Friday Five Favorites #2

#1) V8 V-Fusion

Not the lowest calorie drink, but an 8 ounce glass is one serving of fruits AND one serving of vegetables.  And right now when I've been fighting a cold in my chest, I'm not terribly hungry.  So this is perfect mixed with a tall glass of ice and Sierra Mist Free.  Mmm.  Vitamin C.

#2) Swimming Lessons

E & L are good swimmers and safe around the water, and most importantly, can have fun in a pool.  I'm hoping this second year will catch K up to them.  Some days I wish we had a pool, because the magical combination of water and sunshine can effectively sap any crazy energy kids have. But for now I'm glad K's got a good teacher. 

#3) Hall's Cough Drops

These have been my friends this week.  

#4) Mumford and Sons

I can't get enough of this album.  I love it.  I love the poetry and the banjo and the big build ups.  Ahhhhh.

#5) Allora Handmade

(photo credit: allorahandmade.com)

My good mom got me an Allora Handmade necklace at the Queen Bee Market a couple weeks ago at Snap.  I have been dying for one (all) of these since first becoming aware of them a couple years ago.  The rosettes are made exquisitely.  And the colors!  Looking at the shop is like cracking open a brand new box of Crayola crayons, with the waves of colors and the perfectly shaped points.  Only you get to wear it!  And they don't get broken and turn into nubs!  Bonus.

Friday Five Favorites

I have come to accept that I am not a blogger.  But, in an effort to try all these different social media, I am committing to doing my new idea once a week, Friday Five Favorites, where I share random stuff I like.  Maybe I'll figure out how to make it a linky party someday, but only if someone wants to and explains how very slowly and in basic English.




#1) White Noise App


When I was 19 I got addicted to sleeping with white noise, thanks to a creek that ran behind my bedroom window in my BYU condo.  We usually bring an extra fan when we travel, because we're driving and have the room.  So this last weekend when I was at Utah for Snap I stayed with my aunt, who doesn't have any fans.  My brain will NOT turn off if it's too quiet.  So after one night of not sleeping much, I decided to check the app store.  And whaddya know.  There IS an app for that.  

It's fabulous, has several different sounds (included oscillating fan, woohoo!), a sleep timer and options to fade the sound out.  Worked like a charm.  And free!  Oh, iphone, how I love you.




#2) My Book Club


We meet once a month and try and alternate emotionally heavy books with light books.  We try and push ourselves out of our comfort zone and read different types of books.  And inevitably our conversation turns to pretty much anything under the sun.  Love.

#3) Dean Koontz's Frankenstein Series


I got turned onto Dean Koontz's new stuff through my friend (also in my book club) and I've been eating up this five book series, which goes along the idea that all the events in the original Frankenstein were true, and Frankenstein is alive and well and has evil plans to take over the world (not JUST the tri-state area).  The heroes are heroic, the dialogue is snappy, and the pace is fast and tense.   

#4) My Dad


My Dad voluntarily flew out (not his favorite mode of transportation) to come play with the kids while I was at Snap.  He got everyone to school and preschool, ran errands, did laundry, kept the house from imploding, and regaled the kids with his original Ammy and Ooloo stories at bedtime.  Not an easy task!  

(Old picture from 2006 when L was the baby.)




#5) Strawberries & Cool Whip


Because they're good.

Photo A Day Challenge: Feb 1st

My view today.

Instagram Friday!

Linking up at Life Rearranged for Instagram Friday!

The beginning of the week had an insane amount of rainbows...

All of them were the full-on, St. Louis style huge arches.  Do rainbows ever stop being totally unreal and magic?

We took the girls for their traditional Christmas gift from mom and dad--Build a Bears.

L named her orange cat Tiger.

K named her border collie Basket.

E named her fennec fox Melody.

L and K had a little Christmas performance for dance.  They both ate it up.  They are divas.

They also had fun playing before bed last night while E was at soccer.  Their fun is insane and I'm just glad we didn't end up in the ER with skull fractures, but they were laughing the whole time.  That's good, right?

This is L.

There's 30 more of these.

Instagram Friday!

I've decided to start linking up to Instagram Friday on Life Rearranged.  Next week, though, as this week she was doing a different project for Instagram Friday.  Anyhow, it makes me more accountable to record our family's week...and I get to play with my new iphone!  Woot.

"Schnuggle me, Mom.  I need schnuggles." 

Round One of E's  braces DONE.  

"Sit on the couch wif me, Mom.  Sit."

Best grocery shoppers.  A is rocking L's Fancy Nancy headband from Halloween.

Please note: Tiana pillowcase, baby Tiana doll under arm, Tiana frog, Tiana softie, and Naveen frog between the wall and bed.


L is not in any of the pics.  But she did record close to 1,000 videos of herself on my phone.  

Agent P

When my sister-in-law called wondering how she was going to pull off an Agent P costume for her 3 year old, the gears started turning in my head and I couldn't NOT do it.  

It turned out the way I imagined it, which is always very satisfying.

I referred to these tutorials for sewing up the shirt and pants.  

For the webbed feet, beaver tail and duck bill I used double layers of felt.  With the tail I added a layer of batting between and quilted the cross-hatching into it to give it some dimension and texture.  Between the felt layers on the bill I hand-stitched two bits of pipe cleaners to help bend the bill into a curved shape.  They're all separate pieces, with elastic to fit around his ankles, waist and around his face.

They already had the hat.  PHEW.

I had imagined myself making a detailed tutorial for each piece, but then I just wanted to get it done.  ;)