Hope You Had a Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday.

We had so much fun with family!  Daddy's Girl had a great time at her first Easter egg hunt.  (She wasn't old enough to participate last year.)  She found lots of eggs, too!

My husband's cousin and her family came to visit, so Boo and Daddy's Girl got to meet their second-cousin for the first time.  The girls really hit it off; when I told Boo they were cousins, she said, "She's my cousin and my friend."  After having just met.  Awww.

All the relatives who live nearby came over, so our girls got to play with this sweet little cousin, too.  And he got to have his first Easter egg hunt.  But he wasn't so much into finding eggs; he mostly just wanted to put the eggs in his mouth.

Boo got a Rainbow Dash doll in her Easter basket, and carried it around the whole time she searched for eggs.  She had me hold her basket after a while, but she didn't put down that doll!

I am so grateful for my sweet little family.  And I am grateful for Christ's atonement and resurrection, which we celebrated yesterday.  May we always remember Him who gives purpose to everything else.  I am grateful that, because of Him, we, too, can live again. 

New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of year again.  January:  the month of cold weather, lingering coughs, and new (or renewed) goals.  Yep, we've got all those things going on at our house.

But let's talk about the last item on the list.  I love the whole idea of the new year.  A fresh start, a time to think about what you really want in your life, a time to stop putting things off and instead get things done!

So here are my goals for this bright and fresh New Year.

Family:
Be actively present in my children's lives.  And I don't mean just being physically present; I mean really being there.  Case in point:  do you ever "play" with your kids when what you're really doing is browsing Pinterest on your iPhone?  I do, all the time.  I mean, I did.  I won't do it anymore.  My kid's deserve a higher priority than my electronics.  And I'm not saying that I need to be a helicopter mommy, or that I don't need any time to myself, but when it's Be a Mommy Time, it is Be a Mommy Time.

Make last year's family photo book.  And 2012's.  I got behind, dang it.

Blog:
Post once each week, but don't feel sad if I miss a week.  Also don't apologize for missing:   I do this blog for my own creative outlet (but I hope you all like it, too).

Post more about my faith.  It's such a big part of my life, why shouldn't it be on my blog, too?  It's just that this is a crafting blog, and my crafts aren't really religious...But I am thinking about writing more "about my life" kinds of posts, so that should work.  And I was asked to do a new job at church (teaching the three-year-olds!) so maybe I'll post about that, too.

Health:
Be more healthy!  Really specific, I know.  My goal is just to build healthy habits.  Namely:
—Exercise most days.
—Don't multi-task when it comes to eating.  I'm a big read-and-eater.  For pretty much ever, I've always had a book to read while I'm eating.  On the one hand, this lets me fit in a lot more reading that I would otherwise be able to do.  On the other hand, mindless eating is not a good health habit.  And this also goes back to being actively present in my family's lives.  Reading kinda thwarts dinner conversation.

Learning:
I love learning.  In my perfect world, I would be taking college classes continuously.  (One at a time, and on a whole list of topics.)

I'm taking an Illustrator class right now, and I want to really get good at that program.  (The graphic at the top of the page?  I made it in Illustrator.  Hopefully I will be posting actually awesome projects in the coming weeks.)

I am also working on learning Spanish through this iPad app.  My goal is to be able to converse in Spanish (even if it's on a basic level) by the end of the year.  I think I need something more than just the app, though.  Any suggestions?  Learning a new language is so hard...

Prepare for homeschooling.  I'm planning to homeschool Boo, and I (of course) want to do a really great job, so I better get figuring things out.  I'll need a curriculum, and a homeschool group...

Other:
Set up my Etsy shop.  I've been thinking about this for a few months now, but I'm kinda scared to do it!  Now I am New Year's Resolution-ing to really do it!  Maybe in February, once I finish my Illustrator class...

Senior Pictures

When I first started taking pictures as a serious hobby, my goal, what I thought was the pinnacle of professionalism, was to have the pictures look like they were taken in a studio.  Like at the mall.  Or for school yearbook pictures.  (Bleh!)

