They say you become like the people you hang out with...let's hope so!

It has been 2 and a half weeks since I last blogged. Time really does fly by when you are having fun! I think about blogging, but then life and livin' happen and blogging time falls to the wayside.

So before I begin the blogging catch-up marathon, I want to share the following picture of my fav girlies at the gym.

Aren't they gorgeous.

So we went out to eat the night before I left for Disney. They stayed at the restaurant and partied, while I had to go home to pack -BOOO. Anyway, toward the beginning of the night I was up at the bar and this guy came up to me and said, "Your friends are hot and so are you."

I laughed. Hard. We're moms. Between us we have like 30 kids. Please.

But he's right. These ladies are hot. And they kick booty too. Some have 2 kids, some have 5. A couple have run full marathons and a few teach some sort of fitness class. All are in their 30's and a couple are very close to the 40 threshold. And all of them push me and are encouraging and inspiring.

And all are hot mama's!

I have heard that mental vacations make for painful vacations...

I like to think that I am an organized, detailed person. You kinda have to be when you have as much going on as I do. I love to make lists. Lists give me the delusion that I am in control. And I make lists of lists. Apparently I really need control.

We leave for Disney tomorrow!! Whoo-hooo. But wait, I just made my list yesterday. 2 days before the trip. I have no list of the list. Thus, I am feeling out of control. Very out of control.

Control is an illusion anyway, right?

This is the first vacation that I have taken in years where I have not been preparing for weeks in advance. We vaca a lot with some of our best friends and I am known for being prepared for almost any occasion and for making itineraries, almost down to the hour, for us to follow.

This trip is soooooooooooo different.

Apparently when one goes to Disney they plan it out a year in advance. And months before they arrive, they have their time at Disney planned out, meals, rides and all, with reminders being sent to their phone hourly. I, on the otherhand, have bought our plane tickets, our tickets to the park and I *think* I have a hotel. Oh, and did I mention that we are apparently going on one of the busiest weeks of the year?

Yeah, I'm behind the power curve.

I have been trying to figure out why and then it dawned on me. It's because I'm taking TWO of my children. Only half. One for each arm. One per parent. And the two older ones to boot!! I don't have to pack a bag of things to entertain them on the airplane or figure out how I'm going to drag a carseat through the airport, while carrying two kids. I'm not worried about where our hotel room is in correlation with a elevator, Walmart, dining facility & McDonalds. Or if it will be toddler friendly and hold two pack'n'plays. I don't have to pack a diaper bag, strollers for every occasion, bottles, sippy cups and snacks.

It's just Love and I and our big boys.

The ease of it apparently has me on a mental vacation already.

So while I'm sad to leave the baby sisters behind, I know they will be in great hands and will be getting LOTS of attention. And we will get to spend some quality time doing fun, big things with our big boys.

I am so excited!
Disney, here we come!!! (hopefully there is some place for us to stay...)

And now you can definintely tell them apart!

I did it.
I gave my girl her first haircut. And then cried.
Not because I did a terrible job (although I'm confident that no one will be calling me to do their hair anytime soon!). I cried because this is the first time that we've purposely done something to one twin and not the other. Now you can definitely tell them apart.

But, it had to be done. And for a while it stopped her from twirling any "rat's nests". Such a sweet, short lived time. She has managed to make a few very small ones at the back of her hair where it is the longest.
One can hope that that will be all that she does. Because I'd hate to have to go shorter!
Here are some pictures of my sweet girl with her short do:


She's still cute isn't she?! And then here she is with her "shisher".

I'm tying not to get a persecution complex, but I really believe the DMV is against me!

Today was my third time at the DMV.
And, unfortunately, it isn't my last.
Because I failed my driver's test.
Lovely.
Just lovely.

I'm not a fan of the DMV. But in reality, who is? And that is why I put off going for so long. Until the day of my birthday when Love was looking at my driver's license and noted that it expired on that day. Well you may find this shocking, but I didn't find spending time at the DMV the thing I wanted to do on my birthday. Call me crazy.

I decided to go on Love's next day off. And that so happened to be almost 1 month later. So disturbing on so many levels.

Last week, I looked up online what I needed to get a license and headed to the DMV. I wait in this ridiculous line only to be told that not only do I have to take the written & driving tests, I need more proof of who I am. Apparently my old license, my military issue ID, title to our vehicle and proof of insurance were not enough.

