Why is it so hard to send your little kids to school?

Today my oldest started school. This is not her first year (we have done this before) but...I still find it so hard to let her go. Why do I feel like I'm throwing meat to the dogs? Seriously, she is very capable of leaving me and going to school. Why do I feel so uneasy about letting her go? I'm sure all moms feel a little this way, but I thought it would get easier as she got older... not so much! I know I have done all I can to have prepared her for this day, however I still worry about her safety, are kids being nice to her, is she being nice to other kids, does her teacher appreciate her sweet nature and over look her day dreaming, will she get on the right bus to come home, there are so many things I worry about and just wish I could shrink to pocket size so I was there if she needed me. Life doesn't work that way and I have to accept that my babies are growing up and I can't be with them every second. So until next week when I send a kindergartener to school for the first time, I will try to keep my mind from wandering into  freaky mom zone! Best Wishes to you all for back to school time, may you not be as freaked out as I am!

Kacey's Dresses, Update!

Just took my first look at my another one of my dresses (samples) this morning. I love it!! We have 4 more samples to be made before full production can begin.

Butterfly Birthday Party!

Both of my girls birthdays are in the summer and we love to party! My youngest daughter wanted a butterfly party this year. This is what I did.

•  Found some invitations at the store that went along with the butterfly theme, (great, one less thing to make! I love to scrapbook and paper craft, but this preparation for party was the same time I was getting ready to go on vacation, so one less thing to make...less stress for me!)
• Bought butterfly wings for each invited guest at the dollar store, score!
• Bought butterfly nets also $1.00 at my local grocery store, also score!
• Made antennae for each girl out of plastic headbands, pipe cleaners and pom poms.
• Hired a local face painter to come during the party. She painted different kinds of butterflies on the girls faces, they loved it!
• Made cupcakes and decorated them with butterfly and flower sprinkles and then topped with green "chocolate" coating wafers, that I melted and put into a pastry bag/small tip and piped out creatures freehand that sort of resembled butterflies, this worked well, make sure to keep in fridge, they dry hard but melt quickly when you live in dry, hot Utah!
• Played "Caterpillar, Caterpillar, Butterfly", like the game "Duck, Duck, Goose" used a butterfly wand to tap the girls heads.
• Played game where we had the girls wrap each other in toilet paper, (simulating a cocoon), the first ones to use the whole toilet paper roll, first, won. Then they broke out of their cocoons. 
• Chased real butterflies around the yard using their new nets, the girls were not fast or sneaky enough to actually catch one, but they had a good time and wore off some of the sugar!
• I hid candy in the bushes and trees and they pretended it was pollen and nectar they were collecting.

Overall, it was a fun party. Another satisfied birthday girl and a tired mommy! (Definitely worth it!)

 

Idea of the day: Otter Pop Coozie

My kids love Otter Pops in the summer time, and  honestly...so do I!! But the kids complain that they are too cold to hold and will usually request a paper towel to wrap around them. So I thought I would create something to make little hands more comfy. Coozies are usually used to hold a cold or hot drink, but I think the idea works here too. They are a simple fabric sheath to slide your favorite pop into and ENJOY! (Keep in mind the measurements included here are for the "Walmart" brand of frozen pops that are larger than the Otter Pops brand. But you could just adjust your measurements to fit whatever brand you like.) These are simple, super fast to make and don't waste paper towels that cost money and leave a bigger carbon foot print.

To Make:

You will need a scrap piece of fabric, I used a piece 5x10", I folded the 5" edge over about 1/4" pressed, then folded over again about 1/4" pressed again, (to make a nice hem with no fraying for the top, where the pop slides in.) Then sewed across the top to hold the pressed hem in place. Then folded the fabric in half the long way with right sides together and sewed a 5/8" seam down the 10" side and then close to the bottom I put needle down, lifted the foot and rotated the fabric to stitch the bottom also. Then I trimmed the excess fabric from the sewn edges and turned it right side out. Pressed out the wrinkles and wa-la! (The only thing I will do different next time is I will double the fabric to make one more layer of insulation between little hands and the pop.)

Kacey's Dresses, Update!

We are on our way to actual dresses! They are not just sketches anymore.  I took the sample fabric to the Shabby Apple Warehouse yesterday. They got busy and today I got an emailed pic of my first sample dress. So excited! It's really, real now!! I love it and see no need for any changes to be made before actual production of 200 more like it. The next sample should be completed by Saturday. I will be waiting with bated breath! There are six styles to be made into samples before full production happens. (one down, 5 samples to go). Thanks for joining me on this journey!

