A little of this and a little of that

I usually always upload my camera and "clear" it out after each event that I'm taking pictures for.  It makes it easier.

I used to carry my point and shoot camera around in my purse, which made it so much more convenient to take pictures, but now that I have a bigger camera with a large lens, I don't carry it with me anymore.

I LOVE my new camera, but it's big.

This afternoon I decided to upload what I had on the camera.  I had 87 pictures.  Ugh.

So, here are some snippets of our life from the last 5 months.

We've had:

2 birthdays
a late season snow
the start of jr. high track
a field trip to Chicago
4-H pigs
warm open window weather
pets
AND
a new trampoline so generously purchased by my parents

It's been busy, but good!

The fabric of our lives...

Yesterday was Grace's 12th birthday.

I can't believe the years have went this fast.

I found her in the front seat of the van yesterday morning when I went out to the garage to go to school.  You see, it's legal now for her to ride in the front seat.  She was sitting there with a grin from ear to ear.

There goes my "storage" for my purse!  (Ha)

She also decided, since 12 was such a big deal, why not have 4 other girls over for the night, and why not have Evan have a friend over too.  (SURE, WHY NOT?)

So that's what we did.  She wouldn't allow me to take any pictures.  Not even of her blowing out the candle.

I kept getting wierd faces or hands over the eyes.  (She's the one on the right)

Have we really gotten to this point?

So, here is a brief view of SOME of the things from her get-together.

She's ALL ABOUT zebra print.  So, Wal-Mart had this Waverly line of plates and cups.  Crazy, I know.  Who knew Wal-Mart carried cool things...

She enjoyed cupcakes

pizza, and chips before Brent took them all to the Boys Varsity Basketball game.  The boys and I stayed home.  They had NO desire to go.

Brent told them, at 4:30 am this morning to get to bed.  Apparently they stayed up till 5am. At least that's what we heard.  We also found remnants of food all around the house.  So, much to her dismay, she took a nap this afternoon.  She has a big volleyball tournament tomorrow.  It's not for the weak of heart.

While she was sleeping, I made some cushions for the bar stools I got when I went with my cousin to an antique store several weeks ago.

I purchased these babies for $12 and $15 (I have NO idea why they were priced differently, they are the same chair.)

I originally wanted to make a cotton duck cushion and cover for the back.  I sewed a cover for the back, but it just didn't look right, so I just made the cushion.
I had left over pillows from the couch, that have been recovered so many times I can't even remember.

I used the same material I've used for other pillows I've made for the couch, and just added some bias tape for the ties in the back.

The final result...a more "cushier" seat.  And a little boost in height for when Evan uses the chair.

I might add a painted on number to each one when I figure out how I'll go about it.  I made each cushion have an overlapping back, so I can take the pillow out and wash the cushion if needed.

It's been a tiring weekend, with only a day more to go.

Happy rest of the weekend!

The Kitchen Floor

My baby was 9 yesterday. I remember his birthday well. He was born on the kitchen floor.

Now, we're not amish or anything. My last name is Yoder, but still......

Evan was 4 days late. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled the day he was born, and I DISTINCTLY remember that I wanted to tell the doctor that day to GET HIM OUT, whatever way you can.

My daughter, was 13 months old, and in the middle of the night (1:30am or so), I called my mom and asked if she could come stay with Grace so we could go to the hospital. We lived probably 8-10 minutes apart, but I think she got there in 3!

Not more than an hour later, Evan was born on the kitchen floor and my mom, the 911 operator, and the Brentster had delivered him, BEFORE the ambulance had arrived. (The fire station/EMT station was about a 2 minute drive from our house.)

Yep, I'll NEVER forget his birth!

This is the first year that he's asked me about the story.

We started the day with presents on the table and a chocolate cupcake with a candle in it. (heck of a year for me to give up chocolate for Lent, right?)




He was so fast blowing it out, I hardly had time to take his picture!

And yes, I let my daughter have one too.

Before school, on a FRIDAY, people! It was a celebration after all!

Ev opened up his presents....Sonic items, of course.


He loved all of them, and told me I was a wonderful mother. (boy I love this kid!)

We all went to school, and he got to have his b-day at school too. With MORE cupcakes!

He had a great day. We even had his favorite meal last night...Ham and Cheese stromboli with homemade applesauce and mac & cheese.

He was on cloud nine...literally! :-)

Happy Birthday Ev!

Celebration!