So I make a return appearance on a couple of days ago. This time armed with all of the above and my social security card. I arrived 30 minutes before the DMV opened and waited in the cold rain for them to open the doors and tell me that they also want my birth certificate. I call Love and ask him to bring it to me. He does, I wait in line again and they tell me that they also need my marriage license. UGH! Although I don't have all the documents that I need, they told me that I could take my written and driving tests.

Seriously, if the gentlemen on either side of me are any indication of who is driving on our roads - we should be VERY afraid. The guy to my right got a 3% on the test. Yes, you read correctly. 3%. The guy on my left had been there 3 times before he finally passed. Frightening. Very frightening.

So I take my written. Pass without studying. Because that's how I roll.

Then I roll on out of there with all that confidence and wait in line for my driver's test. And wait. And wait. And wait.

Then leave. I have to come back anyway with my marriage certificate, so I left in an attempt to make it to my trekking class in time. I have priorities. Just not good ones...

I go back this morning (because I can only go on the days that Love will be around to watch the Diva's. Could you just imagine the Drama that the Diva's would bring to the DMV? Frightening...) once again early and wait in line. The line was already long and I got there 15 minutes early. I think some of these people sleep there.

Anyway I get there, wait in lines, finally get called to take the driver's test. I get in the car, pull around to the back of the DMV - rolling with all that confidence - and apparently pull into the wrong lane because the test-giver-lady yelled at me.

Confidence gone. I knew from that point, this was not going to go well.

And I was right. She failed me. Something about not looking around enough and, ah-hum, not-slowing-down-in-a-school-zone. Other than that, I thing I would have passed.

So, now I get the pleasure of going back - again next week. Lovely. I can hardly wait.

Oh, by the way, I swear that half the people in that DMV didn't speak english. I still can't figure out how they are getting license's and passing tests and I can't? Things that make you go hmmmm.

Life is more fun when you have a best friend

This is what happens when I don't blog regularly!

Oh, my little neglected blog...
I've been cheating on you.
With my sewing machine!

Yes, instead of blogging I have been sewing. A lot. Bordering on obsessed. But having oh-so-much-fun! Here are some of the things that I have made lately:

Has a matching one with a flower on the opposite side.

This one didn't have a match, so I made a flower to put on the dress below. Now they coordinate!

SO, the pillowcase dresses were SOOOOO easy that I decided that I could do the same thing with some cutsie fabric I got at the store. This was my first creation:

With more confidence, this is my second creations (both of these have identical ones for the sisters)

And now, making these are my absolute favorite:

Oh, and I went to the fabric store and found so many prints that I will be working on this week! Love it!!

What else has been happening around here? Oh, it is official - I bought our tickets to Disney. Joseph, the boys and I will be headed there for Spring Break. The sisters are staying with their Gigi (my stepmom) and their Aunt Lara (my 13 year old sister). I have a feeling they will be getting a lot of attention and spoiling. I'm a little nervous about the trip, but I am also so excited! It has been a rough couple of months around here and we could all use some time away. When I told the boys that we were going, neither were excted. Actually, they both said the same thing, "But, I don't want to go to Disneyworld." Even as we tried to explain it to them, they didn't believe us and weren't buying into it. We tried to compare it to SeaWorld (which they love) and told them it was even bigger and better that that. They still didn't buy it. We decided to drop it - they just have no idea what kind of fun is in store for them.

We're gonna take an odd turn here, but after that whole telling-the-boys-about-Disney-and-them-not-being-excited thing happened, God showed me the coolest thing. For those of you that don't know, I have this odd fear of heaven. It sounds great and all, but I really like my life here. I know what to expect here and I like it. I have no idea what to expect in heaven and am not positive that I will like it as much as here.

Does that sound familiar? That's the boys and Disney. They like SeaWorld, know what to expect and can't imagine it getting better that that. But it is OH-SO-BETTER!

Not sure if that got lost in translation (as most things do with me!) but I love it when God does cool stuff like that. Love.it!

In another completely odd turn, I am going to my yoga training this weekend and can't wait! I get to spend 8 hours for 2 whole days doing and learning about yoga. Is that like heaven too, Lord? ("Oh, it's even better than that!" He says.)

I also signed up for another half marathon in April. Training looks close to impossible, but I'll give it my best shot. Joseph is supposed to be gone the month before my race, so it looks like I will be spending a lot of time on the treadmill since I won't have anyone home to watch the Darlings. I'm only doing it because it is the last run with the person who inspires me to be a better runner and person! My friend Heather is a great running coach and amazing runner. She just ran the Austin Marathon and qualified for the Boston Marathon. I think I have a picture of her somewhere... here it is:

Heather is on the left and Jeannie is on the right.

