exclusively mine

you know what i like most about homemade clothing? usually, the piece is the only one like it in the whole world. it's more exclusive than any "exclusive" line of clothing. it's exclusively MINE! i remember back in the day, at least as i remember it, when wearing homemade clothing was not cool, and yet it seems to me that it's a pretty popular thing these days. not that i'm trying to be cool or popular, but i really enjoy making things for my girls. things don't always turn out quite as planned or quite as cute as i hoped, but sometimes i am successful. and then, i wonder why i don't make all of their clothes. (acutally, i know why i don't...i'm not nearly talented enough.)

anyway, a trend these days is to make a dress out of a pillowcase. sounds easy, right? it is easy! and they are SO cute! instead of shopping for a pillowcase that i liked, i decided to find fabric that i liked and make (almost) a pillowcase and then make the dress. which i did...and this is how it turned out.

this was so easy, i might just make both girls new easter dresses....we'll see!

what else happened in february???

first things first...february before march. so what else happened in february???

i turned 33! life is good and i am happy. i got to make my own cake; chocolate with chocolate frosting...mmmm! and then got to enjoy it with my favorite people (including adam, not shown).

Chocolate cake makes everyone smile!

then, we enjoyed a pink breakfast for valentine's day...always a fun treat! pink waffles, pink eggs, and pink milk!

chloe decided that cutting paper was her new favorite activity.

clate's drawings and coloring are becoming more and more interesting. here is our house and family...i love it!

apparently, he learned about rainbows at preschool, and he drew just a few of them for me...everyday.

and finally, halle got her first real haircut. she was so excited about it and it turned out really cute! many thanks to grandma-dell, who came to help mom with the scary task.

she has more bounce to the curls again!

can you spy something green?

march came and the kids were ready for st. patrick's day. clate thought he was supposed to wear green everyday so he wouldn't get pinched; it was quite a challenge to get him to wear anything else. he was also excited to help decorate the house. when i was too slow and getting the job done, he decided to do it himself. one day while i was cleaning, i started to pick up all of the toys in the living room. clate immediately told me to put them back...they weren't toys, they were decorations. he had gotten many of his green toys and displayed them on the shelves in the living room. he was so proud of his work, i had to let them stay!

can you spy the green? (sorry, not the best picture.)

love was in the air

before i forget all of the fun things my kids have been doing lately, i better write about down...and that's what my blog is for, right?

last month, for valentine's day, all of my kids got into making valentines. about every day for the 2 weeks before vday and for at least a week or two after, my kids made valentines for anyone and everyone. clate learned how to draw hearts at preschool and i taught him how to cut out hearts, and he became a heart-making machine. halle and chloe would have clate draw them a page full of hearts and they would color them OR they would put sticker hearts all over a page. they couldn't get enough of it! i, of course, couldn't keep every valentine they made, but i tried to hang up some of their favorites.

Here's the collection that ended up on our bedroom wall.

This is a picture of me...just beautiful.

He made this at school and could hardly wait for us to open it.

the boot

For Christmas Adam got me a pair of black boots, which I LOVE and wear any chance I get. For my birthday (in 2 weeks), I bought me a pair of brown boots, which I already enjoy wearing any chance I get. I love my boots!

Today, Chloe got her first boot, but she doesn't seem to like it quite as much as I like my boots...I'm not sure why!?! She looks so cute wearing it, don't you think?

The kids were jumping on the couch last night when Chloe fell and seemed to have twisted her foot. She started crying and then refused to put any weight on it. We decided to wait and see how she acted in the morning. She slept fine, but as soon as she woke up, she tried to get out of bed and collapsed on the floor, crying. She continue to refuse to walk on her foot. Luckily, Adam has some connections and got an appointment with one of the pediatric orthopods that he works with. I took Chloe in expecting that they would say all was well, she probably just twisted it funny...but instead, the doc says she cracked her shin bone. WHAT??? I was shocked. Anyway, he felt a full cast was a little much, so he decided to put her in a boot for 3 weeks. Chloe was not at all happy with the boot at first, but quickly warmed up to it. By the end of the day, I think she was more proud of it than anything. I took it off for bedtime, and again she refused to put her foot on the floor. This may be a long 3 weeks...we'll see!

my girls

I'm posting a little backwards, but I have some pics I just have to post...they make me smile.

Love her blue eyes and her curls!

Not sure where she got this hat, but she loved it!

Halle had her first dance recital in December. I think her facial expression shows how excited she was to be on stage. She was quite the performer.

Once again, Halle wanted straight hair...and once again, I think she looked 3 years older. We arrived a little late to church this day and as Halle was walking into Primary she tripped in front of the entire Primary. She immediately stood up, and without missing a beat, showed everyone her straight hair.

ski utah...

Finally enough snow in the mountains and a day off for Adam to take the kids skiing. Adam took Clate up for an afternoon last week, but Halle has been waiting since last year to ski. We started with the rope tow for the first hour or so, then we took the chairlift up the mountain. I think I was more nervous than either of the kids....but they did awesome! Clate made it down all by himself, only falling once. Halle, of course, had to be slowed by Adam or she would have gone straight down without stopping...or at least until she hit a tree. But she loved it! After one run down, though, Halle was ready for some hot chocolate and a cookie, so we went in the lodge and waited while Adam and Clate got a second run in. It was such a fun day...I look forward to many more ski days with our little family!

Here's Clate headed down the mountain.

There goes Halle...Two happy skiers!