Thankful

This song moved me today. I am afraid I am an amature and don't know how to put the actual song on my blog. If anybody does, let me know. :)

Thankful

by Josh Gorban

Somedays, we forget to look around us,
Somedays, we can't see the joy that surrounds us,
so caught up inside ourselves,
we take when we should give,
so for tonight we pray for,
what we know can be,
and on this day we hope for,
what we still can't see,
It's up to us, to be the change,
and even though we all can still do more,
there's so much to be Thankful for,
look beyond ourselves,
there's so much sorrow,
it's way to late to say, I'll cry tomorrow
each of us must find our truth,
it's so long overdue,
so for tonight we pray for,
what we know can be,

and everyday, we hope for,
what we still can't see,
it's up to us, to be the change,
and even though we all can still do more,
there's so much to be thankful for,
even with our differences,
there is a place were all connected,
each of us can find each others light,
So for tonight, we pray for
what we know can be,
and on this day, we hope for,
what we still can't see,
it's up to us, to be the change,
and even though this world can still do so much more
there's so much to be thankful for.

From Josh Groban's album, Noel

Happy Birthday my Beatrice!!

Baby Beatrice

My sweet Beatrice is 3 today!!

Its tough showing 3 fingers if you never have before! :) but, we almost got it!I know this is blury, but she is soo cute still!!about to open her present last night. :)glued to her gift!! :)

she could hardly sleep last night because HAD to be with Ariel at all times.I threw a tiny party for her today. I envited 1 friend over and we had a tea party. It was awesome!And, here is another cake! :) I think it turned out pretty cute. Bea LOVES it! :)

it's mom's amazing carrot cake recipe! oh gosh, its to die for!

Cut it!

Beatrice wanted her crust cut off her PBJ. I was taking too long to get to her, so she took matters in her own hands and climbed up to the pencil cup and got some scissors and took care of business! :)

Charlotte's photo shoot

I love this blouse she's wearing. One of those favorites that has lasted for years.

Yep, that is a window seal. Hazard for having "free spirited" children. Dang it.

She loves looking out the window. Standing against the wall is the new COOL!

and ready to pounce... still doing it and it's STILL a cool trick!

Can you just love those CHEEKS!!!!

Charlotte IS ONE!

Yep, it happened! Its been a year since my sweet baby Charlotte was born.

This picture was taken when she was 4 days old.

I saw a miniture baby in the doctor's office the other day and really had these crazy mixed emotions. Ranged from..."ohhh... i want another one of those tiny things!!" to...."look away! oh that makes me tired just looking."

CHarlotte as a ONE year old!

Here are some highlights of our big day. We all had a really fun time with her.
Everyone helps with everything!

I am no cake decorator. I always think I can do anything but as I got into this project, I remembered.... OH! I didnt get that talent in my blood from my mom and sister Jo.

But I had a really fun time making a cute cake for the baby's First. Its a tradition to do a little doll cake for the girls. This is a half ball cake pan. It worked perfect. The cake was super yummy. I hate cake mixes now, so I made this off the Hershey's baking chocolate box. I had fun decorating it by myself after all the kids went to bed. I had to, because Bea's 1st bday cake turned out way worse than this. I let everyone help with hers. :) haha. It was still yummy, like this one.

Proud of that girl!

Isabel was invited to the Young Women classes this past Sunday. (a few weeks early, just for the day) She was presented with, along with all the YW, a 21 days Closer to Christ program. I am so proud of her because she is really diligently working on it every single day. Its so fun because when she reads the scriptures for the day, or has to write her testimony about the scriptures, she comes to one of us and we really really have wonderful talks. These talks are letting us know that having daily scripture study with our family is really benefiting her knowledge of the gospel. She is becoming a wonderful girl. Sniff Sniff. I am happy she is a happy young woman.

What have I been up to??

Oh gosh, what am I NOT up to?

I have been SEWING a ton! Drapes for a friend, teaching Isabel's friend how to sew, and finishing like 10 Christmas gifts (if I told you, you might know your gift, so yeah, not going to.) , sketching a lot of new designs and seeing more and more ideas to do. I am not sure if I'd be officially diagnosed with ADHD, but I have a hard time focusing on one thing when it comes to creating things, so I have a lot of things going. I just get SO excited about ideas that flood my brain!! Woman thing, but maybe its a Leslie thing. Chis is a good man for putting up with my head. It's not for the faint of heart. I think that is yet another reason why we have a basement and a section just for my "stuff".

I've been working out hard to get rid of the Pecan pie that sucked to my body. When looking up how many calories that pie had, I freeeeeked out and asked Chris if I could just through the rest away.... His reply was, "Lets not do anything drastic!" :)

Christmas cards were sent out! Earliest ever! They were perfect too.

