Favorite's Challenge #2 Winner

Well since only two of you entered my second favorite's challenge you both win. Corene will get the notebook filled with my favorite quotes since James can always refer to the one I have here at home. The other day James emailed me and wrote something that I am counting as my favorite quote even though he did not post it.

"Ask for a stronger back not a lighter load."

I love that quote. Heavenly Father knows how much we can handle and he will never give us more than we can deal with. Be grateful for your challenges. Thanks sweetie for that advice.

Check out my Slide Show!

Belt Promotion

Conner and Dallin both earned a new belt last night in karate. Conner earned his 6th belt which is green. Dallin earned his 3rd belt which is orange. They are working so hard in karate and love it so much. Here is a picture of Conner and Dallin with their karate teacher J.D. He is an awesome teacher and the boys just love him and look up to him. If fact right this very minute they are both in the other room pretending to be on the SWAT team. One of them is J.D. and the other is Dallas!


This is a picture of the Storm Team and all the karate kids who promoted belts this month.

Karate Tournament

Conner and Dallin competed in their second karate tournament today. They both did really well. Dallin competed in the forms for his division. He placed third, which is pretty good. Here is a clip of him doing his form:

Conner competed in forms and sparring. He earned a ribbon for his form and he placed third in sparring. He hasn't been sparring for very long and he did an awesome job! Here is a video of Conner sparring (Conner is in the red uniform). He actually had to spar against 4 people and he won each time except once.

Shopping Poll

Where would you rather shop, poll results:
5 people voted between Nordstrom, GAP, Old Navy, and Banana Republic.
1 person would rather shop at Nordstrom (20%).
No one wants to shop at GAP!
2 people like to shop at Old Navy (40%).
2 people like Banana Republic (40%).

Dress for Georgia

Well, here is the dress I made for Georgia. I haven't finished them hem line yet because the dress is a bit big on her and I want to wait till she fits into it so I can make it the right length. It was fun to make. I learned a lot. Reading a pattern is complicated. The hardest part was gathering the dress and sewing it to the "yoke." I didn't even know what bias tape was and now I do. I think I did an okay job considering it was my first time following a pattern. I love the material. It is by Michael Miller. I used it also on my burp cloths. James thought it was "bright." I think that was his nice way of saying he didn't like it! What do you think?

Favorite's Challenge #2

Okay, here is Challenge #2:
What is your favorite quote?
I will choose the one I like best out of the quote's you all send me

and the winner will receive this notebook full of my favorite quotes.

Here is one of my favorite quotes:
"Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt.
Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth."
-Mark Twain

This challenge begins now and ends Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 10:00 PM.
Anybody can send me a quote.

Conner's Birthday

Conner wanted to go bowling for his birthday. So here we are at the bowling alley. We had about 8 kids and tons of fun!
Today Conner got to spend his birthday money. We went to Toys'R'Us and he got the Cherry Picker Lego set that comes with a motor. It took him 3 hours to build and for some reason there were a lot of spare parts left at the end!
He did an awesome job though, it was a tough one to build.

Why is everybody laughing at me?

What is on my ears?
Why is everybody laughing at me?

My Mom and Dad did this to me and Corene when we were babies. Corene and I did it to Conner and Dallin when they were babies. So now it is Georgia's turn to have it done to her. She did not know what to think at first, then she started laughing with us. Isn't she just adorable?

Burp Cloths

Aren't these so cute? I bought some Michael Miller fabric at The Quilting Cottage and made some more burp cloths. I have tons now and just need my friends to have babies so I can give them away. I loved this fabric so much that I went and bought more so I could make a dress for Georgia out of it. I have only followed a pattern once in my life, it didn't turn out so well. So we will see how Georgia's dress turns out. I'll post it when I finish it.

So I decided to package these burp cloths in a bag. I also added a pacifier with a pacifier clip. I used matching ribbon on the pacifier clip. I think they turned out pretty cute. What do you think?

And the WINNER is.....

Thank you everyone who entered their favorite books into my "Favorite's Challenge." This was a hard decision but the WINNER is:

Corene
An even harder decision was deciding which book, Left To Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza or Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, would be the winner. I am going to choose Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer for my book club. I hope everyone likes it Corene! So, Corene I will be mailing you my favorite book These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner. Let me know what you think of it after you read it and remember there are two other books in the sequel.
I am interested in all the book ideas everyone sent me. So now my "books to read" list has just grown. I will be having another Favorite's Challenge coming soon so make sure to check in with me. I have some fun prizes to give away.

