Happy Holidays

... and Merry Christmas! We have had a great time at our little getaway cabin - enough room for all the James families and guests! It's been fun to be on vacation a mile and a half from our home. The four minute drive was ideal, and no deep cleaning the house for guests - score! We have had a great day and hope you all did too!

Chocolate fun

So... Emma is a 'little mommy' and loves to take care of Macie. This is just too funny!

{baby rory}

We were lucky enough the other night to play with my baby brother's little girl Rory {Lauralai Elizabeth}! She is about two months old and so so so cute. I love being an aunt! Emma wanted to be more involved reading her stories and holding her, and she was a good sport.

Macie wanted to put her finger in her ear, pull her hair and poke her eyes, as we are learning body parts. She was not such a good sport for that... so Macie gave up and left her alone as long as I wasn't holding her. It was fun to get to know Rory's mama a little better, we will have to do it again soon!

long weekend

We have had a great looooong weekend. Nick was able to have a few extra days off work, and we have loved having him home.

Playing games on the iPhone

(I love how Emma stole the bink from Macie)

Covering pretzels with chocolate and sugar sprinkles... yum!

Listening to some tunes...

... and lots of napping. Love this kid! Seriously - eating while asleep, what a funny kid. She slept through the noodle cleanup and trip to bed too.

Two little Indians

I am thankful today for my two little Indians!As we were talking this week about why we are having Thanksgiving dinner, Emma requested her own Indian girl dress. This is what I came up with, and she has played 'Indian' all week! If you ask her what an Indian says, she'll tell you "Indian Indian Indian!" Love it!

swing!

We have been enjoying the last few nice days of fall this last week (it started snowing Saturday and I am not sure it will melt this time). Swing, girls, swing!

A quiet house

... means Emma is getting into something. Today? Ramen noodles left over from lunch. She decided to go back into the toy room and squish them. When she was done, the logical place to put the noodles was the floor, I guess. We need a dog.

special craft

Emma and I had this conversation the other day right after Macie fell asleep:

E: Mom, can you make me a craft?
L: Sure, honey
E: A condor?
L: What?
E: A condor.
L: Like the bird? What?
E: You know, a conder to save the baby jaguar that is stuck up in the tree. Can you make that craft with me?

I love how right now she is sure I can make or do anything. No pressure to make this craft, right?

Oh what do you do...

... when your two-year old gets an enormous pixie stick for halloween? She thought for sure she needed to eat it. I didn't think so, so we comprimised. I put it in a silicone muffin liner, chopped up an apple, and she had 'dip.' Thankfully, she gave up on the dip and just went for the apple.

{trick or treat}

This year I made their costumes again, and "Macie Moo" was a cow and Emma, who has a lamb lovie, was a lamb. She looked a little more like a bunny, but whatever. I am pretty sure I cut the ears from the wrong pattern piece. Because I had to work, we just hit our ward's trunk-or-treat (the hospital and church are right next to each other, you can see both in this picture) and I was able to come outside and walk around with them. Here they are with Daddy. Thanks for coming honey! And Grandma Jane! And Doug!

Crafty fun

Emma has asked to do a craft every day this week... so here is what we did!

{step one... give Macie Nick's iPhone to watch Diego on. Now we have 22 minutes to craft!}

{Spiders in webs}

... notice that we had to do a daddy, a mommy, a macie, and an emma...

{Scarecrow mommy}

... later that day we had to make babies...
{Color patterns}
... we have a ways to go on this one - she just cares about the color and not the shape...

{construction paper pumpkin}
... again, we ended up with babies later in the day...

(maybe I should plan on this at the beginning of the craft?)

{tweezer game}
She LOVES this one! I had never had her work with tweezers before, and she picked up on it quickly and asks to play lots.

hey, mom

Hey, mom... you don't need to worry about my breakfast today. I'll just eat Daddy's chili he left out last night. Thanks anyway.

