November is here! segment 24, 25, 26 and 27

As today is Jacob's birthday I thought I would start with him. I am very thankful for Jacob. He most definately has a pretty big stinker streak, but he more than makes up for it in other areas. I am thankful for him sweetness and his desire to make everyone happy. I am also thankful for his sense of humor. We had an amazing day today, Daddy picked up donuts for Jacob's birthday breakfast and we got the house picked up in preparation for Christmas decorations. After everyone but me ate donuts Jacob opened his gifts from us which he was very happy with. Grandma Kay (my Dad's mom) took us all to the lapidary store and got Jacob a rock polisher, or tumbler, which I am pretty excited about. Then she took us out to eat at Home Town Buffet, one of the kids favorite places to eat that they only get to go to when Grandma takes them. Note, I more than made up for the donut I skipped having this morning!

I am thankful for the season! We got almost all of our Christmas decorations put up this evening. We listened to Christmas music and decorated. I am thankful for Christmas music and lights and just about everything having to do with Christmas.

If you are Helga or Becca, please don't read any further, the rest contains spoilers for Christmas gifts...

I am thankful for all the sewing I have been doing and I am so excited to give everyone my gifts this year.
These are Barbie clothes for my nieces, they match the dresses I made for Peyton and my nieces.
Here is another barbie dress

This is the back of one of the doll dresses that also matches, only the little girls are getting these, I ran out of fabric, sniff, sniff.

This is the front.

Here are some of them all together. I have 3 nieces and Peyton. I wish we were all going to be together for Christmas so I could get pictures of them all in their dresses!

I am thankful for my nice, comfortable warm bed too, goodnight!

November is here! segment 10

All I did until this afternoon was play games with Ben, exercise, shower and play more games with Ben. That kid is a game maniac, seriously. He's good too, I don't just mean good for a 4 year old either, he's really good. The kid actually bested me at checkers. I've never played it with him before and I was honestly expecting to whip him at it. I was trying too. It was probably the best game of checkers I've ever played, I gave it my all. He was so happy at beating me that immediatly after he asked me if he could call Daddy. I let him gloat. I got on the phone with Ty after Ben gloated for just a minute and Ty told me that last week he taught Ben how to play, they played a game where he was just pretty much learning the rules, and then they played again and Tyler had to actually try to beat him, which he did. I don't think anyone beats Ty at checkers. It's kind of funny to think that Ben is a more challenging opponent than I am. Anyway, I know that's a big explanation of what I'm getting at here, but...

I am thankful that I have kids that are smarter than I am. I'm not saying they know more than I do right now, but they are better at some things already and they know some things that I don't. I am sure by the time they are my age they will know far more than I do now.

I am also very thankful that having 3 boys has really mellowed me out A LOT. What's going on in this picture below would have really bothered me several years ago, now I can almost even handle when the boys jump from arm to arm on the leather couches, almost. If you can't tell, they are tipping Grandma Williams rocking recliner on it's back, I hope she is not turning in her grave, so to speak.

I am not thankful that Sister Dunford left us. Before she left I gave her a Barbie Sister Dunford. When she showed up that morning for my sister's discussion she was wearing a white shirt and black skirt just like her counterpart, minus the black lace. I happened to have some black lace, so before she left I quickly added it. It was very worth the time it took as she was VERY happy to have her very own Sister Missionary Barbie.

However, I am happy to report that although the new sister is no Sister Dunford, I like her. She is from Tonga and this is her first area. 2 months ago she did not speak english and I am amazed at how well she does now. She has definately been blessed with the gift of tongues. They came over last night for another discussion with my sister and it was fun to hear a little about Tonga (they eat dogs there, Sister Tufoe does not though)and how it differs from here. She helped teach part of the discussion and did a beautiful job and had the spirit with her. I am happy to report that my mom knows she is learning about the church and is fine with it. I love my mom so very much and her support means a great deal to me. Mom, if you're reading this, I love you!

