it's official...

Baby Evan will be born on April 13th , unless he decides to come earlier. Yay! We are excited!

fun in the church parking lot...

Well, we have a really *ugly* driveway for riding bikes, so when the kids are itching to go bike riding, we head over to the church parking lot. These pictures were taken this past Saturday. Love the weather this time of year. Oh, yeah and a picture of my pretty pink glitter toes too, thanks Steph!

ghost towns part 2...

Zane has really been into this ghost town thing. So we decided to go up to Silver Reef last weekend. Even though there are a lot of people that now inhabit the "ghost town", it was fun to look at the old memorabilia left from the mining days.

Since we still had spring break this past Monday - John decided to take the day off (the only time he did during the whole break!) to hang with us. We decided to go to Jacob Hamblin's home. Zane wanted to see a "pioneer" house, so we thought that would be a good one to start. There are LDS missionaries that run the tours of the house, and so we were greeted by a nice older gentleman when we arrived. Zane was his precocious self, talking away to the guy, so the brother was excited to sit him down and tell him the story about Jacob Hamblin. We sat in the living area of the house, listening to the missionary tell us the story. Zane leaned over to him and said "I have to tell you a secret." "Ok," he says. Zane says, whispering in his ear, "You're taking too long!" Haha! Ok then, that was the end of that! (I forgot to take pictures!)

Zane has been complaining about a sore tooth off and on over the past couple weeks, but last week the gums around it seemed quite swollen. I decided it was time to call the dentist. It was a molar that had previously had a root canal and filling, and our dentist said to come right in. Sure enough, very infected. The tooth had to come out! He was a very brave boy, even having to get 4 separate shots! The molar came out quickly and I think it is extremely disgusting looking (I won't even post a picture, it's that gross). We love our dentist, he's great! The tooth fairy left Zane 2 shiny quarters to add that tooth to her collection.

the FIESTA easter dress...

Ok, I finished Lily's easter dress. I did it with bright colors instead of pastels and I used grosgrain ribbon instead of satin. It turned out AWESOME, even if it is a little "fiesta". A visit to San Antonio may be in order...

the only picture I could get of her in it, she wouldn't stay still

If you noticed a difference from the other picture - I added the green ribbon between the bodice and the skirt this evening, it needed more green.

ghost town...

Zane read a book from school recently that had a ghost town in it. We decided we would travel out to the nearby ghost town of Grafton. It's a little town close to Zions National Park. Some of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed at a house there. There is a small cemetary where they think approx. 70-80 people are buried. Some of them are infants and small children who died of disease, and there are a few Sioux Indians buried there as well. The last known residents left in 1945. Any trip lately with Zane is an "are we there yet?" sort of thing, but after getting there we had a nice time looking around at the old houses and peeking inside the old church/schoolhouse. There were lots of dead flies all over the floor inside, and I think that the kids thought that was the best part. Not bad for a free, outdoor, half day activity!

outside the church/schoolhouse

on the porch of one of the homes

John could barely stand up inside this house - he definitely had to duck through the doors. I fit just right!
cutie Lily

cutie Zane

project update....

So, it's been a week, and I have actually finished all but one of my projects. I have to say, I'm awesome. =) So here are the pictures of the stuff I've done. I went through an entire 547 yd. spool of thread, and then some. And btw, unwashed chenille makes a HUMONGOUS mess on your carpet (and whatever you are wearing), especially when clipping edges and the little fuzzy parts fall off. My vacuum won't suck it up (I have a crappy vacuum, actually it's the carpet) - any suggestions?
rag quilt (my first ever!) with cool blue and green fabric that looks like different vintage prints and soft fluffy chenille on the back
flannel receiving blankets (zane picked out these prints)
burp rags (obviously one is a gift for a girl - sneak peek Anne!)
nursing cover (this is like the ones you can buy with the boning in the top so you can see the baby while you are nursing - oh so easy to make and WAY cheaper than the $25-40 to buy one!)
flannel blanket for baby with soft minky fabric on back
car seat cover - it's like a blanket that has velcro straps to attach it to the handle
taggie blanket (also a gift - you can attach toy links and teething things to the loops too)

fort pearce...

