Winter 2016 Utah Trip

Last week we got back from our winter trip to Utah.  We left our house at 3:25 am on Jan 12 and loaded as many backpacks (personal item) as possible to save on luggage costs.  Perry was well behaved on his first airplane trip, but we were all tired and needed a nap after we arrived.   

There was lots of fresh snow to explore.  We made the sledding hill in the backyard into a luge track.

                                                     

  

After a while, Clark decided the sleds were too much trouble and just slid down like a penguin.  

We paid a visit to Great Grandpa Charles and Great Grandma Nancy.

Then we had a tour of BYU

Clark posed on the wall

Lana was hungry for some cougareat ice cream

A quick trip into the MOA

We had a ski day with Phil while the kids stayed home and played with Grandma.  

We got to see Wade's baptism and Clark was reunited with his buddy Sam.

Clark and Lana got to see all of their Scherbel cousins and they had a great time.  2 older cousins are not included here due to violence.  

Perry's cousin Devin is older by about a month.  

Clark gave dance lessons to his cousin Gracie.

Kalina's Dad wanted a bread making lesson for the Sunday dinner.  The rolls and loaves turned out very well.  

We made a snowman that Clark named Olaf

Kalina, her sister, and Lana visited Kalina's grandmother just before we left.  Lana is the oldest great-grand daughter on that side.  I think she had been waiting to see her visitors, and she died within 30 minutes of their visit.  She had been in the rest home for 7 years and was 83

Clark, Lana, and Perry had so much fun they can't wait for their next visit.  

Clark looked like a roach with his huge backpack, but he was a very big help.

We returned on Tuesday Jan 19 and got home very late.  I had substitutes in seminary for the time I was gone, and it was hard to go back.  We are looking forward to our next trip out there, and with gas prices where they are, maybe we'll drive!

  

Clark's 5th Birthday Bike Wash Bash

For months I've been sure we were definitely NOT going to throw Clark a birthday party. Being 9 months pregnant I knew I wouldn't be in any shape to put on a production. However, a few weeks ago, something got mentioned about setting up the bike wash on Labor Day...then why not make it a party for Clark?...then we were just going to invite our immediate neighbors...then pretty soon we were handing out invitations I whipped up. One thing led to another I guess. We kept it very simple: bike wash, a box of popsicles, a cooler full of water, balloons, bubbles, and cupcakes.  There was a steady stream of cute kids going through the bike wash most of the time, the bubbles all got blown and/or spilled, the balloons all got tangled, the adults were all sweating, dozens of popsicles were eaten (and/or spilled), the 15-minutes of rain destroyed all the paper party decorations, all the cupcakes were eaten, and the bike wash--and kids--started falling apart right at the ending time of the party. I'd say it was a success since amid all that there were lots of smiles, messy chocolate faces, and one thrilled little man of the hour. We're so glad so many people came to celebrate with us! Of course I can't neglect to mention how much work Steve did to get things set up and looking top notch. And our awesome neighbors for helping to fix bikes, repair the bike wash, provide cones for bike traffic flow, and helping to clean up. What a terrific day!

Maternity Pictures

In case I haven't mentioned it, I'm expecting baby #3 in about 3 weeks. I can't remember when I started thinking that taking maternity pictures this time around was a great idea, but I probably blame Pinterest or the internet. Of course I didn't have a lovely dress or gown to wear and didn't want to search for a modest one then pay a ridiculous amount of money for it so I did the only logical thing: I made one last week. With a little help from JoAnn's and Simplicity pattern 1102 (which I altered a bit for modesty's sake). I completed the look with a floral crown made from the loose stem selection at Hobby Lobby. Steve offered to take the pictures for me so we loaded up the kids and camera and drove down the street. Steve, as it turns out, is a great photographer. He's more patient behind the camera than in front of it. He took all the shots I requested and set up. He even told me when I was making weird faces, which no photographer ever does but they totally should since I've made weird smiles in way too many photos. What you can't see are the kids just out of the frame jumping off benches and climbing around. It was a fun family outing and I love my new dress and the photos. Steve is amazing.

