Nice to see you...

Oh my word.  I have got to be the WORST blogger ever.  That being said, I am not even going to try to catch up on the last TWO years... Wow time flies.  I will just jump in where we are right now and really try to stay caught up.   

So I tend to bounce around in my interests.  Right now it is Photography.  I love to learn about it and try the things I learn.  I think it is coming along nicely, and then, uggg it is blurry, or the exposure is off, but I am trying.   I couldn't convince the hubby to get a really nice new DSLR camera, but I could convince him to get a used one off craigslist.  I ended up getting a Canon tXi with two lenses for 310 bucks.  Not to bad.  Although it doesn't do everything I could ever want, it is suffient to start with and will last me a couple of years before I "outgrow" it completely.  At which point I figure Girl #1 might be interested, and I can pass it on to her... with a kit lens... ;)    Anyway, I have deemed him my 5th child and named him Stewart after my photography loving Grandpa, who was really one of the best men ever.  Since I have 4 girls and Dan would never have named a son Stewart, I think this worked out nicely.   I take Stewart pretty much everywhere with me these days and my girls are kinda tired of seeing him in their faces... BUT I have let them take a few pictures and I gotta say, they LOVE him too! 

So now that you know the fifth child, let me tell  you about our new dogs.  Last summer we lost our sanity and got three lab pups.  Yes THREE!  They are all sweet and wonderful and crazy and out of control, but they are ours and they will calm down eventually.  Girl #1 and #2 are taking them to dog
4-H and are having a good time teaching them doggy manners.  It is a slow process, but it is paying off.  They really are getting much better.   We have two chocolate labs and a yellow lab.  One male chocolate and one female chocolate and yellow.  They have been keeping us busy.  Someday we hope to breed them and have a couple of litters.  But not yet, first it isn't healthy and second we need them to learn to behave, so their puppies will learn easier too! 

Umm let's see  Girl #1 is 11 now, which is just CRAZY  she will be 12 in September and starting 7th grade!  I really can't believe it.  Really.  When the heck did I tell her she could grow up?  Girl #2 is 8 and is in 2nd grade, she is an excellent unicyclist and will be in the town parade with her group this summer.  So fun! Girl #3 is 5 and is as cute as a button.  Really.  Love that girl.  She will be starting Kindergarten in the fall and is more than ready and really excited!  Girl #4 is adorable.  She is 2 and is so much fun, she has us laughing ALL the time.  Her expressions and voice are so cute.  #1 melts for #4 and will do pretty much anything for her... of course she is just kinda like that with everyone, but really enjoys her littlest sister. 

Dan and I are just about the same as always, only 2 years older than the last time I posted.  He is still a hard worker and his city basketball team are still he city champs... I have told you all the new things I have undertaken, so now you are all caught up.   I will leave you with some pics of #4 I took with Stewart.  Please remember I am learning...

This was my first attempt.  Not the best exposure in all the pics and some are blurry, but she is still so cute, it works. 

This is a bit better, the pics are clearer and the exposure is correct in all of them, although there is one that the skin color bugs me on.  It is not as bad as the first one.  Like I said I am learning, and part of learning is finding out what will work.  Having such a cute model really does help though... :)  I have gotten some books and have read them, and I have been learning online too.  But most of it is watching and waiting and having the camera ready at just the right moment, with the correct settings.  I could keep it on Auto but then what's the point of having a DLSR?  Plus I enjoy learning.  Once I get really good I will probably lose interest and move to something new.  I mean I will keep it as a side hobby and not one that is all I think about, read about, learn about etc.  But I have a feeling it will be a while befor I get "really good" :)

Oregon Coast and Lake house

We had so much fun on the Oregon coast for our family reunion.

We flew kites...

We made a volcano on the beach! Watch

out little town!!!

We played stick in the hole, a game we used to play

with our Gramps at a cabin up in the mountains of

Utah. It was still one of the funnest games ever, even

if it wasn't quite the same with out the man that taught

it to us.

Courtney was the last to get her smore, and that is the

time we remembered to get the camera. So we tooked lots of pics of her! She is a rather cute subject!

All the kids got to be Uncle Chads pillow, they loved it! Uncle Chad also impressed Carter and disturbed the rest of us with his freaky eye tricks.

The boys decided to have a rock skipping contest. Averi

wanted to do it too! Dade won. I don't remember how many skips it took to beat the competition.

