Dressing Up

The girls were playing dress up and I thought that was nothing new until they started to explain it to me.

T: Mommy, look! We're beautiful princesses!
C: No, remember Tati, we're not princesses. We're dressing up to make the bad guys fall in love with us. Then we'll tie them up and take them to jail.
T: Yeah, we're sister people!
C: Actually we're like sister heroes.

Then I notice they both have jump ropes with their outfits. Where did this plot come from?

The Paci Fairy

Well, we did it. I know people have been thinking Tati had her paci too long. It was finally getting to the point where she was like non-functioning without it. She was like a drug addict (or what we imagine a drug addict to be like). I made a paper chain counting down the days. She chose how many chains there would be and then each time she was going to use her paci, she paid us a ticket. Along the way we talked about what would happen when she ran out of tickets. So the day came and we were all excited (especially me). We put the pacifier in the mailbox and waited for "The Paci Fairy" to arrive. Not too long later, the doorbell rang only to discover that she had indeed come and left a new bike for Tats!


She survived her afternoon nap with some crying but overall was so successful that we took her to the mall and got her a Build A Bear. Chloe has had one for a long time and we thought this way it would be nice to have a new friend to sleep with. I sepia-ed the pics just because the whole experience was kind of like a dream land for her.

So we'd like to welcome "Barbara" aka "Barbie" into our family. Where does this fool come up with these names?

Every big girl bear needs undies!

Hurray for Tati!

Road Trip

Isn't this beautiful?

We finally were able to have a vacation since Greg got a huge project done for school. Some friends of ours invited us to go to a cabin in Southern Alberta. We had heard so much about Southern Alberta and how beautiful it was and it turns out that all the rumors were true--it really was beautiful. The mosquitoes were quite intense but nothing different than what we've been dealing with here.
Here we are on a really fun hike in Waterton. Tati fell asleep but she is there. We were so impressed at how well Chloe did on the hike. She did lose it toward the very end but it was a 3 mile hike overall.

Once we reached the falls, we let the kids all play in the river a bit and have a snack. The water was so freezing but they still loved it. Well, that was until Chloe slipped on the rocks and got her butt all wet.
This one is hilarious because I caught Tati right as she was sneaking a little SIP of the river. I'm surprised it turned out in focus because I was yelling to Greg right at that moment to grab her hand. Probably the most delicious water she ever tasted and no ill effects so it was all good.

Here is Chloe with one of her good buddies, Mila. They're the same age. They had a great time together hiking and playing.

Here is Tati showing off her pregnant tummy. She is having twins. She is pretty cute and hilarious talking about her tummy.

There was a river close to the cabin and the Tati had a blast throwing rocks into the water. Chloe on the other hand, was obsessed with picking weeds, I mean flowers since they told her she could pick whatever she wanted. Her mean Mom never lets her do that.


This picture is just for a family memory because I had to pee like crazy and we were out in the boonies. Finally we stopped right next to these cows and the girls loved peeing while the cows were watching. And those are all the dead bugs on our windshield. Tati was just giggling that the cows were right there while the pee was streaming down the hill. These are what good family vacations are made of.

We also had a chance to stop over in Cardston where there is a temple. It was fun to walk around. It was weird because it felt a lot like Utah down there in Southern Alberta.
The only sad part of the trip was finding out that had we driven 2 more hours, we could've gone to Target but there is no going back now. We're super glad we got to get out and explore on what is probably our last summer in Canada.

Back in the Saddle Again!

Once upon a time I took a stained glass class at BYU. It was just for fun and I took it with my good friend, Amanda. Shortly after our class, her family bought a stained glass shop in Provo and they needed some people to work there so they hired us, the stained glass "experts". It was a great place to work and a great experience. When I married, I tried to always have some glass supplies available in case I wanted to make some pieces for myself or for family and friends. Unfortunately, I never really had either enough time or resources to ever do too much of it. This isn't the most child friendly hobby after all. Anyway, a couple was getting married and we really like them so as we were talking about what we could give them, we decided we'd make them a glass piece. Their wedding announcement had a picture of this huge mountain face, a lake and a bunch of evergreens. It was where they got engaged. We decided that would be the perfect thing to do. It turned out great and I was impressed that Greg even busted out a wooden frame to go around it. It was small, pretty easy and fun.

It felt great to be doing it again. Then after that, Chloe's BFF's had birthdays and she wanted to me to make them some small projects so I did.

This was for her friend whose b-day is on Valentine's Day and her name starts with an "L" so Chloe came up with this idea. It was simple and fast and I think perfect for a child's room.


This was for her friend who is a boy. He requested a tree frog. I was a little nervous about how difficult it would be but it was pretty simple too. The only problem was how to get those pesky eyes to stay on.

During this whole process, my friend Jeanette was encouraging me and complimenting me. It made me feel really good because she is an artist and therefore I felt her compliment carried more artistic weight. Anyway, one day she asked me if I would make a stained glass piece for their living room window for her husband's birthday. I was nervous and super excited. I had never personally made a piece for somebody and had them pay me for it. Most of my pieces had been gifts.

