Mimi's 80th

This is a little late in the posting but I have been waiting for the pictures

and the time to upload them all.

Two weekends ago, we went to Mimi's (Josh's grandma's) 80th birthday celebration. We loaded up and made the bleak drive to Tucson which in my mind is a glorified Blythe. I can't believe people actually live there.

The hopping party started at Mimi's home church. There were mostly people she knew from church and some family there. (This picture cracks me up)Claire was happy that she was able to steal a balloon off a table.
Although the party was a happening place to be, we went down to the nursery where Claire's second cousin Destiny was playing. They were a little unsure of each other but they warmed up eventually.

After the church function was over we went to a nice Mexican restaurant and had dinner. We were there for almost three hours! I am happy to report that Claire was as well behaved as she could possibly be. Walking with Grandpa.

My precious girl waiting patiently for her food.
Okay - WHY can't restaurants make their child seat the same height as the tables? Everywhere we have ever eaten out at has the child booster seats 6 inches too low so the poor kids can barely reach the table. This is something that really bothers me for some reason. Who came up with the height measurements on these things and why are they ALL wrong. Not a single place has a seat that is the appropriate height. Argh!

We were glad that Claire was friendly to the whole family. She didn't do her typical shy act. Here she is with her Aunt Shelbe

and GrandmaMimi's John McCain pose. She was into the mariachis.
Claire danced for everyone while they played.

The real show stopper came at the end of the evening when we coaxed Claire and Destiny to hug kiss. Destiny knew what she wanted right away but Claire needed some convincing.

Destiny: "Come here baby." Claire: "Get away from me!"

Claire: "I don't like this!"

Claire: "Well, maybe just a peck on the cheek"

And there it is - the shot everyone wanted. The kissing cousins. Aww.
It was a really interesting and fun day. We hardly ever get to see that side of family.

Claire the Chicken Farmer

Claire LOVES my parents' chickens. Everytime we go over there, she has to see them and play with them and touch them and feed them. She is very good at making her chicken noises as well. These chickens are pretty spoiled if you ask me. They have a very nice coop that my dad made out of scrap lumbar....

They have 6 nests inside for laying their eggs...They have a little sign hanging on the side of their house...
AND they even have their own mister system. (created by my dad after they lost one chicken to the heat)
When we go to Nana's house, Claire always helps collect the eggs. They usually get a dozen eggs a day because they have 12 chickens (although I just received word that one was found dead in the coop yesterday.)
I love the speckly ones. They are so fun. Claire loves to hold eggs. She probably gets enjoyment from us going "Don't drop it!" or "No no, don't hit them together!" Claire finds golf balls and thinks they are chicken eggs.

Besides collecting the eggs, Claire helps by making sure the chickens have water..

digging up worms for them to eat...
feeding them...

and of course, giving them lots of hugs.

Helping with the chickens is a lot of work but there is always time for a little jig at the end of the day.

Grinding Wheat

About a month ago now my friend Jenni went with her friend to a Mormon food warehouse and picked up a 25lb bag of wheat for me for just under $6! I didn't realize at the time the grinding the wheat would be such a problem. Most wheat grinder cost between $200 and $600 so I knew this was not an option. I looked into a hand crank one but I noticed the description said it took 6 minutes of cranking to grind 1 cup.

Thankfully, my mom's friend Mrs. McInturff lent us her KTEC Kitchen Mill and the wheat grinding began.

It was really loud and took awhile to grind so much but we finally got six, gallon-sized ziploc bags full of fresh ground, whole wheat flour.

Thank you Jenni and Mrs. McInturff! Now off to bake some bread!

Some Completed Projects

I would like to say that we have had such an exciting week and have a wonderful story to tell but the only story around here is the same one that plays over and over. (similarly to Claire's music) We get up, we eat oatmeal, we dance and play, we go thrift store shopping, Claire naps, I sew. Then we do it again.

This weekend, Josh is taking some boys camping so I am heading to my mom's house. My brother Steve will also be staying the weekend because his wife is taking some students from the school they teach at on a trip and she will be gone for a few days. It will be like the olden days - all of us kids back under the same roof. (plus Claire!)

Here are some projects I've recently finished. The ruffled sleeve top:

This top is made out of a vintage sheet. I use sheets when I'm developing a pattern so that I don't waste nice fabric. (which I also got for $1 - everything you see is from something that cost a dollar. I won't spend more than that on a refashion) The back

Claire in middle of talking.

This next one is made from a Ralph Lauren wrap skirt. I got three of these tops and a dress out that one skirt.

And the dress - which I am in love with.

The following are too big for Claire to model. I am hoping to sell them (and more that are in the works) at a little booth/shop at our upcoming yard sale and if they do well I will try at the Laveen BBQ.

I got two of these dresses out of a LARGE womens shirt.My pride and joy dress - made out of a Roxy Skirt (it was not very photogenic and looks amazing in real life.)

Another large ladies' topand made from a skirt
and a dress.
As you can see I pretty much have 4 different patterns going for me that I really like.

And here is the shirt dress tutorial. I LOVE this blog.

Refashioning

I have been doing a TON of sewing lately. I am LOVING refashioning old clothes into new dresses for Claire. It is hard to get a lot done... especially when little feet can't resist the temptation of dancing all over a large piece of fabric perfectly smoothed out of the floor. I try not to get mad at her because I remember doing the same thing to my mom when she used to sew. "Get off the fabric!" she would say countless times.

Here are a few of my projects.

I got this Charlotte Russe skirt at Swift Thrift for a dollar. The material is an extremely light and wispy cotton. As soon as I saw it I knew the material would be perfect for this dress.
Add some elastic and arm holes and you have a sweet, cool, breezy dress.

This next transformation is from this "dress". When I bought it off the dollar rack I didn't look at the tag but it is a Fredricks of Hollywood dress. Lol. I just knew I wanted it for the smocking that was in the back.This was a fun one working with the smocking and I installed my first invisible zipper in the back.Showing a little cleavage in her Fredricks of Hollywood dress.

Butter fingers!
Thanks to Ashlee Cowell for showing me this great blog tutorial. I love making these.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

These were just shirt we had in the throwaway pile. I have recently accumulated shirts that are more little girl looking.

I can't wait!