...No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

I. Had bronchitis all November. Spent time alternately coughing/sleeping/begging for death. Got over it.

II. Thanksgiving. Kevin & Celeste, Catherine & Matt, Mike & Mandy & Associates. There was much turkey; also, football.

III. Met up for realsies with my internet friend Meg - my psychic twin in many ways, except that she works for Duke.

IV. Turned 31. Got $ for fabric (Matt's parents) and a ruffle foot (Matt). Ruffle foot has been removed from packaging; that's about it.

V. Finished epic custom order of American Girl sewing. V. proud of self.

VI. Betsy's 8th birthday.

VII. Matt's parents arrived for 12 day visit. Used them almost immediately for free babysitting: Matt and I had 10th anniversary. Went to Macaroni Grill for dinner; got free dessert upon showing waitress pics of our wedding lunch at (different) Macaroni Grill.

VIII. Betsy's 8th birthday party. Collective noun for a group of 8 year old girl: a squee.

IX. Molly and Dad came out for Betsy's baptism. Saw 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' with Molls. Epic.

X. Betsy's baptism. Cutest girl ever. Could not be prouder.

XI. Many cookies prepared; consumed.

XII. Snow.

XIII. Christmas Eve 'All the snacks in the world' at Mike & Mandy's house. There was goat cheese, and then there wasn't because I ate it all.

XIV. Christmas Day. Many photos taken. Kids love toys.

XV. Saw 'Wicked' with Matt on Christmas Night. Wore foxy new clothes from husband. 'Popular' stuck in head for approx. 72 hrs.

XVI. In-laws back to Utah.

XVII. Watched HBO's 'The Pacific.' First half = bleh; second half = almost as good as BoB.

XVIII. New Year's Eve: cheese fondue, Jurassic Park (Porter's new obsession). Not resolutions, but goals:

• Sew one thing for ME a month;
• Get Amy potty trained;
• Find a job.

XIV. Happy 2011!

Five

Get a load of this handsome guy:

Porter's birthday was actually a week ago, but since I am both a bad mother and a neglectful blogger, I'm writing about it now. Actually, Porter was a lucky boy because he managed to get three or four days' worth of enjoyment out of his birthday!

Because of Matt's work schedule (which changes every five minutes it seems like) he wasn't going to be around at night on Porter's big day. So on Saturday we went to Chuck E Cheese for an exciting lunch of pizza and arcade games. My kids really love Chuck E Cheese, and I love getting the coupons for it out of the newspaper. I forgot to bring the camera so there aren't any pictures, but it was really cute. We also got Mike and cousin Miles to meet us up there because they are fans of the cheese-eating rodent as well. Watching my two-year-old nephew own his daddy at air hockey was really, really amusing.

Sunday we had church, and then the Official Birthday Celebration. We invited Mike, Mandy, and Miles over because (as it turns out) Miles is a fan of cupcakes too. Porter's birthday dinner was hotdogs. Actually, the meal planning conversation went like this:

ME: Porter, what do you want for your birthday dinner?

PORTER: Hot dogs or pizza.

ME: Well, we are going to Chuck E Cheese and we'll have pizza for lunch, so how about hot dogs for dinner?

PORTER: Okay.

ME: What do you want to have with it?

PORTER: How about... some water for drinking.

ME: [is relieved to have a low maintenance child]

PORTER [a few minutes later]: Mom, make sure the water is not from a pond.

ME: Okay.

PORTER: Or from a pool.

ME: I promise we will get it from the fridge.

So Porter had his birthday dinner of hot dogs and some water for drinking (but not from a pond or a pool). Actually he had apple juice to drink, and some delicious Ore Ida fries, and cupcakes with yellow frosting (had to be yellow because that's a boy color according to my kids) for dessert.

Because Porter is a boy (in case you hadn't gotten that by now) it's pretty easy to buy him gifts. We gave him a couple of dinosaur-themed Imaginext sets (Imaginext are these toy sets that Fisher Price makes and P has a bunch of them already. They are very, very boy) and Grandma Lynn and cousin Miles both gave him Legos. Not the big Duplo blocks, mind you, but tiny Legos (that's what he calls them). He's been telling us for ages that when he's five, he can play with tiny Legos. Well, guess who is five now!

Santa Was Here

Okay, I'm not even going to bother trying to get all of these pictures into the right order. I think you're all sick of hearing me rant about Blogger, right? At least it only took me 3 tries to get them all up.

