A Vaulted Kitchen

My lucky sister is getting to design a new kitchen (part of a new house she's building). I thought she might appreciate this inspiration :).


Isn't it gorgeous!

Seen on Daisy Pink Cupcake

A Spot of Sun

Well, the afternoon has clouded over, but there has been plenty of sunny news to tide me over until the real sun comes around again.

1. The kids are done with school, all with happy faces. And they didn't even throw any fits when we announced the new chores for the summer, maybe because we also announced their new bedtimes!

2. My brother found a good job for a Federal clerkship (he just graduated from Wash U Law School with my other brother. I got to go and will share pics soon.)

3. My 3 hour glucose test came back normal! Yea. 17 hours fasting with only a very nasty sugar drink to make me woozy and sick to my stomach was NOT my idea of fun.

4. I get to go on a date this weekend after a long drought.

I hope your weekend is looking sunny, too!

Busy in the Yard

We've been busy in the yard this year already. We made a big flower bed in our front yard. We have a crab apple tree, several bushes and I'm transplanting/dividing a bunch of perennials to fill it up. I can't wait for it to bloom and fill in.

Charity has been very helpful, carrying around shovels, washing off in the sprinkler and being cute.


Andrew did most of his helping when we put the dirt in, he LOVED raking the dirt over and over into the grass. So helpful!

Our Patio

One of these days (hopefully this weekend!) we'll have warm enough weather to enjoy our new patio set up. We found this great patio set on KSL classifieds for a great deal. I was lucky to get them when the first person flaked and forgot to show up, and so they let me come.

And here is the other side of our patio, our fun table that we've eaten at a handful of times already, sometimes with soggy bottoms due to wet cushions!

And the center piece of our patio and backyard, this lovely ode to children. Beware, someday it will be beautiful, and not just loads of fun. Someday.

We got to try it out the first night with a great fire and s'mores.

Here's to lots of fun on the back patio all summer! I hope you have all sorts of fun planned this spring. What are you looking forward to most?

At Least We Had Tulips

The weather has been so lousy, we haven't been to Thanksgiving Point in a few weeks. Luckily, during the Tulip Festival, the weather was decent and we got to go several times. One night we took a picnic. We had such a lovely time. I love spring!


I totally loved this bed of tulips, pink, yellow, and peach. I think I'm going to do this in front of my cute little yellow house.

Andrew's button

Sweet Andrew had his umbilical hernia repair today. He was so brave and cute. We had to be there at 7:00 and were out of there by 10:30. So it was quick and uneventful. Andrew is a little sore, but not too sore to wander around and follow the kids outside. He took a mammoth nap when we got home, and I hope he can sleep tonight.

His tummy is all covered up so we can't see the result, but I'm not sure I'll be happy. Let me explain. He had the cutest, biggest belly button. I loved it. But a few weeks ago (when we started all this talk of getting it "fixed") he became ashamed of it. He would always put his hand over it when he took his shirt off, he didn't like getting dressed even in front of his brother.

It made me so sad to have a child not like his body. I tried to tell him that the outie wasn't the problem, it was the hole underneath. But that is hard to understand. And all his siblings started wanting to see it.

So you see, I will miss that belly button. I wanted him to keep it and to learn to love it like I did. I want all my children to love themselves, every single part, even the ones that seem "different". So though I am glad he's all "fixed up", I still will miss that old outie. I hope it still pokes out when all is revealed in 7 days! And I hope he likes whatever is under there for the rest of his life, just like I'll love him no matter what he becomes.

P.S. Andrew told me he wants to be a doctor when he grows up and then he can take care of his mom when he's a dad. I was so happy, until he made it clear he meant the mom of his new family (his wife). This is quite a development, as he has always maintained that if he can't marry me (his first choice) that he didn't ever want to leave our house. He can live here as long as he wants! We'll see how long that is. ;)

Making Felt Food

Long ago I posted about homemade food, felt and crocheted or knitted here. I have wanted to try it for so long. We brought the play kitchen out of the play room and put it in Charity's room a few months ago. She likes playing with it, so I thought it was time to try it out.

I started with easy stuff, like cheese and turkey, just making it up as I went. Then I moved on to the bread, fruit and veges and the donuts, which were probably the hardest of all. Hm, my apple slice seems to be missing.


She loves the donuts though. They fit over her wrist, so she'll wear them as bracelets until it's time to chow down.

Charity is Two!

Charity turned two a few weeks back. She had a wonderful birthday. I love how all my kids give presents to their siblings, usually something they have made or don't play with anymore. It makes it more meaningful for everyone!


Dawn gave her an old doll, which she loved! Complete with handmade clothes. (We use old socks to make doll clothes, especially old soccer ones! It works great.)

The ice cream cone bubbles, maybe Charity's most played with toy, she's carrying it around as I type this. Part of Rachel's gift.

The goods, note the play food donut she's eating up. I made Charity some felt play food. I've been wanting to try it for so long, and I'm so happy how it turned out! I'll show you that more in detail tomorrow.

She was a pro at the candles. She knew just what to do!

We gave her a doll outfit that matches her sister's dolls. Aren't they cute all together?

And of course, the close by grandparents were there. Often we invite many cousins and other family to birthdays, but we've found with really little ones, a smaller party is better and results in a much happier child.

Easter 2010

We hosted Easter Dinner at our house this year for Matt's family. Besides being General Conference weekend and Easter, it was also his Mom's birthday.
The kids had their own bright cheery table complete with Peep place cards.

The two kids that didn't fit at the table.

The adult table.

The whole gang relaxing after a good meal.

The two birthdays we celebrated.

A loud, crazy, happy, family celebration for remembering our Savior and his miraculous Atonement and Resurrection!

Kids Bathroom Trough Sink

I think this is so adorable. I don't think I'd ever be brave enough to put something so non-traditional in my house though. I'm too cheap. I would always figure it wouldn't pay off in the end.


From La La Lovely

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

On the Friday before Easter, we had our annual neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. The little kids race to collect candy and eggs, the older kids have a hunt with clues to find their candy. And they all get to meet the Easter Bunny.

This year it was cold and windy. But all's well that ends well. And anything that ends with candy is very well for my kids!

Andrew was the cutest! He loved the Easter Bunny, stood right by him, gave him knucks repeatedly, and didn't stop smiling.

Charity wasn't a big fan of the Easter Bunny. No surprise; she didn't like Santa either.

Charity seems happier with the candy.


Ready, set, wait! No stopping those boys.

There are 6 little boys Andrew's age in our circle! (One is missing.) It is so much fun for him.