Family Pictures

A last-minute family photo shoot courtesy of Amber.

Thanks Amber!

Abree is NOT happy to be in the tree!





























Rylee

Taylee

Treyson

Abree

Fiesta Bowl

My family is BSU BRONCO CRAZY!

The anticipation of the Fiesta Bowl was described as,

"the way kids feel on Christmas Eve".

So I thought this might be appropriate.....

T'was the night of the Fiesta Bowl and all through our house,

Furniture was rearranged and ORANGE was my blouse.

The snacks were set out on the counter with care,

In hopes that the BIG screen would show up there.

The children were nestled all snug upstairs,

Playing toys, watching movies or doing WHATEVER... who cares?!

Some mamma's in orange, some dad's in blue caps,

Had just settled down for a GREAT game, no naps!

When on the t.v. there arose such a clatter,

We SPRANG from the couches because every play matters.

Away went the ball, Broncos intercepted in a flash,

Thompson tore up the field and scored a TOUCHDOWN that fast.

When what to our wondering eyes did we see,

Broncos scored a FIELD GOAL and that counts as three.

With Kellen as quarterback and Wilson on defense,

We knew in a moment this game would get TENSE.

More rapid than eagles TCU players came,

Then they scored a touchdown and field goal the same.

Now Broncos, now Coach Pete, what's the deal, now we're tied,

On Wilson, on Wynn on Winterswike... keep ALIVE!

So at the sidelines to the playbooks they flew,

With a trick up their sleeve "a punt" thought TCU.

Then in a twinkling we saw the ball hiked,

The kicker caught the ball, TCU had been ...psyched!

Brotzman spoke not a word but went straight to his WORK,

Threw the ball down field, Efaw turned with a jerk.

Kyle put his hands out and then caught the ball,

First down, Second down, TOUCHDOWN y'all!

BRONCO NATION sprang to their feet, they shouted and whistled,

Chest bumps, high fives, Buster the horse shot out like a missile.

The FINAL score was 17 to 10,

We were excited, but glad, for this game to end.

We heard coach exclaim as he was recognized,

TCU played well, but I'm sure proud of my guys!

Perler Beads

Perler beads....... LITTERALLY hours of fun!!!

Tote

This was "The Year of Electronics" at our house for Christmas. Rylee and Taylee received Nintendo D.S.'s and Abree received a V-Smile Pocket... or "INtendo D.S." as she likes to call it. The older girl's also got cute D.S. holders (that look like mini purses). Abree needed something to put hers in, so I made her this place mat tote . It turned out so cute!

Sewing with Grandma Smullin

According to Abree and Treyson we have 2 different grandmas.... "The Purple Grandma" (Grandma McKinley) and "The Sewing Grandma" (Grandma Smullin). While "The Sewing Grandma" was staying with us, the kids did some sewing..... of course! :)

First project was pajama pants for Rylee. She had missed the sewing session during the Summer, due to girl's camp, and wanted to learn how to sew. We found some vintage flannel (from Grandma Ison) and an old pj pattern, in my stash, and got to work.

Grandma taught her the basics of cutting out a pattern, the parts and functions of the machine and basic sewing techniques.

(She's wearing the new pajama bottoms. They are a light blue flannel with fluorescent pink and blue elephants. Perfect for bed time attire.)

Next up were book bags... or "side back packs" according to Rylee and Taylee (I tried to convince them that they were actually called book bags, but they wouldn't have it. To them, they were "side backpacks".)

Taylee's sewing skills were still sharp. She remembered the things Grandma had taught her in the summer and has great potential as a seamstress.

The sewing machine they used was new. The kids had received it for Christmas. I thought that they would LOVE it... and they did!

I was glad that now they could practice sewing on a basic machine and I wouldn't have to worry about them "practicing" on mine.

Treyson didn't join the sewing this time. He mostly did this.......

....and this.

Abree also made a bag with Grandma's help. She helped pick out the fabric, so no surprise it's PINK.

Thank you "Sewing Grandma" for your patience and skills!

Grandpa & Grandma Gifts

Jason's mom called me around Christmas time. We talked for a few minutes and then I admitted to her that their Christmas gifts, from us, were going to be a little late. She asked if she and dad could come visit the next week and spend some one-on-one time with our family. I said YES! ..of course. Then she said not to worry about sending the gifts, they could wait to get them when they got here. Whew!

Two of the things I had been working on were these......

1. A "Golf Score Card" for Dad.

Not a golfer myself, I don't know how useful these will be to him, but they sure are CUTE! And that's what matters, right?

2. A pin cushion, with customized pins, for Mom.

"Grandma's Po-tees"

My niece Jordyn couldn't say her K's, when she was little. She used to call pins "po-tees" as in pokeys. Jordyn is now 8 and has learned to say her K's, but Grandma thinks it's so cute, she still refers to them as "po-tees" often.

Here's how I made the "po-tees".....

I uploaded photos into Print Shop. Then I cropped and lightened each one. (This was something that was recommended.) Then I printed them off onto special Shrinky Dink paper made for inkjet printers. Then I cut or punched the photos/pictures out.

Next I stuck plain (dressmaker) pins through the picture and put them on a cookie sheet covered with a paper bag.
By trial and error, I learned that cropping the photo off-center made it look better. Who wants a pin through their forehead that looks like an extra eye or very unfortunate placement of a large mole???





Then they baked in a 200 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes, until they were done curling and shrinking.









Viola!

Customized "po-tees".

Aren't they so cute?!!!

The possibilities are endless. I tried to use my special Shrinky Dink paper wisely (because it was a little spendy) by sneaking in flowers, butterflies, crowns, shoes, initials, etc. between the photos.

I LOVE how they turned out!