My kids are 13 1/2 months apart.

I can hear you gasp!

I remember crying the day I found out I was pregnant again. I had a 4 mo. old at home. What in the world was I gonna do?

Fast forward 10 years. Grace turned 10 on Jan. 27, and Evan will be 9 on March 12.

So, we now have a "in the middle" family party for the both of them.

I never thought I would do that. My sister and I have birthdays 2 weeks apart, and we shared birthday parties. At the time, I didn't enjoy that, but I can now see why my mom did it. It's easier to handle one big party, than 2 parties a couple weeks apart.

We "solve" the problem, by allowing each of them to have their FRIEND parties on, or very close to their actual birthday, and the Brentster and I give them their gifts, not at the family party, but on their actual birthday.

Fast forward again.....to the family party last night. Grace has fallen in love with the Paul Frank monkey at Target.

He is pretty cute....so that was her choice for the party.

Evan is just totally obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog.

Everyone knows it. He talks about him all the time, and draws him all the time, so the logical choice for the party was sonic.

I let them each pick a theme for the family party, and I try to make a cake of that character. Since my sister and family moved to South Carolina, we have less to serve, so I made their cake together this time. I tell you, the older they get, the harder their characters are to replicate!

This is what the cake turned out to be. It's not my favorite, and it's not the best, but it was good.
We set the table for 9

and had lasagna, homemade garlic bread, homemade applesauce, salad, cake, and ice cream. Good on all accounts if I do say so myself!

This was the only picture I got of them before blowing out the candles. Actually, Grace never did get to blow them out, because the cheap candles burned themselves out by totally melting!

They were very thrilled with their gifts. Grace got two American Girl craft sets.

Micheals has a whole new line of American Girl crafts. WONDERFUL!!!!!

Evan got a sonic character, and he was over the moon!

We had a good time. The kids were happy. We ate well. And had a good time with family.

Happy Birthday guys! We love you!

A 10th Birthday...Nancy Drew Style!

We celebrated Grace's 10th birthday party several days early. She has really been enamored with the Nancy Drew book series and movie, and she requested a Nancy Drew Mystery party. Easier said than done my dearest....but here's how it turned out.


This was the invitation for the girls. Inside had a picture of Nancy Drew from the movie, and gave the specifics of the party.

6:00 pm - Girls arrive (5 of them to be exact, plus Evan's best friend, Mason ) The screaming IMMEDIATELY starts.

6:11 pm - "boys" from school call to prank the girls. (I can't BELIEVE this is already going on.)

6:15 pm - We got pizza for supper, and the girls tear into it like they haven't eaten for days. Two cheese pizzas, and half a pepperoni pizza are devoured within minutes.
** The boys call about every 5-10 minutes until Dad gets on the phone.

7:00 pm - After supper, presents were opened and Twister was played for oh, about 10 minutes, and then the "real party" began. I had made a "fake" will that was from an old lady who had chosen Grace to inherit her fortune, however, her grandson, Elvis, couldn't know that the girls were searching for the pieces of the will, and the fortune.


They all took turns reading the clues and running around the house finding pieces of the will (running around and screaming that is. I've never heard so much screaming in my life!)


Once all the pieces were found, they put the will together to find the final clue and locate their prize.


They were so hyper, they could hardly figure out the final clue. I had hidden it in a drawer in a bureau in my bathroom. These are what they each had, keeping with the "plaid, old fashioned" theme like the new Nancy Drew movie. A small pad of paper, some pencils, mini pens, jelly beans, a silly straw, and some nerds.




7:30 pm - Ate CAKE! And blew out some candles. I tried to make a cake that looked like a magnifying glass, but you know, that's just not an easy task. They didn't care, they just dug right in.


After cake, ice cream, and some MORE pop, they went upstairs to get in their jammies, and watch the Nancy Drew movie in Grace's room. However, about 10:00 pm when the boys went to sleep, screaming erupted from the girl's room. Apparently, ghost stories were exchanged, and NO ONE could sleep upstairs, they were just too scared, so, our living room became sleeping central.


At 1:00 am, I went out to the living room and told the girls it was about time to go to sleep. I proceeded to go back to my room and fall asleep. The story goes like this....or so I heard at breakfast the next morning...that they all stayed up until 3am. Sure they did. Whatever girls. I'm just glad they had fun.

I did look at my husband one time during the weekend, though, and I lovingly said, "THIS is why we don't have 8 children."