Cheese!

... and we're back...

We made it back from a whirlwind trip to Utah. It was time for Emma's yearly appointment with her Pediatric Pulmonologist, and we made a weekend out of it. Dr. Uchida was pleased she has not been sick since we started her on the current medicine routine, and we will go back down next October. The two of us did a little shopping at the Gateway mall - Emma desperately needed a pair of jeans and we did a little Christmas shopping (from the clearance racks... score!). Kynlee and Ambria both have October birthdays, so we had a family party for them while we were down there too. Here are 5 of the 6 grandkids on the James side - love that cute little baby Tavyn!

Special Party Day

The girls and I went to a Halloween party this afternoon and all day Emma called it our "Special Party Day." I didn't have their costumes completed, so I asked Emma if she wanted to be a ladybug like last year. She thought for a minute and said "Hmmm, I just want to be a bunny ballerina." And so she was! We found a black leotard, pink tutu and bunny ears, and I added a tail to the tutu... perfect! Macie ended up as a ladybug, and they were too cute!

She is always on the move, and won't stay still for pictures. Emma's best ballerina pose!This was actually the best picture I got of them together. Emma, cousin McCarty and Macie enjoying frozen bananas at the party. She was the cutest little bee!

We also made these ghost cookies yesterday - super easy and yummy! Got the idea here.

Fall fun

Emma has been begging to do more fun things together, which usually means she wants me to dig into the craft closet and do something with her and not Macie. Lucky for us, Macie has discovered Cheetos, and is happy as long as she is eating. Love that. This first craft idea came from Funny Days with Mommy and Maddie, and Emma loved it! Little apples!

She has been hauling them around in a basket for days now, and instructing us that they are actually not good to eat, and we can have a make-believe apple if we are really hungry. Just don't eat her apples.
I am just introducing the idea of taking turns/following rules in a game, and it's not going so hot right now. I got this idea from Chasing Cheerios, and adapted it to use a dice, as that is what Emma is interested in right now. The basic idea is roll a number, pick a piece from that section. We get to 'make pumpkins' and it's pretty fun!

I love Macie's big Cheetos grin!

{accidental discovery}

The kids and I were at the thrift store a couple months ago, and there was a bundle of tupperware containers there - 7 for $5. All different sizes, but in great shape. I settled them all in the car, with a little one between the girls. Emma thought that was a great idea, and set her purse, sunglasses, etc. in it. Well, I took it from there and have since been packing a 'toy tub' in the car. This is what is usually in it, although I do rotate some.

Yellowstone Wildlife guide - Emma loves to pick out the animals we see

Colors & Shapes books

Magna Doodle

Penguin

Kaleidoscope

Melissa & Doug wooden worm

I Spy bag

Polka dot bag for crayola roll-up crayons

My Little Pony Activity Pad

Lacing cards (in black zipper bag)

Even when we just head to the grocery store, the girls love it! It has sure been a lifesaver when we go to Idaho Falls or Ogden. For the long trips, I picked up the Brain Quest flip card things, as well as some 'what doesn't match?' cards and I sit in the back seat and play together. I am also always on the hunt at Target's dollar section for something new to add. I love those accidental discoveries that make life easier!

silly sisters

Instead of naps lately, Emma grabs her boppy and blanket and lays down to watch TV and have some 'quiet time'. Guaranteed within four minutes of Emma laying down, Macie comes over to bug her. It's funny to watch because Macie knows she is just going to make Emma mad, and Emma knows if she lays there, Macie is on her way. Yet it still happens. Almost daily.

Leapfrog

Nick got this LeapFrog Click Start Computer for Emma, and she has been loving it! She has played with it nonstop for two days... connected to the tv and just sitting next to Nick on his laptop. Too cute!

Hello Amigos!

This is what our nights look like lately...

Emma and Macie playing together while Emma sings "Hello amigos! Hola! Wanna have a tea party? Amigos!" I love how well these girls play together!