There was snow on Tuesday, although it's all gone by now. That was also the day I took the kids down to the Children's Museum for their awesome Jolly Days exhibit, including the Yule Slide... I had never actually done the slide before; I was surprised at how fast it actually is! (Parenthetically, we also visited the newly opened Barbie exhibit. Porter didn't hate it as much as I thought he would. IT WAS AWESOME.) I spent a good chunk of the week wrapping presents and baking with my three little helpers. Actually, Amy's idea of helping is: put on an apron, drag a chair over to the kitchen island, and stand there demanding cheese. But what she lacks in utility, she more than makes up for in cuteness.

We went to Mike and Mandy's on Christmas Eve for a family tradition of theirs aptly titled All The Snacks In The World; the cousins exchanged gifts and we got to enjoy some adult conversation and came away quite sated. The kids went to bed easily on Christmas Eve and let us sleep to a quite reasonable seven o'clock on Christmas.

And then: the presents. It turns out my kids were good this year.

T-Day Wrap-Up

Since Thanksgiving was a week ago, and I've now officially divested my fridge of anything that could be considered a 'leftover,' maybe I should actually write about it.

We had, as you can see, a houseful of Blinns. My parents drove out on Tuesday night, arriving in time to watch that night's episode of NCIS (I thought it was
just okay but I enjoyed the shoulder holster and the Real Genius reference), and left on Friday morning. It was a whirlwind trip, but we still had time to go on Steak 'n' Shake - we went on Wednesday night since my mom and I were full on sick of cooking at that point - and even squeeze in a visit to Hancock Fabrics. Matt and my kids and my dad and sisters went down to the Childrens' Museum on Wednesday and Mom and I stayed home to cook and bake and generally mess up the kitchen. (I also found the time to list a bunch of stuff on eBay - I've finally figured out how to use that site so I've been clearing out some of the piles of stuff I've accumulated in my basement over the years. The fact that I get money for it is just a nice little bonus.) Also, I discovered that the Guacamole Steakburger is the fall-apartiest steakburger ever, but it's delicious, as is the Peppermint Chocolate Chip Shake.

Mike and Many and Miles came up on Thursday morning while Matt was at Turkey Bowl, and there were plenty of cinnamon rolls to go around. We pretty much feasted from one end of the day to the other, what with crackers and cheese and sausage and veggies and deviled eggs and then the feast really began. The turkey was done around 4:00, which was perfect timing - if it had finished before the Packers/Lions game was over, I don't think anyone would have touched it. My personal big accomplishment was making yeast rolls from scratch for the first time ever ( with only a little help from my mom) (okay, and some assistance from Molly) and they were really, really good. A little pie to round the whole meal out and some Christmas music while cleaning up the dishes, and I'd have to call it an enormously successful holiday.

Candy Hangover

Yeah, we have A LOT of candy in the house. Fortunately, I've been doing my best to remedy that situation, as you knew I would. The kids basically got to do Halloween twice: Ward Trunk-or-Treat on Friday (And I've been wondering, is that an Indiana thing or a Mormon thing? Because I'd never heard of it until a few years ago) and the neighborhood parade on Saturday. It was a little bit cold, but the kids' costumes were warm enough, or at least I didn't hear any complaining. Betsy had the fewest layers on, but she's also the one posessed of the most intestinal fortitude (at least when candy is involved), so she wouldn't even dream of putting a jacket on over her costume.

Just to rehash: Betsy was Glinda (sewed by yours truly); Porter was Buzz Lightyear (re-used from last year, although I think this is his last time wearing it); and Amy was a zebra (a costume which has been in use in our family almost continuously since 2004). I didn't even bother trying to get a photo of all three of them together; if you've been reading this blog, you know why. But I did get some adorable pictures of each kid individually. I guess when I scrapbook, I'll just overlap them.

I think that the best part of Halloween, as far as my kids were concerned, is that their Grandma and Grandpa were here to enjoy it! Matt's parents flew out for a quick three-day visit while the kids were on fall break. Betsy had a blast doing shrink art with Grandma (she kept referring to it as 'snark art' which I find irrationally hilarious); Porter duly impressed everyone with his reading skills; and Amy made a point of being especially adorable and fetching. Grandma insisted on taking them down to Target and buying them each a small toy. (Sadly, my kids don't have anywhere near enough toys!) Betsy got a My Little Pony (I later found out that she chose Star Song mainly because the neighbor girl already has that one and she didn't); Porter chose a Lego fire chief car (to go along with the fire truck he'll be getting for Christmas), and Amy got a baby doll that can go in the bath. She couldn't wait until it was out of the package, and was hugging the bath. Girlie has definitely hit the baby doll stage in a big way.

