We are sewing, daily sewing...

One of the things on my list for Anna for Christmas, was dresses.  It seems we just get a dress for her, and she outgrows it after wearing it twice.  I wasn't looking forward to shopping for them.  Every time I do, either they're sleeveless, incredibly fancy (thus incredibly expensive), or have a cartoon character splashed across it.  So, I decided to make her a couple of things.

Erin turned me onto a blog a couple of years ago called Make It and Love It.  She does all sorts of easy clothes and re-purposing tutorials.  I chose to do the sweater dress for Anna.  I got the sweater at the DI for 4 dollars.  Here are the pictures of what she made and what I made:

I also made a skirt from a blog called Made.  The fabric was leftovers from my laundry room curtains.  Here are the professional one and the one I made.

Finally, I made a skirt from a blog called Two Little Banshees.  I got the fabric from Wal-Mart.  It's actually corduroy and very soft.  Again, pictures:

Busy, Busy, Busy!

It has been so busy around here lately, that I haven't been able to post anything about our Thanksgiving!  What a hectic couple of weeks.

We started off Thanksgiving week with discovering a ruptured water heater on Sunday.  We're not sure how long it had been leaking, but the professionals say not more than 2 days. I wouldn't have noticed except I had to get something off the floor in the pantry.  Monday saw a couple of plumbers come to replace the old heater with a new one, as well as a water damage specialist to take care of drying out our pantry and garage closet.  We had 5 fans and a dehumidifier going Mon-Wed night, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Just some of the fans in the house.

Thanksgiving weekend was great!  Steve took Wednesday off.  It was our last big push to get things done before relaxing for a couple of days.  We got my car's oil changed, safety inspected, and snow tires put on; we went to the gym; put up the Christmas lights outside; and I prepared several dishes for the next day.  Whew!  Alli came that evening.  She also
                                                           whipped up a cherry pie and Grandpa's jello.

The day of Thanksgiving was also Steve's birthday.  He's a whopping 32 years old.  Most of the morning was spent putting the finishing touches on several dishes and cooking the turkey.  This was my first turkey, and I must say that I'm very proud of how it turned out.  I didn't end up brining it- instead, I slathered the breast under the skin with melted butter, rosemary, and thyme and salt and peppered the outside.  I then put it in a 475 oven for 20 minutes and then turned it down to 250 for 5 hours.  It was GREAT!  We were also able to make most of the foods as natural as possible (except for the jello- you can't make that natural).  I even found a sweet potato recipe that I like!

Steve with his birthday crumb cake.

Steve, Anna, and I headed to the park to play in the leaves just before dinner.  We had been hoping to do that for a while, but the weather and days off didn't coincide until Thursday.  It was very windy.  Steve raked a pile of leaves and plopped Anna down in it.  She wasn't sure what to make of it.  We had to get down and show her how to jump around and throw the leaves in the air.  She played for about 15 minutes, then wandered off to look at other things.

On Friday, we put up the Christmas decorations.  We headed to Home Depot to get our tree.  Much as it kills me to get a tree from a store, there are not a wide variety of U-cut tree farms in Utah.  The closest one was in Layton.  We found a beautiful 7-8 ft Noble fir tree and brought it home.  Steve was very grateful that Allison was staying with us so that he didn't have to stick around and decorate!  I was grateful for Alli's artistic eye in setting things up.  We watched the animated Frosty, the Snowman from Netflix.  It was a very nice day.

Saturday was spent shopping.  Alli and I went to the mall together.  Not so much for Christmas presents, though I did buy some, but for clothes for me.  I got looking in my closet and noticed that I haven't really bought any clothes since before Steve and I got married.  It was time.  Alli and I had fun exploring some stores, trying on outfits, and eating some Chick-Fil-A.  After the mall, we went to Ikea to grab a couple of gifts for Anna.  I can't believe we spent 6 hours shopping!

Allison headed home that evening and we tried to prepare ourselves for this week.  It's been non-stop.  Our ward had it's Relief Society Christmas dinner on the 29th.  Not only was I singing in a trio, I was also asked to be in charge of the clean-up crew.  That meant that I had two days (Mon & Tue) of practicing with the other women as well as calling ladies and asking them to stay and clean up with me.  The dinner was wonderful (Steve and the rest of the bishopric served) and the song went pretty well (I saw at least 2 sets of wet eyes).  I didn't end up getting home afterwards until 9pm.  I'm so thankful to the ladies that were willing to stay and help.  If they hadn't, I might still be there!