Christmas shopping for the kids is DONE! It was easy when Chris really only wants to shop at Costco for everything that exists at our house. (all it needs a fabric store too and we'll be good to go) Two hours, a few presents for each kid and while we were there a weeks worth of groceries, $$$ later and DONE! Oh that Costco. I think we stayed in our feeble budget and it worked!

I've tried for weeks to get a video of Charlotte dancing to any music she hears. Its adorable! She sees the camera and comes right for it. She likes to see the pictures on it, just like all the kids do. I even hid the camera under a towel to video her, but that just made her more curious! :) out smarting a baby is actually tricky sometimes. Her birthday is on Sunday and I hope to have something by then!!

And of course, it wouldnt be me if I wasnt thinking about the lessons I've learned in the past few days and time in my life. Its amazing how so many of our stories really are so similar. Satan wants us to feel so alone. Its just one more tricky thing he has on us. BUT the coolest thing is that we will always have an opportunity to have more knowledge than him. We can know everything that our Heavenly Father knows, if we just SEEK for it and ask. He really does give us what we want. Be careful what you ask for!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a good day. I hope yours was too.

Chris said we should just be rebellious and go out to Chinese food on Thanksgiving, but I couldnt let it go that much. So, we had a ham instead. :) It was only us, so we didnt really need way too much food. I thought that Thanksgiving food could be spread out for all week. Sunday is planned for the Sweet Yams. ;) I think one of my favorite things was putting the table together. Haha! I dont have like official holiday table settings, so I scrounge around with what I've got and come up with something. I think it looked pretty good considering. I couldnt do it without these way cool turkey place mats from Granny, Chris's mom! She did a set of 4 of these a few years ago for us. The silverware goes in the pocket on the feathers. ha! Fun! Thank You Again!!

The baby took a nap and it was Chris's turn to take the kids sledding. So, I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen! I made 2 pies, apple with a lattice top, and ginger pumpkin marang (which I am bummed I didnt take pictures of )and this spread. I miss my 2 ovens only on days like this.

The sledding was awesome they say. Iced over snow slush. The high for the day was 10 degrees. I am really glad we didnt make the trip to Brigham, just because of its icey conditions. Weather....

That evening we went joined our friends (2 other families) and played games and ate and ate pies and rolls. Yummy. Isabel did trivia questions for all the adults about Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims. She likes to make sure she is involved. Fun. It was a good day.

First Snow

Its snowed a lot more since, but this is the first snow.

I took the kids, with some friends, to Thompson park and our fake hill sledding. There really is not any place to really sled because its sooo flat here! But we had a good time.

This is the first igloo of the season. Gabe got tired and decided to take a rest. Only thing is, only his torso fit in. That didnt seem to matter to him.....

OR his sisters! :)

I watched a Sunset...

Wow! Winter Sunsets could be my favorite. Maybe. Oh, I wont commit to which is my favorite. But one thing is for sure and each one is so totally different.
I was washing dishes one day and looked up!! Wow! I just stood there and watched the coolest colors in the sky. Its seemed like a powerful moment. So, I stared. I felt this moment was more important than my to do list. As I pondered about this treat before me, I was led to many thoughts. One being that things dont have to be so complicated and stressful. We are the ones that make it that way. Ok, so Me. I make it that way. The holidays especially are upon us and they get so crazy. It doesnt have to be. I would love for my house to smell and feel and look like a Martha Stewart magazine spread, but it will never be like that. I dont mind the ever fingerprints on the windows and walls and sticky back kitchen chairs. (I dont live in a pigsty, but you know what I mean if you've got or ever had kids) I want to appreciate my time this holiday season especially, because they will be gone soon! We have all the girls bdays in Dec and Jan along with everything else, and I want to "soak in the sunset".
I was of course distracted by someone desperately needing my attention and I came back and it was over, the sunset was over and I missed the last bit, but it didnt matter. I felt like I was supposed to feel the things I was supposed to in that moment and carry on. I really love those moments in my life when I notice all the beauty that is around me. I just need to appreciate it and take advantage of it to its full experience before its gone, like that sunset.

PAINT!

It took almost 3 years, but I decided on a color to paint the kitchen! :) Its a brown grey. I think it looks great. The wall that shares these walls is a violet purple. Its bright and crazy, but I love it. I had to get something that didnt compete with that crazy. The cabinetry and counter tops are frankly too much work to change for me, myself and I.

