Trick-or-Treating Greeting

The much anticipated Halloween day came and went yesterday. It almost didn't happen for Addison because she refused to clean up her room for awhile. She was simply told that she couldn't go anywhere until it was cleaned. It took her about 4 hours to decide to do it versus the few minutes to actually clean it up. She told her Aunt Ali that she made a "really good choice."

Ali came over for a little bit and helped me get some strawberries ready to freeze and make a pumpkin for my belly. It turned out cute - thanks Al!

I made yarn hair for the girls - really the only picture with a glimpse of it is of me and the pumpkin belly - Addie's head is in the shot and that's the top of it. Pretty much the rest of the night I was carrying the hair. Why did I make it again? At home that's all they want is Rapunzel hair.

Ella

Addie snuck into the tree house with her bag of candy and went to town. Look closely at her face and you'll glimpse the sticky, candied mess she was.

We had to visit Gma Great (Harward) too. It was a bit chaotic and I was so exhausted by the end of it all. Since James took the pictures he isn't in any, but he was there!

The weather was perfect yesterday, but today it is snowing outside. I thought the change in weather would bring on the labor - nothing is happening yet though. What I need is a good thunderstorm! The baby is so low now that it has got to be soon. A few weeks ago the baby was +1 and she's even lower now.

This time around I'm not going to be induced for anything other than a medical necessity and I can't say I'm enjoying the anticipation and uncertainty of it all. I keep telling myself it won't be too long - it's hard to wait patiently. The hormones and emotions of pregnancy really don't help much either - or fussy girls who are tired from the day before and probably having sugar withdrawals.

We did have a happy halloween and later on this week we'll have at least one more celebration for Addison's birthday and hopefully another birthday will occur!

Rapunzel Costumes

I thought I was done with Halloween costumes until finding out Addison's is a bit too tight up top! I can't believe it. I measured, tried it on throughout the process, but it just is too tight for comfort. Bummer, I knew it would be close, but I thought it'd still work. Another dress is in the works. I had some extra fabric and have most of it cut out and the top is pretty much sewn. This is one of those times when a stupid choice makes you start all over again! At least I didn't wait until last minute . . .

The girls went a little nuts with the bows Lyndsey and I made for the baby yesterday. And, NO, hair has not been done today and I may or may not be in my pajamas still. :)

This shows how tight it is - it shouldn't be pulling like that.

If anyone needs a costume for their little girl that's about a size 4/5 there's one available for purchase! The chest measures 22.5", waist 23.5", length 34".

Hike to Timpanogos Caves

September 24th was National Parks Service Day, the day all the national parks are free. We took full advantage and visited Mt. Timpanogos Caves with some family. The girls did awesome hiking up to and from the caves and my 34-week pregnant self did alright for the most part. My left knee really didn't appreciate the hike down - it hurt for days afterward. I guess all the relaxin hormones loosened my left knee joint enough to make things difficult.

Lyndsey and myself - sporting a too small jacket. :)

The cousins

Hiker Ella

The heart of Timpanogos Cave

I can't remember what the curly things are called, but that's the reason Timpanogos is a national monument. I guess they're really rare. They defy gravity by growing in all directions.

A stalactite and stalagmite slowly meeting over the centuries.

A fun excursion - long and exhausting, but one that the girls will remember for quite awhile!

Many Projects

I have been working on so many projects these days. Maybe I'm nesting early? :) The first project was the dresser below. I am terrible at taking before pictures. You'll have to just picture a brown, drab dresser, highly laquered with stickers and a missing handle. I decided on a pale yellow and replaced the hardware with silver ones. I also had to replace drawer

stops on about half of the drawers. It turned out great! Between the paint and the hardware (which is quite pricey, and I picked the least expensive!) it turned out to be a $50 makeover. Not too cheap, but better than buying a brand new dresser, and I enjoyed it. Now we'll have room for the girls clothing and the new baby clothes.

The next project I started on was a complete waste of time so there are no pictures. We have a metal frame bunk bed that is bright blue in the girls room and I wanted to paint it the same color as the dresser BUT with spray paint. Prefilled spray paint cans only come in a BRIGHT yellow. I've never seen a subtle one ever. Sherwin Williams will fill spray paint cans with your paint color of choice, however, they charge $12 per can, plus the cost of the paint. I found this out AFTER I already started stripping the bunk bed. (Which was tedious and odorous and abandoned after a small section took me several hours.) I ended up just buying some blue spray paint to fix my mistake and the end result is that the bunk bed is still blue. :)

My next project went much better. James' family has an old pendulum cradle they used for all the babies in their family. I don't want to put the baby in the same room as the girls right away, so this seemed like a good solution. The way it looked was a different story. As pictured below, it was an ugly brown and had lots of dings and scrapes on it, along with missing wheels. The original plan was to use leftover paint from the dresser, but there wasn't enough of that so I spray painted it white. It turned out great and it was fast and easy. James helped me make new supports for the wheels (we added some blocks to the bottom) because the wood is not

very good quality - it's plywood - and couldn't support wheels on one side because of years of use and the wood had split. I am currently working on a mattress pad and bumper pads. It will be cute. This project was cheaper - about $20 for spray paint and new wheels.

