I'm Domesticated

So my friend Rebecca has inspired me to hon in on some of my homemaking skills. She made the cutest shirts for her and her girls for family pictures so I had to do something.

I've had this really cute sun flower material left over that I used to make some Kitchen curtains. that I've really wanted to make a dress for Kathryn. But I don't have any patterns so the other day I needed some material to make my new cute swimsuit a little more modest and learned a better way to fix my suit from the very helpful lady at Sally's. So since I was there I decided to find a pattern for Kathryn. And just my luck all Simplicity patterns were on sale 75% off. I found a cute pattern with a couple different dress styles, some shirts and shorts. I'm so happy I get to use the pattern again.

This is the first time I've followed a pattern from start to finish all by my self without help from my mom. I didn't even call her. I just figured it out all on my own!

I have to say it turned out so cute. I had to make the elastic on the neck smaller as it was falling off Kathryn's shoulders but man its so cute!

And I found a cute hair style off a blog on hair do's and well I have to say Kathryn was the Cutest little girl at Church on Sunday.

You tell me isn't she the cutest baby you've ever seen?

Four Fingered Pianist

This was amazing. I can never say I can't do this ever again. This is just incredible. It's a long video but worth the 10 mins.

Kissing Cousins

Need I say more

Mother's Day

Matthew surprised me yesterday morning with a clean kitchen and roses and breakfast in bed. He must have gotten up really early. He is so wonderful. The best part of the whole holiday is that I have a little girl that makes me a very happy mommy. She brought me a rose and a card. She even did a little coloring in the card to make her mark.

Red Roses, Isn't Matthew so thoughtful!

A beautiful butter cream/Lemon cake. So Yummy!

And look what I got to come into the Kitchen to see. Isn't this amazing. Matthew did this all without me even knowing anything as I was asleep.

I can't say in words how much I love and cherish each moment as a Mother. Kathryn is so wonderful and I even like taking care of Matthew to. I just did Laundry this morning and I was putting away Matthew's shirts and just thinking of how happy I am that I can stay home and be a wife and mother and take care of the ones I love.

My mother, Millicent H Turley is the most amazing women. I wish I had a picture with her so I can post and you can see the love and passion and determination in her eye's. It's so wonderful living so close and I can go see her anytime I want. I could even go visit at school where she is teaching first grade if I really needed her. She always knows what to say and how to help. I ask her questions about raising Kathryn and she so modestly says "It's been so long" but still seems to know the right things to say.

Some things I love about her

1. She was a stay at home mom when I was growing up

2. She made the best green pancakes for St Patty's day, Candy cane pancakes for Christmas and JackoLantern pancakes for Halloween.

3. She gave the best back scratches every night growing up. I think she even did this into high school and even after college if I needed her to talk to before bed. She also gives the best foot rubs ever.

4. She is always encouraging me to do my best, in what ever thing I am into at the time.

5. She is the best grandma to her grand kids.

6. She is the strongest, most determined, and hardest working mom there is.

7. She's still with us after a long struggle with Breast Cancer.

8. She has a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

9. She shares her testimony with me and my family.

10. She reminds me of my grandma Heaton, her mom.

My mom's Posterity.

6 wonderful girls

6 handsome son-in-laws

6 rowdy grandsons
6 princess granddaughters

Fruit of my labors

So last night we had the first bits of veggies from the garden. It all tasted so yummy. I had a few beets and some swiss chard. The beets were sweet and the swiss chard was just so yummy. Even Matthew had some chard and a little bite of the beets. I think its so cool to be able to eat food that I grew. I've never done that before. I'm glad i had enough yard to do it. Next growing season I'll try so more.

I do have a whole lot of squash getting ready to grow. Lots of blossoms and yesterday I went out and they're are some inch long squash out there. I can't wait for some of those too.

A little bit of Lettuce

Swiss Chard

Beets

Fun Fun Fun and more Fun!

This post will be just pictures of some fun things Kathryn has been able to do the last few weeks.

I got another Culture Pass, this time for the Arizona Museum for Youth. This is Play Heaven for Kathryn. She probably would have loved staying there forever. I'm thinking my next christmas present for us is a pass to this museum. It is awesome! Now I want to try the Phoenix one. I hear that one is even better.

I took a friend in my ward with me Becky Macias and her kids. They had a ton of fun too.

Even Emily got to have some fun!
This is the corn stocks that Elleanna put little animals in. It was to cute. I wish my camera was better to see the animals.

Kathryn loved the slide. She needed a little encouragement each time but she loved it all the same.

Tavien was all over the place too. He loved the slide more then Kathryn did. Up and Down, Up and Down.

