Dancing Fool

A couple of weeks ago we got a Flip Camera at Costco. The kids have been having fun making videos with it. I found this one on the camera this morning.

Look who's 3!!!

Warren had a birthday this week. I can't believe how big he is getting. We celebrated with some cake. Who says you need a fork to eat cake?

Amber played Happy Birthday to him on her flute, while we all sang

Recipe Box

Redoing my recipe box has been on my to do list for quite some time. I finally got around to doing it. I used to put all my recipes in a big binder, but I decide quite some time ago that I liked having them printed up on 4 x 6 note cards. I figure it is easier to carry around one card then to carry around a whole notebook. Plus I like that I can keep the file on my computer and just print up the recipes for anyone who asks.

I reprinted all my recipe cards (I deleted all the recipes I haven't used for a while) and laminated them. Now I can just wipe them clean if I get food on them. Then I got scrap book paper and traced around the dividers I already had. I cut them out and laminated them. Then I stuck a label on them. I put the label on top of the laminated divider, so I could remove them if I wanted to change my categories later without having to make new dividers. I think I got the box at Target, but it could have been Walmart.

To make my original dividers I just used Manila folders to get the shape of the tabs, and a 4 x 6 note card to get the size. Once I cut out my initial dividers I just traced around them on the left over Manila folder to get the remaining dividers I needed.

After I finished with my recipe box I made this little holder to go along with it. Now I can just pull out all the recipes I need for the week and put them in here. I just need to put a magnet on the back and figure out where to put it. I have a stainless steel refrigerator, so I can't put it on the fridge. I used this tutorial to make the recipe card holder. If you are interested they also have a 30 meal plan that is pretty cool. Check it out.

Picture Day

Yesterday was picture day at school for Amber and Brennon. Amber had me curl her hair. Brennon wanted to wear a tie with his shirt, but decided against it when Amber made fun of him. I let them dress themselves, since I never buy the school pictures. They always turn out crappy, plus they are expensive. I would rather take the kids to Sears to get their pictures taken, at least then I know what I am getting. I haven't even done that for a couple of years. I think maybe I will take them again this year. I do buy yearbooks for the kids every year. That way they get a copy of their picture taken, and they have pictures of all their friends. I always loved yearbooks as a kid. We didn't have them offered till Jr. High though. I wish we could have ordered them in elementary school. I would have been in heaven. Then I could have put harts around all the boys I had crushes on. The only one I can remember now is Ryan Lennox from 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. When I played barbies he was always Ken. My best friend April Irvine, and I played barbies all the time. She also introduced me to Pat Benetar, who I still love. I even bought Devon a Pat Benetar record for his collection.

Four great years!

Yesterday was Jayson and my 4th year anniversary. It has gone by really fast. We have been pretty productive in four years. We have had 3 children. That gives us a total of 6. It gets a bit crazy around here most days, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Jayson thinks we have enough, but I wouldn't mind a couple more. I know that is crazy, but when you make them as good as we do, it would be a shame not to have more. I guess we will see what happens. I definitely want to wait a little while in any case. As I said it can get a bit crazy around here. I want Jayson to know how grateful I am for him. He is a wonderful husband and father. He took on me and my three kids and I am thankful for that everyday. I love that he is a big kid himself. He makes me laugh with the crazy things he comes up with. I love that he loves all our kids the same, even the ones he inherited. I love that he doesn't get mad at me when I throw a big temper tantrum. He just does his best to try and alleviate some of my stress. I love that he listens to me when I want to talk about all the things I want to do someday. It has been a great four years. I look forward to many more.

Chalkboard

Here is a chalkboard I finished today. I have been meaning to do it for a long time. Sarah and I each got a frame like this from a yard sale a few months ago (Devon used the pictures in his room. A clown and owl). Sarah still has to figure out what color she wants hers to be. I went with blue. I can always change it later if I get tired of the color. For now I love it. Sorry for the weird angle; the chalkboard is in the hallway off our kitchen.

A Jumper for Adalyn

I know I have been a terrible blogger lately. I have been doing quite a bit of stuff. One of the things I made lately is this jumper for Adalyn. I just traced around a jumper she had that I liked to make the pattern. Then I added a pocket following this tutorial. I really liked how it turned out. Here is a picture of the back
I have also made a few skirts. I will try and post those soon.