Kassie's Gift

New addition to this post on 08 October 2008:
So, I haven't been able to get my sister to send me a picture of her in the shirt (maybe she hates it? hmmm, who knows...) so I thought I would put it up here so that anyone who wants to might be able to enjoy my masterpiece. I was copying a shirt from Anthropologie and I can't get the picture to load on here. Maybe I'll try it later when I have more patience. Anywho, here it is! This is the shirt that I made for my sister, Kassie.

Of course I'm not going to put a picture of her actual gift on here, that would be cheating. Though, I wish I could. I'll just have to get her to take a picture of it herself so I can put it up here later. It's all wrapped up and ready to be shipped off tomorrow! Yay! I know, it's late, it took me a lot longer to make than I thought it would. Give me a break, I'm new to this whole sewing thing.

Kassie's 16th Birthday!

For those of you who know my family well, you'll understand my shock that my littlest sister, Kassie, just turned 16 yesterday. She's a baby for crying out loud! No way is she old enough to drive or date boys.

I looked through some of my old photos and had to scan a few to share with you of my littlest sister. This picture was my 18th birthday party with my family. From the left is Kassie (she's so little, only 10 years old), Connor (who is a huge kid now), me- of course, it's my birthday!- and Kaylee, who will be 18 in April. Weird.

Here's my high school graduation. Kassie's the little one in the front with the pigtails. Yes, she was young enough to get away with pigtails in those days. Not anymore...

This was a school picture that she sent to me when I was off to BYU. Look at how cute she is! And I didn't even remember that there was something on the back. But as I flipped it over on the scanner, lo and behold, a cute little note to her wonderful big sister. She's going to probably hate me for sharing this, but that's what big sisters are for, embarrassing the crap out of you on their blogs so the whole world can see what a cute little kid you were.

Gotta love those cute little notes we sisters leave for each other.

Just look at her now. I know, she's freakin' hot! But besides just being beautiful, Kassie is one of the most friendly and out-going people I know. She's a good friend, and a great listener. She's always got a great smile to brighten up your day, along with a cheery and bubbly personality. She is the salsa in our family- a little bit of attitude, but it just adds to the flavor! She is a spitting image of my mom, always able to think of others and be there either to help them, or just to love them. And even though she doesn't think so, she's very creative. She's just not a very good shopper... I love her so very much and am so sad that I'm so far away and can't be there for this very special birthday. But I want her to know how much I admire her and love her. Happy Birthday Kassie, Kasanova, Kasanoral, Kassanora, Kaz- Knock, Kaz-Knockty, Knock-tavia, Knockty Noche, Knockty Nips, Knochtacious, Knockty! Speaking of digging through old photos, and 16th birthdays, this is a picture of me and two of my good friends on my 16th birthday, Shera and Jessica. And that is my birthday crown, and I loved it.

Who's Your Favorite President?

While the picture quality is very, very, VERY poor (the lighting in Dale's office stinks!) I wanted to show you all the pop-up card that I made for Dale today. Those of you who know Dale pretty well, know that he is a political junkie and has a man crush on Rush Limbaugh. (Though, I kind of have a bit of a crush myself, and might name a child after him.) He loved it! Dale and I wish that Rush would take the pay cut and serve in the White House, but we know that he's not electable. Oh well. I can dream, and I put him in the White House myself. But, for a back-up, I stuck in the lesser of two evils, Sen. John McCain. If you want to put your own pop- up candidate in the pop- up White House, check this out.

Wandering Waif Collection GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Wandering Waif Collection GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

I've been wanting to make a cape like this for Brighton, but this gal's gone and done it! I don't really want any of you to enter the contest, but if you must, I totally understand. Maybe even if you don't want it,you could still enter so that if you win you can give it to me. That's a good idea...

Our Hike to Broadhead Lake

This past Saturday was such a beautiful day! It's been raining off and on and finally cleared up a little on the weekend. Dale and I decided we would take a drive and if we found a trail head that sounded interesting, we'd go for a hike. We all piled in the car and drove off! We came to a sign that said Broadhead Lake Trail, and we figured, hey, a lake is cool, let's go! Brighton was very heavy in the pouch. It was like being pregnant all over again, except now the baby weighs 20 pounds instead of 8. Dale took over the baby carrying on the way back out.

Brighton hanging out on daddy's back.

Sawyer got made fun of by some other hikers with a dog. They said Sawyer was probably mad that he was getting all dirty and wanted to go home and have a pedicure. Little do they know- Sawyer loved all the mud and puddles, and even went for a swim in the lake. But he DID come home and have a bath right away.

The two most precious things in the world!

I just loved this fallen tree.

Mommy and Brighton checking out the salamanders in the water. We also saw some frogs on the trail.

Daddy and Brighton. Look how green it is! Beautiful!


Brighton and Daddy by the lake.

Brighton's Cute Hair

Dale and I have decided that this is the way that we like Brighton's hair the most. It's in high pig tails and I don't pull the hair all the way through, so it makes these puffy little buns. It's my favorite, followed closely by the headband.

