Curtain Help

Okay, who has sewed curtains before? I need some help! I made some curtains for Bryn's room but they didn't turn out how I was envisioning them. I read somewhere that you should sew your curtains so that they touch the floor... so they don't look like "floods". I tried doing that, but now they kind of lay funny and I think maybe it's because they're a little bit too long? Should I make them just a little bit shorter, like barely above the floor?? Also, they looked kind of wide, so I tried making little "belts" (for lack of the proper term) to try to tame them a little bit. I haven't finished the "belts" yet because when I pinned them up I thought they looked dorky. And I'm not sure about the color. Maybe I should just forget about the belts and take 6-8 inches off the width of each curtain, so they're not so full. And then I'd have to make the curtain rod not as wide. Or maybe I should just leave the curtains as they are?? So please tell me your opinion, should I make them shorter or leave the length? And should I leave the "belts", cut off 6-8 inches off the sides, or just leave them? I'm kind of leaning towards no belts, but I don't know.

I know there are much more important things to be worrying about, but I just need a little advice :)

BYU Women's Conference

I just bought my plane ticket... I'm going to BYU Women's Conference in April! Can't wait! It's like EFY, only better because there's no linking of sweaty arms as you walk from class to class. (Oh, the EFY memories). I've only been to Women's Conference once, five years ago when my Mom spoke. I loved it, and I'm soo excited to go again! And of course I'm also excited to spend time in Utah with my family and Josh's fam. Woot woot!

Throne for Oscar

One of Brynlee's very favorite things to do is "build a throne for Oscar the Ostrich". Oscar is quite spoiled because Bryn makes him thrones all throughout the day, every day. I didn't even see her building this one, but I loved the finished product! When she's done building the thrones she puts her face in front of Oscar and says "You comfortable Oscar? You like this throne?". Then she crashes it and makes a new one.

Dave and Margaret + Dana Point

My aunt and uncle have been in town the last few days, and it's been such a treat to spend time with family! On Saturday they watched the BYU game with Josh and then saw the Road Show performances that night. On Sunday we went to church together, and then had a meal at my uncle Mark's house. And then yesterday Bryn and I spent time with them at Dana Point....one of my very favorite places in the area. It was so wonderful to spend the morning (and the weekend) with them!

It was a pretty day, but I didn't take many pictures of our beautiful surroundings. Click HERE for a past post with better pictures of Dana Point :) It's funny to see how much Bryn's changed since July!

St. Patrick's Day

We had a delicious St. Patrick's day yesterday, frosting sugar cookies and getting green mustaches from our favorite spinach smoothies.

I skipped the St. Patrick's Day decorations and special activities, but I didn't pass up an opportunity for festive treats! Priorities.

Today

It's been a beautiful day for several reasons:

-I woke up at 5:45 this morning and had a killer run on the elliptical. (Not killer because I ran fast, but killer because it almost killed me). This is day two of early-morning exercise and I'm hoping this pattern will stick... for the rest of my life! It usually lasts a week.

-I worked on an awesome Personal Progress experience this morning that strengthened my faith and has had me thinking all day.

-I've already had three "puppet dance parties"with Brynlee, where we put puppets on our hands, crank up our favorite dance playlist, and go crazy with our puppet friends. (My apologies to our friends who live in the apartment below us). My dancing is so bad that Bryn laughs until she falls to the ground and drools, even when I'm not trying to be funny.

-I painted and collaged for the first time since November. Yikes. I'm terribly rusty, but it felt so good. I'm (still) working on a little series of paintings from our neighborhood. And at the rate I'm going it'll be done by 2013. So pull out your paper countdown chain and get excited!

-My family officially bought their plane tickets to visit us over Easter weekend. Best news ever. I can't wait to see them! Yay!

-And I have a 3-hour (maybe longer) Road Show rehearsal tonight...can it get any better than that!? :)

Spiegel im Spiegel

After each of my miscarriages my doctor has given me the same pep talk: that I will grieve for 6 weeks and then I'll be feeling back to normal physically and emotionally. Well, It's been 6 six weeks now and my doctor's promise of feeling back-to-normal simply has not come to pass, so I think I'll call him and ask for a refund of all my co-payments. Ha. Even though I didn't expect to be over it by 6 weeks, I'm still going to hold him accountable for that broken promise. :)

In the meantime, I'll keep listening to Arvo Part's "Spiegel im Spiegel" over and over. If you haven't listened to it, you must. It's one of my very favorites, especially lately. It is beautiful.

That's all.

Bryn and Monkey

Let me introduce you to Monkey. A hand-me-down from Logan. And one of Bryn's favorite buddies. His hands and feet can velcro together, so Bryn loves wearing him as a necklace... like it's no big deal. I found her with monkey around her neck, a dress-up skirt over her pants, rocking back and forth on her rocker, and singing "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain" from her songbook. And I thought, "Could this get any better?" Something about Monkey's lanky arms and legs crack me up. Especially when Bryn balances him at the foot of her bed...his "favorite place to take a monkey nap".

I love this silly little girl.

Cute Girls

We just added two new girls to our little play group. How cute are these cute, silly girls! I'm so glad Bryn has lots of little buddies in our ward.

Josh

We only have a few pictures from Josh's childhood, but they're so cute! I've been scanning old pictures and I wanted to see if Josh's younger pictures look like Brynlee. I can definitely see the resemblance!

Josh and his twin Joe

Josh's whole fam. I LOVE the hair and clothing styles! Josh is being held on the far right. I have seen that same mischievous face on Brynlee!

The four youngest siblings. Josh is in the middle.

Beach Day

We walked to the beach today to take advantage of the sunny day. We hadn't been in a while, so Bryn was in heaven. She tried out the water, but said "I-yi-yi! Ocean is too cold today!" Then she ran back to the "really warm sand" and we played in one little spot of sand for almost 2 hours. Things have been so busy lately that this quiet afternoon was such a treat!

Felt Projects

A year ago I spent hours making a big felt quiet book for Bryn. She loves to pull it out at home, but I rarely take it to church or anywhere else because it's so bulky. As an alternative, I've been making simple felt games like this one, where I can put them in little ziploc bags and easily slip them into my purse. I made really simple animal homes and animals, then Bryn matches the animal to the home. Some of the parts are sewed, but to make it faster I used hot glue and sharpie marker for much of it. I should have just skipped making the quiet book entirely and make little games like this instead, because they're so quick to make and so much easier to carry around. Hooray for simple projects... and three cheers for felt!