What We've Been Up To (It's not much)

It feels like we haven't done anything lately. At least nothing fun or exciting. However we always feel busy. Very busy. How is that possible?

At the beginning of the month Emma finally got a phone. We had considered getting her one for her birthday but she failed a few tests (Hey Emma, what if Andrew needed to use your phone? Would you let him borrow it? "NOOOO! He is never touching my phone. Fail. Hey Emma, what if we get you a pay as you go phone for emergencies only? You wouldn't be able to text on it. "NOOOO. If I can't text I don't want it! Fail.) Six weeks later, after a few very late young women activities when we had no idea if she was ever coming home, we decided she actually needed one. Let me rephrase that. We needed her to have one. It has come in handy, like when I lost my keys and was going to be late picking the girls up. She is totally thrilled and so far she has been very responsible.

Isn't it cute?

I have started yet another quilt. This one was suppose to be SO EASY. I didn't read the instructions all the way through and almost screwed it up so bad that it wouldn't have been salvageable. Luckily I caught it just in time. It isn't going to be totally right but it will be okay. All I have to do now is square up the blocks and add a creamy white (it is actually a white on white snowflake pattern that is very pretty.) sashing and the top is done. I can't tell you how many times I have almost screwed this top up beyond recognition. In spite of myself I think it is going to turn out well and be very fun and festive. 

Marius has been working hard. Can't you tell? He's such a taker.

I switched from summer clothes to winter clothes this past week. That was a big undertaking. I can't get over how many things I have for summer and how little (well to my standards LOL!) I have for winter. I am trying to shop less from stores and utilize I already have. It's going to be hard. Really hard. I got a thing in the mail from Gap I think, maybe Banana. It was an advertisement, not a personal attack, but it read "It's time to try harder. No more T-shirts and flip-flops." It felt like a personal attack LOL! So I'm trying harder. See? Ruffles. I'm wearing ruffles. That's better than a plain t-shirt right? I know you can't tell in all my quilting/Halloween clutter but I am also wearing heals. My goal is to layer more, accessorize more and do my hair more. (Less ponytails) Jen is my inspiration. She lives in England and is positively adorable. She dresses very well and always looks pulled together. I envy her frugal finds. So, go me while I try harder.

This past week I had snow tires put on my car. It took them four hours. Four. Hours. They gave me a loaner, a nice one, so I could go home and be there when the kids got out of school. I had to take pictures of all the bells and whistles.

Back up camera. Awesome!

Really? I have 233 miles until empty? What a nice thing to know. I love that feature.  

 

I have to admit, I smiled when I just had to push a button and the car started. 

The kids get home at different times now. Each one ran in and asked if dad got a new car. Um no. Sorry.   He didn't but it does go very fast, wanna ride? We had fun driving back to the dealer. 

Andrew made a giant cookie in the shape of Utah. (How sad is that? I thought they would grow up making cookies in the shape of California. Emma has to take Utah history. Who is going to teach her about missions and gold miners?) No matter what we said he was convinced that the mountains were in the right spot. What ever, it was way cute and he was very proud of it. He took his first bites out of the Great Basin. 

It's hard to tell what is going on in this picture. It was snowing the other day. My little weeping cherry is on fire. Look at those leaves. Even though the picture is hard to make sense of I wanted to share anyway. 

Look at these leaves. Can you see the detail? They look like feathers. The have so many colors. They are amazing.  I don't know if we have ever had vibrant leaves like this so late in the year. 

There are some fruitless pear trees that are insanely gorgeous just up the street. Usually they are at their peak in October. The autumn has been a real treat. Check them out! It is so fun to drive past these each day. 

Last week Paul and I went to Ikea. We still need blinds for the kids' room but theirs were too large. I asked if we could eat there since I am big on trying new things. Mistake. The food was cold, not to mention icky, and well TMI, there were repercussions from our experiment. We will not be eating there again but I'm glad we tried it. At least we have a story to tell ;) 

Andrew's school pictures didn't turn out too well. His eyes were almost going into a blink. He looked sort of stoned. Re-takes were Tuesday so I am hoping for something good this time. Crossing fingers. 

Today Paul is working hard getting our doors painted. We decided to go white. Can you believe it? I was really worried that I would get tired of any of the colors I was considering too quickly so I played it safe. Here's to happy painting!