Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

I have been watching this blog for a while now. This woman makes adorable clothing and just gives it away. This week she is giving away this awesome gown that Hazel would love! She is ambitious. I don't know if I would be able to do this one. Check it out. Really.

Hiking Mckinney Roughs

We hiked in Mckinney Roughs State Natural Area yesterday. The weather was perfect and we were set to have a great time.
The hike got off to a rough start. Before we even got out of the parking lot, I fell with Hazel in the backpack. Hazel bonked her head and I scraped my knees and elbows. For the first time, we actually used the first aid kit that we always carry. And luckily the gatorades were still ice cold so we used them.We saw lots of animal tracks: deer, horse, raccoon, armadillo, even bobcat (looked to be a pretty big one too). We even saw this cute gnome left in a fallen log:
We hiked about 7 or 8 miles. When we got to the river, we spent some time skipping rocks. And chucking really big rocks.
Then, while I wasn't looking, Aspen threw a rock that hit me square on the head. I have a good goose-egg on my head now. After that, I couldn't take much more abuse (my knee was swollen and sore, especially after the 7 miles) so we headed back home. We meant to go at least 10 miles. Maybe some other time.

Before and After

I hate ironing. Nate owns 27 shirts that need to be ironed. (Kind of ironic, eh?) Anyway, I decided to make a new cover for my ironing board. The ones at the store aren't much to choose from, and I had lots of scrap fabrics.
Anyway, it's super easy to do. Just trace around your ironing board, then add 2 1/2 inches all around. I then sewed wide double fold bias tape all the way around, leaving a small opening where the ends meet. I threaded elastic cord through the opening and knotted it; then sewed the opening closed. And Voila! new cover.
Takes all of 15 minutes start to finish. (Threading the cord took ten of those minutes.) I just slipped it over the top of the old one! Anyway, I really like my new cover. It is much more cheerful. When I showed Nate he asked, "Have you tried it out yet?" He needed a shirt to wear the next day. (He had ironed his own shirts for the past two days - he's such a nice husband to not wake me up to do that.)

Super heroes

Everyone secretly wants to be a super hero. And the best thing about being a superhero, besides the awesome super powers, is a cape. Even adults like to play dress up.

Here's Nate's Halloween costume from a few years ago. He was Pooperman. (He wanted everyone to be some kind of uperman, but we couldn't think up enough good ones.) This has become a classic costume in our house.

The plunger (new) was full of unwrapped Tootsie Rolls!

His cape got shut in the door when he went to get gas and he just about went feet up at the gas station. (That's why Edna 'E' Mode from the Incredibles said, "No Capes!")

Isaac being Zorro:
Aspen as Red Riding Hood:

And a warrior princess (with a cape) another year:
Toby as a vampire:
Isaac was Batman another year, with a cape:Capes are a necessity. So I whipped up a few to give for gifts (Hazel's friends seem to be having a lot of birthdays lately.)
I'll leave you with this classic Isaac pic:

Capes are the only accessory needed!

So many choices

This is what I've been working on. I guess I went a little overboard. But they were easy and are so cute!

This was Hazel's favorite. And she is making her 'scary' face.

Halloween Fun

I got my box of halloween stuff down so that Isaac could make cut out cookies. We found all sorts of fun stuff in there, including these:

Enchanted Rock 2008

We seem to get to Enchanted Rock every fall to go camping (this will be the third year). This weekend we went camping with some members of our ward. The weather was perfect. All the kids' friends were among the families that came with us so everyone had a buddy. The kids were happily entertained for the whole time. They were off exploring and playing most of the time. I just had to keep track of Hazel. We played, started fires, roasted and made s'mores. On Saturday, Nate took the kids hiking and spelunking. (Hazel stayed out of the cave though; it was too dark for her taste.) The before and after work for camping is so much...well, work. But once we're there I always think, "We should do this more often!" Anyway, it was a lot of fun!

This is Hazel and her friend, Paige, playing with flashlights in the dark!

Hazel and Paige were posing for me and then they would rush up to check out their photo, then run back to do it again.Here's Aspen and her friend enjoying their hot chocolate (I think they had 3 cups each!).Nate, not really grumpy, just pretending.Isaac looked like Santa with all the red on.

Toby was always gone exploring or hiking with his friend. Or else hanging out at the boy's camp. Three dads, sans wives, came up with their kids and stayed in one area. There were 3 adults and 10 boys (under 13) and 2 daughters. So all the other boys (5 more) would hang out there.