My style has evolved a bit since then.

Now, I love the lifestyle photography look.  Natural light, naturally posed people, friends and family having fun--that's what I like!  

While we were on our family reunion trip, I had the opportunity to practice this style of photography in a way I've never done before:  senior pictures for my beautiful sister-in-law.  We had so much fun--I got a lot of pictures of her laughing!  My MIL and other SILs came along to help with the shoot and join the fun, and we had a great time together.  I love spending time with my family. 

Want to see the pictures we got?  I probably took about five million (give or take), and here are a few of my favorites.

 My SIL loves Mini Coopers, so we borrowed one from a friend for a few shots.

See?  So happy to be in a Mini Cooper.

I had fun editing this picture.  Any guesses what year she'll graduate?  :)

I love her eyes in this picture.  Wow.

Next, we took more pictures at the cabin where we had our family reunion.

I had my telephoto lens on my camera from taking pictures at Mr. MadeIt's graduation (I'm so proud of him!), and my portrait lens was in the room with my sleeping baby.  Telephoto lens it was, then.  I actually love the super-close-up shots I got.

It was starting to rain, so we needed to grab an umbrella from another SIL's car--I'm so glad it was a super-cute one!  I love when necessity makes for good design.  :)

The last place we went was The Gardens at BYU-I.  Beautiful place.  I wish I could take pictures there every day...

We tried to get here at the "golden hour" (There are two each day:  the hour right after sunrise, the hour right before sunset.) which is hard then that's about bedtime for munchkins.  We managed to catch some of it, though.  Isn't the lighting on her hair beautiful?

Thanks for asking me to take your senior pictures, Sis.  I hope you like them!

PR&P Week #4: Simple and Special

It's the last week of this season's Project Run & Play.  Boo has certainly loved week one's Belle Dress and week two's Easy Starburst Dress.  I was teaching Boo's preschool during week three, so even though I already had a project done (I didn't make it for PR&P, but it fit the theme), I couldn't manage to get it posted!  Life was crazy that week.  I'm hoping to post that project later.

This week's theme is Your Signature Look.  At first I thought, "I don't have a signature look.  I just do whatever I feel like at the time."  

But I don't sew shirts.  

I don't sew pants.

I rarely sew skirts.

I mostly sew dresses.

It's not like I'm necessarily opposed to sewing shirts or pants, they're just never what I feel like doing.  Because they're less special.  If I'm going to take the time to make clothes, they're going to be something a little fancy, and a little special.  Which works, because Boo loves fancy.  She wears dresses/skirts almost every single day.  I like dresses better than skirts because a dress is a complete outfit.  Simple and done.

I also like the designs to be fairly simple.  This may change as I sew clothes more, but for children's clothes, at least, I don't really want to be fussing with little details.  Cute, but simply executed details, simple to put on/take off (especially for wiggly babies!)--that's what I like to make for my girls.

So here is my Signature Look:

Simple and Special

Easter Dresses

I never did get around to posting my little girl's Easter dresses, and since they fit exactly into this week's theme, I thought today was a great day to show them off.

Daddy's Girl's dress was another variation of a pattern I've used several times before.  I change the pattern every time!  Here are the first two dresses I made from this pattern.  This time, I made the dress fully lined, instead of using bias tape (blue dress) or facings (orange dress).  I lowered the neckline and thinned the straps, like I did for the orange dress.  I used a hook-and-eye closure instead of the zipper, which was a new alteration.  

I also added a contrast band around the bottom.  That was a really fast and easy alteration, and it made so I didn't even have to hem the dress!  I'll have to do a quick tutorial another day, so you can see how that worked.

Aww, isn't she so pretty?  I love yellow on her.