November is here! segment 6

Tonight what I am most grateful for is my bed! I cannot tell you how incredibly tired I am. I slept horribly last night. It took me way too long to fall asleep and because of the time change, which is still messing me up, I can't sleep past 6 am, so, when you go to sleep at 2am, 5:30 am is way to early to wake up!

ok, I must say, I am very thankful for my miscellaneous craft supplies that allow me to be creative and make things for little or no money. This is my latest holiday decor project and I'm planning on doing something similar for Christmas so...IF YOU HAVE ANY GOOD IDEAS FOR WORDS LET ME KNOW! I'm thinking I'll for sure do one that says "believe".
I start with 2x4 scraps and cut them to the desired length and then sand them with my electric sander, Then I paint them.
After that I put the word in my chosen font printed from the computer on top of transfer paper and trace over it.

This is how it looks after

Then I paint the words in a contrasting color, I didn't take a picture of the final result, but I distress the edges with my sander and that's it. The look cute stacked on a shelf or hanging on a wall, or just by themselves.

I am also thankful for this cute, sweet, funny little girl. I played Barbies with her tonight. She was my mom's old Ken and I was Barbie. She makes them talk now and it is too cute. Family came over for cake and ice cream for Micah's birthday tonight and Micah's best friend Colton came too and is spending the night. It was a great night and I'm thankful to have so many of our family here close to us.

Just look at that smile!

November is here! segment 2

It's not yet midnight, so I'm still keeping up on my challenge!

I am thankful that I have a patient grandmother that taught me to sew at a young age and let me use scissors at age 2. I am also thankful that she has a huge supply of sewing stuff and gives me fabric even when I don't ask for it! I can't leave out that I'm thankful for the clearance tables and discounted fabrics at any given store, and my castaway clothing that can be remade into Barbie clothes, doll clothes and little girls clothes.
I'm very thankful for a sister that has finally become my friend. I'm thankful that I get to see her most days of the week and that she still changes poopy diapers and wipes snotty noses and helps with my kids even though she has a new baby of her own.

This may sound silly to some, but I'm thankful that I finally got a picture with all 4 of my kids in it, all 4 smiling, all 4 looking at the camera, amazing!

Lastly, for today, I am thankful I let my husband talk me into digital scrapbooking. I am thankful I can get something productive, worthwhile and creative done without making a mess and without spending any money. Oh yes, and I'm thankful to have 4 beautiful and funny children that give me an endless amount of material to scrapbook!!!

The haps

Life has been busy lately. Today I am home from church with a sick baby. Miss P has a cough, it's occasional but sounds awful, very croup like, and her breathing sounds yucky. She seems herself and has been playing all morning but we thought it wise not to have her around other children. Christmas preparations have taken over a majority of my time, this year we made the decision to spend as little money as possible, which means spending more time and putting more thought into our gifts. When I am not making Christmas gifts, I am spending time with the kids and trying to stay on top of the laundry and meals. If any of you think my house is always clean you should see it now, it isn't. I wish I could post some pictures of my latest projects, but they are mostly Christmas gifts, so it'll have to wait. I did finish a Barbie kitchen and it looks awesome. I made a beaded chandelier for it (which does not light) and tiled it with sample tiles from Terra Olsen (thanks Terra!) I'll try to get pics of that soon. Anyway, I am really enjoying sewing and crafting and Tyler is sick of the machine being on the kitchen table, but seeing as it is in constant use I just can't put it away. Yesterday when I was on my way home from taking the kids to a primary activity I happened upon a yard sale and found a perfect little desk for my sewing needs. It is in desperate need of a sanding and painting makeover, but it will be perfect. I knew I couldn't fork over even $20 for it, but I probably would have. I asked how much they wanted and they said $5! I took it, I kind of feel guilty though. I am going to start on that project tomorrow if I can find some sand paper for my little mouse sander. I will get before and after pics this time! Oh, this past week I also had the Jefferey kids all week while their parents were in Vegas, so I was taking kids to and from school all week which I am not used to. I have gotten spoiled having kids that ride bikes! Anyhow, that's what's been going on here, for the most part. Hopefully I'll have some project pictures up soon!