Isn't eveything made more fun with a picture? Yeah, so I'm going to run a half in Houston with her. Obviously not next to her since she will finish in like 1 hour and I will finish in 5!

And this is my Crossfit buddy, Lee Anne. We work out together all the time and she pushes me farther than I would push myself and is the best encourager! She's also super funny...

Normally she has blond hair, but decided to take a ride on the dark side. I love it darker, but she doesn't. Isn't she gorgeous? This girl kicks but and takes names!

More turns: The first time Caleb did this, I about died laughing - He walks in the door from school and announces: "Cause the party don't start 'till I walk in!" If you don't know where that comes from you can hear it here. I wish I could say I have no idea where in the world he would listen to such trash from, but...I can't. I hate to admit it, but I listen to total trash music when I run. And drive. I don't really listen to the lyrics, but apparently my children do. Note to self: pay attention to what is on the radio!

Gosh, this boy is going to break hearts some day.

Little Luke is learning to read! He came home from school the other day and said, "A simple blend is when a vowel comes after a consonant." I love that they are learning phonics. I learned to sight read as a kid and I did just fine, it just seems like they learn faster with phonics.

And this boy is something. I tell y'all - one minute I am ready to throttle him and the next second I want to squeeze the love right out of him!

Speaking of their school, their registration is due this month and man is it going to be costly with two. I need to get a job. Nah, actually I have NO desire to work. This stay at home mom gig keeps me plenty busy.

Those turns keep coming - My sweet little Ella is getting a hair cut. A very short one. And I am SO sad! But is has to be done. That girl is a mess. She does this twirl thing with her hair and it produces these matted dreadlocks. It can take up to 30 minutes to get the knots out and there have been many times that we can't get the knot out, so we have to cut it. It has been going on for so long and we have tried everything to stop her. Nothing is working, so our pediatrician suggested that cutting her hair short is the only way to stop her habit. :(

I love this picture of her. It's a face she makes when she is day dreaming. Look at those cute chapped lips. Yummy...

Isn't she so cute? I have been in denial that cutting it is the solution, but at this point her hair on one side of her had is halfway down her back and on the other side is at her shoulder. Yep, she looks a mess. It doesn't help that the sharp contrast is Lily Kate with her long hair halfway down her back, in ringlets. ((SIGH))

My hair lady is coming over this week to do the deed, so I will take some pictures of my sweet Ella soon.

In another completely unrelated topic, it snowed here today. It was only for about 5minutes, but hey I'll take it. Here are the sisters celebrating their winter gear (and cereal apparently!):

Please skip this post if you aren't ready to hear a Mad woman have an insecure moment

It's that time of year again. Time to reevaluate our schooling options for the little Darlings. This time of the year can really make me feel like a failure if I allow it. Big time failure.

I wish I could homeschool (well!) while chasing down 2 year old twins, with a husband who has a crazy schedule, still enjoying working out like I do and being involved in organizations that I really believe in.

Really, is that too much to ask. Not for many of my friends.

But for me, yes. See, this is where the failure comes in...if I let it.

Okay, so never mind if I could do it, is that what I'm called to do? Let's go there for a moment. God is this what you want from me? Because I'll do it. Not sure how well, but I'll give it a (semi)reluctant try.

(pause waiting to hear God audibly speak)

Did you hear anything concrete? Yeah, me either. So let's run down what we know.

Do I like the boys school? Yes
Do the boys like their school? (resounding) Yes
Are they learning the same Godly principles at school that we teach at home? Yes (Why lie, probably more!)
Can we afford to send them to Christian school? Yes (but as I write that check every month, it is sacrificial and I would be lying if I said I didn't imagine myself in Pottery Barn shopping with that money for a few moments.)
Can I still be involved in their lives while they are in school? Definitely, I've already told y'all this room mom gig could be a full time job!

Yep, it sounds like they are in a good place. I think that we are all in a good place. Sometimes hard, but definitely good.

In a perfect world, I would be this amazing home school teacher (we are already stretching pretty far here, because I don't like to teach - see tutorial below) who eats only organic, cooks everything from scratch then documents it with amazing pictures and tutorials on her blog, sews the kids clothes, runs marathons, teaches yoga, teaches Sunday school, volunteers, crafts, has a clean house with a boys bathroom that doesn't stink of urine, writes meaningful notes to all her friends and has relations with her husband every hour on the hour.

