Wasatch are gorgeous, but these just might edge them out!  The lake right next to it is the icing on the cake!

We drove into Jackson and stopped at the local Loaf & Jug (which is a minit market out in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, etc.)  They are owned by Kroger who also now owns our favorite Turkey Hill Dairy and Turkey Hill Minit Markets.  For all of those folks back in Dutch Country, that newest Turkey Hill symbol that we all think looks ridiculous on the stores, well, it's a Kroger symbol and all of their different minit markets have it.  Loaf & Jug carries Turkey Hill ice tea.  So I packed an empty cooler just so we could stock up on some ice tea for us and the Wiegands!  The odd thing is that Kroger owns one of the local grocery store chains here in the Salt Lake valley and they DON'T carry TH ice tea!  They sell it in Wyoming, where the population is MUCH smaller, but they don't sell it here.  They even advertise Turkey Hill ice tea on the local CBS station as well as have Turkey Hill ice tea billboards along I-15!  (For those of you who don't understand my obsession, once you try it, you'll be hooked too.  Turkey Hill is also a family thing...the original family who owned the dairy and now just runs the operation, are VERY good friends of our family.  The Freys spoke at both of my grandparents funerals because they were the best of friends.  Although, I must admit, Angie's sweet tea in Jax Beach did give it a strong run for it's money!)  Anyhow, 4 gallons and 4 half gallons later, our cooler was filled and we were back on the road.  

We decided to brave the exhaustion that we both were feeling and head the rest of the way home that night.  We left Jackson around 9ish and then pulled in the driveway at 2am!  What a trip!  Worth every minute of exhaustion we felt on Sunday!  Can't wait to do it again.  If you haven't visited Yellowstone, put it on your bucket list.  It's an amazing place and one trip you won't regret!