Birthday Girl

 We celebrated Harper's 4th Birthday on Saturday!  She was still on her Mary Poppins kick from Halloween, so she decided to do a "Jolly Holiday" Birthday!  It was so much fun!  We had Tuppence, Spoonfuls of Sugar, Lollipops, and lots of other sweet treats!

 She got a new recliner to relax in, and lots and lots of wonderful presents from her family.  Thanks everyone!

 We were able to put a picture of her in her costume on a cake! 

 Lots of family, and great cousins, who are always around to love and support our Baby Cakes!

 This mom had a ball making the party favors!!  Did you know that they make Chalkboard Cardstock????  I was in heaven!!  I cut them into kite shapes, and gave some chalk out with them.  I love that it ties so many parts of the movie together.

Happy Happy Birthday Harper Kate!  You sure are loved!

Downtown SLC at Christmas

 Last weekend Greg took us all downtown to see the Christmas Sights before the real Winter weather starts!  It ended up raining on us, but hey, we're from Utah! No big deal!

It was our first  time to see the new City Creek Center.  BUSY BUSY BUSY! 

Lots to see and do in Downtown SLC!  Lights, and beauty everywhere.  And the candy window displays are back!  It's just like the good old days!

Here's to a great Holiday Season!

Halloween!

Another BUSY Halloween this year!  Cannon's school activities fell on actual Halloween day, and Harper's were the week before.  This was so good!  Harper had a normal day at preschool, which allowed me to go see Cannon in his school parade and help with his class Halloween party. 
This year he decided to be a baseball player.  Pretty slick!

Once again, the Trick-or-Treat weather was perfect!!

And there were a million neighborhood kids running the streets!  I loved it!  We met up with some friends to make the rounds.


Everyone made a haul on candy, and had a wonderful time. 

I'm also happy to say there were NO smashed pumpkins in our neighborhood, something that I hate to see happen!

Bonus, bonus, bonus.  

Happy Halloween!

THE Costume!

Each year, toward the end of Summer, we start talking about Halloween! YES!  We love Halloween SO MUCH!  My kids are lucky enough to have an Aunt Stacy who can always make their costume dreams come true.  

She made a fuzzy lamb costume that both Cannon and Harper used for their first Halloween.  Once, Cannon was even Santa Claus!  Aunt Stacy pulled that one off for us too!

As Cannon gets older, he gets more "low key" with his costumes.  He is not one for a lot of face make up or masks.

I have a feeling that will not be the case for Harper!  Last year, she was Cinderella, and Aunt Stacy made the most beautiful hand beaded, sparkly dress!

This year, Harper decided she wanted to be "Marion Poppins" (one of her favorite shows!) 

I thought, "Okay, that can be simple.  A dark coat... a straw hat we can glue some flowers on... "  BUT NO.  "I want to be the Marion Poppins who sings Jolly Holiday in the chalk!"

Okay.  That isn't so easy.  For me.. For Stacy, no problemo! 

We went to JoAnn's together and picked out some lace and fabric.  We already had lots of red lace, and buttons and notions.  (benefits of craft hoarding!)


We found a pettiskirt online for CHEAP,
so we got that and sewed the lace around the bottom to match.  Same thing with the parasol.


Stacy was able to piece together the pattern for the dress with different patterns she already had.  She invented the cute little lace gloves.  She's the BEST!
  I found a hat on clearance at Target, and she turned it inside out and covered it with fabric.  Tricky!

It's also fun for us to spend the time together, sewing, and laughing, and swearing a bit when it won't work quite right. ;)

Harper LOVES riding the "Marion Go Round" at South Towne Mall.  I'm sure she's hoping that one of these times the horse will detatch, and she can win a horse race on it!

My mom and I took her there with her costume on, and I was able to get some great pictures.  Harper loved it, WaWa loved it, I loved it, and all the little old ladies at the mall loved it too! 
This has been such a fun costume this year!  Thank you, Aunt Stacy, for making all of our Halloween Dreams come true!!!

Kindness Counts!

On Monday, we got to go to my great-niece Austyn's school and watch her get a Student of the Month Award!

Just barely in Kindergarten, and already recieving recognition!

They had a really cute ceremony, and Austyn got her certificate for "Being Caring".  

If you have ever been around this cute girl at all, you know that this sums her up!  She is always so sweet, and caring to everyone, especially her cousins!  She always thinks of others first.  She is happy when others are happy. She is a peace maker. (She is so much like her mamma Lacie!)

Everyone loves her so much!






