A Place To Call Home

Well, our house hunting is over! Yeah! That was a stressful 3 weeks I really don't want to do over again! We will be closing on our new home at Union Hills and the 51 Freeway the end of April and I am super excited to get my hands on this house to make it our own. The kids are excited to sleep in their bunk beds we bought them for their birthday and even more excited to pick oranges from the tree in the backyard! We were even blessed to have a park right across the street! We couldn't be more happy at this blessing God has given us. I will post before and after pictures as we begin to move in and complete rooms and projects!

News

So, I promised that I'd share our big news...Looks like no new is not always good news. I did not get contacted for the ultrasound program this year, which was kind of expected. So I will finish my associates degree and try again next year. As for the surprise news...We got approved for a mortgage! We are house hunting! Wish us luck and I will post updates as we go...

Kristy

Big Week Next Week

We have a jam packed weekend with laundry, work, church and more work...but next week is one we (or I!) am looking forward to! I don't want to jinx us so I am only going to tell you one of the things that's going to happen next week. By Thursday, I will know whether or not I am accepted into the Sonography Program at Gateway this year! Realistically, I think next year will be my year, but I have applied and there is a chance I will be starting full time school this August. And that is exciting! The other new will have to wait, but it is just as exciting or more exciting than school and we should know early next week! Stay tuned...

Oh yeah! And I'm pretty excited that Spring Break is over and the boys are back in school next week :0) That may sound bad, but I haven't slept too well after my graveyard shifts since they've been home. Thanks, babe, for keeping them occupied and quiet while you're home with them!

50's Fun...The Main Event!

Here are some of the pictures from my mom's 50th Birthday Party!

Boys being boys!


The whole gang!


Mom, Dad, Me and Kelly (In case you are wondering, Robert, Kelly's husband, got all these fabulous 50's diner bars you see in the pics! Thanks, Robert!)

Uncle Richard with eyebrows and Cory with a mustache!

Mom and Dad lookin good...

Ryan and Robert rocking the stashes and candy cigarettes...

Dave and Diane (my mom's parents)

Elaine with Roger in the background (my Dad's parents), and Jackson

Dad and Jerry lookin tough!

Mom rockin out with my boys before the party

This video is Nancy, Cindy and Dave doing Twister to break a three way tie for movie tickets from Mom's "How Well Do You Know Patty" quiz.

Don't Forget!!

You've only got one week left to get your costume together for Patty's 50th Birthday! Get excited!

Happy President's Day!

Make a Simple Poodle Skirt

I am going to show you how to make a simple no sew poodle skirt.

What you will need:
1 1/4 yards of felt fabric, any color
Poodle patch
Tape measurer or string
scissors

The felt fabric and poodle patch can be found at Michaels, Joann's, or Hobby Lobby. You want to stick with felt if you are doing no sew because it does not need to be hemmed. Also, make sure the bolt of fabric is a tall one, not a short one. You will notice most of the printed fabric is one the smaller bolts. I purchased the fabric and poodle patch at Hobby Lobby for a total of $12.50 including tax. You can do better if you wait for coupons. Michaels frequently has 40% off one full priced item coupons in the Sunday paper. So lets get started!

1. Open up the fabric and fold it the other direction. It will come folded off the bolt but you don't want it folded long ways. We want to cut out the largest circle we can.


2. After folding it once, fold it again. There will be 2 sides of folded fabric and 2 sides of unfolded fabric. Measure the shortest folded side and measure the same distance along the other folded side. Cut off the excess fabric. This will leave you with a perfect square.


3. Now that you have a perfect square, we want to cut off the unfolded sides in a circular fashion. This will be the bottom of the skirt. I used the white rope below to indicate how to cut. Make sure the point farthest from the rope is the folded corner or you will end up with 4 seperate pieces and a lot of sewing to do!

So this is what you will be left with.

If you were to open it up, it would look like a large round table cloth. I thought about skipping all the above steps and just buying a round table cloth, but the fabric is usually not stiff enough. For now leave it folded as is.

