Crafts: done!

In March I wrote this post about giving away free handmade items to some lucky winners. Here they are! I liked how they turned out, so I made one for me, too.



They belong to: Leslee Sitton, me, Katie Houston, Amy Rosenvall, and Janelle Dudley. Sorry to Leslee that yours is a little more rustic than the others. "S" is a popular letter and I couldn't find one like the others at any craft store- all sold out. Leslee, Amy, and Janelle, I need your addresses so I can deliver/mail these to you. If you have my email address, send it to me there. Otherwise, write a comment here letting me know that you don't have my email and we'll figure something out. (I don't want to publish my email online and I'm sure you don't want to publish your address!)

Bad Parents

Trevor had Friday, July 3rd off of work, and because I'm really attached to holiday festivities and traditions (especially summer ones), we decided we would cram a hike into our already barbeque/parade/outdoor breakfast/ultimate frisbee/water-balloon launch/festival at the park/fireworks- filled weekend. Trevor's parents let us borrow a baby backpack for little Cassie to ride in, and we set off up Rock Canyon.


But let me back up. Moments before this picture was taken, Cassie had insisted on taking a walk in the parking lot, which was entirely too steep for her, and tumbled head-first onto the pavement. Trev was right behind her and snatched her up right after she fell. She was upset for about two minutes, then was back to her curious, busy self. We didn't notice until later that she had really scratched and bruised one spot on her head. She still has a few scabs.

Cassie was itching to get out of the backpack during most of the hike (I kept popping snacks into her mouth to keep her happy and distracted) so we stopped a few times to let her explore.


We were so careful when we let her walk around, and she was getting impatient with us not letting her walk on her own. We decided to hurry back down the trail and get her home to flat terrain and her nap. When we were in sight of the parking lot and Cassie was clearly upset about being stuck in a backpack, we decided to let her out. The trail was a fairly flat gravel road by then. I lifted Cassie out of the backpack and set her down on the gravel to walk around. Unfortunately, instead of standing when I let go (I thought her feet were firmly planted), she bent forward to examine the gravel and ended up examining it too closely. She hit the ground pretty hard, head first, and her nose started bleeding. I felt so terrible! We cleaned her up with the wet wipes we had, and in about three minutes she was happy and squirmy again, wanting to walk on her own. This time we made her hold Daddy's hands.
If you zoom in, you'll see a little blood right under her nose and on her shirt. You'll also see her mischevious tongue-smile.

So even though Cassie had forgotten about her falls moments after they happened, and someone said to me, "she's at that age where she always has bumps and scrapes," I still feel like a pretty bad parent.

Going without

Three weeks ago I started feeling sick about watching television. I didn't like how I flipped it on when I was bored, or how I intended to watch one show and ended up watching three, and I especially didn't like how desensitized I was to the muck I saw. Certain shows that used to make me wince no longer even phased me. I felt really disgusted with myself for letting my standards slip. I started brainstorming ways to change my TV habits.

My sister-in-law, Sarah inspired me with her goal to go media-free for 21 days. Trevor and I decided to go without TV and movies for that amount of time. And we decided it was time to change our TV-watching habits, so when we start watching again, we don't slip back into the same routines. We made a list of shows that we're allowed to watch. We can add to the list, but we can't just turn on the TV to "see if anything's on." I guess we're active viewers now: when we turn on the TV, we'll know what we're going to watch, and we'll watch only that. We also decided on a three-strikes-and-you're-out rule: three offensive moments and we turn off the show; three offensive episodes and it's off the list.

I thought my reward for going without TV for three weeks would be loads of free time. I imagined getting big projects done, reading two books a week, writing in my journal every day, making dinner each night, and still having time to spend with Cassie and Trevor. Not so. I've had a little extra time, but I've still been busy every day and I'm not getting a lot of extra things done. (I guess that's a good sign- maybe I wasn't watching as much TV as I thought.)

What I have noticed, though? I don't miss it. My life is full and happy without television. ( I did miss the occasional weekend movie with Trev...) And I'm ready to change the way I watch TV now that I've realized how little it enriches my life.

Freezer Paper Stenciling

While we all anxiously await Trevor's post about China (he loves blogging), let me share with you about a super easy and satisfying craft.

