Shout Out To My Brother

There are few sports that are terrifying to me (and I'm talking "traditional" not x-treme). One of them is the high jump. It's just scary to me to think about doing it...probably because I'm not the most graceful of fallers.
Well, next weekend my youngest brother is competing in the State Track Meet for high jump. I'm so excited for him and proud that he's my brother and accomplishing such dreams and goals like this. Yes. Proud. I can say that.
So, way to go Jake! Best wishes on your jumps and keeping healthy and strong this week, especially. And, I know what he'll say when he wins.
"What are you going to do next?" an unimaginative reporter asks.
"Well, I'm jumping in the car and we're going to see my sisters," he replies. Or, if he's a bit more daring, he'll brake into song to the tune of the famous song by The Presidents of the United States of America, "Driving down to Georgia, where I'll see me a bunch of family..." ...and, if he's lucky, eat a few peaches, too.

Icecream, The "Cool" Photoshoot

I had no idea how perfect the conditions were yesterday for an impromptu photoshoot. Eric gave the girls icecream cones and it was overcast, giving PERFECT lighting and sprucing up the green in the lawns. Plus, the girls were having fun. Mix kids, cameras and something they enjoy and you'll get some great candid photos...and some posed super silly by them, too.
For some reason, these make me think of Old Navy commercials...old school, before they went all Dummies-R-US for models.

Gianna Too

And, just so no one thinks I'm shafting Gianna...here are a few of her. Yes, she's sans clothing, but tell me the toddler you trust with icecream and keeping it in the mouth and not on the shirt.

Updates

My technology zapper is back in full force. I complained to Eric about some issues I was having with the camera. He finally got a chance to look at it. Guess what? It is just fine with the automatic focus AND the SAME USB cable works for him (and now works for me). So, I thought I'd update with a few pictures.

This is the dress I made for my friend's daughter "KK". Emily was "dying" to go to KK's house to see her. She hasn't actually even met my friend yet, much less her daughter, but she acts like she has. It's really cute and someday we WILL make it out to visit them. But for now, we just sent them this really cute dress.

And, this is the twirl skirt I made with my friend Heather. I had to go back and get enough fabric to make a matching one for Emily. So, I
guess we'll be hanging out with Heather really soon so they can style them together at church.

Dead Battery

Yesterday Eric was a bit late in coming home from work. His car wouldn't start, and there was a whole long story associated with it getting jumped. Anyway, he finally got it going and came home.
Figuring that there wasn't a good excuse for the battery to be dead, he left it charging over night. This means it should have started right up this morning so he could go to work.
WRONG! It wouldn't start. Nothing.
So, logically, he should take the van.
WRONG! My battery was dead, too!
What is the probability of this happening? It's a good thing Susan has a car or we'd be up a creek. Of course, she also needs to head off to work in a little bit so we are hoping Eric's jaunt over to the auto parts store will be a quick thing and it IS just a battery thing (please, please, please don't be the alternator!).
Oh, Dead Batteries, please come back to life. You don't get much praise, but I really, really do appreciate the cars starting up every time we need to go somewhere!

Praying in Specifics

I learned on my mission that there is a vast difference between praying for generalities and praying for specifics. It's not that the Lord misunderstands us or anything on His part; it just helps us to be more readily capable of understanding His answers.
Emily is already learning this. It's really cute and sweet.
Last night she asked what pancakes do for our bodies (we had breakfast for dinner). I told her they give us energy. So, she immediately prays, "Bless the pancakes to give us energy."
Today she was explaining how bones work in our bodies (seriously, if she doesn't pursue something medical, I'll be surprised. Everything is ALL about the body...somehow). She ended with, "Isn't that cool, Mommy? I think we should say a prayer to tell Jesus thank you for making our bones stick together." She immediately begins a prayer just to say thanks for the cool way our bones work together.
I love being this girl's mother. She always helps to bring the Spirit and to remind me that everything in this world goes back to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sewing 101

A couple days ago I went to my friend's house and she showed me how to make these incredibly cute ruffle-tiered skirts. She's amazing and I really look up to her in so many ways. She has a cute little side business where she sells her skirts as well as tutus. Check her out online!
She also introduced me to new "friends", which I hope we'll be ordering soon. You can do that when they are attachments for the sewing machine. ;)
It was so much fun and the skirt I made turned out completely adorable. On top of that, Gianna is absolutely in love with it! If I can keep it out of her reach, she'll be sporting it to church tomorrow.
The more I sew, the more I love to sew. It's the whole creation thing. But, it's creation with a purpose, too. My kids can wear them!

PS When Eric gets home, I hope to be able to resolve the USB cable issue that is not allowing me to upload the pictures of this project.