4. Measure the smallest part of your waist. If you don't have a flexible tape measurer, use the rope and a ruler.

5. Mark the folder corner. I used a clothes pin. This marks the center of the circle.

5. Open up one fold, so you have a half circle. Take the waist measurement you got and divide it by 4. So in my case, I used a 32 inch waist and cut out the half circle below at 8 inches. This may be a little small for your waist, but remember, you can always cut it bigger and the fabric will stretch. You cannot make it smaller without sewing.

Now you can open it up and try it on! (Forgive the picture! I was still in pj's!) Make any adjustments to the waist or to the hem. Sometimes the hem will have points where the corners were and those can easily be rounded out.

If you accidentally cut it too big, you can add peices of elastic to the waistband. This would require you sew.

7. Then add your poodle! This one is iron on, so no sew! You could also use hot glue. To add to the look, you could sew or hot glue a leash on too!

50's Guys!

In my opinion, the guys have it easy. The look includes tight jeans to the ankle, preferably showing white sock (ugg)! Then add a white tshirt and slicked hair and voila! 50's mens fashion. If you want to be uber cool, add a leather jacket.


Check out this kid rocking the black jeans with white socks showing! What were they thinking?! But the popped collar sunglasses are a nice touch.


There isn't too much deviation from the look just mentioned except these next two looks. I'd advise to stay away from these!

Ha, ha! Oh! Exciting news! We will be providing some of the accessories to your outfit at the door when you come to the party (Feb 25th). Girls will receive a scarf in their choice of black, white, red, pink, or purple. And the guys will get their very own carton of candy cigarettes! i can't wait!

50's Girls!

Need some inspiration for Mom's upcoming 50th Birthday Party (which is February 25th for those who were wondering!), here are some ideas for the girls...


This is the classic poodle skirt look...pink skirt with white poodle, black belt at the waist, white shirt, a high pony tail with matching scarf, and black and white saddle shoes.



This is a bit more sexy with the scarf around the neck, a less full skirt, and high heals.




Here is another version with cat eye glasses and keds.




This look may be a little harder to find but note the theme of a full A line skirt and waist belt.

This is what I call the Grease look. She is wearing a Pink Ladies jacket, black capri's, scarf around the neck, with a high pony tail and high heels.

If you dare...This is the sexy look! Tight fitting Pink Ladies jacket, tight black leggings with high heels.

Another sexy look with an off the shoulder shirt.

For those of us with shorter hair and cannot do the high pony tail, here is an alternative...

I can't wait to see all the looks everyone comes up with! Stay tuned for guy ideas and a tutorial on how to make your own poodle skirt! It's cheap and easy!

Mom's Turning 50! Sneak Peek...

Captive Shot Birthday

Cards for all occasions: Valentine's Day, Easter & Mother's Day.

View the entire collection of cards.

Here are the invitations you all should receive in the mail in the next week or two. Start getting your outfits together and keep checking back for outfit ideas!

New things...

It's always exciting to get new things! Moose got a new piece of art, which for now is located above our bed. Our newly decorated bed! Take a look...

I also finished my first Pinterest project...a Valentines wreath. So pretty! For those who don't know, Pinterest is a very addiciting website where you can get ideas. Anything from decorating, organizing, hair and makeup. Like I said, it is very addicting! Just a warning...

Who's That???

Could you figure it out? It's Jackson! Yes, I finally did it. Logan said, "That's the three year old hair cut." Payton said, "I'm gonna call him Payton cause now he looks like me." You can hear Jackson's own comments about it in the video below.


Here is a before pic...

Here's what Jax had to say...

Scooter Time!

We took a walk...or a scoot around the complex today. Wear the boys out so Moose and I can enjoy an early-to-bed night :0)

Getting the hang of it...

I think Jax walked his 95% of the time! I take that back, he rode it 5%, walked it 40% and I carried it the other 55%!

Found a grassy area with trees and lots of fallen leaves. So pretty!

Mountain climber Logan!

Jax says, "I think I'm good right here guys."

"I did it!"

Being silly.

"Come get me!"

Handsome boy.

On our way back home...