John and Zane took a short trip out to Fort Pearce this weekend. It's a old fort ruin with some petroglyphs built in pioneer times to protect a water source during the Black Hawk War. It's only a few miles from town. They had fun walking around the "pee lake" and finding lizards. Good father-son bonding. I'm not even mad that John let Zane ride home in the front seat. =)

for charity...

The Fall Woven Necklace (made by me) that received an Honorable Mention in the Beadstar contest is up for auction on ebay. 100% of the proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association. The bidding starts at only $10!! The auction ends March 16th, so hurry! (check out the other items up for auction as well!)

moral support...

Ok, the baby is due in 6 1/2 weeks (most likely 5 1/2). I have a TON of projects in the works (or going to be) that I would like to get finished - not to mention needing to do some serious jewelry.

To keep track for myself and also get moral support: here is the list that I would like to get done before baby (in order of priority):

• Taggie blanket (for gift)DONE! 3/4/09
• Burp rags (for gift and some for myself)DONE! 3/6/09
• Rag Quilt DONE! 3/11/09
• Car Seat Cover/Tent (fabric ready to go, just need to cut pattern and straps and sew) DONE! 3/4/09
• Flannel Blanket (fabric is washed, that's it - but this is a fast one) DONE! 3/4/09
• Easter dress for Lily (this is the dress I really want to make - need SERIOUS moral support for this one)DONE! 3/18/09
• Nursing cover (still need fabric and supplies for this)DONE! 3/7/09
• Receiving Blankets (added 3/6/09)DONE! 3/7/09

Sounds pretty outrageous, but I can do it, right?! And now you all know - so I'm accountable to someone?!

spring cleaning...

check my scrapbeadsew blog for a great deal...

to finish off the trio of posts...

who loves spongebob?...

Zane did this all himself.  The sign, the layout, and the picture.  Too cute.

new haircut...

I've been dying to cut my hair off.  While it's been long - I've done nothing but put it in a ponytail - so I say enough.  Now at least I have to do my hair (sort of).  I LOVE IT!  

the trip...

We (just me and the kids) headed out to Phoenix on Friday to spend the weekend at my parents. We planned on coming home Tuesday - but only made it to Monday. Unfortunately on Saturday afternoon, Lily got a fever and was terribly sick the rest of the weekend. She couldn't sleep, and so I didn't either. I didn't want to have to do another yucky night there and decided to head home Monday morning (missed you John!!).

We did make it to the zoo on Saturday which was really fun. In the winter time, the Phoenix Zoo houses a Stingray exhibit. You can actually reach into the tank and touch them. They also had dwarf lantern sharks in there too. Zane and Amanda also rode a camel. Too much fun. Zane got to spend some time in G&G's pool that night and despite Lily being sick, we did have fun just hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa, Meme and Justin, and Amanda and Chris.

I took Lily to the Dr. on Monday evening, and she most likely has Croup or some other really nasty virus. No ear infections (yet!) and probably not strep, so that's good. She is still fevering though, so if it doesn't get better by tomorrow evening - we will take her back in.

mmmmm...cotton candy!








Meme and Zane racing to see how fast they could run, they made it up to 9 miles an hour!







Amanda and Zane posing on the camel!








Cute Lily before she got the sickies.








Lily wants to be just like big brother Zane.








Mom and Dad: Thanks for letting us visit on short notice and hope to see everyone again soon!
John: Thank you for cleaning the house while we were gone and for taking over the sick baby job when we got home. I love you and appreciate you so much!

a story...

We just visited my parents in Phoenix for the weekend. My mom has a giant campbell soup can that she has had for years. She uses it as a base for a small coffee table. It's kind of funny. Here's the conversation that Zane and my mom had about it:

Zane: Grandma, why do you have a big soup can?

