A Fleeting Fall

For some it was a wonderful sight. For me, I could hardly keep the tears from pouring down my cheeks. Winter is definitely not my favorite season. I am just not ready for Fall to fade away into Winter so fast. Boo-hoo on Mother Nature. This is what we woke up to this past Sunday morning at 8:00 am. It snowed most the day off and on. Luckily by Monday it was pretty much all gone - atleast at the house. You could still see some on the mountains however for a few days.

Guess this means I should get a head start on my Christmas Shopping. Though Winter isn't my favorite season, Christmas is by far my most FAVORITE holiday. I love the shopping, the wrapping of gifts, and the giving. Receiving is good, but there's just something about giving a gift to someone else. Especially your hubby & kids. And I love decorating the house for Christmas. So I guess if Winter brings me that much closer to Christmas, then bring it on. I'll combat the chills with lots of Stephen's Peppermint Candycane hot cocoa, Peppermint Tea, and snuggling under quilts.

Knock Knock Knocking on Heaven's Doors

Ryan's step-sister (Lisa) got married this past weekend (to Breck). Here are some pictures from their special day.

At the Temple:

Berlin was a flower girl and though she cried and tried to take the dress off numerous times (she hated wearing the dress - she just wanted to be naked - hmmmm) she was pretty cute. The funniest moment was during pictures at the Temple, she just cried and cried and didn't want to sit or stand or pay attention. She just wanted to rip all the flowers out of her wand. Here she was crying because she wanted to climb the steps rather than take pictures. Of course she got what she wanted. Once at the top she was tickled to just knock on the big Temple door. The not so funny part was that Finn didn't want to take pictures and he cried & threw a fit as well. This we weren't so happy about. It's one thing for a 19 month old to cry about it, but a 3 1/2 year old? That was just embarrassing. Hence, he's missing in the group kid pics.

At the Reception:

Finley was such a big helper. He and the big kids carried chairs to the tables. He LOVED doing this. He was also very helpful in introducing Berlin to the cookietable. Lucky for them the cookie table was in arms reach and both he and Berlin could get their own cookies. At one point she had one in her mouth and one in her hand, then Finn brought her another one for the empty hand. Let's just say that after about 9 cookies Berlin crashed from her sugar high.

Toot Toot!

yeah, that's the sound of me tooting my own horn. So if you aren't in the mood to read some bragging, then honey - you are reading the WRONG blog!!!

Just kidding - kinda. Ryan is in Vegas this whole week for work (a glass show) and before he left he was so kind to dig out my sewing machine from storage. Oh how I missed my sewing machine these past 5 weeks!!! I'm so happy to have re-kindled my relationship with my Singer. Here it is in all it's sewing glory (note: Berlin's costume in the background - tooting of my own horn to follow shortly).

I decided that Berlin would be Tinkerbell for Halloween this year. She's so tiny & her blond pixie hair is just perfect for it. But I didn't just want some generic Disney branded Tink costume avail at pretty much every retail outlet this time of year. So, I decided to create my own pattern. Ok, no pattern really, I just started cutting fabric, sewing here and there, and this is what I came up with:

All I can say is that I am SOOOOOO freakin' happy with the way it turned out. From the corset top, to the tutu, to the little puffs on her shoes. The back is so cute too - the corset laces up with chiffon ribbon and ties is a BIG bow (cause all bows should be big when it comes to tutus). I was so pleased that of course I had to call Ryan in Vegas to tell him that I just rocked a pretty awesome costume in less than 2 hours. The best part is that the whole costume cost about $15 (shoes included). It's moments like this when I realize why I fell in love with sewing in the first place. Now .... if I could just figure out Finn's costume!

These boots were made for walking ...

Finley has his green bug rainboots and Berlin is always wanting to wear them. This usually leads to tears and fighting as Finn refuses to let her wear them. So I went thru our many unpacked boxes until I found his old ones and gave them to her. Though they are a little big on her, Berlin couldn't have been happier and now that she knows they are hers, she wears them ALL the time. Here she is toddling around the house in her boots. I just LOVE love LOVE this sassy girl!

Growing Up

So yesterday was Finley's official FIRST day of pre-school without Ryan or I there. As I took him to class, helped him hang up his backpack, wash his hands, then find an activity to do while the other kids checked in, there were 3 other little boys crying for their parents. Finn was just looking at me like, "What the heck is their problem?" It was pretty funny actually. But as I left and walked back to my car, I found myself fighting back tears. It only lasted a couple minutes, but I realized that it was harder than I thought it would be. He just seemed so grown up and it made me a little sad thinking about how fast the last 3 1/2 years have gone by.

Here he is all grown up with his big boy backpack in the front yard and then playing while the other kids checked in.