I won't bore you with the other details of our hectic week.  However, I do want to express my gratitude for the many blessings that the Lord has bestowed on our little family.  I cannot begin to number them.  I have a wonderful husband and daughter whom I love and who love me.  I get to stay home and watch Anna each day as she grows and discovers the world around her. I have the Gospel to guide and direct me, to give me comfort and strength.  I am so grateful the these and the other blessings I have in my life.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Whole Foods

So, Steve, Anna, and I are setting out on a new food adventure.  It's the Whole Foods adventure.  That means, we're trying to eat things that are real: butter, maple syrup, lots of veggies and fruits, a little meat, even whole milk.  We're trying to avoid any kind of chemicals or additives in our food as well as refined grains and sugars.  Let me tell you, it's been interesting so far!

To help us ease into it, we're taking small steps each week.  Hopefully, by the end we will be where we want to be and it won't be too overwhelming.  Starting Sunday, we are making sure we eat 4 fruits/veggies every day.  This does not include dried fruits or  fruit juices.

 We've also upped our vegetarian days from 1 to 2 a week.  This will help eat more veggies and less meat.  If you've got any good vegetarian recipes, let me know.

Another thing that I'm doing is making a lot more things from scratch.  I've semi-unofficially named Tuesday as my baking day and Friday as my meal make-ahead day.  I'm starting to love the crock-pot and am consistently doubling my recipes so I can eat one and freeze the other.

Does this mean that you have to be all crazy and buy special food if we come for a visit?  NO!  Everything in moderation.  We don't want this to be something that makes us cranky and anti-social.  We will eat whatever people put in front of us.  We're just trying to make our everyday food consumption a little healthier.

 So- comments? Questions?  Anyone want to join us?

Potpourri

Just a quick update.  It's a little of this and a little of that.  This past Thursday, Steve and I headed toAbravanel Hall to watch the Vienna Boys Choir.  I've always wanted to see them, especially after 4 years of German classes.  Our tickets had us seated on the third tier in the front.  That translates to the third balcony up- we were almost eye-level with the chandeliers!  There was just a single line of seats, so I sat behind Steve through the first half.  During intermission, Steve said we should go down to the orchestra level because he was getting a headache.  The music was pretty good.  There are 100 members of the choir, but they split up into 4 different groups when touring, so there were only 25 kids singing.  Some of the pieces were beautiful, right up their alley, but some were very disappointing.  The Vienna Boys Choir should not sing ABBA, the Beatles, Sting, or Queen.

It has been a beautiful fall here.  In fact, more like an extra long summer.  The snow held off here until the day after Halloween.  Anna was so excited, she just wanted to sit in the window watching it come down.  Every once in a while she'd point and say, "Snow! Snow!"

The day after Halloween was also the day we headed to the dollar store to pick up some cheap dress-ups.  Anna's really been into hats.  She had a prairie bonnet and a cowboy hat that she would put on all the time.  She also turned various buckets into hats.  So at the dollar store, we added to the collection.  She now has a sombrero, a straw hat, and a pirates hat.  We also got some fairy wings, a couple of necklaces and little tutus.  She has had fun dressing up in all these new clothes.

Trick or Treat

 So, Halloween has come and gone.  This year, Anna really started to notice that things are a little different.  She has become obsessed with apples and pumpkins.  We have a couple of simple books about each and I think that I have read them about 40 times now.  When we go outside, she points to the pumpkin and says, 'Pucky! Pucky!'.  I had hoped that we would get to carve some jack-o-lanterns, but circumstances made that impossible today.

We had a ward Trunk or Treat on Saturday.  We had lots of soup and then went around to all the cars in the parking lot.  Anna enjoyed wearing her costume.  She loved the hat and was ecstatic to be her beloved 'Pucky!'.  She did such a good job.  She politely waited at each car and said thank you to each person.  She also put her candy right in her bag.  She didn't even try to eat it right away.

Tonight was Halloween night.  I took Anna on one side of the street and Steve took her on the other side.  She was really amazed by everyone walking around in costumes.  We stopped and took a picture with a neighbor friend.  When she got home, she got to eat one of her KitKats.  Yummy!  It was a fun day.

A Fall Day

Sunset over Stansbury Lake

Anna has been obsessed with apples lately.  She is always saying "Apple, apple" while making the sign for it.  I gave her one the other day and she ate the whole thing, core and all.  So, I decided that it might be fun to go to an apple orchard to pick apples.  The closest one was in Sandy.

Yesterday we headed to the orchard, Farnsworth Farms.  The GPS on my phone took me to the wrong place, but it was easy to find. The man told me we were a little late and there wasn't much left.  We picked about 9 pounds of Golden Delicious.  Anna was most interested in the 'icky' apples all over the ground.  We then picked up some decorative pumpkins and played on the playground.  I think Anna enjoyed it. (more below)

Some pictures of Anna at the apple farm.