Boo's dress is the same style, with a sash that ties in the back, hook-and-eye closure, and contrast band. This dress, I actually spent a lot of time on, and did a lot of work by hand.  (For Daddy's Girl's dress, which I did second and whipped out in one late night of sewing, I figured out how to do it without the handwork.  Good thing, too, because it was the night before Easter!)  

Easter morning, I gave Boo her new dress I'd spent so much time on...and she wanted to wear a different dress to church!  (Cry!)  But when I showed her she would be matching her baby sister, she became excited about this dress.  I'm doubly glad I got Daddy's Girl's dress done in time.

After church, we went to the park to take family Easter pictures.  Boo actually didn't like being up in the tree, even though her Aunt Kelli was right there, making sure she stayed safe.  (I actually photoshopped her out of this picture--she was really right by Boo.)  But Boo was a good sport anyway, and let me get a few good pictures of her in the tree.

So here's the back of the dress.  The contrast band was actually a necessity, not just a design choice.  I'd bought the two fabrics for this dress one or two years before, intending to make Boo a dress for Christmas, but then the holidays rolled by without the dress being made.  This year, I realized I had to get the dress made NOW or Boo would be too big for the amount of fabric I'd bought.  I had to add the contrast band to the bottom of the skirt to make it long enough, even now.

So that's it; that's my signature look.  Simple to sew, simple to wear, but also special.

And they make my little girls happy.  That's really what matters.

Boo Starts Her First Day of Preschool!...How Did She Get So Big?

Boo started preschool this week!  She is so excited--she would love to go every day if she could.  (It's twice a week.)  She didn't seem to be nervous at all, even on the second day.  The first day, I stayed to see how it's done, but the second day, I dropped her off and went back home.  

Boo has gotten so big.  Who said she was allowed to do that?

It doesn't seem that long ago that she was a one year old baby, toddling around everywhere, carrying Baby the baby doll, and wanting to be right by me at all times.  (She's still sometimes that way, so I was just a little worried that she'd have a hard time when I needed to leave her at preschool.  But she did great!)

Then there's my sweet two year old Boo, with her beautiful bright eyes, adorable pig-tails, and love of Toy Story (all three movies, and she'd go in spurts which one she liked the best).

And my precious three year old.  She is so smart, and so loving.  She takes good care of her baby sister, and loves to help me.   She asks questions about everything.  (Really, everything.)

Not too long and my three year old Boo will be gone, too, leaving a four year old in her place.  I'm not really sad my baby's growing up--I love watching her grow and helping her learn.  And I really love that she is learning do do things by herself.  So I guess what I'm saying is, I love all the stages.  Sometimes I wish my girls were little snuggly babies, but at the same time, I'm thrilled Boo is starting to draw people, rather than just coloring abstractly.

Good luck at preschool, my darling girl.

{By the way, five other moms and I are taking turns teaching preschool for our combined six munchkins.  (Which is why I needed to watch and learn that first day!)  My first turn is in a few weeks.  I'm a little nervous.  Wish me luck, too!}

Birthday Bash, Cake Smash, Pool Splash

Daddy's Girl is one year old!  She actually had her birthday a while ago, but I decided to wait to post about it after Summer Swimming was over.  So now it's finally time!

Boo and Mr. MadeIt both helped me make Daddy's Girl a birthday banner.  Boo loves to help me with my projects.  Even though she makes things go slower, I love that she likes to do these crafty projects with me.

 We had Daddy's Girl's birthday party at the swimming pool, because she LOVES to play in the water.

We had the traditional cake smash.  (In case you're wondering what's up with the pattern-less spots on the birthday banner, they're where I blanked out her name, since we don't do real names on this blog.  Well, my name really is Jill...or is it? ;)

  

Daddy's Girl didn't like the cupcake.  But she's adorable anyway.

Turns out, she just didn't like the frosting--She DID like the cake!  Once I flipped her cupcake over and showed her the cake part, she loved it.