This is silly, but I'll share anyway. :) I went to the ReStore (a place people donate building materials that they are done with after they use them or leftovers etc. Locals.. its off Eastland past Kimberly Road and only open Fri and Sat) I found a can of paint for $3 that had 1/3 can left of paint and I added some leftover paint that has been in my basement since we've bought the place, thinking it would lighten it up a bit. I just got more and more paint, thats it. :) I thought, OK, lets do this thing! (well, after Jessica came over and totally approved) I wasnt planning on really painting that day, but I didnt have much to do and the little girls just played all day. I painted and finished and put everything back together and didnt say anything to Chris until he saw it himself late one night after work, not knowing about the paint purchased or anything. This guy hates surprises, but he likes it! Fewww! I was prepared to totally do it over, but he likes it! YAY!

Gabe said, "Thanks mom for such a nice kitchen." Well that just got me choked up... hahah! (I am always on the verge of tears these days, so anything triggers it, and that did it! :) haha!) Chris actually is "Thankful its warm and cozy".

FYI! A dear friend told me to treat your oak builder cabinets like the color orange and go with it. As much as I want to paint my cabinets, I just cant do it all. (yep, I just said that)

Now for that gross light fixture and the backsplash..... I'll click my heals 3 times and wish I had more resources to do more stuff. :)

Thanksgiving Poem by Adeline

She is SO fun! She ran into the house Friday after school and just started reciting this fun poem!

She is also SO bummed, as all of the kids are, that we are not going to go to Thanksgiving to Granny's house. The weather is super bad and our car also can't make the trip. Totally Bummed! BUT! We send our love and we are going to have a great day anyway. Nothing will bring us down on a Thankfull holiday! We will have our own yummy dinner and of course lots of pie! :) Gotta love just spending quality wonderful time with your own little family. (which doesnt seem so little anymore)

It's got to go somewhere!

She wont stop! She just does this when she's bored or something! Its so silly and of course makes all the kids hilariously laugh. This picture was in the Fall Slideshow, but I think it needs a post all to itself!

Awww life is a discovery!

Ellis' Dress

My dear friend Jessica's baby is named Ellis Matilda. Total cutie! I wanted to do something great for her because she is wonderful for taking pictures of my babies and our family pictures. Also because she is just an amazing friend. :) I made her this blessing dress.

Pictures on this hanger does not give it justice!! Ive got to make a baby dress form pronto! I got so many compliments on this dress. I feel silly saying that, but it feels really good when people like my work. Especially when I work hard on something I love doing. :) My time away from the family for anything extra is a sacrifice. And I know it looked beautiful! (Who doesn't like a good compliment. I am talking myself into being ok with liking compliments.)

Jessica likes 50s classic style combined with beautiful whimsy. That must be why we get a long so well. :) I was inspired by the simplicity of pleating silk(ok, you know me, I love pleats for some reason) in a crossed bodice, trimmed with the satin side of the crepe back satin, and the rest of the dress was done in the crepe back satin with a champagne satin tie and bow. The lovely Chantilly lace under skirt and tulle as well to keep the lace layer light and pretty with no firm stark hemline to distract ya. I know Charlotte's dress looked similar on the hemline, but I think its a favorite of mine currently. I love my ideas with more than one design sometimes. :)

I couldn't resist playing with gathering up one side of the dress. Here I just show it pinned up, that is because my stupid glue gun finally died and I couldn't put on the WAY pretty piece of old jewelry on the pin for these pictures. Jessica did that at her house later. It was a piece from the 50s, pearls and rhinestones. Aww. It was classy blingy! :) and yes, that is a term that I made up. :)

I'll show pictures of Ellis actually IN the dress soon. It fit her PERFECTLY! She was a happy beautiful baby for her blessing.

I am going to do this dress over and sell it! I actually cut it out another one at the same time. I used up the last of my crepe back satin. I hope to get it made by next week. It doesnt take me that long to do a dress, but it does when I only have a few mins here and there to work on it. I have a MILLION ideas in my head, and some drawn out, for some unique beautiful blessing dresses. I have a huge box of white and light fabric screaming at me to use up. I have collected so much over the years when stuff goes on sale. Why blessing dresses you might be asking yourself? because people pay a lot for a special day dress and it doesnt cost that much to make due to not using much material. Fun stuff. I think I am loving the accents of old jewelry! Maybe a signature of mine? hummm. :) Chris got me a subscription to Vogue again with some free skymilage he was never going to use. I droool over it every night!!!

I saw some new sights besides etsy.com... bigcartel.com.... supermarkethq.com. If you are an artists of any type, go to these sights and see if its a good idea for you to submit your things for them to sell! I love the idea of buying straight from the designer! :)

THanks Jessica, for having a baby and getting me to creating something I love doing!! :)

Yep, sometimes there are days like this.....

