A very long Talli update

Its funny how even at such tiny ages my girls have had their own ideas of which toys they prefer. Maylee always adored anything princess and never cared much for babies. Talli on the other hand loves babies and can be found putting her babies to sleep, pushing them in the stroller or stuffing them in small places. Regardless the girl loves babies. Here is one of her more tender sides with her babies. She's tucking them all into bed. Talli also got a hold of a picture frame that Dutch made in preschool. She thought it would be a good idea to take all the stickers off. I'm telling you her Dad has made her truly believe that stickers are only for putting on her body not paper. (Dutch was not very happy about this.) Then the little stinker got a pen. And used her belly to display her artwork.

She can also throw a pretty good fit. She knows just what she wants and she knows just what to do to get what she wants.

Her favorite place in the entire house to sit is in the cupboard under my kitchen sink.

Oh and if you open the other door Maylee can usually be found there too.

Talli can be found standing on my computer desk at least 20 times a day screaming "mama" so that when I come to get her down she can jump into my arms.

And the girl loves Rue. My favorite thing to watch Talli do with Rue is, she'll put her head on the ground and her bum in the air so that Rue will attack her head and it just makes Talli giggle and squeal in delight.

David wanted to head to Lowe's today to look at wood. I wasn't very excited about the activity but better that then stay at home. So we loaded up the kids and headed out. When we got there I kept seeing all these kids walking out the store dress in a Lowe's apron and carrying a project. I finally asked someone what was going on. They said twice a month on Saturday they have a FREE craft day for kids. Who knew!?! So we headed to the back to let the kids build a craft. The craft of the day was a wooden locker. The kids each got their own apron, goggles and craft. They each grabbed a mini hammer, found a table and went to work. It was so fun. Dutch of course thought it was great to be able to hammer in nails like his Dad. Talli was a bit scary using her hammer but she loved it.

Dutch hard at work... Maylee hard at work... And Talli hard at work... David looks a little scared in these photos. Talli was crazy with that hammer. I think she actually got him in the face once. The completed project. And they even got a certificate when they finished. It was so much fun. Who knew going to Lowe's to look at wood would be so much fun.

About two weeks ago I was at the park talking to my friends about craft projects and fabric. The LA fashion District came up and we all talked about how we are dying to go there. Aleena said we should just go there, can everyone go this weekend. Well that weekend didn't work for everyone. So I figured it would just be something we would never get around to doing, since life always seems to get in the way. But Aleena was determined and it some how worked out that all five of us were able to go the following weekend. And the next thing I know we were in the car driving to LA with no kids (well two babies came but they were easy). We drove over Friday night and got a hotel room. We had our first encounter with an LA resident trying to park the van. I was driving so I rolled down the window to ask where we were suppose to park (she was working in the parking garage not just a random person) she was clearly put out that she had to pause her phone conversation, I asked her where to park and she said "Down the street miss?" (in a very rude tone) Well it was an intersection down the street, so I said which way do I turn. "Down the street miss means down the street." She was such a brat, but it gave us all a good laugh.

The next morning we headed to the LA Fashion District. It's just a shopping place that reminds me of being in Mexico, you bargain for better deals and everything is so cheap. It's also not the cleanest place to be. I wouldn't go there by myself for sure. We stuck to our group, no one broke away. We headed to the FIDM store first, which I thought was a little bit of a let down. They no longer have a dollar section and all the clothes they have there are the biggest sizes available. But they do have awesome fabric you can buy in the back for 2 dollars a yard. Tons of cute knit, just what I wanted. Afterwards we headed for Santee Alley and as we were crossing the intersection this lady said to me, you girls don't look like you know what you are doing. (everyone told us to try to). I said to her "we are trying to?" She said do you know where the alley is, I pointed right in front of us and said isn't that it. Nope, turn left and it's between those buildings. Thank you! Then once we got across the street she said to us, zip up your purses, tuck them under you arm and hang on. Yikes what were we getting ourselves into. But it really wasn't too bad. I think we definitely stuck out a little bit but I never felt scared. We did a little shopping in the alley but really we came for the fabric so that's were we headed. We hit Michael Levine first which again a little bit of a let down because their prices were definitely not cheap. But they're selection is amazing. So we just browsed around there for a bit and then headed across the street to Michael Levine Loft. They just have tons of cardboard boxes set up filled with remnants of fabric and they sell fabric for 2.50 a pound. It was fun digging through those boxes and making amazing finds. After the Loft we felt a lot better and definitely realized this actually is as great as it sounded. From there we went from one shop to another buying cheap fabric. I think could have lived there and never ran out of fabric that we wanted to buy. I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to shop at Joann's again without shuddering from the prices. I bought about 18-20 yards of fabric, three belts, jewelry, 13 spools of thread, 4 zippers, 5 yards of lace and I think that is it for about 65 dollars. AMAZING!!! We had a great time and I'm already looking forward to our next trip. Although next time I'm definitely going with a better game plan, I bought random things, with no real set project, but I know I'll find good use for everything I got. Thanks, Heather, Jordan, Aleena, and Katherine for the great time. Seriously the four hour car ride felt like 30 minutes, it went way too fast. Til next time!