We are definitely not in a prefect world.

But, thank you Jesus, it's a blessed one! And thank you for speaking to me, through little blog posts.

(BTW - it's also time to make a decision on if I want to put the girls in anything next year. My amazing friend already had to talk me through it yesterday and I have a feeling there is still more talking that needs to be done!)

This made me cry this morning...

Lord, give me more love.
Real love.
Your love.
More of you,
less of me.

Pillowcase Tutorial

Before I begin my tutorial, I must disclose a few things to you:

1. I am NOT a seamstress. Seriously, no one in their right mind would ever ask me to hem a pair of pants, much less sew a dress for them.
2. I'm also a terrible teacher. Terrible. I often give my kids instructions and they look at me like I am speaking another language. I used to think it was them, but now believe - it's me.
3. Please ignore all the typo's. I was in a hurry - afterall, blog tutor is one of many job titles I very loosely hold! I'm pretty impressed that I got it all on here - typo's and all!
4. Lastly, you get what you pay for.

Consider yourself warned.

And now I present to you, my first (and most probably LAST) tutorial:

"How to make a pillow case dress from someone who doesn't follow directions and makes it up as she goes":

Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:
Step 7: We're almost done!!




There you have it my friends. And although you hear it said all the time (usually be people who have lost 40 pounds when all I want to do is lose 15!) in this situation it's really true - "If I can do it, anyone can!" Really, I mean it!

Flattery really will get you anywhere with me!

So thrilled that you guys liked my little girlie's dresses! I got warm fuzzies from all your sweet comments. Thanks friends!

Y'all asked some questions about patterns and sewing machines -

Pattern: Um, yeah, I'm not so good at patterns/following directions or anything of that sort. Not good at all. There have been many a times that I get to the end of a recipe and I realize that I missed like 3 major steps -oops! So I didn't use one. I did google and read a lot and then came up with my own style. And when I tell you that they are easy to make, I am not lying!!

Sewing machine: When Joseph and I first got married, I had delusions that I was going to be Betty Crocker and sew all of our clothes, bedding, curtains, seat covers...all while growing a garden and making all food from scratch. We brought that bad boy home, Man read the directions (we already covered why he had to do that!) and then taught me how to use my machine. (Quite thankful that his mom does sew and made him spend many an hour in the fabric store!) I made curtains. Then I got pregnant within 2 months of getting married, had a terrible prenancy, a newborn, a toddler, another terrible pregnancy, move across country, a baby & toddler, another move across country... Needless to say I've never gotten to that role of Betty. All that to tell you that, yes, I did use a sewing machine and think you could probably do it by hand, but it would take forever. F-O-R-E-V-E-R!

Since I have been of no help whatsoever, what I am willing to do is a tutorial for you all. I went to the thrift store a couple of days ago and found some more pillowcases ($1), so will work on a tutorial this weekend. It took me about 2 hours to make 2 dresses. It probably wouldn't have taken so long if I didn't have the most curious 7 year old who wanted to "help".

Looking forward to showing y'all how easy this is!!

Oh, I love having little girls!

While I didn't make any resolutions this year, there is one that I made last year that I want to be a lifelong resolution. Last year I resolved to learn something new. And I did. It was yoga and I completely fell in love with it. Love. it.

So much so, that next month I get certified to teach it!! But that's a whole 'nother story.

Anyway, this year I have decided to try to learn something new every month. This month I learned 2 new things: how to use my camera AND how to sew pillowcase dresses. I'll talk about the camera class in another post, for now I am so excited to show you my handiwork:

This was the first dress that I made. Simple. And then this:
Getting a little more fancy, okay so maybe this isn't fancy to those of you that actually sew, but for me this is f-a-n-c-y!!
And this was the last thing that I made. This time I used the fabric for the ties instead of ribbon.

Seriously people, I didn't even take home ec! While this isn't the best sewing job ever, I had so much fun and these little dresses are going to be perfect play dresses for the summer. And best part of all: cost me $1 per dress!!! $1 pillow cases from the thrift store and I already had the ribbon. Oh, I did have to buy the buttons, but they were $.89.

Um, hello, do you know how expensive it is to dress these Diva's?

Now, my biggest issue is I'm totally addicted to making these and have all sorts of ideas for future dresses. All-sorts-of-ideas!! I have a bad feeling that these dresses will be the only things that you see my little Diva's dressed in for a long time!!