Here's what you need:
freezer paper
x-acto knife
cardboard or cutting mat
a t-shirt (or bag or pillowcase or tablecloth...)
fabric paint
foam paint brush
a design
iron

Cut off a portion of freezer paper and place your design underneath it, so you can see your design through the freezer paper. The freezer paper should be wax-side down. Trace your design onto the freezer paper.
Use an x-acto knife to cut out your design in the freezer paper. Iron your freezer paper-stencil onto your t-shirt, again wax-side down, making sure every piece is securely stuck to the shirt.

Use fabric paint and a foam brush to fill in your stencil. Follow the instructions on the fabric paint for drying time.
Ta-da!
Now, I've never taken a class in technical writing, so those were probably the worst step-by-step instructions you've ever read. Good news, though! My good friend Kristy (who deserves all the credit for finding this craft) just blogged about it too, step-by-step instructions and all. I didn't read her post before writing this one, so it's pretty funny that there are some word-for-word similarities and the exact same pictures. :)

I highly recommend this craft. So fun and easy, and looks just like screen-printing!

Catch Up: Post 2

Oakley!

After staying in Denver for a week, I flew back to Salt Lake where my wonderful brother and sister-in-law let us spend the night. The next day, we drove to Trevor's parents' house in Oakley, Idaho to spend the week.

You know all those horrifying stories about in-laws and how hard it can be to get along with them? Well, the only horrifying thing about Trevor's family is that you might laugh so hard you forget to breathe.

My pictures from Oakley don't accurately capture the awesomeness of the week. Here are a few anyway.

My birthday: Yep, there are 25 candles on that cake. (See that red necklace? It was a surprise from Trev. He had hidden it in the trunk of the car so I could find it on my birthday. Very clever. And sweet. )
Highlights of my birthday: talking with Trev via webcam, talking with Taja on the drive to and from Twin Falls, finding pants that are long enough for me for only $20 (!), the surprise from Trev, schhhhhhhhhh! (that one's for you, Taja), the "drinking" game, a scrumptious cake, cute new earrings and a shirt from my in-laws.

We celebrated Cassie's birthday there too, and as you can see, she liked it. Especially the ribbon.
P.S. She's walking! She really got the hang of it while we were in Oakley.

Here are some goodies of Cassie with her aunt, uncle, and grandma. She was really comfortable with them.It was an awesome week. I watched at least 4 movies, made Cassie a skirt, went on a bike ride, picked flowers, jumped on the trampoline, played the piano and sang with Taja, ate delicious food, played some hilarious games with the family, and never felt like Cassie was neglected. Everyone was so helpful. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Hawkes!

Catch Up: Post 1

Sorry about the lack of posts on this blog. Trevor and I were traveling for a few weeks. I'll be catching you up in increments. Here's Post 1: Denver!

Background: Trevor decided to go to China as part of a Mega Structures course (Once in a lifetime opportunity, and only gone for two weeks! We decided we could handle two weeks apart.) I figured Cassie and I would just spend time with my parents, until they announced they would be on a cruise for the same two weeks. I didn't want to stay at home, and I had enough frequent flyer miles for a free round-trip ticket, so we flew to Denver for the first week to spend time with two of my closest friends, Kristy and Alicia. They were SO generous and took care of us very well.

We swamand playedand crafted
and playedand barbequedand playedand ateand played.
AND best of all (in my opinion), we jammed. Which I didn't get a picture of. But imagine three music-obsessed women belting out their favorite songs from musicals and playing the piano as loud as they want. Oh, it was good.

So a big thanks to Kristy and Alicia and their beautiful families for making me feel less like a single parent and for making it fun fun fun!

Good Times

It's Friday night and Trevor is on a flight to China. For two weeks. Without me. So instead of moping, I thought I'd blog. (And don't worry, I've got some fun plans for myself...look out, Kristy and Alicia!)

We spent last weekend with Trevor's family because his brother Rialey got home from his mission on Friday. The family's all together again!

Oh, the anticipation...

Still has the missionary glowSiblings

Rialey was greeted by an army of munchkins at the airport-
4 new nieces in the last 2 years!

Had to post this one- the two newest nieces showing the results of two very different diets. :)

Highlights of the trip:

Staying up WAY too late talking
Cassie's first taste of popsicle (BIG hit)
Rialey wearing a fanny pack
Family pictures (with 4 kids under the age of 2...yeah)
The boys going shooting
Holding my own in a game of lightning with the boys
Taja's senior piano recital