Here they are fixing dinner. Kathryn had a pizza on her plate. That's my girl, she could eat Pizza for every meal.

Another Cute Slide picture.

I got to watch my cousins little girl Marissa the other day. Kathryn and Marissa have so much fun together. I'm so glad we live close so they get to see each other often. Kathryn is wearing Marissa's socks. So silly

A little to much fun I'd have to say. They had lots of fun with the crown and mostly the lip gloss that Marissa had. I might have to invest in some kid lipgloss for kathryn soon. She loves it when I put chapstick and such on her lips.

We went to the park by our house before the Ward picnic the other day. Kathryn loves swinging Especially with daddy!

Another fun filled day with the triplets. We are doing the art project that we got from the family fun van. it was birthday crowns. They all did so good coloring their crowns. and they especially liked the stickers that came with it.

I don't have any pictures of the swimming we did but I got to take her swimming at the VVL's club house with some friends of mine. We were at the beach part and Kathryn just LOVED it. she got to walk around the water all afternoon. She didn't want to leave. I was pretty good at putting sun screen on her but I didn't get myself so much and by back is now toasted. I guess I got a step forward for a summer tan. I hope to get a picture or two from my friend Michelle. She took a few of the group of toddlers swimming around.

Mischievous little ones

So I went to my moms and my sister Shelley was there with her kids and this is what I find on the counter. Adam will be 2 in a week. Its fun to see how similar Kathryn and Adam have become in their mischievous ways. First the needle's and tacks, then Vaseline and lipstick all over, now this, Adam puts all of Grandpa's tools in the peanut butter jar. I think my mom took a picture of all the tools laid out next to the jar after she cleaned them out. It was like 20 different items plus a few screws down deep.

Does Dewalt have a warranty for peanut butter stains. Don't chew to fast you might swallow a screw!

If you look close you will see the temple quilt my mom is doing for Matthew and I on the floor with the tacks all over the floor and in the little ones hands are all the pins and needles from the pin coushin, that they are strategicly putting in the carpet around them. Lucky for us no one got poked. This was the same night they got into the Vasaline.

Phoenix Art Museum/ Culture Pass

So if you haven't heard about the Culture Pass that you can get from the Library you really need to check it out. I've been the Science Center with my sister Rachel and now the Phoenix Art Museum with my other sister Melissa and her girls all for free. The Art museum was really cool. I haven't been to an art museum for so long. My favorite was the fire fly exhibit. If you have a chance to go to the museum this is worth the drive out there. I had fun with Melissa, Savannah and Chloe. I know they enjoyed it more then Matthew would have if we went. Savannah and Chloe are the oldest grand kids. They are so grown up. They are big texters. They were texting Cha Cha questions about things the whole time. It was really funny. This week I'm going to try for passes to one of the mesa museums. Either the youth museum or the dinosuar one. I've heard both of those are awesome.

I guess I have culture in my life now that I"ve been to an Art museum. Now all I need to do is have all sorts of different food and that will put me over the top. ha ha this is a joke for John my brother in law. He makes fun of people who think they have culture cause they've had ethnic food and see some art. I'm up to the limit for culture cause I like Vietnamese food...

If you want to know more about the Culture Pass give me a call. We could all get the same museum pass and have a great time!

We have a Lawn, well part of one

A month or so ago Matthew decided that we needed to plant grass on one side of our front yard. I have a garden one one side and the other was just weeds and dirt. So we went to Home Depot and got some grass seed and some fertilizer. We were hoping for some great green grass to pop up any day and nothing ever did. All I was doing was watering the weeds more and more each day. And then we here that Granny is coming down for a doctors appointment and we for sure need to do something with the dirt and weed side of the yard or we wouldn't here the end of it from Granny on how we are not taking care of her house enough so we decided to go with Sod instead. Matthew is so funny sometimes in how he plans things out. When he's got something on his mind to do he does it right then. there's no planning or thinking it out it's I want this done now or I'm going to go crazy so back to home depot he goes a couple weeks ago with his Uncle's truck and comes home with sod. It was hard work laying it and trying to get all the weeds out and making it smooth. Which it is far from smooth. Anyway, it looks great. Kathryn loves to play in the water when I'm watering the lawn. I don't have pictures of that yet but I'll get some soon. The lawn is so soft to walk on now and Kathryn will actually well most of the time stay on the lawn and not run away to the street. Now I just need a little picket fence to hold her in and I'll be set to weed the garden while she plays in the lawn.

