Mutiny!

This morning I went to get Alexis out of bed as I normally do, but today I had a near mutiny on hand. I enter her room and as her eyes land on me she yells "Noooooooo! Daddy!" You see Doug normally has Fridays off, but due to doctor appoointments he took Monday off and had to work today. Somehow I think Alexis knew that today was Friday and daddy should be home and she wanted him not mommy. As I tried to explain that daddy was at work out came her anguished cry "NOOOOOOOOOO!" You would have thought the world was coming to an end. Well I'm feeling the love. How about you?

Flashback

So, after having made hats for the boys I couldn't leave our little girl out. I had some leftover material from a diaper bag I made last year and as it turns out the two together give you a flashback feeling to the 80's. Coupled with this outfit and I think little: "material girl".

This first shot looks to me like she is a prison inmate with stripes and all. She is not happy if you couldn't guess. I wouldn't give her candy just as she wanted it given to her. Aka: the whole bowl at once.

80's all the way

You tell Lexie to smile and say cheese and this is the look you get. Funny munchkin.

Christopher - Future Cheerleader

Doug and I encourage our children to participate in sport activities. However, right now with me semi-disabled sport activities aren't as easy to fit into our schedule. Earlier in the school year there was a three saturday basketball camp that both Ben and Chris did and more recently there was a spirit camp. Chris was really excited to do it while Ben could have done without. So, seeing as it was only one night after school we let Chris join. I have decided that we either have to worry about our son or that he is a very smart boy. Out of 88 children that went he was the only boy. Smart or do we worry? This is one of the cheers that he participated in at a high school basketball game after the camp.

Ready to cheer!

First attempts at hat making

Ben and Chris earn Accelerated Reader (AR) patches at school for reading so many books in a given genre and passing a test on them.  Since Ben is now in 4th grade he has been bugging me for 5 years to get him a hat or backpack to put his patches on.  Well I finally decided to bite the bullet and make something.  That something turned out to be these hats.  I found a tutorial online and with only minor mistakes achieved these finished products.  Definately a work in progress but not too shabby if I do say so myself.  They did end up fitting my 4 1/2 year old better than the older two, but who's meassuring?

Life

Why can't life be like the old sitcoms?  In those shows the woman gets pregnant and ends up with the littlest bump in front imaginable and then a few shows later delivers a healthy baby and looks great right afterwards.  Not so in my life.  Nine months later I have a state fair winning pumpkin , you know the gigantic ones, protruding out my front, haven't been able to see my toes in months (which by the way are all swollen with retained water), and that cute little bump? well that was right after conceiving.  I guess I have been lucky in that I never get morning sickness and usually I feel great right up until 36 weeks by when I'm ready to have the baby, but this time is different.  A few months into the whole thing I got psyatic pain, then a herniated disk which caused pain untold and my right foot is still numb from, then I needed a root canal, and to top it all off of course I got gestational diabetes again.  I'm just over 27 weeks and already have asked my doctor if it is too early to have the baby.  I'm trying real hard to see what it is I'm suppose to learn through this trial, but so far have come up with zip.  I get tired easier and snap at the kids as a result.  All I want to do is lie in bed and yet all I want to do is get out of the house because I'm stuck here as a result of the disk and I can't lift anything including children so putting Lexie in the car is out.  Walking is a chore yet I don't want to be in a wheel chair all the time.  The weather is so nice right now that I want to be outside working on our land, but can't.  I guess all I feel is frustration and it is taking it's toll.  Sitting here reading what I have written makes me think maybe I'm not trying so hard to see the good and the reason why at all.  Sounds like a lot of complaining to me, but there you have it anyway.  My one and hopefully only one pity party at least during this pregnancy :)

Sewing adventures

A small group of ladies meets once a week at my house to try our hand at sewing.  Some of us are newbies and some are ametures (we know enough to get us in trouble).  Our first project was a purse, but I thought it would be a pain, which it was in a sense, and decided to make this easy on first. 

So, here is my first purse.

Here is the project purse.

It has a pocket inside that I divided into three compartments, a magnetic clasp, and a cardboard bottom.  Next time I think I would leave out the cardboard bottom.  I liked the way it hung without it.

Love on a Cloud

Our traditional Valentine's Day dessert

3 large egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

3/4 cup sugar

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

2 cup cool whip

1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)

1 can cherry pie filling

1 cup mini marshmallows (optional)

Heat oven to 275*F.  Cover baking sheet with heavy brown paper (grocery bag); draw outline of heart, 9 in across greatest width, on paper.  Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy.  Beat in 3/4 cup of sugar 1Tbsp at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy.  Do not underbeat.  Spoon meringue into outline on paper, building up sides.

Bake 1 1/2 hours.  Turn off oven; leave meringue in oven with door closed 1 hour.  Remove from oven; finish cooling away from draft.

Blend cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and extract.  Fold in cool whip and marshmallows.  Pile into meringue shell.  Cover and chill.  Just before serving top with pie filling.  Cut and serve.  Enjoy!