We had a competitive game of kickball. I didn't mean to take out the camera lady on a cane! Sorry sister!

I was having fun with Photoshop elements and made this pic of Dan holding Court. I thought it turned out cool, so then I tried the one of him putting her in the water to wash her hands. He is sure a good daddy!

It was a nice warm day, oh wait, no it wasn't notice the bundled up Aunt and Uncle! Of course that didn't stop Averi and Carter, they were the only ones that braved the cold and swam anyway! :)

We had sooo much fun, I can't wait to go back. That house was WONDERFUL! The lake was great, I have even more pictures to post, it had a hot tub, we played what time is it Mr. Wolf, volleyball, hung out together, had an awesome talent/skit show. Every night we played a different game with just the grown ups, cards, mafia, etc. I sure enjoy my family! There were no "issues" for all 5 days between the kids or the adults. Which I think is pretty impressive considering we were together for 5 days in a three bedroom house! We had 10 adults, and 13 kids. It was FANTASTIC!!!!!

Just call me Martha... LOL

I posted these on Facebook and My Sister in Law said she was gonna call me Martha from now on. She is silly!

I have been wanting a cute apron and decided that today is the day! I made this one out of a pair of old jeans... Actually I just cut the inseam and used one leg. This is the box pleat I made at the bottom. It turned out soooo cute. I am wearing it right now. I might need to make an apron to keep it clean while I cook... :)

Here is the finished project.
I love it. It is just perfect for me! :)

sewing again

I made this shirt from one of my old shirts. They are so cute and so easy! It also will double as a dress (with leggings) for Courtney. All I will do is safety pin the straps to make them a bit shorter, on my next one I am gonna put buttons on the back so the straps will be adjustable.

This is the back

This is the front. I stitched little flowers around the top and bottom for fun. I was gonna add ribbon around for a tie, but Aubrey liked it this way. She's the one wearing it! :) I think when I have a minute I will shorten the straps so it hangs a little bit higher on the chest too.

I'm a princess...

Courtney saw this picture and exclaimed "you're a princess mommy! Aubrey a princess too! Daddy a man..." A long pause then she shook her head and said "there is no witch, nope." I guess she thought we were in front of a castle. It made me smile, I thought you guys might like it too. :)

Ashley is one!

I can't even believe that my littlest one is already a year old! Here are some pictures of her eating her cake. Sure wish you all could have been here to celebrate with us!

MMMMM that is good!!!

I have made this cake for all four girls and it is fun to see how each one eats it. Aubrey would barely touch it and wasn't sure what to do with it. Whit was a little more into it, but still was pretty careful. Court was happy to dig in, but Ashley well she just LOVED it! She couldn't get it in fast enough as you can see she decided to by pass the whole hand to mouth thing (really over rated!!!)

MMMMM that is REALLY goo..mmfff

Here she is before she ate her cake. All nice and clean Oh I love this little one!
And here is the traditional cake! Each of the girls has had a block cake, and then for fun we let them destroy, I mean eat a block by themselves. I put all the letters of everyone in our family on each side of the blocks. I also used Dan's side of the family and my side of the family, brothers, sisters, Bro in law, sis in law, nieces, nephews and our parents. We had 1 space that we had to fill in with a random letter. Evidently we have a lot of the same 1st initial in our families! :)

Anyway I am proud of myself because that is two new blog entries this week! I know I am amazing! HAHAHA :)

I was feeling creative

So I got a boys dress shirt and made some stuff. I took the sleeves, cut them apart, then stitched them together. I added a little ribbon then finished the bottom. This is what I ended up with. I did have to take in the sides a bit more to make it fit this doll, but I put it on (as it was) a baby doll and it fit perfect. Whitney told me I should have made it more modest. :) I guess I need to put a shirt on under the dress...

Here is the dress I made from the middle of the shirt. I made some shoes and a hair bow to match. I think it turned out pretty cute. I love to get creative, it is so relaxing for me. I think it is what other people describe as the "runner's high" (that I have never felt.) I just feel so great when I'm working on it and when it is done!

Here is my little model.

I liked it with the bottons on the back, but I could totally see it as a tank top dress with the buttons down the front, and instead of taking the pocket off and tossing it. I could just move it down lower... I am getting all sorts of ideas. These are so easy!