Anybody need some dresses?

Thank you Jesus for another year!

Caleb said to me the other day, "So you are going to be 35 this week right?"

I gasped, "What! No, I'm going to be 33."

He gave me this little smirk and said, "I know mom!"

Yep, I turn 33 today. Wow, that's crazy. Time is flying right by me. I remember when I was 28 and I had a friend that was 34 and I thought to myself, "I'm so glad I'm only 28. 34 seems old." And now that I'm much closer, I'm realizing it's not so bad.

I'm excited about being 33. I'm healthier, stronger, wiser, and more focused than I was 5 years ago. It really does seem like as I get older, life gets more exciting and full of opportunities.

So bring on 33! I can't wait to see what you have in store for me!!

It's a good thing I married into the military

In the past 15 years, I have never lived in the same place for longer than 3 years.

We have lived here, in this house, for 3 and a half years.

And I am so ready to move. SO ready.

Unfortunately, we still have a year and a half left here. That is a long time. Especially for me. (Did I mention that I previously have never lived anywhere longer than 3 years?)

Okay, so we aren't moving cities. Can't we at least move to another house? There is this neighborhood, less than 1 mile away, that has the most gorgeous houses with lots of trees and character that I would love to move to...

"No," was the thundering response that I got from my very-practical-financially-savvy-almost-never-tells-me-"NO" husband.

P-O-U-T.

"Fine, then can I paint, get new curtains, refinish furniture, redecorate the bathroom...?"

Very-practical-financially-savvy-almost-never-tells-me-"NO" husband said, "Yes. That would be way cheaper than selling the house.

"And then we could landscape, put in a pool, add an addition..."

"NO." (I hope he doesn't start making this a habit!!)

So, I decided to start with a much needed face lift for our dining room table. The dining room table and I have history.

(And with most history lessons, this one is long and drawn out, so you may want to go to the bathroom, get a snack and drink or just skip it!)


We originally bought a dining room table when we were first married, but it broke during our move from Colorado to North Dakota. So we bought another table at the BX in Minot and when that arrived, it was already broken. (Are we jinxed or what?!) At that point we contemplated not even getting a table, but eating on the couch got old. Therefore, we went into the very small town of Minot to one of their two furniture stores and I found a table that I fell in love with.

And as with most things that I fall in love with, it was more than we wanted to spend. But I really, really loved it so Mr. Very-practical-financially-savvy-almost-never-tells-me-"NO" husband - said yes!

So we purchase the table and bring it home and I loved on it. Until the day that I spilled nail polish remover on the table. Apparently nail polish remover not only removes nail polish, but also finish on tables. Note to self. Had to learn that the hard way. And not just once, but twice. Which is par for course on how I learn things...

But I digress.

Over the years there has been many a marking on that table. Deep gouges from a little person who likes to bang their fork in the table, Sharpie from a little person who likes to use Sharpies, but has no business using them, water spots from a little person who spills their water and then puts their placemat over it instead of cleaning it up and so on and so forth. The chairs have suffered even worse than the table. The 4 chairs that we got to go with it. I have no idea why we only got 4 chairs. But we did. And it hasn't been too big of a problem.

Until the Diva's came along. And want to sit at the table. With the rest of us. How dare they?!

Well, I have been looking at new tables but the reality is that they aren't in the budget and, well, I actually am attached to the scars of my table/chairs. They tell the story of my little family. And the reality is that we are not out of the toddler woods yet and I have two wild rough boys, so there are likely to be more scars to come. Many, more scars and hopefully many, many more memories too.

One of the nail polish remover stains

So I decided to buy a bench that is practical, long and gorgeous and has come in handy when the kids have their little friends over. I also decided to recover the dining room chairs. They do it all the time on HGTV, so it can't be that hard, right?

Right! I found this gorgeous fabric that was not only on sale, but is a great color to hide stains. Then Man and I worked together and LOVE the end result. Take a look:

Our new fabric on the left

And while we were having fun covering things, we have this white suede ottoman. Well, it used to be white, now it's just stained! So we had enough fabric left over to cover it too. Came out pretty nice, huh?
And those are some of the projects that I have been working on lately. I also made curtains for the boys room, but have no pictures of them so you will just have to believe me when I tell you they are cute and a huge improvement. Oh, make no mistake. There are still more projects in the works. Afterall, we aren't moving any time soon.