Feeling Crafty

Every once in a while I get sudden urges to sew. It usually happens when I go to Utah and see my mother-in-law's sewing room. There's usually a fabric store stop somewhere in there as well. This last trip to Utah included a stop at the Fabric Mill. I saw the cutest tote bag hanging up and I decided that I wanted to make it. I have never made a tote bag but that didn't matter. If there's a pattern then it must be possible to sew, right? So I picked up my pattern and some Mary Englebright fabric by Moda. I read the instructions and I had no idea where to even begin. So I mentally put that project on hold.

Then a great thing happened....my parents came to visit and that meant that my mom and I could do this project together. My family jokes that when you come to my house there is always a sewing machine involved. So last night we started the tote bag and at 4am the bag was finished. (I just need to get a button for it.) It took us a while because we wanted to make sure we were doing it right. When it was all done we both decided that it was a pretty easy project. I can't wait to make more!

This is the view of the inside of the bag. It has lots of pockets!

Fort Hull

This is what my living room usually looks like.

This is what it has looked like the past few days. The boys made a fort and set up camp. They have been sleeping in there! Do you see the bench on the right side? That was Blake's spot...he slept underneath. After the boys would go to sleep I would go and start removing some of the blankets so that they would have fresh air.

My nephew came to visit and they played there all day long.

It may not look like much but it was neat to see how they managed to keep everything from falling. They placed a cube ottoman on top of the two chairs and cut up some yarn to tie everything. The blue blanket is being held in place on the window sill by our free weights. (At least they get some use...) There is also a fan under the blue blanket so that they would get some air. I went in there but it was a little too cozy for my liking.

We have now taken it down but the boys are excited to start building another one soon.

Yucaipa Regional Park

I took the boys to the Regional Park today. It was so much fun. This park is right behind our neighborhood and this is the first time we have gone to the water area as a family. They have campgrounds here and I've always thought it would be a great place to camp.....if we forget something we could always run home and get it. But then again, it just might be too tempting to pack up our things and go home if things are quickly becoming rough. Brandon and Blake had a great time going down the water slides and Jacob and Joshua and I had a great time playing in the sand. The only thing missing was Dan!

Fun Family Night

We went to Fiesta Village this past Monday for FHE. Although Blake got a molar pulled out earlier that day and I had blood drawn later on that day we still managed to have a fun time. I think the boys enjoyed the Go-Karts the best.

You're canning what?!

Last weekend I canned chicken but from the looks of this picture it looks like I was canning cats. Isn't that creepy?!?

Two little monkeys jumping on the couch...

one fell down and hurt his arm. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, "We don't have any appointments today. Why don't you take him to Urgent Care." OK. I know that doesn't rhyme but that's what happened.

Blake and Joshua were playing on the couch and Joshua got his arm pulled. It was so sad because he walked around saying, "Mami, hurts." I made a sling out of a cloth diaper and I just watched him during the day. When I realized it wasn't getting better Dan took him to the emergency room where he was diagnosed as having Nursemaid Elbow. They popped it back into place and before long he was giving high fives to the doctors. I'm glad he's fine. It was so sad to see him mope around.

Where's the robber when I need him?

Yes. I got locked out of my house again. We were getting ready to leave for church and I was putting Joshua in his car seat when I saw Blake fiddle with the door and close it. "Don't lock the door!"....too late. He had locked it. My keys, purse, diaper bag, church bag, etc. were all inside. Since the break-in we have been really good about locking all of the doors and windows so there was no way we were going to be able to get in the house. I went to my sweet neighbor's house again and used her phone to call Dan. I knew he was in a meeting so I had to call him 3 times in a row before he picked up his phone. We waited the 20 minutes it took for Dan to get home. Dan saved the day!

On to other mishaps....our air conditioner broke this afternoon. Although there was a bit of a breeze outside today an air conditioner still is necessary, in my opinion. We're still in July and we have all of August left to deal with the heat. So we will be calling someone tomorrow so that we can pay him $50 to have him tell us that the only way we can get this fixed is to spend $5000 to replace it. (It's been on its last leg for a while but let's cross our fingers that it's not completely dead) We will just add it to the List of Things We Need to Get To But Really Don't Have the Time or Energy/Desire to Fix Immediately. It will take top spot, though, over the dishwasher and microwave.

Hmmmm, what's missing?

We came home from a wonderful week in Utah to find an empty garage. Dan had parked his 4 month old truck in it before we left so it would be safe. It's not a fun feeling to sit in the driveway and watch the garage door open and slowly reveal that what you had parked in there is gone. Not only was the truck gone but so were the power tools, golf clubs, and some odds and ends. But do not fear, the cleaning supplies were still there.

Dan then went inside the house and found that our flat screen TV was gone. But they did leave the speakers, the DVD player, and the DVR plugged in so that my shows would still record while we were gone...so nice of them. They went up to the master bedroom and looked under the bed for some valuables. They emptied out some jewelry boxes and took some things. They took a few more things and left. They did, however, lock all the doors behind them. They did not, however, leave mints on our pillows.

I'm glad we have insurance and that we will be able to be replace the items that were stolen. Whoever did this obviously knew we were gone. Our neighborhood is pretty safe and even the officer was surprised this happened on our street. However, I am most grateful that we were all together and that our family is safe.

Now if only they had taken the dishwasher and microwave that had broken the week before........