Favorite TV Show Poll

Thanks to those of you who voted for the TV show they would rather watch.
Here are the results:
13 Total Votes
6 voted for Grey's Anatomy 46%

3 voted for Desperate Housewives 23%
4 voted for Survivor 30%
0 voted for Big Brother 0%
So... Grey's Anatomy won!
My first choice too.

Cloth Diaper - Burp Cloths

Look at these cute burp cloths made out of cloth diapers. I got some of these from Jami C. for my baby shower and fell in love with them. So, this is my favorite thing of the day. All you do is get cloth diapers from Wal-Mart, buy some cute matching ribbon, and sew strips of the ribbon onto the cloth diaper. I like using the cloth diapers for burp cloths anyway because they are more absorbent. So I guess if you have to carry around a yucky burp cloth you might as well spice it up with some cute ribbon.

Believe it or not, I have 2 boys!

You are all familiar with my daughter Georgia. Well believe it or not I have two boys as well. And I do love them just as much. Here are some pictures of them:

Dallin and Conner, here is a rare moment of brotherly love!

Conner and his new lego creation.

Dallin and his lego creation.

More to come on these two trouble makers!

Yankees!

James,
In response to your response to my Favorites Challenge - Will a picture of Georgia in her dolls Yankees shirt work instead?
M

Favorite's Challenge #1

WIN THIS BOOK!

So, I've decided to do something fun to keep people motivated to visit my blog. Every once in a while I am going to have a "Favorite's Challenge." Here is how it works - I make up the rules and can change them whenever I want!
Challenge number one - What is your favorite book? I am part of a book club and will be hosting the club at my house one month this year. I need to come up with a book to assign everyone to read. Here is what I need you to do - send me a post telling me about your favorite book and why. I will pick the book I think sounds most interesting and choose it for my book club. Whoever's book I choose will receive a copy of my favorite book, which is These is my Words by Nancy E. Turner. Yes you will get a book from me, is that motivation enough to comment on my blog? I hope so!
I'm doing this because I'd love to learn more about my friends and family and what you all are interested in. Hope to hear from you all soon! Oh yeah, the challenge starts now and ends April 5, 2008 at 10:00 PM. Good luck!

Finished Baby Bows Doll

Well here she is - the doll I made for Georgia. I think she turned out pretty cute and she was easy to make. She fits into newborn size clothes which is great because I am not a good enough sewer to make doll clothes. Tell me what you think!

Sour Cream Cup Party Favors

Here is my favorite thing for the day: Sour Cream Cup Party Favors

I learned how to make these at my friend Juanelle's house. Once a month I go to her house for a Stampin' Up scrapbook club. We learn how to make cute cards and other fun things like this sour cream cup party favor. You can fill it with candy and use it for party favors for bridal showers or baby showers. You can use is for handouts at church or for visiting teaching. You can also use it as gift wrap for small gifts. It's so easy to make, here's how:

1. Cut patterned paper to 5 1/2" x 4 1/4".

2. On back side of patterned paper use double sided tape as seen below in red. Roll side A over to side B to form a tube.

3. Squeeze one end of the tube together and fill with candy or gift.

4. Squeeze the other end of the tube together.

5. Use a paper crimper to crimp each end of the tube.

6. Add a cute tag.

Voila, you are done!
This project is fast, easy and so cute!
Tell me what you think.

Baby Bows Doll

I've never "blogged" before, so here is the beginning of my pathetic effort to blog. I thought it would be fun to post a few of my favorite things. Today I discovered an adorable pattern for a doll. I thought I'd make one for my sweet baby Georgia in hopes that one day when she is a little older than 6 months she will play with it. I ordered some fabric online at Doll Makers Ink to make the doll. I am not a great sewer but this pattern looks simple enough to make. Once I receive the material and make the doll I will post a picture of her. Here is a picture of the doll from the website so you can see what she looks like. One side of her head, her eyes are open. On the other side of her head, her eyes are closed. Cute, huh!?

Well, this is my first post and hopefully more to come.