Going Private!

Our blog will be going private next week- so shoot me an email or leave a comment if you would like to be invited to read!

Snow Day! Yesterday and last night it snowed like crazy and we woke up to 15+ inches of snow!

This is more snow then I have ever seen! (in person of course)
It covered my boots in some spots...

Luckily Sky got out ok, but it was weird having it up to the door.

Just a little St. Paddy's day decor :)

Tee shirt tutorial

Because Skyler works at the Rec Ctr. he is constantly bringing home shirts in
various sizes from different events.
It's nice to not have to buy workout shirts- so in a effort to use them and not drown in my own shirt, I decided to try and size them down a bit.

This shirt was marked a small,
and this green shirt that does fit me is marked as a medium.

So lay a shirt that fits you on top of the larger shirt. Fold sleeves in and cut down the sides and across the bottom, leaving 1/2in seam allowance. I also like to cut the shirts a bit longer for extra coverage :)

For the sleeves, match up the hemmed end with the smaller shirt and cut 1/2in past the shoulder seam of the smaller shirt for seam allowance.

I know the grey shirt sleeve looks smaller then the green shirt but it's not.

Do this on both sleeves. Then turn shirt inside out and sew the new side seams.
Turn sleeves right side out and stuff inside the shirt. Make sure to match up the top of the sleeve with the shoulder seam, pin around until you get to the arm pit. If you sewed up too far on the side seam just pick out a couple stitches, if you didn't sew up far enough, just continue the side seam until you get to the pit. Easy enough right?!

This is a pic. of the sleeve stuffed inside the armhole.

After sewing both sleeves in, turn right side out and try it on!
Most t-shirts are knit and wont ravel, so if you like the rolled hem look on the bottom of the shirt, your done! If not, then turn it inside out again. Turn the hem up 1/2 in and simply sew around. You can even sew around twice to get the finished look of a brand new shirt.

Enjoy!

P.s. If you like headbands, you can cut a section of the original hem that you cut off, trimming it to just the edge and two lines of stitching. Stretch it to go almost all the way around your head, then simply slide in the edge of 1 1/2-2 inches of small elastic and sew in place!

No more pinching & so-tight-it-slides-off-your-head, headbands. I would also recommend embellishing it with some flowers made out of the scraps.

Happy Valentines!

We showed H. her pockets a few weeks ago when it was cold out.
She just thinks it's the coolest thing to walk around hands in pockets.

We got a kick start last Friday by celebrating with a playgroup V-Day party.
The kids exchanged cute little cards and candy, decorated cookies and bags.

Hayley loves to do "touchdown!" She gets excited and throws her arms up. So cute.
This is (one of) her Valentines shirts- I freezer paper stenciled two robins and a heart. I thought the paint I got was going to be red, but turned out to be the brightest pink I've ever seen, so I mixed it with some white. I didn't realize the white I have has glitter in it! So it turned out a little sparkly :)

I have never been a huge fan of frosting, so sugar cookies have never been #1 in my book. But I thought I should give it a go, it's Valentines after all?! I did a thick chocolate first, which was fantastic and then a simple buttercream in purple.
For those who know me well, no I have not converted into a purple loving person. I just think we had enough pink going on already for this holiday. :)

Not a great picture, but hey, she never stops moving!
Just this week she has started putting on her rain boots by herself!
(Skyler got Hayley and I matching polka dot boots for Christmas)

Yesterday my friend came over and I helped her make a real torte.
Which I was somewhat frustrating in the preparation.
She asked me a few months ago what the difference between a cake and a torte was and I wasn't sure. So I researched a little and found that a torte has little or no flour and uses ground nuts in it's place.

I went to my Professional Baking book to see what it had. Nothing that totally fit the description. I checked all my other books and nothing. We ended up making pecan paste (like almond paste that you can get at a specialty store.) We used a french Genoise recipe using the chocolate variation as well as the nut paste variation.

I was crossing my fingers that with so many changes it would turn out.
(Also the factor that I haven't made a traditional french cake since I was at Culinary school, 5 years ago)

The layers baked up nicely considering Geoise doesn't use a leavening agent like yeast or baking soda/powder, it relies on whipping the eggs in the batter for 15min on high until it's pretty fluffy and then carefully folding in the flour.

We layered with chantilly cream (sweetened whip cream) and frosted with chocolate buttercream.

I haven't actually tried it yet, because I didn't want to make her cut into it before she took it home for her own celebration. But she promised me a piece later :)

Happy 80th Birthday Mona!

Kylee, Skyler, Milena, Tessa, Ashlyn


Last week we took a short trip to Ogden, UT for
Gramma Mona's 80th Birthday!

All the kids had a great time playing with each other!

Hayley and Milena loved playing with this set of milk jugs at Grandma Claudia's.

Sky and I at Maddocks

Hayley kept crawling up onto Claudia's piano bench like she's been playing for years.

Skyler was so cute! He would follow Hayley around and play with her all sweet and make sure she was safe.

Gabe and Uncle Brett
Some pics of our tables at Maddocks.

Right side: Tucker, his girlfriend, Melissa
Left side: Brenna, Jenna, Skyler
Right Side: Brooke, Katie, Mona, Beth, Layne at the head
Left side: Barrett, Uncle Jim, Jodi, Lynn, Lance

There are of course way more people hiding in these pictures but it's almost impossible to get everyone and their attention at the same time.


I wish I could have gotten a better picture of the Birthday girl. We did have some professionally done photos before the dinner but they aren't ready yet. It was too short of a trip we both agreed, Hayley was a traveling trooper with the plane rides, car rides, nap schedules etc.

Happy Birthday Mona!

Pre-Valentines Day prep

I want to celebrate and decorate more for the lesser Holidays,
so I've been filling nap times with fun new crafts.

I read quite a few DIY crafter blogs and wanted to try some new techniques.
Freezer paper stenciling, applique and the ruffle in the window. So, I made some throw covers for the couch pillows. Actually, I made the pillow as well just by cutting an old bed pillow into a square and a skinny rectangle and just stitching up the cut end. Much more cost effective.

Hayley decided to smear soup all in her hair before nap one day.
So I dunked her head in the sink, which she didn't like, but
she woke up with awesome curls.

A friend of mine got a neat carrying case for her needles for Christmas, I was envious. So I set out to make my own to replace the battered plastic zip-lock I've been using.
I'm loving it!

I made Hayley and I matching headbands. She wont wear hers for very long, but I love mine. So comfy and I never get that sore feeling behind the ears like with regular headbands.