Now, of course, I'm ready for it to be Christmas. It's not that I don't enjoy Thanksgiving. Any holiday when we get to enjoy three or four kinds of pies in one day is the kind of thing I can really get into. What's more, my parents and sisters are making the trek out from New York for T-Day. But nothing can really compare to the Christmas season! We're having our family picture taken on Friday (there's a guy at Matt's work that does them for free) so I sewed myself a fluffy skirt out of this cool retro poinsettia fabric I got a couple of years ago.

This week, I'm scrapbooking, and making some cards for some submission calls (I don't think I mentioned, I had one picked up by Cards magazine last month - it'll be my first time in that mag., so I'm thrilled) and today I'm probably going to Hancock's for some really awesome fabric of which I will shortly post pictures. Oh, and maybe I should at least think about taking the Halloween decorations down.

I Haven't Died

I've just been doing a lot of multi-tasking.

(Isn't that picture hilarious? The best part is, Amy came up with that trick all on her own... and immediately came running to show me Just How Clever she is.)

We've been getting ready for Halloween, which is always a fun holiday. I put up the decorations a few weeks ago and I've been working on Betsy's costume:

She's being Glinda, the good witch from the Wizard of Oz. She came up with this idea entirely on her own, mind you. The dress isn't totally finished in the picture above: it still needs hemmed, and there's a lit of sparkly trim. But I'm thrilled to death with how it looks. The funny thing is, this costume weighs a TON. I made it out of good heavy satin - I think it was originally from the bridal section, and not costumes, because they didn't have the right color - and that skirt is abot a million yards wide. I have no idea how Betsy is going to handle trick-or-treating, but I'm sure she'll manage.

We went to the pumpkin patch last Saturday and let the kids pick out their own pumpkins.

It's really turned into quite the event, with games and rides and whatnot. We let the kids each pick a couple of activities that they could do.

The next big thing on my plate is the Primary music program. We rehearsed it in the chapel last Sunday; we have one more practice on Saturday and then it's SHOWTIME. And I woke up this morning with a killer sore throat... I seriously cannot lose my voice this week!

There's a chill in the air...

It was actually in the mid-sixties yesterday, but the gale force winds made it feel a lot cooler. The calendar and I agree: it is definitely fall. Now, I largely view summer as something to be gotten through in order to achieve the reward of cooler days (I mean, I like the 4th of July and the State Fair and everything, but I hate to sweat) so I'm happy when I can open the windows to let the breezes in and haul my sweaters out of storage.

There are lots of fun things about fall. Like the season premieres of all my favorite TV shows. I actually somehow spaced out on the first episode of The Office (don't worry, I caught it online) and Chuck, another favorite of mine, won't be around until winter (curse you, Jay Leno, for messing up the NBC schedule!) but the first episode of Season 7 of NCIS was AMAZING. Now, it's no secret how I feel about that show, but WOW. Can't wait for the second episode tonight.

Speaking of NCIS, here's a birthday card that I made for a friend who is also a fan of the show:
The sentiment on the front is a reference to how DiNozzo likes his pizza, and on the inside I wrote (actually stamped, and I still have red ink all over my fingers, which would be so cool if it was Halloween) "May you enjoy all of the things you love on your birthday." And I love the crisp autumnal colors and vintage stylin' of those papers (Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird line). I made a whopping $10 off of our fall neighborhood garage sale, and promptly blew it all on scrapbook supplies.

And speaking of cards, October 3 is World Card-Making Day. (There are just all kinds of craft-related holidays! For example, September is National Sewing Month. I think my previous post shows how I feel about that.) That's also the first day of General Conference, so I think I'll set up the broadcast on the baby monitor and go down in the basement, so I can listen to the prophet and apostles and play around with paper & stickers at the same time. Since it's conference, I'll also need to make some cinnamon rolls.

Speaking of baking (Man, I am just on fire today with these awesome segues!), fall is also the time I really want to start baking again. Actually, I'd start making Christmas cookies right now if I thought I could get away with it (have I made it clear on this blog how I feel about Christmas?) but that would be weird, so I'll hold off until at least November 1. But I got some baking apples to make a pie, and I just found a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that I'd like to try (did you know that a can of pumpkin has like a zillion percent of your RDA for Vitamin A? See, they're not a dessert, they're health food) and oh yeah! The cookie press that Matt gave me last Christmas has a pumpkin shaped plate so I'll have to get that out too.

