5/31/2010

The Pool!

I forgot the stinking camera went we went to the pool for the first time this season. Ah! It was so fun too. I'm sad I didn't get pictures. Anyway, here are a few things that happened...

1)The girls LOVE the pool. Both of them had a blast. Which makes me for a happy Mama. I see a LOT of pool days in our future...

2)Lexi is very timid about learning how to swim. That's the goal this summer, and she's doing okay. I don't want to pay someone to teach her, so I'm going slowly... she got used to getting her head under the water, but it will be slow going. If you have any tips, let me know.

3)Laney is FEARLESS. Seriously. She jumps in to us, she 'swims' between Brandon and I, and her head is under the water the whole time. As soon as she gets to Brandon, she practically dives back into the water to get to me. She was seriously having a ball. Did I mention that she's 15 months old? The good thing is that she won't jump in unless Brandon or I are there. At least that's what she's doing now. Let's hope it stays that way...

4)I forgot how much fun it is to play in the nice, warm, sun. I LOVE that feeling you have after you've played in the pool and you go home and shower, and you get your clothes on, and you just feel... good. Ahhhh.

5/28/2010

This and that...

Here are just a few random pictures...

That's our racquetball ball. It broke when we played the other morning. Yes, we were playing THAT hard. :) And you can just guess who was strong enough to break a racquetball. (This is where you say, "Of course it was Cassie that broke it. She's a total baller.) ;)
Laney's hair is long enough for pigtails. Weird, eh? Except I'm having a major problem with her two different cowlicks. The one in the frount swirls one way, and the one in the back swirls the other way, which makes her hair DIFFICULT. I part it one way, and it doesn't work. I part it on the other side, and it doesn't work. Such is life when you have girls...
So cute! And she's always been pretty patient when I do her hair. Because she sees me do Lexi's hair, and she wants to be like Lexi.
Stuff like this makes my day. They're sitting on the couch, sharing fruit snacks and watching Oso. I just had to get a picture. Now I have to get a video of Lexi coaching Laney down the slide. So cute! She sounds just like me- "You can do it, Laney. Just put your foot up. There you go! Now, sit down. Good job, Laney!"
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5/23/2010

Lexi's first primary talk



Lexi gave her first talk in primary today. I've been practicing with her all week, and we even went to the church yesterday to practice it. Lexi is so shy, that I knew she would have to feel REALLY comfortable in her surroundings to pull it off. And she did! She was shy at first, but as soon as I was kind of squatting next to her by the pulpit, she did great! She was quiet, but great. I'm so proud of her. I didn't have to help her at all. Here's a video of her practicing on Saturday. Don't mind her dirty hands. We were planting a garden right before. If you can't understand her, and she tends to be lazy about her talking, this is what she says: "I am Lexi Wernli and I'm 3 years old. I have faith in Jesus Christ. When I'm mean to my sister Laney, then I can say Sorry. When I'm 8 years old, then I can be baptized. Then I can get the Holy Ghost. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

5/17/2010

Skirt Instructions

The PDF option didn't work. I tried and tried and TRIED, but oh well. So, I'll just post it on my blog. Sorry it took so long! First, I should have taken pictures throughout the process. Sorry! Second, I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense. You can always ask me questions!

Circle skirts
1. Take measurements of the child you want to make the skirt for. The waist, and the length. For the length, I measured from waist to just below the knee.
2. Here is the math you will need for the pattern:
For the waist- make sure to do it in this order-
Take the waist measurement, add 4 inches, then divide by 6, then add an inch or so. Here’s the reasoning… You add 4 inches so you can get it over the hips. Divide by 6 because you are making six pieces, and add an inch for the seams on both sides.
Example: 19.5 inches + 4 = 23.5. 23.5 /6 = 3.9. 3.9 + 1 + 4.9 inches. This will be the width at the top.
For the length-
Take your length measurement, add 2 ½ inches at the top, and about ½ inch at the bottom. The 2 ½ inches is for the elastic waisting at the top, and the ½ inch is for the hem at the bottom.
Example: 9.5 inches + 2.5 = 12. 12 + .5 = 12.5
NOTE: I tend to round up a little, just in case. I’d rather cut off material than not have enough, you know? So in the previous example, I’d round to 13 inches.
3. Now is time for making the pattern. It’s really easy. Draw a straight horizontal line at the top that is the width of the math you did for the waist. From the example, it would be a line that is 4.9 inches long.
Then, make a mark at the bottom for the length you found. From the example, I’d make a dot that is 13 inches below.
Next, draw a line straight down from the two sides of your 4.9-inch line that is 2.5 inches long. Again, this is for the elastic waist. This will give you what looks like 3 sides of a rectangle. Like this:

From there, you eyeball a diagonal line outward down to the length of the dot you drew. The more outward you go, the more full and frilly the skirt will be.
Fold over the piece down the center, and draw a line on the opposite that is symmetrical.
Last, draw a little bulging, circularish line that connects the sides.
This is what it should look like:
NOTE: Any changes you make to the pattern will be multiplied six-fold. So, if per se, you make a first skirt and it is too big or too small in the waist, be careful how much you cut off or add to this pattern. If you need an inch off the skirt, you can only cut off 1/6 of an inch on the pattern. Does that make sense?
4. Cut out six pieces of the pattern with your chosen material.
5. Now’s the time for sewing. You need to put two of the pieces of the pattern together, with the front of the material facing each other.
6. Sew them together on the right side, with about a ½ inch seam.
7. Open it like a book, so you’re now looking at the front of the material. Now put another piece onto the right, with the two fronts again facing each other. Again, open it up, and put another piece on, and continue doing this until you’ve done all 6. Then sew the 1st and the 6th together, with the fronts facing each other. They should now be in a circle, and the skirt should be inside out.
8. Make sure to iron the seams down, so they are open like a book. It helps with the rest of the sewing. It will look like this:

9. Now it’s time to get the elastic in. Keep the skirt inside out. Fold down the top about an inch. Then fold it again an inch. The elastic will fit in there.
10. Sew at the bottom of your waist part, all the way around, but leave about 2 or 3 inches to get the elastic in.
11. Then put the elastic in. Make sure to measure the elastic at the original measurement you measured your little one’s waist at, plus about a ½ inch. You’ll find out why in a minute. Another tip- put a safety pin in the end of the elastic to help you get it through the waist. (If you’re a beginning sewer, you might not know this trick. I certainly didn’t. My hubbie gave that tip to me. ) J
12. Cinch the elastic out so you have a lot of elastic to work with. Now you need to sew the two sides of the elastic together. (This was why you needed to add about ½ inch.)
13. Fit all the elastic back in the waist, and sew the last 2-3 inches together of the waist. I tried it on my daughter first to make sure it fit her waist before I sewed that last 3 inches.
14. Now’s time for the hem. What I found out the first time is that the less the hem, the easier to sew. The more the hem, the harder, because it folds onto itself a lot more. It tends to do that when you’re sewing in a circle. So anyway… pin the skirt up about ¼ inch at each seam point.
15. Iron the whole hem up around the bottom about ¼ inch. You don’t have to iron it, but it makes it easier to work with.
16. Now fold it up again about ¼ inch. By folding it up twice, you don’t get any fraying of the material every time you wash it.
17. I personally don’t iron it up again, because I’m lazy. But if you do, it will be easier to sew.
18. Sew the hem. If you’re like me, It will fold up a little at some points. But it doesn’t really cause an issue in the skirt. You can’t even tell on the front.
You’re done! Try it on your little one and have her twirl!

5/12/2010

OCDness

This...



makes me happy. I LOVE folding laundry. If you know me, you know that I have some OCD tendencies, and folding laundry puts me in my happy place. Everything has a nice little spot, all folded and nice, with the rest of the outfit. I just sit, watch a Hallmark movie (yes, I'm cheesy like that, but Hallmark movies have no language and no sex), and fold laundry. Lexi's go on one side, Laney's on the other side. Ah, it makes me want to do my own laundry right now just so I can fold it. :) I know, I'm weird. I wonder if I could charge for my services and fold other people's laundry... :) However, I hate unloading the dishwasher. That is strictly a Brandon job. What's your favorite and least favorite household chore?
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5/04/2010

My Birthday!

I can't believe I didn't post about my birthday! It was probably my best one yet. This might be a long post...

So, my bday was on Sunday this year, and as you might know, I don't get my husband at all that day. So, to make it up to me, Brandon gave me my present on Saturday. Which was...

a $100 american express gift card, and the WHOLE day to myself. Ladies, this is THE gift to ask your husband for. It would have been good even without the money.

So, I started out my day with a trip to the temple. GREAT way to start off. Then I went to Ross, and bought these shorts:


Beautiful, aren't they? :) I have slimmed down a size after Laney was born (please don't hate me), and I've been having to wear all my pants with belts, and I've been feeling like a hobo. So, I told myself I'd just wait until it got warmer and get some smaller shorts that actually fit me for the summer. Too bad Utah thinks it's still winter! But it's always fun to shop. I got some new salt and pepper shakers too.

I also went to Payless and got some sandals for Laney. She didn't have any summer shoe-wear.

Then I went to Target to get some kitchen utensils. Useless tangent-- So, I got a total of 4 presents at my wedding. Groom from New York + Parents who divorced and then got back together a month before my wedding = possible awkward situations for family friends and guests; therefore, no one came to the reception. Either that or I was REALLY unpopular my whole life. Oh well. I'm over it. It was a really fun family party. But because of this fact, we didn't have, well, anything when we got married. No bedding, pillows, towels, plates, toaster, vacuum, silverware, cups, etc. You name it, we didn't have it. My mom was SO nice to get us a LOT of stuff with the leftover wedding budget. She really set us up. Thanks again, Mom! But all the things we got were from Ross or Walmart. Needless to say, they weren't meant to last very long. :) I do have to add that we got extremely fabulous pots and pans for my bridal shower from my Mama Ginger and Rebecca. It will be at least another 10 years before I have to replace those...

So, since we got married, I've been slowly replacing our kitchen items. A couple years ago we got a new toaster, in January I got a new blender, and so for my bday I got an apple cutter, a cheese slicer, an ice cream scoop, and this baby:

Cooking is SO much easier and a lot more fun when you have good kitchen gear. My santoku knife. Chopping veggies is SO easy now!

I also got a new purse that was on sale at Target:


I love it. My other purse was getting a little old-looking. I'd had it for 3 years.

Then I went to In-N-Out, got myself a cheeseburger, fries, and Coke, and read the rest of my book (Catching Fire) for like 3 hours. It was awesome.

The perfect day. And my perfect husband, while I was gone, deep-cleaned the whole house. DI trips and all.

Honestly, I married the perfect person. I felt totally pampered and appreciated. It was EXACTLY what I needed.