Project Runway

We were all at Grandma LouAnns. Brittany wanted to start a sewing project so they were sorting through some material. Jensen found a piece of plaid material that he liked. He thought he would make a vest out of it. It was just a square piece of fabric, but he knew if he just cut some holes for his arms, it would make a great vest.



He didn't measure or anything, just started cutting. He didn't like it at ALL! So . . he patched up one arm hole (sewing a new piece of fabric over the hole . . all by himself.) Then he thought it needed pockets, so he sewed on some pockets. He wanted it to close, so he made a closure at the neckline. After he saw the vest on himself, he didn't like it much.

The next day we talked about patterns, and what they are used for in sewing. He decided that it would probably be good to make a vest using a pattern. SEW . . . . he got out a hunting vest and traced in onto new fabric. He figured out how it was put together, and traced the pieces accordingly. (Mind you. . . .I was not helping him!!!) That afternoon when I got home from school, this is what he had accomplished. (And no . . . .we did NOT Help him with any of the sewing. And Yes -- - -he did sew one of the pockets upside down and had to un-stitch it and fix it.)


Watch out project RUNWAY!!!!

A few days later, he was wearing his elf costume to school. I had taken off the red/white cuffs that were on the shirt. He wanted them on. I wasn't home . . .so he took it upon himself to sew the cuffs back on. (See picture in the halloween post).

What a guy!! Gotta love him! And . . .gotta love Grandma LouAnn for supporting these kids in their sewing adventures! Heaven knows I couldn't help them!

Boo Hoo Hoo

What a strange halloween for me this year! Jensen went trick-or-treating with his friends, so did Brittany. Brooklyn went to a carnival with her friends. I sat home and folded laundry while pouting because my kids are sooo big . . .they didn't even need me on halloween!!! Crazy that they are growing up so fast. Makes me a sad. Anyway . . .enough of the tears.

Jensen and his football buddies! Love his friends! We are so lucky that he has the great cousins and friends that he does! These kids are great.

Same goes with Brittany and her other 3 amigos!! I am pretty sure these 4 were roommates in heaven! They all get along sooo well. They were cut out of the same mold. Love them!!

I waited and waited for all three kids to get home so I could get apicture of all of them together. They look pretty hammered at this point! I guess they needed to consume more of the candy they hauled in to give them a boost!!

The kids dressed up Friday at school for halloween . . . here is one of the four amigos. Love the stache!

Check out this elf! What a goof! One of his best friends dressed up as Santa. Check out the red/white cuffs on his shirt . .. he sewed them on. (More to come on his sewing abilities in another blog.. . the kid is awesome!)

Wish you could see the twister board on her head. What a funny girl! She wore this to school and to her band concert, and then was witch on halloween!

My funny boy thought it would be great to sort his candy and count it all. He wanted to know what the "most popular" candy was on halloween! Tootsie Rolls were number one. Here's the breakdown:

Tootsie Rolls 49, Life Savers 22, Suckers 21, Twizzlers 13, Smarties 11, Snickers 6, Laffy Taffy 6, Butterfinger 6, Reeses 6, Sweettarts 5, Milky Way 4, Twix 4, Gummies 4, Jaw Breakers 4, Baby Ruth 3, Skittles 3, Starburst 3, Hard Candy 3, Whoppers 3, 100 Grand 2, Bubble Gum 2, Dots 2, 3 Musketeer 1, Almond Joy 1, Kisses 1, York 1, Mike & Ike 1, Fun Dips 1, Big Hershey 1

After the kids get home and the laundry was folded we finally ate dinner - the traditional (Dinner in a pumpkin!)

Dancing Queens

Love Love Love these girls! Each year duing shipping the girls take DAYS (and that is no exaggeration) planning the "Dancing Queen Show". And there is really NO way to describe this event!! All ages particiapte and entertain! I think this year they entertained close to 70 people.

We all gather at the porch (new or old) at the Ivin's cabin to watch dancing extraordinaire!! The girls spend days decorating, choosing songs, practicing, advertising, costuming, and presenting this show. This year they even wanted to put their handmade flyers on the cows that would wander down the road . . . after all .. . .we wouldn't want anyone to miss out on this event would we?

This sign was killing me . . .. but you can't help but love it. You would think it was written by a small child, but you would be wrong.

These girls were planning out the music . . . .I can't even count how many songs they started with and changed and changed, and changed again. But, they did pick great ones!

Making the programs. Each person who attends the show comes with a ticket (handmade) money to spend on concessions (also handmade) and gets a program (yes . . .handmade).

One of the BEAUTIFUL programs.

These are some of the concession boys. They use boxes and tie them around the necks, then sell concessions during the show. This year we made them glow in the dark glasses so we could see them easily. (Not that they needed help . .. they are very persistent in selling their "goods")

One on the MANY (and that may be under-estimating) signs that were hung up to advertise the grand show!

For the finale - Michelle Halls had a great idea. We made stick people out of glow sticks for the girls. We turned out all the lights and had the CUTEST stick people dancing. It is impossible to get a good picture, but this was about the best I could do. It was a riot!!! What a fun idea!! How we will EVER top this year?
Thank you dancing queens . . .not for letting us freeze out in the cold of the mountains in October, but for entertaining us all WEEK long, (maybe most importantly staying busy and out of our and your brothers' hair!). You were all FANTASTIC!!!

Slacker Pictures

I am bound and determined to try to get this blog a little more updated! Could be rough!! NEVER NEVER NEVER take a year off!! My goal is just to start going through pictures and posting . . .there will be no rhyme or reason to the order .. . just need to get things written down. So . . .here are a few pictures from one of our favorite places in the whole world. The lone cone . . . .. OHHHH . . it was beautiful! We love our little place under the cone.

The Forest . . . .OHHHH . . one of the prettiest places you can ever go when the leaves are changing!!

The Cone & The Forest .... .LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!