Queen Ole

Music is one of our passions. I was listening to Queen Ole by Peter Breinholt and Char was on my lap and she was giggling and dancing and LOVING it!! SO CUTE!!

Moms and Dads, he's a LDS and way fun music! http://www.peterbreinholt.com/ Hahah! I just did a plug for this guy! Silly. I listen to TONS of different music, but this one made my baby have THAT face.. so now its a favorite! :)

LEAVES!

I had to do a slide show for this event. I went crazy with the camera! 

You can watch it here...
http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e59/lheronclig/Fall%20Leaves%202010/?action=view&current=329dfa5a.pbw

We wait until all the leaves are pretty much off the tree in the back to even think about the rake! But, we took this as a fun moment since there were so many leaves.

I made that sweatshirt for Charlotte. Actually, I made that one for Bea with she was her age. But, its pretty darn cute. :) And yes, Charlotte is a normal baby and always is exploring by putting everything in her mouth. Yep, those leaves are interesting.

These movies are from the kids to you. Feel very privileged you got to see them.

Part 1



Part 2

They say it's your Birthday!!

So Happy Birthday to Me!!

I had a wonderful day on Friday, November 5th! AKA Leslie's Birthday!! Yep, it was that good. I just had one of those "happy soul" days. It was me, I am sure.

The kids had a day off school due to Parent/ Teacher conferences, so they were here to spend my day with me. I got to sleep in, bake what liked, sew and design 2 new blessing dresses, spend time with the kids playing Barbies, talked to Richy my brother on the phone for an hour, played in the leaves and acted silly. I did get after the kids a bit to get some chores done, but even that, I did with a great attitude! :) I dont know if all would agree, but I used my birthday to the fullest... "Because Its my Birthday! Thats Why!!"

Isabel noticed that this milk jug was EXTREMELY SPECIAL! :) So we saved it until Friday and they called me Milk Mommy all weekend. HAHA! That works in more ways then they realized. :)

Chris brought home some beautiful flowers and I was given the best cards! The card from Chris of course made me cry. It seems that anything he writes speaks to my soul. I love that guy. Then Chris took me to Outback on a date! Who doesn't like to go down under for some yummy steak? :) We actually dont like going to chain restaurants at all, but it seems like all the locals go out of business!! What is that all about! My favorite place was Pandoras and had a fireplace next to a brick wall and live music. All in the old part of town. sniff..

On the way home, we listened to this song... 1963 by Rachel Yamagata!!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1798287409

I LOVE her voice! It was a perfect happy song that made my day just wonderful! I thought to myself.. I love having flowers in my hair! :)

But, we didn't really celebrate with the kids. And since I love to party... we did pizza and a movie night the Saturday night. We watched the first Superman, with Christopher Reeve. My choice of course since I had the Halloween costumes on my brain still. How can anyone not like that charismatic smile from Superman himself! :) hahah! It made me feel young. hha! Anyway, then we made brownies with every single candle we had in the house on them for me to blow out. SO fun! :) Birthdays with kids are super duper!

Then on Sunday, as Addy calls it the 3rd day of my birthday, we played Cranium Giggle Gear as a family. Gabe is deminstrating the mask he made and wore around the house. So fun hanging out with the kids being so silly. That happens more than just on my birthday weekend, but it counts on the list of fun things that made my birthday happy.

The more spiritual side of my birthday was when we were doing scripture study as a family, as we do daily, but Sunday was somehow special. We were reading Alma 27 and about the people of now Ammon and how the people were (vs 27)"distinguished for their zeal toward God and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even to the end. " (vs.30) "they were a zealous and beloved people, a highly favored people of the Lord." Chris and I thought about that and discused that with each other and the kids the rest of the day and this morning too. I would love to be talked about like that in that way. And its totally possible! Wow! The Lord really does love us all! :)

My Girls

These are some of my best friends. Kat and Jessica. I was just feeling kinda down that they dont live right around the corners anymore. They both moved, in town, but hey, its not right around the corner. So, what does this mean? More girl dates and play dates I guess. :) Love you guys!

Thanks for the fabulous pictures Jess!

Precious!

An entire roll of toilet paper in the bath! I love having free spirited creative children, but sometimes..... it's just too messy around here! Evidently it was Addy that actually thought of it. She got out before the real damage. Smart move. :)
Have you ever washed soft fine paper out of your child's curly hair along with 4 Barbies? OR draining a tub? oh gosh...
The trick is to wash it out of her hair as best as you can and then wait til it dries and brush her hair. And for the draining... wait till all the water goes down, hours later and then scoop it all up and its fine. I didnt want to know how to do that stuff.