Some Projects From the Past Year

I'm always wanting to post about things I've made but I keep forgetting. A lot of them I even forget to take the pictures. But here are some of the things I at least remembered to take the pictures of:

This is the car seat cover that I made before Noel was born. I got the idea from my next door neighbor who had mad a super cute one. This is some seersucker fabric that I bought a while ago, but I just love the colors and we have loved the cover. It was nice and lightweight for summer--provided shade but didn't get too warm underneath it. I got a basic pattern off the internet, but I honestly can't remember where and I think I combined tips from a couple different patterns. I also really liked the ribbon I used for the loops to attach it to the car seat. It is bright and cheerful and it makes me happy to look at it.

These are the burp rags I made for Noel. I picked out a bunch of my favorite flannel, sewed them on cloth diapers, and added matching ribbon on the edges. I had a lot of fun matching the ribbon with the fabric. And again, I love them. They're bright, they're happy, and they make me smile when I look at them. Noel also loves looking at them because they're so brightly colored. As John says, too bad I didn't think of it 12 years ago. That's ok, because I may not have appreciated them as much as I do today. Plus I just love how they look when they're folded.



This is the front and back of a tag quilt I made. I really love making these. I love picking out the ribbon and doing the embroideries. They're just so much fun. I really like the turtle soft fabric with the yellow fabric. It's bright, it's happy, and it makes me smile. Are you detecting a theme here?

And then there are these flowers. I didn't make them, but someone did. These are not normal flower colors. But I don't care. I love them!! They're bright, they're happy, and they make me smile. Plus they did this really cool thing where, as the dye drained out of them back into the water, the petals starting turning white again. So cool!! They seemed to fit right in with the other projects.

Small Miracles: Helpful Kids and Productive School Projects

Today I am grateful for helpful kids and productive school projects. My kids were remarkably helpful today. I'm not saying there wasn't any fighting, making messes, or yelling. But the helpfulness outweighed all of that. First of all the healthy ones, Lily, Emma, Mary, and Kate all got up and got themselves ready for church way before their ride got here. (John is out of town and I had to stay home with the sick ones.) Yay for them! And Lily was the first one ready. What a good 4 year old.

Second, when everyone was home from church, we had a choose your own lunch (a family tradition that the kids love where one person goes around and "takes orders" and each person gets to order one, easy-to-make, item for everyone for lunch). They all were helpful and cooperative. Lily took orders and Kate and Mary filled them, with a little help from me.

Third, Kate offered to make dinner because she has to do it twice for school--finally a school project I can get behind!! She wanted to make hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, crowd favorites both. I agreed and really only helped her with verbal cues when she was doing it. She did a great job. And her teacher told her that part of completing the assignment was cleaning up and doing the dishes, so she loaded the dishwasher and cleaned the kitchen too. I loved it! She also told me that she has to do a cleaning project for school and I suggested that she load the dishwasher once a day while her dad's gone (usually he does it). She agreed enthusiastically and I was overjoyed because I was going to make her do it anyway but now she's happy about it.

Fourth, again for her school project, Kate had to make up a game and teach it to her siblings. She decided to do "Cleaning UNO". The rules were pretty much the same as UNO, but when anyone got a SKIP or a WILD card, they had to clean up 10 things for each card. The little girls loved it and now their room is mostly clean. Kate could have chosen anything, but she chose to choose something that would help make our house better. What a good kid!

Lastly, the kids helped clean other rooms while Kate was doing dinner, they let me take a nap this afternoon, and they were good for Kate while I went visiting teaching. They were all so helpful. And they all read scriptures with me and Mary even read me part of our mother-daughter book-club book while I was feeding the baby. It was a great day and I'm really grateful for my kids and that they like me and each other. They were so good that I even gave the baby a bath, which is monumental (usually John does it because I hate giving babies baths). Great day, great kids. Lots of blessings!

Goals Round-up From 2011

At the beginning of the year, I like to think about the goals I had last year and what I accomplished. I don't think you have to accomplish a goal for it to be positive. I think progressing toward the goal is the point anyway. And then I like to re-evaluate and set some new goals. So here goes:

Last year, my first goal was to read 105 books. It's a lofty goal and I haven't reached it yet in three years of trying, but it keeps me reading and that's what is important. This year I read about 68 books and I enjoyed everyone. This year I think I'll shoot for 100 and I want to make at least 10 of those books that I already own. I love reading and think of it as continual job training, because if I ever work outside the home again, it will probably be in some job having to do with books and reading.