Trying to figure out my timer...

At FIDM Michael Levine Loft. Such amazing fabric to be found here. Heather buying her fabric by the pound. Me getting mine. Loving our life right about now. Driving home after a successful day. My spoils. (And I made my curtains, quilt and lamp shade. I really need to do a post on my bedroom that I've redone, but there's still a few odds and ends to do and so I keep waiting) I already made my first project which I'll share with you all. I've really gotten into making clothes lately. It's my new favorite thing. I've made Maylee two dresses, me two dresses, my mom a dress, and myself a pencil skirt. I just love sewing. However the first dresses I made where t-shirt dresses, super basic and simple. This dress however I made everything, sleeves and all which scared me a little. And I did not use a pattern. I made my own. But I'm pretty happy with how well it turned out. I'm thinking I'm going to be needing one for every day of the week. HA!

In process, before sleeves. (excuse my pooch, that's what happens after 3 kids in 3 years) All finished! I think it turned out pretty good.

Funny things that kids say...

The day after I got home from California, we were sitting at the table eating dinner and Dutch says to me, "Mom did you have fun on your field trip?"

Why yes I did! I guess in a four year old minds that's all they can relate too. It was hilarious though.

27 years!

I turned 27 this year. It wasn't weird to me, I don't think it seems to old. But I was driving down the road today and a memory popped into my mind and I realized that it was 10 years ago that it had happened and yet it seemed like yesterday and that was a weird feeling. I remember so vividly being 17 and to think that was 10 years ago is crazy.

Anyways my Dad was able to come up and spend the weekend with me for my birthday and it was so much fun. David ended up having to work a 12 hour shift on my birthday and the day after my birthday so I was especially grateful that my Dad was here to hang out with me. And the kids of course LOVED having Grandpa here.

My Dad got in late Thursday night. Friday we took the kids to their art class and then headed to the pool to swim. Dutch has gotten so big and brave. He goes down the big slide over and over again and he is such a great swimmer. Maylee is doing great swimming as well. Side story, Dutch and Maylee took a two week swim lesson class this summer at the public pool. On the last day they let all the kids have a turn going down the slide. I knew it would freak Maylee out and I was interested to see what her coaches would do about it. Well her coach took her to the top and told her she could sit on her lap and then once she sat down she gave Maylee a push and had her go by herself. Normally this works great and the kids like it. Not Maylee, she screamed the entire way down and then sat on the edge of the pool crying hysterically. I must be a mean mom because I thought it was hilarious. I wanted the coaches to be able to calm her down because she loved her coaches and I didn't want her to end the class on a bad note. But after about two minutes I decided that she just needed her Mommy and held her for about 10 minutes before she calmed down. Although I did reassure her coaches that I was glad they made her try it. Who knows maybe next summer.

So anyways we went swimming with Grandpa and surprise, surprise it was super cold. It was hot outside but there was enough of a breeze that any part of your body that wasn't in the water was freezing. After swimming, the kids took naps and then Daddy came home. So we decided to find something fun to do. We heard there is a casino that you can look at big sharks at for free. Well that ended up not being the case, so instead we sat in traffic for about an hour with nothing fun to make it worth it. We all ended up starving and we're trying to decide where to eat. We all agreed that a buffet sounded good so my Dad googled one on his phone and we followed it's directions right into a gated community. Lesson learned: don't always believe the phones know everything. However we all had a really good laugh over it. We ended up eating at Sunset Station Casino's buffet and it was excellent. We ended the night watching Gnomeo & Juliet, which I think is hilarious by the way.

Saturday David left bright and early for work and Dad took me out to buy my birthday present which was a new camera. So awesome and very much needed. Now I have a new cute camera to figure out. We also ran a couple of errands, trying to find some new hands for my huge clock that hangs in my living room, which by the way is impossible to find hands as big as I need. We took the kids to lunch at McDonald's and headed home. I decided that what I really wanted was a babysitter and to go hang out with my Dad minus kids but we couldn't find one so last minute. So we just spent the rest of the evening hanging out together until David got home at 9:30 to do cake and ice cream. Which really the older you get you realize cake and ice cream is really for your kids because that tradition is so important to a 4 & 3 year old. We got red velvet cake which I never had before and I can say honestly it is my new favorite cake. While David was lighting the candles, Talli would blow them out. He'd get about ten lite and then she blow out 3 or 4. It was hilarious.