She was a very gracious hostess, and showed us her school.  They had cookies for everyone afterward, and Austyn made sure everyone got one, and had a place to sit.  She was so cute to pose with everyone for pictures, and even took a minute to "introuduce" Harper to one of her friends.  Super sweet!  AND so CARING!



That's our Austie!!  We are so proud of her and we love her so VERY MUCH!!  Way to go, Lou-Lou!  XOXO

Pumpkin Patch!

Double score at the pumpkin patch yesterday!

We got some cute pics of the kids, and made a nice haul on Pumpkins.

We can hardly wait to carve them and roast the seeds!

Halloween Wreath Tutorial

Last night while I was at Hooby Lobby, I spotted this roll of Chevron Burlap!!!!  Now does it get any better than that?!  I thought it would make a perfect Halloween Wreath.  I also purchased the wire wreath form.  It was $3.99.  The Burlap was $10.00 for 15 feet, and of course I used my 40% off coupon.  So I could do this on the cheap!

Here's how I did it:
I used small clear hair elastics, and placed them about every 8 inches to "bunch" the burlap.



I then used floral wire to hook the burlap (where the bunches were made) to the wreath form, about every 2 1/2 inches.











It was cute!  But, not quite right.  It needed some oomph.   I had a roll of black sparkly tulle that  I thought could do the trick.  I attatched it, using the tails of the floral wire, on the inside and outside of the burlap.  Even though the burlap had finished edges, this made it look better. 

I was so happy!  However, if I had the choice, I would use regular tulle, because the shed of glitter drove me nuts!




I added some embellishments, using fabric, paper, felt, and stickers.  I sprayed the whole thing with clear gloss spray paint, to help weather proof it, and to keep the glitter from shedding as much.

I was able to finish this in a matter of about 3 hours.  Not too shabby.

I LOVE how it turned out!!!  Happy Halloween!

Harper's First Day of Preschool!

Holy cow I can't believe it! Harper is old enough to go to Mrs. Brown's Preschool!

We picked out her backpack and outfit weeks ago. And yesterday was finally the day! She will be gone 3 mornings a week, for 2 1/2 hours. It's a bit strange without my shadow!

She took off, out of the car. Here is the image burned on my heart. My baby, walking away from me! She doesn't need us so much anymore! She even said, "You guys don't have to walk me in!" Um, YES we do! At least on the first day anyway!

She went in and hung up her backpack, and found her name tag, and got right to work. And she waved at us, and we left, and that was it! No tears, from anyone! I can't believe I didn't cry.

I did cry this weekend though, when Harper got a big girl bed and we sold the crib/changing table set. A new chapter in life. My babies aren't babies any more.

After school, my mom, Austyn, Cannon and I went to pick her up. The kids were a little late coming out. That's typical, for the first day when they're learning about the new routines. BUT it seemed like it was taking a LONG time for the kids to come out. Finally, they started out, but NO HARPER. As each kid passed that wasn't mine, my panic rose. What if she was in trouble? What if she was hurt? What if she was having a dang hizzy fit, and wouldn't come out? (hey, it could really happen!) FINALLY, I saw her and Mrs. Brown, hurrying out. Relief! Guess what the hold up was?

"I had to pee, Mom!" Geez!

Then she commenced to tell us every single detail of her day.
And how she has lots and lots of friends, and how Mrs. Brown read them the BEST BOOK EVER. And how they sang songs, and did a dance, and Mrs. Brown even has tissue and hand sanitizer if she has a booger-snot. And how you're NOT supposed to pick your nose at school! ( I suppose she learned that first hand!)

Then we met Stacy at Sizzler for a celebratory lunch. Cheers, and great job Harper, you're on your way!

Granny Kate's Cupboard: AFTER

It's finally finished!  And in Harper KATE's room.


It is so beautiful, and she plays with it every day.  I am so happy!  there are places high enough for special things, and low enough for her to play on.







I love the scalloped edges.  And I put a sampler that my great-grandma from my mother's side made on the top.  So there are Grandmas all over the place in Harper's room!









I love seeing her play in her room. Looking in her jewelry box for something to wear, and asking, "Would you like some tea?"  


And she knows exactly why it's special:  "Because it's really old, and it was Granny Kate's and I'M Harper Kate!  And because Jenn Gray helped paint it!"    She is a HUGE Jenn Gray fan! (me too!)
 It turned out perfectly!  I finally got the drill out yesterday, and put the doors on.  I used the original hinges and screws, but replaced the knobs.



Granny Kate has been gone for nine years now, but it sure is wonderful to be able to remember her in this way, every single day. :)