Curtains are expensive. If you get a lining and good quality fabric it really adds up fast! They do look a lot better than blankets over the windows though! I made these for the girls room because they go to bed a lot sooner than the sun and have a hard time if it's too light.

For our wedding, James' mother gave us a beautiful quilt. I decided maybe two months ago to make some pillow shams to match. Janice had plenty of fabric left over so I was able to match it perfectly. They certainly have flaws, but they turned out nice. The only problem is that the quilt is faded and these are bright. Maybe a few washes in the washing machine will tone it down.

This is the last project I've completed - it was the first of them all. The rocking chair came from my Great Aunt Lois who passed away right before James and I were married. I'm not sure who else in my extended family it belonged to, but it really is a pretty chair. I wish I knew how old it was. I didn't want to refinish the stain. I love the worn look and know that I wouldn't be able to recreate that. The seat cover, however, had some holes in it and puffed dust into the air every time you sat in it. I found a yard of upholstery fabric at a discount fabric store in Draper for $3 and began the process of taking apart the old cover. The inside is an old box springs that was in ok shape. The padding had to go. I replaced it with foam from Joanns. After that, I just carefully took the cover apart to use as a pattern for the new cover. There were some setbacks along the way - the foam I bought was thicker than the old padding so I needed to add some length to the cover in the front of the chair. The end result turned out alright and now I'm not worried about bugs or asbestos every time we sit in it. The flash washed out the fabric a bit, it's actually a deeper pink. Sorry if I've bored you with all my projects! I've enjoyed working on them for the most part, with some frustration here and there. :) I have several more, though I think they're all sewing projects, to get done before the babe comes.

Garden Happenings

I love having a garden. I love how it responds to your care, gives you something back, and doesn't talk back to you. :) It's amazing how a little seed can grow into a beautiful sunflower that's taller than I am. I find it quite fulfilling.

Here's the produce I harvested this afternoon. I had to dig up some of my yukon gold potato plants because they got blight. It's been so wet here (unusual for UT!) that they got the dreaded disease. I treated it too late, so I've lost several plants, but I still have a little produce to show for my efforts. My red potatoes and sweet potatoes are doing great, so we have those to look forward to. The beans and squash are prolific at the moment. We've been loving grilled squash and beets these days.

This is the trellis James and I made for the cucumbers to grow up. Last year I got ZERO cucumbers, so this was made in efforts to help them have a better chance. There are already baby cukes though, so it looks like we'll have a great harvest with those. If anyone is interested in a tutorial on how to make one I can give you the link. The wood was leftover from other projects, the twine was given to me (Thanks Taylor!) and the only screws we had to buy were $1.99. We made two so each cost $1.00! Pretty good if you ask me!

I made the bean trellis by myself. :) It's a little more makeshift than the others, but surprisingly sturdy. James went to Lake Powell last weekend so the girls and I made it together. I didn't want to wait. I dug the holes all by myself too. Hopefully 10 inches is deep enough to withstand any storms! The beans are just starting to climb it. This is my first try with pole beans - I've always done bush (which is what is producing right now).

A lot has happened since I last posted . . .

We've fed the ducks (and goose) down at the pond occasionally.

Played at the park.

Swung on swings.

Learned how to do the monkey bars.

I got bangs. Still not sure how I feel about it . . .

Gone on road trips to visit family.

Played with friends and said goodbye to some great ones!

Addison graduated from Joy School.

Met a new cousin named Wade.

Took a first picture of baby #3 - It's a girl! This is a cute shot of her feet. Her legs were crossed pretty much the whole time. It took quite a while to get a gender shot!

And, lastly, one from this afternoon, with the girls sporting their helmets and riding their bikes. They play together well sometimes . . .

The Festivities of the Fourth

This year we kept it pretty simple for the fourth. We went to the Scera park in Orem for Colonial Days where they had a great patriotic program. It was a bit long for the kids, but fun. At one point, they had the kids come up on the stage to act out a few things as a group. I encouraged Addie to go - she was hesitant, but willing. About halfway into the performance as they were on stage I could tell she was about to bawl though. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was pulled downward into an almost comical frown. I knew if I went up there she would lose it completely, so she stayed until they were told to return to their seats and as soon as she saw me she started to bawl. We talked about it and she told me it was terrifying to be up there. I thought she'd really enjoy it because she is such a ham everywhere else. Her favorite thing to listen to right now is the Phantom of the Opera CD. Many many mornings, as soon as she wakes up, she'll come into my room and ask me to put it on for her. I guess we'll have to work on stage fright!

After the program, we walked around the Colonial Days at the park. They really did a great job - if you're in the area next year and haven't visited you should! For a free venue it was great. There was a whole different area about Ellis Island and immigrants that we didn't even get to.

To cool off, we went up Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil Falls and let the kids get wet. The extended fam talked of going to a pool later, but that would be just too much sun for me. This was a perfect alternative - beautiful scenery and the girls got to swim. James and Addie climbed up a little ways - that made me nervous! They got down just fine though and Addie still talks about a friend she made there.

It was a fun fourth!

Addie and Ella in the Colonial Days "school house."

We need some stocks at home!

James and Ella in front of Bridal Veil Falls.

Addison climbing up the Falls and doing a classic wedgie pick.