That evening, after a yummy dinner of cabbage soup & cornbread, we headed to Stansbury Lake to feed the ducks.  Anna LOVED it.  She kept quacking and liked throwing the bread, though she needed some help with that.  After the bread was gone, we went on a short walk around the edge of the lake.  Anna collected red leaves and interesting rocks.  We finished the day off with a beautiful sunset.  The perfect fall day.

Feeding the ducks

Chef Anna

In her chef outfit from a friend's birthday party.

Anna likes to cook...well, she likes to help Mommy cook.  Whenever I start making dinner or baking a treat, Anna comes right over and wants to be a part of the action.  If I don't let her 'help', she ends up right under my feet or hanging onto my leg.  So, I've been putting her in her highchair and wheeling her into the kitchen next to me.

Sampling the gingerbread batter.

Anna's 'helping' usually consists of tasting various ingredients, shaking or trying to get the tops off of spice jars, and mixing small amounts of stuff with her little whisk.  You can often hear her saying, "Misk, misk!" as she stirs vigorously.  She also likes to play with the measuring spoons and cups, banging them together and throwing them on the floor.  She seems to really enjoy being in on the action.

After trying to taste the flour she was stirring.

Her next favorite thing to do is to watch the food in the oven as it cooks.  I turn the light on and she will peer in through the glass.  I've even found her sitting on her little step in front of the oven, watching what's inside.  When the timer goes off, she runs over to me crying, "Uh-oh!" and then reminds me that the thing I'm taking out of the oven is "Hot! Hot!"

Fun Couple of Days

 Yesterday, Steve and I headed to the Capitol Theater to see our fourth opera together.  It has been a tradition for us to go see an opera every October since we met and started dating.  The first was Madame Butterfly (sad), the second was Carmen (sad), and the third was La Boheme (sad).  This one was Fidelio by Beethoven.  It's his only opera. It was sad in the beginning but actually had a happy ending!  Steve says that is must be a comedy then.  I don't agree.

Today, Steve's brother, Ken, and his family came over for a while.  We all went to the pumpkin patch.  I was so excited!  Going to a pumpkin patch to get pumpkins is just right.  I hate picking them out of a cardboard box at the grocery store...boring! I've done it, though, because the nearest patch to me was 30 miles away near Salt Lake. Luckily, I saw a flier for a new one just a 5 minute drive from our house.  It's 3 acres of someone's backyard in Erda.  She said that she decided to do a patch for her grandchildren, since there wasn't one close by.  YAY!!!!!

The weather was wonderful (72) and the pumpkins were great.  Kate kept looking at a pumpkin and saying, "This one's perfect!".  Then she'd walk to another and say, "This one's perfect, too!"  It went on and on.  They have a couple of varieties, but all really good looking.  Anna loved being pulled in the wagon with her cousin, Billy, but not walking around.  She kept tripping.  We got a couple of good-looking pumpkins and took our picture by the hay bales. (see pictures below)

Family Fall Hike

 Friday after work, Steve, Anna & I headed up to Middle Canyon.  We have several canyons here that we've never been to and decided that seeing the fall colors would be a great way to explore.  We packed up some fruit, drinks, and homemade calzone along with a blanket and a couple of jackets.

The trip into the canyon took maybe 15 minutes.  Suddenly, we could see the beautiful oranges, yellows, and reds that haven't yet reached the valley.  We pulled over to a little picnic area and started to eat our dinner.  No sooner had we gotten settled, than lightning started to flash and thunder to roll.  Soon, rain started to drip on our heads.  We decided to eat in the car.  I must say that a picnic in a car isn't very easy.  Anna loved standing in her seat and Steve sat in the back trying to keep her safe.  I sat up front and tried to cut calzone on my lap.  We thought that we might have to go home, but the storm passed by the time we were done with dinner.

Steve had located a geocache in the valley, so we headed there next.  It wasn't very difficult to find, we almost could drive up to it.  We then decided to take a walk around the area.  We were trying out Anna's new backpack leash.  Even with it, the going was slow.  Anna wanted to stop and pick up every rock she saw.  That was a bit of a problem because we were walking on a small road made entirely of rocks.  She'd fill her hands with her treasures, her "rock-oos", then see one more she wanted.  She tried so hard to pick up just that one more rock, but couldn't so she'd drop everything and start all over again.

It was a perfect evening for the hike and we were glad to be able to see the colors before the weather turns bad.  We're hoping to get up there once more.

Projects, Projects, Projects!

Yesterday was a marathon of projects and to-dos.  We started at 8am and didn't really finish until 9pm.  First off was a ward service project.  We had to be to the church by 8 which meant that breakfast needed to be ready by 7:30 at the latest.  Luckily, biscuits and gravy isn't to time consuming.  After meeting at the church, Steve and the other members went around our neighborhood to pick up food for the food bank.  I went home because we were expecting a delivery of our new bedroom furniture between 8:30 and 12:30.

