Grandparents in the Temple, and a Before and After

Yesterday was such a fantastic day. Our family has been anticipating it and talking about it for quite some time, so I promise it should be done now. :-) Yesterday many of our family were able to attend the temple while our grandparents, Wowo (Louise) and Gene received their endowments and were sealed to one another. Mom was also sealed to them. What an incredibly exciting and spiritual experience! We have all been amazed to see the transformation that has come over Grandma in the last couple years, and for me at least, surprised by some of the things we never knew about Gene! It has been such a great thing for the whole family.

Needless to say, by the time the session and sealing were done, Grandma and Grandpa were beat, and all they wanted to do was get out of there. But I waited after everyone else had left and ambushed them outside the temple. Hopefully someday they will agree with me that they really needed a picture of the two of them outside the temple. The photos were quick, and you can tell they're tired, but I love them anyway.

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Next, I just wanted to share some fun "Before and After" pics with you. :-)

Yum!

K, Mom, I'm about done now...

Enough with the stupid camera, Mom!

Aaaah, much better.

Haha, even covered in potatoes she's a sweetheart! :-) Happy last week of March!

Gotta Love a Good Surprise!

Last weekend I helped my friend throw a surprise birthday party for her oldest daughter, Kaili. If you read my blog much, you'll be familiar with Kaili and her BF Justin. Kaili turned 18 last week. While she told her mom and dad that she didn't want to have a party, they decided to have us put something together while they took her and Justin to dinner.

It was SO much fun to scheme with Cindy over the party. She got some of our friends from the ward in on the action, and Kaili's sisters and I went to the church early to set up and decorate. I'm so glad we've found so many great friends in the ward and that Cindy was willing to let me help and share in such a special day. Happy birthday Kaili!

Aubrey helping me test the quick backdrop

Table decor: LOVED making these pom poms!

Everyone who showed up a bit early helped pitch in to get the decor up in time!

She's coming!

The big reveal. :-)

Kylee & Justin

No one remembered matches. :-) We made her fake it. haha

Our friends, Jolene and Blaine...don't you think he looks a little creepy here? ;-) 

Our friend Val helped with the party too!

Kaili with her mama, Cindy

Brianna was napping, so her and daddy came later.

The whole fam-dam.

FINALLY! A New Car Seat Cover...

About a month ago, we decided to break out one of the carseats we had sitting in the shed. It's perfectly suitable for infants up, but we generally used it when they outgrew the infant carrier seat. But with me traveling to Pocatello 4 days each week with Brianna and Aedan, it was becoming a pain in the rear to change the car seat base all the time between the car and the Tahoe. So we decided to get the bigger seat out and put it in the Tahoe.

That was all fine and well until I saw the dang seat. I have no idea what possessed me to store it looking the way it did, but it was GROSS. It had food and melted crayon all over. We used it a couple times with a blanket under her bum, but it just wasn't cutting it for me. So I decided to follow this tutorial from Make It and Love It, and refashion a new cover for the seat.

Wow. What a project. It went really well the first day that I tore into it. All the individual pieces looked perfect as I put them together. But, being an imperfectionist (yes, I made that up) when it comes to sewing, the execution of putting them all together was not great...exactly. To make matters worse, the seat cover I was using for a pattern was not much better, and the sides were not well designed...they never stayed on the seat. So by the time I got to the point of adding sides to make the whole thing stay on the seat....well, I kinda gave up. :-) It's been sitting in our dining room, a nasty carcass of a car seat, ever since.

Until today. Drumroll...Okay, don't do that. It's not that great. But it's done. And I like it about a hundred times better than the old nasty one! (I can't find the pictures I took of the old one, so I guess you'll just have to imagine it.)

Brianna's Paddy's Day Outfit

I finally finished Brianna's new outfit for St. Patrick's Day today, and I just couldn't wait to share it! (In my defense, I've been busy caring for a sick baby who couldn't care what day it is, so I'm not to upset about being a day late. Besides, which a name like Brianna Shea McDermott, she deserves to have the luck of the Irish all year long!)

I started with a plain white t-shirt I found on clearance at WalMart for $1....yep, a buck! Then I added the shamrocks...they're made out of hearts cut from various green fabrics and attached to the shirt with heat 'n bond before sewing them on. Then I sewed the stems.

When I finally finished the shirt, I decided to make her some leggings/tights to go with, since green is not a common color in her wardrobe. I followed the tutorial here at Made By Rae, and it was slick! I think it took me all of 5 minutes! I added the ruffle bum as an afterthought. 

It's a lot cuter before she stretches them out, I should have put the ruffles closer together. Also, the knit fabric I used seemed to be SO stretchy, but I guess not. These are a bit tight on her. 

Then I rounded it all off with a new headband clip of green rosettes, using the same fabric from the shamrocks and the leggings. I think I may add a little pearl in the middle, what do you think?

 I think the entire outfit may have cost me $1.50, $2 tops.

Spring!

Goodness, five posts in a week...something is definitely wrong here. I think it may be my version of spring fever! Today was not exactly warm, it didn't even reach 50 degrees, but it was much warmer than it has been so the kids begged to spend the afternoon outside.

The first days of spring bring us a lot of bike riding:

Even in the rain:

And only after digging the bikes out of the shed:

Goofy smiles:

And more genuine poses:

Kylee practices her skipping:

 

And when it's really sunny and welcoming (making for a very happy mama), 

they just might get lucky with a treat:

The baby girl is finally starting to get better, and we got lucky with a hint of her beautiful smile:

And to top off our lovely spring day, the kids wore themselves out enough to give mama some quiet time with her sewing machine. Happy Spring!

Doodles

We've been noticing for some time that Kylee is really getting into art. She loves to color now and she is actually quite good at it. When my friend Jolene (a fabulous artist herself) posted a "doodle" on her blog, I knew I had to show it to Kylee. To my surprise, Aedan loved it too!

This is Jolene's finished doodle:

You can see (and buy) more of Jolene's work here.

And here is one of Kylee's:

Jolene later told me about the doodles offered by Rich Davis, another great artist. His doodles are so much fun...anything from Doodle Bugs to Doodle Flowers and Doodle Robots. We've been doodling all over the place, and every once in awhile we learn a new one. 

Since it's pouring outside today, and we're home with a sick baby sister, it was time to break out a new doodle. Today we learned how to draw "Lumbardo", a new doodle bug. 

  

Kylee's:

Aedan's:

Then Kylee decided to do a frog again, since it's been awhile, 

and Aedan begged for Ekey the Robot.

Aedan's: Ekey (sorry, I didn't rotate it, so you'll have to tilt :)

I know they aren't as good as Rich's, but I'm pretty sure they're brilliant for a 3 and 5 year old! :-) Kylee drew a frog for her teachers when they were studying the letter "F" and was pretty proud of herself. Rich Davis also sells a product called Pick and Draw. Take a look if you go to his website...I think it may make it into an Easter basket this year, along with a book Jolene told me about that teaches doodles similar to these. If you're looking for some rainy-day activities, check it out!