And we all got cupcakes, too, of course.  I used the recipes HERE and made yellow and chocolate cupcakes from scratch.  The yellow cupcakes turned out yummy, but the chocolate were a little dry.  I'll have to tweak the recipe and try it again.  (Here's the pin, if you'd like.)

Some of my family got to come, so that was nice.  Doesn't Daddy's Girl just look like she's having the time of her life?  Swimming pool, grandparents, and a ball--what more could a baby ask for?

Boo had lots of fun swimming around, too.  Note to self, though:  Be sure to take more pictures of the not-birthday child.  I only got a few pictures of Boo!  Sadness...

I love Daddy's Girl's face in this picture!  "Come back here, Ball!  I'll use my Jedi Mind Powers on you!"

It was a great party.

So We Drove Across the Country With Two Children Under the Age of Four...

We might be crazy.  Mr. MadeIt and I drove across the country with two children under four years old...And Daddy's Girl (at least half the time) hates her carseat.  Which is really funny, because she used to sleep best when in her carseat...hmm.

But it was family reunion time, and we were determined to go!  The three married couples from the hubby's siblings all had babies last year (Daddy's Girl is the youngest by three weeks), and the other three cousins are within three years of each other, so I really really really want the cousins to get to know each other and be friends.  My own cousins are pretty widely spaced in age and geographic distance, and I don't think I even know all their names!  I don't want this to happen with my little ones.

So we nervously set off for my in-laws' home with a "Magic Bag" full of things my parents surprised us with to keep little ones entertained during the long (long, long, long) car ride.  (I'm so glad some family lives close!)  We drove through the night to have as little children-awake-and-wanting-out time as possible.  By two in the morning, whenever I'd see another car on the road, I would think, "What's the matter with you, you lunatics!  Go to bed!  ...Oh, wait..."  

The plan worked.  We made excellent time and the girls did really surprisingly well.  The next leg of the journey was easier, as we carpooled with Grammie and Pa (that's what the grandkids call Mr. MadeIt's parents) the rest of the way.

And it was worth it.

One day, we all went to the beach.  We all had so much fun, but the cousins enjoyed themselves the most.  This was Daddy's Girl's first time at a beach.  (It's been super rainy here, remember?  No lake-going for us.)  Her slightly older cousin taught her about eating sand, unfortunately...Oh, well.  It's extra minerals, right?  Gotta have your minerals...  Needless to say, Daddy's Girl loved every bit of playing in the sand.  She was "helping" with the sand castle, digging in the sand, eating the sand...

Boo had a great time, too.  She LOVES playing with her cousins.  And just look at those cute sandy legs--she had a great time making the sand castle, too.

Here's the cousin who's closest to Boo's age; she's almost exactly one year older.  We stayed at their house for a week, and I almost didn't see Boo during that time!  These two were playing pretend 24/7--Princesses, Incredibles, Mommies and Daddies, all the time!  I love that Boo got to have this time with her cousin.

This is "SweetCheeks."  She's the next cousin, and is, oh, probably 18 months younger than Boo.  She is such a sweetheart.  With her own baby sister almost exactly Daddy's Girl's age, I might have thought she'd be tired of the babies, but no--she loved playing with Daddy's Girl.  It was so cute.

Out of six cousins on this side of the family, this little man is the only boy.  Maybe more will join him later, but for now, he's pretty outnumbered!

This is "Tootsie."  Yep, she's the one who taught Daddy's Girl to eat sand.  I'm sure these two will be getting into all kinds of mischief together when they get older.

That's enough with the talking.  Let's get some more pictures of these little ones having fun!

Okay, maybe just a little more talking.  Daddy's Girl took a couple of steps by herself while playing at the lake!  I can't believe she's not still my little tiny preemie "just borned" (as Boo would say) baby.  Why do they have to grow so quickly?

Thanks to my brother-in-law for taking these pictures!  Mr. MadeIt and I chose not to risk our nice camera around all this sand and water, but I'm glad we didn't have to do without pictures of our little ones having so much fun!

Did you get to visit cousins this summer?