I've always wanted to make costumes for the kids and I finally did it this year. (Well for half of them, at least.)

We went with the Alice in Wonderland theme, since the kids are loving the new version of the movie this year.

Gretta is the Queen of Hearts...



I made this full red sewn tutu skirt - which she wouldn't go near when I was trying to make it. But, she conceded and finally put it on.




The top is a corset style that laces up the back with ribbon and has a halter at the top. This was much easier than trying to sew in a zipper or something else that would make it fitted to her little round body.



Layla is Alice....



This dress was made from a Simplicity pattern and I think it turned out ok. Not perfect by any means, but I'm satisfied.



As you can see, the zipper isn't perfect. Layla didn't notice though.



Here are pictures of them in action at our Ward Trunk-or-Treat!



I made this little crown from gold costume fabric and stiff interfacing to make Gretta's head appear big like in the movie. I added clips inside the crown to clip into her hair because I knew she would not leave on an elastic type of chin strap. It worked, she actually left it on all night!



Austin was Ron Weasley from Harry Potter! So perfect!



And Gavin was a Cowboy! He originally wanted to be The Mad Hatter, but changed his mind last minute. I'm a little relieved, because the Hatter costumes were super expensive and I would have probably ended up having to make it. We already had everything for him to be a cowboy though! My favorite part is the moustache!



Basket of candy = Pure joy

This is completely random, but has anyone else seen these disturbing "barbie-like" Monster High dolls in the stores?
What in the world would posses someone to buy these for their little girl?!


These are in the regular toy aisle next to princess dresses and baby dolls - not the Halloween section.

I'm thinking the type of person that would be interested in this type of thing would be anti-barbie doll anyhow, right?!



and if that's not enough, they have the "baby" doll too.

I'm scared.

For years and years and YEARS my sister, mom, grandma and aunt have attended BYU education week. And for all of those years, I have had some valid excuse not to attend like "I don't have anyone to watch my kids", "I'm too busy to take a week off", or "oh, I just had a baby".
This year was different.

I needed a break - a major time out. So, I bought my plan ticket and made arrangements to attend. And I'm so glad I did!

The trip began with a connecting flight leaving me with major motion sickness. I'll spare you the messy ending, but I was completely mortified. Luckily the trip was positive from then on.

We were educated and uplifted by some amazing teachers. My favorites were S. Michael Wilcox (Temple), Ron L. Anderson (Abe Lincoln), Ronald E. Bartholomew (Modern-day villains) & Marvin Goldstein (piano, of course)!

Mom & Aunt Annette



Me & Jess (sis) - waiting for class to begin.



Eating amazing cinnamon rolls & chocolate milk. This picture was typical of most mornings. I don't even want to think of how many calories I consumed each day.





Shopping at Rod Works



MANY quilt shops - I LOVED Pine Needles at Gardner village



This sign is oh, so true.



We were able to see a cute production of Annie Get Your Gun put on by BYU arts.







I told my crew that if I lived there, I would "get fat & go broke" due to the amount of eating and shopping we partook in. Which wouldn't be such a bad thing, because it was sure fun!

Sadly, the week ended and I'm back in SD. The reality of the business of fall, school starting and resonsibilities have smacked me square in the face. But I'm so grateful to have had that time to refuel as a mom and share precious time with my family!

A special thanks to my mother-in-law and amazing husband for picking up my slack while I was gone!

Layla started a tap/ballet dance class in January. If you know Layla, she's extremely shy with those she doesn't know and in new situations - so week after week without fail she would cry for the majority of the class period. I would prep her and give her praise each week - hoping that she would eventually get over the crying. However, it continued for 5 months!!


Her teacher, Miss Celina tried her best to encourage her.



Layla would often cling to Miss Kayla (above left) - the class assistant.



The culminating event of the dance year is a huge 2 day recital at The CA Center for the Arts. Each class had been rehearsing a routine to perform at the recital. Layla, of course had always stood and cried during these rehearsals. I would have bet BIG money that Layla wouldn't even go on stage for her routine.



She had a dress rehearsal the week of the recital. She went on stage, but was the only girl that just stood there with her hand over her face.



Recital day came...



maybe it was the costumes or the crowd or the screaming & adoring fans...



but she proved me wrong and performed beautifully in front of hundreds of strangers!! I was amazed and so proud! Way to go big girl!!

So as many of you know, Cut Sew Repeat will be a vendor at this awesome market in just 7 short days..



It's going to be an amazing event with booths and products to make you drool! Check out their blog and see who's going to be there! You won't want to miss it!!

We had an Easter Egg Hunt with friends the Friday before Easter. I had sent an email to a few friends and had them send it to their friends and we ended up having 60-70 people show up at the park! It was fun to have a huge group of kids all searching for eggs together.



I had to get some shots of my baby girl.



And the little middle kids.



Here's Gretta and her beau, Savion. They have already been promised to eachother by their older siblings, wether they like it or not. It looks like they like eachother so far.



Everyone brought eggs and we hid all of them in a huge field. Gretta knew right what to do. She walked around and gathered eggs.



When she had 5 eggs or so, she plopped down and began to open them and eat the candy inside.



So, it seems like I have way more pictures of Gretta than any of my other kids because...well, I do. It's not that I like her more (well sometimes I do), it's just that she's so dang cute to me. She's changing and growing each day and I want to capture her sweetness.






Hope your Easter was sweet too!

Found her like this...



SO tired.