Sunday Dad got to go to church with us and for the first time in a long time sit down in the congregation with Grandkids instead of up on the stand watching us fight the grandkids to be good. He actually got a pretty good Sunday because Talli was exhausted and ended up just sleeping in his arms during sacrament meeting for 45 minutes. Which never happens. Dutch even fell asleep while I was holding him. They're not use to staying up so late to eat cake & ice cream.

After church it was time for Dad to head back home unfortunately. It's always sad to see our company leave but Dutch was especially sad this time. He really did not want Grandpa to go home. These are the moments that make me sad that we live so far from family. It was a great weekend and I'm so glad that we got to spend a few days with Grandpa all to ourselves.

Talli doesn't know that stickers are used for anything else but to put on her face (seriously). Practically impossible to get a picture of everyone looking and smiling.

Fish Lake (7/28/11-7/31/11)

Our friends Brandon and Angie invited us, Blaine & Megan and Briauna & Cameron up to their parents cabin in Fish Lake Utah. We left on Thursday and came back Sunday and we had a blast. It was such a great trip. Thursday was pretty low key since we didn't get in until that evening. We arrived, ate dinner, hung out, put the kids to bed and then let the games begin. We stayed up super late playing scum, it was so much fun to actually be able to put the kids to bed without having to leave the party and go home and then stay up all night playing. Friday we took the kids out on the boat to do some fishing. We didn't end up fishing that day because Maylee and Talli decided that being on a small boat, confined with a life jacket on was not for them.

First day on the boat...

The kids had lots of friends to play with. There was a total of ten kids there and it didn't seem like it at all. The cabin was big enough that they had plenty of room to run around and play without it seeming crowded. Friday we hung out around the cabin, went on the boat and had a BBQ. Just a perfect relaxing day. Friday night was another late night of staying up chatting, followed then by another night of Talli not sleeping well. I think I got a total of ten hours of sleep the three nights I was there, between staying up late and Talli. Saturday we tried fishing again. This time we were actually able to fish and the girls enjoyed their time on the boat a lot more. Dutch is a natural fisherman and loves it.

Maylee fell in love with one of the worms. I had to tell that we couldn't keep the worm because Rue would get jealous. And thankfully she didn't understand what happens to the worm when you put it on the hook. Our room had the slanted ceiling that was made into a tiny room. The kids attempted to sleep in there the first night because they loved the tiny room, they didn't last all night. And during the day it made an excellent little play house that all the kids loved playing in. Cameron, Blaine & David all decided to hike up the

Rue

Let me introduce you to the newest member of our family, Rue.

Now I am sure a lot of people are thinking, "what the crap?" but yes it is true we are giving a puppy another try. She is a Yorkie mix. Maylee has been BEGGING for a puppy for about 8 months now. And being the loving parents that we are we want to see our little girl happy. And so we caved. I can't say we are regretting our decision because we all love Rue and enjoy having her. The only thing that has us worried is her safety. After Maylee begging for a puppy and wanting one for so long we figured she'd be great with it. Well that is so NOT the case. Maylee does not really get that she is a living being who can easily be broken or killed. She loves her too much and at the same time is so mean to her. Dutch and Talli are amazing with her and it is the cutest thing the world to hear Talli walking around the house calling for "ewww, ewww, ewww". But Maylee is a piece of work. She never wants to set her down, which is ok as long as she is holding her nicely. But when Maylee gets mad, she'll just go up and kick Rue. The other day I was positive she broke her leg. I was in my bathroom getting ready and all of the sudden I can hear Rue screaming. So I run down the hall, fling open Maylee's door and grab Rue out of Maylee's arm, and all the while this poor puppy still has not stopped screaming. I can instantly tell that her back leg is hurting. So I just sit down with her and try to calm her first of all. After about a minute she finally stops screaming, so then I start trying to check her leg to see if its broken. She would not walk on it or even put it down at all. After about five minutes she finally started walking on it and was fine. But it sure scared me. I made Maylee tell me what happened and she said she put her in her oven in her play kitchen. My Dad was here this weekend for my birthday and while he was here he walked out into my living room and Maylee had stuff Rue in a ziploc bag. Luckily she didn't have it zipped closed. So I have to watch out for that. If this puppy survives the first year of her life I'm sure she is going to make a great addition to our family. She's as cute as can be and super playful. Here's hoping.

I took a picture of her by a can so that you can try to see just how tiny she is.