Another thing that fall brings is the Primary music program for church. Now, at first it seemed like a bum deal that I got called as Primary chorister less than two months before the program, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it's not so bad. See, the kids already know the songs; I don't have to worry so much about teaching them, just reviewing. And the calling is really starting to grow on me. (Much like seminary did two years ago.) The first two Sundays, I thought I was going to die, sweat was just pouring off me and I was certain that the kids could all see through me. BUT once I convinced myself that I could do it (and really, how judgemental can these kids be? They're all eleven and under) then I started to have fun. I mean, I like kids (apparently), I like music so what's not to love?

Oh! And I am so looking forward to Halloween, even though I am nowhere near ready for it. Matt's parents are actually coming out to visit the last weekend in October, and the kids are way psyched that Grandma and Grandpa get to see them in their costumes. Porter is going to be Buzz Lightyear again, Amy is going as the ubiquitous zebra, but Betsy actually gets a new costume this year. She told me in June, or maybe it was April, that she wanted to be "the good witch from the Wizard of Oz" this year. Yikes - lucky thing I have a serger, for all that ravelly fabric! Anyway, lucky me, this was the year that Simplicity put out an actual licensed Wizard of Oz pattern (they actually did several versions, including baby, dog, and ho) so I won't have to improvise. It did take me a really long time to find the exact right color for Glinda's dress - it's not a pink pink, it's more of a peachy pink - but I finally tracked it down at Hancock's (clearance, yay!) and got everything cut out last night. So, we'll certainly be an eclectic bunch for Halloween (someday I'll make matching themed costumes for the three of them, but not this year) but as long as there's candy, it's all good!

Happy Pink Day!

Did you know there's an entire holiday just for the color pink? I didn't either, but the editors at Paper Crafts say there is, so it must be so. (I know they wouldn't lie about something as important as colors; right, Susan?) I've always said that my favorite color is blue, but I've really been drawn to pink lately, especially since I'm such a girly-girl. And with two daughters in the house, I don't have to look very far to find pink things.

(The pink aisle in the toy department is like some kind of Mecca to Betsy!)

Fashion-wise, I have become a big fan lately of the pairing of pink and black. I found this blouse a few weeks ago at Goodwill and I'm wearing it today with black capris.

Here's one of the aprons I picked up at a church sale last weekend (for a whole dollar!) I just love the rickrack trim on the pockets, don't you? When it comes to papercrafting I have a plethora of pink products. One of my all-time favorite paper lines is Cosmo Cricket's Honey Pie, which is very pink-heavy. (I finally caved and bought the whole paper kit, although of course I waited until it was 50% off at Hobby Lobby.)

Hot pink works great as an accent for black and white (this is the card I made for Rob and Laura's wedding - the damask print is just a scrap of the wrapping paper I used on their gift):
I'm also really fond of pairing pink with my new favorite neutral, chocolate brown.


I think pink even works well as a Christmas color when it's matched up with some aqua blue and evergreen.

In the world of sewing, I pretty much can't avoid pink. (Like I would want to!) My most recent project was the vintage dress I mentioned in my last post. I went fabric shopping at JoAnn's with something completely else in mind, and came away with this gorgeous, cherry-blossom-pink poplin. I love how the dress turned out, and I'd wear it every day if I could.

When I first put it on I wore it with a white belt but Matt said I looked like a waitress! So I went down to Goodwill and picked up a black one for 25 cents. I used my Crop-a-Dile, a really handy scrapbooking tool (which incidentally has pink handles), to punch some extra holes for the buckle - worked like a charm.

There's also pinking, which is to say, trimming the seam allowances with pinking shears so that they won't ravel. I've always been pretty diligent about seam finishing, even though it doesn't show from the outside. Only I won't be needing to do that any more now that I have a serger! Hooray! Instead, how about some vintage pink buttons (courtesy of Goodwill, and there's lots more where that came from):

What's more, a length of bright pink silk dupioni that I recently purchased off of Fabric.com (I couldn't help it; they were having a really good sale) is currently sitting in my fabric stash. To be made into some future project (I actually have the pattern in mind already but nowhere to wear it) or at least blogged about.
So, what do you think of pink?

Edited to add a late-breaking Pink Day find! Mom, you are seriously going to die. I found this at the new (and I mean BRAND new) Goodwill store up here:

Vintage. Pink. Crinoline. Petticoat. Pretty much the awesomest thing ever (although I say that about everything I buy at Goodwill, so take it at face value). It's miles too big for me in the waist, so I will have to do something about that (possibly take apart the side seams, although it may just need new elastic at the waist) and I don't technically have any dresses that need a crinoline underneath (at least not yet) (at least not a HOT PINK one) but for four dollars, how could I possibly pass it up? Happy National Pink Day, indeed!