Sewing Swimsuits

Last year I discovered I love making swimsuits. This year I've made three (so far) for Lana since they're so quick and fun. The top one seems to be her favorite one. The middle one is a pattern I came up with myself based off another suit I'd seen. That one wasn't so quick because it took me forever to get my pattern just right but it turned out exactly how I was hoping. The last one is made from a vintage Kwik Sew pattern. I was skeptical of the sizing and the first one I made turned out to be too short in the torso. Also I didn't like a few other things about it so I tried again and was very happy with the results the second time. I started another one over the weekend but my design wasn't quite right so that one was pushed aside for now.

Spring Baking

Just as I did last year at this time I got myself a case of some poison ivy a few weeks ago. This year was not as severe and was much more localized, though I'm still not entirely sure how I picked it up again since after last year's episode I have a strict "no touching the outdoors" policy. It was too difficult and painful for me to wear respectable clothing for awhile so we stayed home all day every day for a couple of weeks. And did a lot of baking. Vegan and otherwise. The kids loved helping. We tried a lot of new recipes I'd seen on Pinterest and found some new favorites, including a 3-ingredient (which is actually more like 7) Sunbutter cookie. 

2-Wheeling With Clark

Clark has been riding around on a balance bike (a $5 bike from Craigslist I took pedals off of) for a few months with seemingly good balance. A few days ago I convinced him to try cruising down the driveway and he agreed. We started small, then he quickly built his confidence and was going down the full driveway as well as the neighbors'. After seeing that, Steve was pretty sure he could ride his pedal bike without training wheels and took them off right away. And he was right! Clark picked it up right away after a push from Daddy. I was very impressed, but not surprised. He's a determined little guy. In the past couple of days he's been practicing getting started with the pedals and has it down! He still prefers to ride the balance bike for now, though.

I'm going to miss the loud scraping sounds of those training wheels since it means my furiously-pedaling boy is still a bit smaller somehow. But I'm excited to watch him learn something new and reach another milestone. (I only wish potty training had been so easy!) My favorite part of watching him learn was when he would start his balance bike higher up on the driveway than the last cruise and would say out loud, "You can do this, Clark." Then he'd hop on and away he'd ride. It was totally precious. He's only gotten a tiny bit of road rash so far when he tipped over on his balance bike and the buckle on his helmet scraped his neck. His confidence wasn't shaken, though, and most afternoons we're outside riding away!

2-Year Photo of Lana

Since I took an official 1-year photo of Lana when she was one I figured I'd better take an official 2-year photo. I stumbled across a giant '2' on clearance at TJ Maxx so with the perfect prop there was no way around it. 

I provided a summary about her when I posted her 2nd birthday party, but since then she's become quite a chatterbox and talks nonstop all waking hours. She and Clark are the best of friends and they play very well together since Lana is happy to play cars and pirate cook or whatever game Clark comes up with. Lana has upgraded to calling Clark "Cark" from "La". Clark gets rather lonely when she is napping and constantly asks "Is Lana done with her nap yet?" As with most toddlers, she insists on doing things herself when possible. We transitioned her to a toddler bed this last month and she is doing incredibly well, meaning, she generally stays in bed when she's supposed to be there. Other things I love are the recaps she loves to give of events, especially that involve one of her crying episodes. She'll say "Lana cry waaaa waaaa." She's always particularly concerned about how everyone's day is going and will ask each person multiple times per day, "day good?" or "how's day go-gin'?". She will also say some words two times for effect, e.g. "wash, wash blankie" if it's dirty or "really, really cold" if something's cold or "so, so sad" if something's sad or "walk, walk bun" when she's walking around without a diaper.

First Set of Wheels

Lana learned how to ride a tricycle a few weeks ago with a little help from her Daddy.  Since then she has practiced and is getting "so, so fast" as she says. She likes to do it all by herself but gets frustrated easily. As she's getting better, she's getting frustrated less, thankfully. I sit and watch her ride from the driveway and she shouts to me, "yook, Mama!" Of course I'm "yooking" since it's hard not to watch such a cute sight! It's fun watching her get so big but if I could, I would keep her at age two forever. 

A Dress with See-Pose

I started this dress in November but put it on the back burner until the holidays were over. I modified two pieces of an existing pattern then drafted the rest from scratch. I think it took 4 tries to finally get the collar right, and 2 for the cuffs. Not shown is the bias bound neckline inside. I'm working on seam finishes and that's my favorite for necklines at the moment. I was going to make the front pockets functional but decided I'd rather just be finished with the dress and move on. So...pretty much the zippers--or see-pose as Lana says--on the front are just decorative but she doesn't know the difference.