My garden was a long time coming. We planted in the middle February I think and I thought all I was going to get was squash but low and behold I have beets growing and swiss chard and some lettuce. We planted onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots of which nothing grew. I guess its true that tomatoes need to be bought as plants and not seeds. I look forward to getting to use food from my garden. I hope our next house I can get a better garden going with a lot more veggies and fruit in it.

Summer Squash

Family Easter Party

We had our family Easter party out in Maricopa at a park near my sisters house. It was cold and windy. Great for kites. Kathryn loves flying kites. and now I know she loves Easter candy. We had lots of fun!

Check out the picture of Kathryn's Easter dress too. She was the cutest Easter baby ever on Sunday.

Play date with the Triplets

I went to my friend Shelby's house the other day to have a fun play date with her triplets, Halle, Caden and Jack. They had so much fun. First lunch, Mac and cheese, then a lot of fun outside in her fabulous backyard. I wish I had my camera our for that part then we came inside and played in the nursery. Kathryn liked climbing up the slide but we tried to teach her to go around and climb in the back.
Shelby's triplets are 19 months.



I love this picture of Jacks face poking out of that little circle. and of course Cadens little bumby!

Hoppy Easter

This is them after their findings. Kathryn got a whistle as well as some yummy candy.

Kathryn did a pretty good job finding some eggs. She really liked holding and shaking the ones with jelly beans and M&Ms in them.

Here we are with Rory, Paige and Me as the Easter Bunny.

Rachel invited me to a Easter picnic that she and her friends have done the last few years yesterday. It was a fun day for Kathryn to learn to find eggs and just play with other kids she's never played with before. She also got to eat her first jelly beans and candy eggs. She had a blue chin most of the day. We'll have a family Easter picnic on Saturday so more Easter pictures to come.

Family Camp Out

So this last weekend for Matthews 30th birthday I planned or rather Matt and I planned a camp out. We left Friday morning around 10 to go to Haigler Creek but the directions we had didn't get us there so we ended up in Valentine Canyon near Canyon creek. We will now for next time to plan a better map and hope to not have any car trouble.

We got up to Payson and stopped for some lunch and noticed our engine was smoking. Matthew checked it out and saw a bunch of what he thought might be oil or something spilling all over the engine. So we stop at a Big O for some help and they send us to a great guy who helped us out. He said it was Transmission Fluid. He said we had almost 3 quarts more then what is needed. We noticed it cause it was getting so hot and had no room to go it was coming out the dip stick.

(side note I had just got my oil change a few weeks ago at a Big O here on Gilbert road and the 60. I would recommend not ever going there again as it was them who over filled it and previously rotated our tires and over tightened the bolts and 3 of 5 broke off the one time we get a flat tire... Lesson learned)

Anyway back to the camping trip. We finally make it to a camp sight after looking for the first planned out sight for a while at like 4 in the afternoon. Yeah I know we left at 10 and arrived at 4. It was only 30 mins outside Payson. Like I said next time we'll be more prepared. Anyway we find this nice little spot by a creek but no bathroom. I wasn't to found of that Idea but the place we saw with the bathroom was on the top of a canyon and it was so windy we definatly would have blown away up there.

Kathryn did great the whole time. It was quite cold but she didn't seem to mind it at all when we got there and even for the night. She liked the fire a lot. I guess she gets that from me as I was the one who got the fire going that evening and again in the morning. Anyway we just set up camp went on a little walk down the creek and ate our freeze dried dinner. It was actually pretty good. Matt is really intersted in getting that type of food for our year supply rather then things like wheat and the like. it ended up being good.

We got in the tent and in bed by like 7:30 as it was really really cold. and then by like 8:00 it had started storming. I mean we had Hail, and the loudest and longest thunder and some really great lightening lighting up our tent for about 2 hours I would say. Kathryn wasn't scared at all. She just snuggled into us and was asleep way before we were. She did keep waking up a few times but was not crying to much and one time I think it was about 4 in the morning she was up and pointing around and blowing kisses to us. After that though she slept till about 8 which is when we got up anyway.

The morning was so COLD. There was Snow like patches of hail all over the ground. Our car was covered in Ice. Kathryn wasn't to happy in the morning. I don't blame her. Matt and I didn't get warmed up till after we got back here and a long bath and some time under the blankets.

It turned out to be a really short camping trip for our first ever family camp out on our own but it was fun and I'd say we will do it again once it gets a little warmer in the mountains. Freezing the whole time was not so fun. It was fun to see Kathryn explore when we first got there but other then that it was just a night of freezing and little sleep. Next time... Next time...


Matthew made a fun video of us setting up our camp site. I'll have him get it ready to put on here soon.