My Barbie car chop shop

Yes folks, a Barbie car can be stripped. There were a few who thought I was a little crazy and they're probably right, but I'm glad I am. One of my old Beehive girls, Wendy Freeman, gave me their family's old Barbie car, Limo to be exact. It even has a hot tub in the back! It was in pretty good shape too, just the stickers were looking a little worse for wear. Although I'm a huge fan of pink (it is my favorite color) I prefer Barbie stuff to have a more realistic look, always have. All of the kids were very excited to have a Barbie car and the boys were overjoyed that it was no longer going to be pink (not a very boyish color). I really didn't have any idea how much I still love Barbie stuff until I started making the Barbie house, now I can't stop with the Barbie stuff, it is so much fun. I feel like I am making all those childhood wishes and dreams come true, you know, the stuff I always wished I had but never did? Well, I'm glad P likes the Barbies cause here they come! The boys are having a blast too. Micah has requested a Ken doll for himself and one for each of his brothers, you know, so they can play with their sister like they said they would since she has no sisters to play dolls and Barbies with. They are so sweet, but I know they like it as much for themselves too.

Above and below are before pictures

Here is a before picture top view. The boys want me to put the tv and shelf stickers back on that you see in the back seat area. They did peel off nicely and I put them on wax paper, so I might put them back in.
This picture below is after I removed all the stickers and wheels and scrubbed it and covered the interior with plastic wrap and packing tape.

This is another view from above


I asked Ty to pick up some silver spray paint made for plastic when he went to the hardware store. he didn't find any silver, so I had him get black. I actually really like the black, looks like a true limo.

I do want to add some "lights" and plates, but even without, it's a pretty sweet ride.

Thank you Freeman family, this car will be used and loved by all!

Best Saturday part I-Barbie Furniture

Last Saturday was awesome. It started out with My sister Morgan and I making furniture for Barbies. My Grandma Kay did this for me when I was little. If you know me very well, you know that Barbies were pretty much my all time favorite toy, and I LOVED setting up their furniture. Several years ago I made a Barbie house complete with furnishings for my sister and I had so much fun doing it that I wanted to do it again for Peyton (yeah, and I confess, mostly for me!). I knew she wouldn't really care yet, but it would be a fun project and she would hopefully love it someday. I was so wrong! She loves it now and it is so cute to watch her play. She puts her Barbie in the bed and covers her and then puts her finger to her lips and says, "Shh"

This is my sister upholstering the couch I made using a cereal box. We made a great team.

Here is the lounge chair I made from a cereal box and a cheezit box before it was upholstered.

This is the Living room furniture and the fabric over the back of the highchair is the curtains for the room. I am going to be putting Ty's carpentry skills to the test again and have him make some wood boxes for me to use as the rooms. I used cardboard the last time but I want it to be nice and last this time. I am going to use Plexiglas for the windows, if I can find it, last time I used a Ziploc bag! Nice, I know. I have learned and I'm improving. Caleen, the button on the lounge chair pillow is one I got from you, thanks!

My sister is covering the headboard. All of the fabric we are using is from Laz e Boy samples that my grandma got from her sister who works there, all free, and sometimes I use old clothing. Denim is especially good for furniture.

Do you see how happy this child is? She really likes all the throw pillows too. I will post more pics when I start getting the rooms together. I made a little boys furniture set in Americana theme that is my favorite. I'll get pics of that one for sure.

Please let me know if you have any ideas for more accessories, furniture or decor. I'm thinking of using mirrors from old compacts for the bathroom. Not sure how to make sinks and a tub yet. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!