My second goal last year was to index 20,000 names and I didn't even come close. Somewhere near the beginning of summer I fell off the indexing bandwagon and have never been able to climb back on. I still think it is a valuable thing though so I am going to try harder. I think they are releasing the next census records in March, so I'm excited to get involved again. They changed the way they record what you do to a point system. They don't really say how many names anymore (which is also part of my demotivation, sad and silly but true), so I have no idea how many I did last year. But I guess my new goal for this year will be to earn 100 points. In their system that equals about 100 records. I think that is a reasonable goal and very doable if I start doing a little at a time.

My third goal was to finish 50 projects and, in each one, use something I already had. Now I'm not sure how many things I finished, because my record-keeping has gone down the tubes, but I actually feel like I did a lot and I used a lot of things I already own too. Someday I'll post on my blog pictures of some of the cool things I made because I took some, but not today. Now John would like nothing better than if I would use up all the fabric and supplies that covers one whole corner of our back room. (I'm pretty sure it would be the best birthday present I could ever give him--not this year, my dear.) But I have a lot of stuff and I'm pretty sure I couldn't use it all if I tried. I also have realized that I work better with deadlines and a little pressure. So, this year my goal in the project area is to make something for each of my family's birthdays. That way I can be creative and make things I think they might like, use up some of my stuff, and have deadlines to make myself finish. I'm very excited about this goal and have already almost completed 3 things for the first 3 birthdays on my list.

My fourth goal was to complete the DMBA health challenge and earn my $200 cash back incentive. I did it and I am glad I did. My cholesterol check turned up some real concerns that I was able to address. But I also get the $200, which is the best bonus. This year I think I'm going to buy myself a Kindle Fire to use on my summer vacation this summer. I'm very excited. My goal for next year is the same. This year BYU is giving out a gift card to the Bookstore for their side of the reward (in the past they've given out little presents each time you complete a challenge--I've gotten lots of good stuff). That's exciting too. Yay for incentives to keep yourself healthy. For me the obvious incentive is just not enough.

My fifth goal was to post on my blog at least once a week. Now we all know that I didn't make that one but it's ok. I averaged closer to once a month. But I want to try again this year with a little tweak. Our Bishop today talked a little in Sacrament about recognizing the miracles, blessings, and good things in our lives. I know that I could do better at that, so I want to write on my blog once a week, but focus on the miracles and things I am grateful for in my life. I have been doing something similar this year in my journal and I really like it so I think it will make a great incentive to write in my blog.

My sixth goal last year was to write in my journal at least 5 days a week. I actually did pretty well at this one. I would say I wrote closer to 3-4 days a week, but I feel good about that. I really don't write much, but I do quote one scripture that has inspired me each day, and then 5 things that I'm grateful for. I really like it and will continue this goal for this next year too. I think this year I want to make more of an effort to write in my journal on the days when it is not easy and when the kids are out of school. I usually write in my journal right after I take the kids to school in the morning, so if they don't go, I don't write--silly but true. I can work on that.

My seventh goal last year was to finish both the Old Testament manual and the Book of Mormon and do some individual scripture study every day. To be honest I never made it out of Genesis, but I did some really in-depth study and I feel really good about that and am ready to move on to the Book of Mormon for this year. I also was able to finish the Book of Mormon, which was awesome. This year I'm going to focus on the Book of Mormon, since it is this year's course of study for Sunday School. I got the seminary study manual for that too and am really enjoying it. I want to do in-depth study with the manual, and keep up with the Sunday School goal and our family's goal (which is to follow the chart that was in the January Friend). This will mean that I will probably be studying in two different place in the book every day, but I'm good with that. I kind of like it that way, actually. I still want to keep it to between 15-30 minutes a day. And like the journal writing, I want to work on doing it on the days when my kids are out of school (I read scriptures and write in my journal at the same time).

My final goal last year was to be nice to my kids. I definitely had mixed results (really mixed if you talked to my kids). But we did do some fun things as a family. First and foremost, we added Noel to our family. And if you've seen Noel, you'd know how really great that is. She is a cutey!! We also had Seven Peaks passes and enjoyed going once a week as a family all summer long. I think we made some good memories there. We've also done lots of family reading, both scriptures and regular books. In my opinion, those are probably the best times. This year for my goal I was touched by something I read in the George Albert Smith lesson last week. One of his ideals in his personal creed reads, "I would live with the masses and help to solve their problems that their earth life may be happy." I think that is a pretty good goal for a mother. I definitely live with the masses (of kids in my house) and I can try harder to help them solve their problems so they can be happy. That's my goal for the year. Here's to solving problems, whatever they may be.

I think that is a good mix of goals for the year and I'm eager to get started. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to make 2012 a great year in my life and in the lives of those around me.