{sweet sisters}

LOVE THIS!

{Emma is teaching Macie how to count}

"Sixteen... four... five... twenty... sixteen... twenty... one... one... one..."

Branching out

I finally decided on a name for my craft blog, Happy to Craft because that's why I do it. It just makes me happy. Come on over if you want to check it out!

sewhappytocraft.blogspot.com

{growing up}

I have been talking with Emma about potty training for... nine months? She just flat out said "I no want to do that" and you can't argue with that. We came back from our trip to Utah, and suggested panties and her potty, and success! She potty trained herself in two days. Seriously. I don't have to remind her, just make sure her potty is accessible, and I am done for the day! Okay, I do have to empty it multiple times, but I am LOVING this! My big girl is just getting bigger and bigger!

Good Morning

Good Morning, Macie. It's going to be a long couple years.

... pic is blurry because she is dancing...

lessons learned

I have been very inspired recently by Alexis at My Mama Made it. Everything she does is just amazing! I decided to take a chance at it myself, and this is my inspiration top, a woman's summer tank from Anthropologie:

What I ended up with is a lot of knowledge... I would construct this so differently if I did it again. Wow, I learned a lot.

1 - think through the steps... attach ruffles before you bind the arms
2 - cut the arms at a curve, not a 'v' - for comfort and easier sewing
3 - bias tape is a must for armholes. Already knew that one, but learned the lesson again anyway.
4 - remember that you lose 1/2" of length when you turn something under twice... ruffles are a lot smaller than I anticipated

5 - use a larger elastic for the 'bubble' effect at the bottom of the dress

6 - sew in a color my child will wear HAPPILY

All that being said, I am happy with the end result, and Emma thinks it's okay if she can wear tights with it. No objections here. I am really loving sewing with no patterns, not sure why, but it's sort of liberating in a way.

LOVING the little model pose!

I also love the color for the fall... now I just need to find a nice long sleeve shirt she can wear under it that matches the tights...

Also... thinking about separating family blog and crafts... I guess my holdup is what to name the darn thing. Any ideas? I am at a total loss!

happy girl

When Emma was born, I got a boppy nursing pillow... and she still sleeps with it. I had to buy a new one when I had Macie because Emma was NOT going to share hers. When she first started sleeping in bed with us, I thought it would be a good idea so she was a little protected from rolling parents. It then moved to the crib with her, and eventually her toddler bed. The only problem with it is the cases are so darn expensive, and she gets bloody noses at night that just ruins them. I hate that. So, when we were at Wal Mart, she saw some Dora fabric and begged me to take it home to sew it for her. Perfect for a pillowcase at $4 a yard - saving me a lot of money. It has made her a happy, happy girl!

She is in Macie's crib here because Macie got up earlier than her and Nick thought it would be a good idea to put her somewhere out of reach. Emma loves it because she can find Macie's binkie, so it works out for the both of them.

Lagoon

We went to Lagoon last week with the WHOLE James family and it was a really fun, long day. Macie was too little for most of the rides (we did take her on the Magic Kingdom train) and Emma refused to get near any, so they rode in the stroller most of the day. The highlight was the water, and we had a great time there!

Macie is a water girl - she would have stayed there all day if we let her.

Nick, Cavet and Jane all did the Sky Coaster together!

We didn't ride many other rides - Nick and I had to take turns so somebody could watch our girls... it was a great day anyway, and fun to be with the whole family. Again, just imagine we got a family picture together. I need to be better about that.

It's sew time...

I am so excited for this! My life is complete now...

Dinosaur Park

We got down to Ogden on Saturday evening and we went to Dinosaur Park with Matt & Jami's family. Emma loved to pick out what made each dinosaur special (long neck, tail, spikes, etc.) and Macie loved to eat the sand at the playground. I could have guessed that... We had a great time with the 'kids' Kynlee and Ambria.