Brighton agrees.

Dale Came Home With These

When Dale came home from work on Monday, he brought me these beautiful roses! For no reason at all! Isn't he the bestest husband in the whole world?

Fancy Field Frock Silent Auction for NieNie

Fancy Field Frock Silent Auction for NieNie

It's a sad what has happened to NieNie, and I love that so many people who covet her work online, not knowing her personally, and those that do know her are raising money and donating to help out her family. She and her husband were in a plane crash. The pilot died. They survived but are in critical condition, and have four little children. There's lots of ways to help, and if you want to check it out go here and here. And, though I'm not positive, I'm pretty sure she's LDS too. Luckily, we know families are FOREVER! Also check out her sister's website if you want more ideas of what you can do to help out NieNie and her family. Thanks!

Rossette Pillow

So, I've had this fabric sitting around, waiting to be made into a ruffle pillow for months and I finally did it! I just wanted to share it because I think it is so unbelievably wonderful! It'll go in our bedroom, to go with our whole "black and white with some blue" theme that I want going on.

Another Cute Giveaway!

Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!
Check this out! I seriously am in love with Grosgrain Kathleen!

Crawling Around

Just wanted to share some videos of Brighton crawling around the house. She's getting so fast!

A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH!

...Of the gums, that is. Brighton had her first tooth poke through the gums last week. She's been fabulous about it, too! She was hurting a little the day before but has been a real trooper. She's still acting fine and happy. I know, my baby's perfect. Knock on wood, the one next to it seems like it might poke through pretty soon.

I couldn't resist...

Brighton was crawling around all day with the top of her diaper poking out, and all I could think of was those skanky girls in high school who "never seemed to notice" their handle bars sticking out. So I gave Brighton some handle bars of her own. I had to.

Brighton's Standing Up!

So, we've lowered Brighton's mattress since she started sitting up and pulling herself to her knees in it. We don't want any babies falling out of their crib! We were just going to lower it to the next one down, thinking that Brighton won't be pulling herself up to standing for a little while. I mean, she did JUST start crawling and pulling herself up onto her knees recently, she won't figure the standing up for a while yet. But, we decided we would just lower it all the way, so we wouldn't have to break out the tools all over again and deal with it. THE NEXT DAY she's pulling herself up to stand in it. Coincidence? I think she just needed the challenge to reach up a little higher. Needless to say, she's no longer sitting up to greet me when she wakes up. No, she's standing there waiting for me. And now she's pulling herself up onto the couch, the coffee table, and up the stairs. It's only been a few days! How does she figure this out so fast?

My Denim Skirt I Made

Yes, this is what you're thinking, an invisible zipper. Is it not the most amazing thing that you have ever seen? I've never sewn on a zipper, so I was a bit intimidated, but it turned out quite nicely, if I do say so myself. I wore it to church on Sunday and everything! If you can't tell, I'm pretty proud of myself. This skirt was made in a day, and required actual measurements and everything! It has some really cute pleating on the front too! I didn't have a denim skirt before, so now I have one that's different from everyone else's! Yay!

Eatin' Some Watermelon

Dale and I were eating some watermelon, and I gave Brighton a few little pieces. But all she wanted was the rind in my hand. So, I gave it to her. It felt like giving my table scraps to the dog, but whatever makes her happy, I guess.

Brighton's Birthday!

So, I've started planning Brighton's birthday party, and like everyone else, I'm sure you're thinking, "Wow, Kim is really on top of things. She is so prepared and planning ahead." It IS only two months away! But really, it's because I have this grand idea for her party. I'm doing a whole "B" is for Brighton's Birthday Bash, and everything is going to be either blue, or start with the letter "B." It's just that I have another "B" word that is involved that I hate- BUDGET! Yikes, I hate that word when it comes to party planning! So I'm starting now, so that I can figure out what is necessary to buy and what I can make myself. I don't really feel that I have that much time! Dale keeps reassuring me that this could be planned in an afternoon, but he just doesn't understand! So for those of you who are coming, you've just gotten a sneak peak at what is in store for you at Brighton-palooza. And these are some bean bags that I'm making. Seven down, more than 20 to go...

My Garden

Okay, so it's really not a garden, but for me, it's a start. I'm going to work on that next year, getting a nice veggie and herb garden going. I just have a black thumb and don't want to end up killing them all. But I got this strawberry plant on Mother's Day from church and we transplanted it into a large pot. It's really taking off! There are a bunch of flowers and a few berries on it finally. I can't wait until they turn red and then I can eat them! I love strawberries! Too bad these aren't all growth hormoned out, I like the really big ones... oh well.

Aren't they just beautiful?

Yum-o!

Playing in the Sprinkler

We've been having some really warm weather (warm meaning 80's) and Brighton and I thought it would be fun to play outside in the sprinkler. She thought it was so funny when Sawyer would come and drink out of it and loved trying to grab at the water shooting out. We had so much fun spending some time in the sun! Luckily, I put sun screen on her twice so she didn't burn at all, but my back looks like a lobster!

Yay! We love playing in the water outside!