Grandma: Well, it's a long story, and I don't think you would understand it.

Zane: Why? Is it in Spanish?

I laughed all weekend over that. Seriously, so funny.

(BTW, the real "story" is just how the Campbell soup can came to it's fame a la Andy Warhol, and my grandmother purchased the can somewhere, and my mom has inherited it)

ouch!...

We went to the park today before school, packed a lunch, and had fun in the chilly weather alone at the empty park. I dropped Zane off at school, and went to run an errand. I got home, put Lily down for a nap, and noticed that I had missed a few calls on my home phone. I checked the Caller ID and it was the school! Of course, that makes you start freaking out. There was a nice message saying "Zane hurt himself today, we just wanted to let you know. He did a face plant off his scooter. He's ok, but he's got an abrasion above his eyebrow and one on his cheek, and he will probably get a black eye. He is sitting with an ice pack on it, but will go back to class in a minute." Ack! I called to make sure he was back in class and ok - which he was, but she did say he was quite "traumatized". Poor kid!!

The story from Zane was that he was on one of those square board scooters with four wheels - the kind that you sit on, hold the handles and scoot yourself around with your feet. Well, he wasn't sitting he was kneeling with his bum in the air, holding the handles, and running his feet behind him as fast as he could - the scooter slipped out from under him, and he face planted into the ground. Ouch!! He's a little embarassed about it (he doesn't want anyone to see his face) - but John told him all his cool injury stories from when he was a kid and I think he is feeling a little bit better. He is happy in this picture , but it looks like it's pretty painful!

happy valentines day...

The kids had a fun valentines morning opening their little presents from mom and dad. Lily's favorite was the candy and "chocky"(chocolate), which we let them eat a little of that morning. Zane kept asking me "How come we get to have candy in the morning?" Unfortunately, he has spent the last few mornings asking for candy. Ack. John got a video game and I got some wonderful smelling sugar scrub. Zane spent most of the day doing his Pixos. We had a nice 3 day weekend hanging out around the house. I love my family!!

sugar smiles...

What could produce crazy grins like this?

Two words:

PIXY STIX

THE v-day box...

When I was in elementary school - I remember that we got to make our own Valentines Day box to collect valentines in from our classmates. Kids would come up with some really cool boxes (some with parent help I am sure). I remember things like robots, castles, mailboxes, etc. So I was so excited that Zane got to make a Valentine Box this year. John was quite impressed with the box. He said all he ever did as a kid was cover up and decorate a kleenex box. I must admit this v-box was my idea, but perfect for my "rockin" kid. I cut it out, and he decorated it. I think it turned out AWESOME!

tucson stash...

(mom and sara outside the hotel)

I was so lucky this week to be able to head down to Tucson for the annual Bead Shows. It's really quite amazing. If you ever get a chance to go - take it. We were only going to be able to spend 2 days (you could spend a week, easy!) so we had to pack in as many shows as we could. Sara and I drove to Phoenix on Thursday evening, stayed the night and headed bright and early Friday morning to Tucson. We spent the entire day from 11-6 at 3 different shows. By the time we got to the hotel, we were finally able to eat dinner about 8:30. Next morning, up and at the shows at 10:30 until 6 again. The shows we went to on Friday were INCREDIBLE. There were ENORMOUS tent pavilions set up with hundreds and hundreds of vendors of beads, gems, jewelry, and other *weird* imported type things. I can not even do it justice trying to explain how HUGE the shows are. Needless to say by 4:00 the 2nd day - my poor 30 week pregnant body could not handle anymore and I HAD to rest for awhile (dang contractions!). We are soooo beaded out, but it was a successful trip. I was going purely for the almost free trip - but managed to spend quite a load myself. We even survived the crazy google map directions and the freeway construction. Check out my stash.... (I'll post more detailed info about the actual beads I purchased on my other blog: http://scrapbeadsew.blogspot.com/ if you are interested).