Anyway, it was a really fun process. It started out with a little sketch that she did on a post it note. She was inspired by the tree in the Mtn. Glass and so that was our jumping off point. She had a size in mind and knew she wanted trees and hills. Then we went to the glass store and she went crazy picking out different colors she liked and cool glass with textures. It was hilarious actually because I felt like I was her husband there saying, "Well, that is too expensive." or "You don't need that." But that is the thing about stained glass stores, that glass draws you right in. It is worse than the dollar store. You buy this piece and that piece of glass for around $10 each and next thing you know it adds up to $100.

It was really fun because I was also able to apprentice Greg along the way. The only thing he doesn't feel comfortable doing is cutting the glass and soldering. Luckily for us, those are my strengths. He is crazy good at pattern design. Jeanette had said she wanted the sky to be 3 shades of blue and also different squares and rectangles. I didn't know how it was going to work out and I was afraid it would look too much like a distant city. Then one day I was driving Chloe home from school and I saw this house:

We used it as our inspiration for the sky. Anyway, it took a lot longer than I expected but mostly because I had to work around my childrens' schedules and also I left town for about a month in there too. I can't take credit for the design. I mean, I did make my suggestions and do some edits but really it was all Greg and Jeanette. It was just so cool how it all came together. Anyway, here is the finished product. It was a little hard having it leave our house in the end. It felt like a member of our family. I am super proud of this work and seeing the sun shine through and how awesome everything turned out, it literally got me a little misty eyed standing in their living room. And I love this stain color on the wood. I may stain everything this color for evermore. (It is called "English Chestnut" by Minwax in case you want to know.) Anyway, I tried to get the best lighting where the light was coming through the glass but I'm no pro photographer.






Now Chloe is asking for a mermaid for her window.

Shoo Fly, don't bother me!

Well, due to the excessive amounts of rain we've had this "summer", we are now entering what can only be known as Mosquito Season. It isn't even like they come out just at night, they are out all day long. I don't know how many of you remember that we live in the ghetto and we have no screens on our windows. Well, it isn't that we haven't tried to get screens. According to our landlords, they are just being fitted and will be delivered any day now. Then again, they have been saying that for 3 summers now. Well, after this, we had no choice but to just make our own screens.

Poor Tati was innocently sleeping with no blanket or sheet because she was too hot and kicked them off. Add to that the fact that she is delicious and she ended up with 44 mosquito bites. They are all swollen too. I took her to the doctor just to make sure I wasn't retarded and they really were all mosquito bites and was glad to find out, that I'm actually quite astute. This picture really doesn't even do it all justice but just imagine her whole body looking like this.

Then since they were all swarming our yards and it was really too hot to do anything outside at all, we did what anybody else would do, we made a mosquito craft. I'm not really sure what this says about me. Then the girls had their mosquitos flying around and sucking blood out of people, stuffed animals, and Polly Pockets.

This is Fruit Loops. It is Tati's top pick for naming things right now.

And this is Flappy.

Sisters

My girls have been playing so cutely today: reading books, having a tea party and all kinds of things. This is what summer feels like for me. Here were a couple extra beauties:

#1
I have this jewelry box full of rings from my mom and Grandma. Most of them are too big even for me. They love to play with them and they do it so carefully. As they are talking about who gets which ring when they are older, Tati brings up the subject of a ring Chloe currently owns, a ladybug ring.

Tati: I love your ladybug ring Chloe. I have it?
Chloe: Well, when I'm dead, I'll make sure Mommy gives it to you. Or if I get sick of it you can have it too.

#2
We have this red shoe horn from Ikea. It looks like a snake. Unbeknownst to me, it has a name.

Chloe: Mom, have you seen Horny?
Me: Who?
Chloe: Horny.
Me: (laughing) Who is Horny?
Chloe: The red shoe horn.

If you haven't bought one already, you should. Horny does all sorts of things like reach toys under the couch or support you while you're walking if you have an injury.

My Cupcake Quest

So it is my birthday next week and you know what I want?

I want to make delicious, perfect cupcakes. I consider myself a pretty good cook but for some reason the art of cupcakery continues to allude me. Even a box mix turns out funky when I make cupcakes. Too spongey or too dry. They shouldn't be squishing underneath my grasp as I try and frost them, right? What I want are dense, moist cupcakes--preferably without shortening in the recipe (although if you twisted my arm hard enough...). Something more like pound cake. So should I just be using a pound cake recipe? I have also yet to make a frosting that tastes as good as one from the store which I'm sure some people may say is total sacriledge. Are those frosting recipes for real with 6 cups of powdered sugar? It is just so maddening because I was so close to getting the perfect cupcake recipe. I was attending a party, at kindergarten and one of the moms made cupcakes. They were so freaking delicious! So I asked her if it was from a mix or what and she told me it was an old family recipe and that it had vanilla yogurt in it. She assured me she'd share it with me but after 4 attempts to remind her (yes, 4), I clued into the fact that she didn't want to share it with me. So now it is all up to me. I am going to try out the best recipes I can find. I might be puking cupcakes by next week but how else is victory going to be sure? With all the cupcakes stores and t.v. shows around these days, you'd think a lowly home cook could find one trusted recipe, right?

If you have a great cupcake or frosting recipe THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO SHARE (unlike some people I know), please email it to me at my public email: jelmelt@yahoo.com. Let the birthday gluttony begin!

Love, Julie