Steve left for the gym at 10am with Anna.  While they were gone, I worked on a project I saw on a blog a couple of days ago.  It's a fall checklist of fun things that we want to do.  It's not too hard, and because I put it behind glass, I can mark off what we do then wipe it off.  I'd like to do one for winter, too.

The furniture delivery arrived just before Steve & Anna got home.  I had to quickly get our mattresses and old dressers out of the way to make way for the new.  Luckily, the delivery guys set the bed up and put the box springs on.  I had to get the top mattress on and remake it.  We then had to transfer everything from the old dressers and nightstands to the new ones.  Now, where to put the old dressers?  Right now, they've taken up residence in the guest room.

Later that afternoon, after Anna had gone to bed for her nap, Steve and I got started on the garage.  We assembled four storage shelves, cleaned out one half of the garage, and started to go through my boxes of teacher stuff.  Steve secured the shelves to the wall while I watched the General Relief Society Meeting and Anna.

Stuff we still need to get put away.

Next project- closet.

 After eating, we loaded the shelves up with our newly boxed stuff.  We cleaned the other half of the garage and were able to put both cars in for the first time in over a year!  By this time, we were both exhausted and stinky so we took showers and gave each other massages.  Finally, we laid down on our new bed and fell to sleep.  What a day.

Snowbird

Steve and I bought Salt Lake City Connect passes earlier this year.  It gives you discounted rates on a bunch of activities around the area.  Today, we decided to use them to take the tram up at Snowbird resort.

We left at 9:30am and headed out.  There was a little trepidation because the weather was a little iffy.  But we made it up in time to take the first tram at 11:00am.  Anna really enjoyed looking out the window at the scenery.  I enjoyed all of it except the swinging every time we went over a tower.  We were surprised to see that it had snowed that night.  There was about one to two inches all over the top of the mountain.  Unfortunately, we weren't quite dressed for that.

The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular.  You could see down the canyon all the way to Salt Lake City!  You could also see that the snow hit one side of the mountain, but not the other side.

The trip down the mountain wasn't as fun because there were so many people jammed on the tram.  Those that had ridden up with us and those that had walked or biked up.  At the bottom, we ate our lunch and watched kids on the bungee trampolines.  Anna wanted to go on them so badly!  She kept ohhing and ahhing and saying, "Wheee!" as she watched.  She walked over to the gate surrounding them and started bouncing up and down.

Afterwards, we walked around Oktoberfest (in september!) and bought some kettle corn for the trip home.  We stopped at a little hiking area and took a little walk to the nearby river.  Steve enjoyed showing Anna how to throw rocks into the river and watch them splash.  It was a great day.

Organization!

I have been working on getting different areas of my home set up so they are easy to keep organized.  So far, I've done the laundry room and the pantry.

I finished the laundry room a couple of months ago.  Kudos to Peter for painting our laundryroom a nice bright blue.  Then, I got a shelf with a rod and a broom organizer as well as a wicker laundry basket to put kitchen rags, towels, bibs, etc in.  The final step was to make some curtains.  One for over the window and another (actually 3 parts) to hide the storage above the washer and dryer.  I have one finishing touch, some flowers for the vase.  I think it turned out great.  I actually don't mind going in there to do laundry.


Yesterday, I decided to tackle the pantry.  For me, this is one of the hardest rooms to keep neat and organized.  When I'm done shopping I'm tired.  I just want to get it all put away and not have to deal with it any more.  I also have trouble remembering what I have and what I don't.  I hate buying something at the store and coming home to realize I have three of them already behind the boxes!

So, I pulled everything out yesterday.  And I mean EVERYTHING.  I've tried organizing before by moving one thing and replacing it with another, not ideal.  Get everything out.  Poor Steve came home to counters, table, stove, and floor covered in cans, boxes, and bags.  Then I decided what would go on the top shelf, because that's the hardest to reach.  I then filled the two most convenient shelves with what I used most often, keeping like items with like.  Finally, I filled in the other areas with what was left over.  As I went, I entered into my phone app what I had and how much.  I'm hoping that I will have enough discipline to mark off what I use.  I have a couple of things that I need to get to make it complete.  A basket, hopefully with dividers, for my envelopes of seasonings.  You know- taco, fajita, chili seasonings?  I also have packets of gravy mix and ranch dressing mix.  They fall all over the place.  I also want to get a hook to hand up my aprons.  Right now they hang on the door knob.  In general, though, I think it looks pretty nice.  Let's hope I can keep it that way.

Our next project, Steve and I are working together on.  We bought some shelves to put in our garage so that we can get stuff up off the floor.  Steve hates having to scrape off his car during the winter.  We'll be working on getting that all set up next weekend!