Hello Blog

due to some technical issues i was m.i.a from the world of blogger for a bit. they still arent totally resolved but i figured it out enough to make a post.

hmm.. what to post about...

lets start with the amazing world of costco.
pocatello friends, remember when costco opened and it was really just so exciting? we use to go walk costco a lot, especially in the winter because it was huge, free, had cool stuff, and by the time you left you had a full belly from all the sampling. anyways, there are things that have made my costco list that i never thought would.

popcorn. who needs 12 lbs of popcorn kernels? we do apparently. we are on our second giant tub. dev loves popcorn- the other night i woke up to him and zane sitting on the end of the bed eating popcorn and watching basketball. they both got scolded for eating popcorn in bed. not a bed approved snack.

item #2 band aids. i bought the jumbo multi pack of bandaids thinking it would be a lifetime before they would ever get used up. in fact, sometimes i put stuff in storage and think its main purpose will be for bartering when the world is in crisis mode- like the hundreds of pounds of lentils we have. anyways, back to my 3000 band aids, well on my current costco list is more. if i were keeping a running tally of what my kids are costing us, zane would have a chunk of cash owing to the use of band aids. lots of them. sooo many stinking band aids!

item 3- maple syrup. i use to do big fancy meals for sundays. well no more. pancakes it is! what a fantastic new tradition. easy, delicious and we all look forward to it. we do switch it up a tad and try new pancake recipes, as of lately we dabbled in the world of coconut pancakes and coconut syrup! (thanks for the idea lindsey!) so good.

there are also things i would really like to see less frequently on my lists-

shampoo! both boys are awful at using way too much shampoo in their baths and showers. ive lectured. ive explained. ive begged. ive demanded. the problem has layers to it, 1- the cost of a new bottle of shampoo every week. 2- complications in getting out all the suds. 3-if they use our bath it turns into the best slip n slide for the next person thanks to shampoo residue- thus risking knee injuries, rear end bruises and a grumpy start to the day.

laundry soap. how do people with more then a household of 5 stay on top of laundry?! holy smokes. preslie is currently the worse clothes messer-upper. shes a pukey little thing and is still a pro at blow outs. good thing i dont really mind laundry- especially tiny little frilly things. but i am excited when i can skip a day of clothes washing and not regret it the rest of the week while trying to catch up.

other things happening around here;
dev and i are both primary workers and really enjoying it. dev teaches the 10 and 11 yr olds and im with the sunbeams. i really am loving being in primary especially when my kids are in.

preslie is determined to be a thumb sucker and im not happy about it. i tried and tried to get her to take a binky or just self soothe with nothing- the problem with thumbs is you cant take them away! wowzers she is a good baby. goes to bed on her own, usually between 6-6:30, lay her down and shes out! doesnt even have to 'cry it out'- good thing, because that has never been something dev or i could do with the boys. shes rolling over tummy to back, and jabbers all day.

we just finished 3rd quarter and had parent teacher confrence. brody is still a school rock star, reading way above kindergarten level, getting straight a's- i wouldnt say he 'loves' school and thats a bit of a shame because theres soo much of it ahead of him. the world of public education has been eye opening for me, so much pressure put on our schools and teachers to meet requirements and hit levels of achievement. the pressure of course runs down to our kids. i have so much appreciation for teachers. for willing to take on this huge task. i have struggled a bit with my expectations- in a perfect world i would want elementary to be focused on social skills, creative learning, cultivating a positive attitude about school and learning, not just the scores. bravo to those teachers who are able to accomplish it all.

zane has become a lego fan, not a follow directions type but a lot of free style building. he also has a new passion for greek yogurt and pb&j sandwiches made by himself. brody showed him that you can pee outside and its been bad news. weirdo boy things i guess.

thats all folks.

Ruffles and Ruffles and Rufles

I come from generations of craftiness on both sides
I like to craft
I just haven't ever really been so good at it. I lack patience for detail and try to skip steps or just flat out don't follow directions. oops.

BUT this time I did everything I was told to do. And I added steps like drawing my chalk lines on so I for sure did my seams straight.

Ta Da!!!!

http://meandmadeline.blogspot.com/2011/02/tiered-ruffled-valances-tutorial.html

This is where I first saw them- after a google search. I obsessed over fabric for hours.

When I actually started to get stuff going I knew I wasn't going to be happy because the pattern was set up that the ruffles were attached to one piece of backing fabric, so when the valance moved or if you were standing right under them you would see the boring back fabric.

Dang. I did some more research and thought of those cute ruffle skirts that had the same fabric under the ruffle as the actual ruffle. Know what I mean?

Another google search for ruffle skirts led me to this site

http://grandrevivaldesign.typepad.com/grand_revival_design/sewing-tutorials/

So I sort of combined the two and took my time making them right. Each time I finished  a ruffle I 

I was shocked it was working!! Yahoo!

LOVE THEM!

Birthdays are for the BIRDS!

Home Skillet is SIX!

I am not old enough or wise enough to have a six yea old... am I??!

He picked an Angry Birds theme this year and it was a lot of fun to work with.

His invite.

We had 9 boys, 1 girl, Zane and Brody. yikes. But Fun

I saved boxes and took them off the hands of friends, then wrapped them up and we set up our own birds course. I actually wrote points on the boxes and we kept score. The kids had a lot of fun with it. If it wasn't their turn to launch a bird they either helped set the boxes up again or would go stand as a live targets (their idea)

 BIRD CUPCAKES!!!

After we had already sent out invites Brody said he wanted a Star Wars cake, and Darthmaul at that. Oh my heck, I was SUPER thrilled when I saw these, and Brody was all for it.  The idea was off thecraftingchicks.com. I did the eyebrows in frosting instead of licorice but that was the only change.

FYRFLYZ

I didn't do treat bags, everyone one got a fyrflyz, we turned off the lights and had a light show and figured out some cool tricks. Super fun. And a new fave cheap gift for the insane amount of birthdays Brody gets invited too

I took snow paints at recess for the kids to do. Fun times. Got the idea from Allie, and ill throw this on here, the "RECIPE' is water and food coloring, I found these bottles at walmart 2 for 2$

The weekend before, we went to Pocatello, and Brody had a family party, lucky kid!

I have yet to master the art of picture taking and enjoying the moment. So I don't have any pictures of gift opening.

But he was treated so well

Lots of Star Wars, Lego, Lego Star Wars, cars, Wii games, Itunes card,  water guns, board games, card games, pirate ship, magic hand boiler, books, bank, clothes, and a NEW BIKE! Yahoo! Maybe one day the snow will go away and he can actually ride it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRODY!!!!