Adventures of a Stay-at-Home Mom, Episode 1, Cleaning out Ponds

The view from "my office" today.

My official occupation currently is "stay at home mom", I say it in quotations because it's my job and I love it, but I'm not always at home when I do it. I used to work full time for a dermatologist and I really loved it. I miss my work, my patients and my co-workers, oh...and a regular paycheck! But I wouldn't trade this time with my kids. I get to do so many things and share so many experiences with them that I wouldn't be able to if I still worked full time. I got one of these experiences this last week with my kids. My dad has always been a sheep rancher and there is always work to do on the ranch. I really enjoy going to Sanpete County and helping him with his work. This last week we had the job of cleaning the silt out of all the ponds the sheep drink from while they are grazing on the mountains. This is U.S. Forest Service ground but we have responsibilities as grazing permitees to do these kind of improvements ourselves. It's lucky that this is what my handy husband does for a living (operating heavy machinery) because this type of cleaning project requires a large track hoe. The area is very rugged terrain to maneuver in a pick up truck, but it is very pretty to look at. On the slow, bumpy ride up the canyon to the ponds, Dad and I got some good visiting in. He knows a lot about the history of the mountains, people (especially old sheep herders, and they always seem to have colorful stories and personalities!) As we drove, he taught us the names of the areas, springs, mountains, hollows, flats, we heard entertaining stories of the sheepherders of old, who once traveled these same areas trailing sheep. At a certain dangerous looking turn in the road my dad mentioned that when coming down off this turn that it can really get nasty when wet. He went on to say how if it was wet you just have to get the outside front wheel into the trench that was already carved there from previous travels and keep the tire in that rut all the way around the turn because if not you will slip off the side of the road (it's a long, unpleasant way down if you go off there!) And that when in this rut you will automatically go off the road you were on, and onto one that will eventually get you back up to the road you want. (Which was nice to know because had he not given these instructions we would have felt lost on a new road in the rainy, darkening night.) While listening to him talk about this nasty road I thought he was just making conversation. Later when it started to rain while we were up on the mountain I realized he was preparing me for my ride back down the mountain. He had let Matt, (my husband) drive his truck up the mountain that morning and so dad would be taking his truck back down and we would be on our own for the ride back. So on the ride up Dad was driving my truck.  Little did I know at the time of this story Dad was coaching me for the ride back down. And I was grateful because a little rain did make those clay roads very slick and boy was I glad Matt was driving. We slipped and slided but he kept the wheel in the rut just like instructed and we weren't afraid going off onto the other road because we had been warned. (I love times like this too because although scary, they give us good chances to pray and exercise faith that all will be okay.) I could hear my girls in the back whispering prayers to their Heavenly Father that we would make it down okay. And we did. Grandpa taught the kids about avoiding certain plants while on the range, (such as Stinging Nettle). We hiked, worked, had picnic lunches in the wide open spaces. We reminisced about old times in the Aspen Trees as we saw names of our ancestors who traveled these trails before us carved in the trees. We carved my kids names in the trees to come back and see in future years. We played in the mud and spent quality time with each other and in this beautiful land God made. Yes, my stay at home mom's salary may not be much in dollars, but it's definitely rich in experiences! I'm grateful for my opportunity to share these kinds of experiences with my kids.

My youngest child, the "Superintendent" on this job, oversees dad's pond digging.

A little lesson in family history.This is my grandpa Kay Frischknecht's name carved in a tree from 1940. 

He was also a sheep rancher who traveled these trails before us.

Making mud pies, you bet!

Grace getting a lesson in Stinging Nettle from Grandpa Joe.

Grace getting her name carved in an Aspen Tree. 

And this is a test question, do you know what these mysterious 1/2 truck tires are doing out here in the middle of nowhere? (and here's a hint, they are not garbage, so please don't throw them away if you see them, they have an important purpose! Do you know what it is???)

Vacations!!

I love to go on vacation! (Except for packing and unpacking, I don't love that part!) Our family just arrived back home after spending 5 fun filled days at Bear Lake. We have the tradition of staying at a family owned beach house right on the shore of this local Utah lake. The water is a beautiful turquoise blue, backed by beautiful mountains and refreshingly cool in temperature! (I prefer a little warmer water temp., but it's still fun to play in.) We had the luxury of having friends with ski boats join us and we got to water ski, tube, knee board and spend many fun filled hours on the lake. I even had my first snorkeling experience! I always worry a bit about leaving the farm and what might happen to it while we are gone. But it's so nice also to get away, relax and play! Upon our arrival home everything was in perfect order, animals all safe and healthy, garden dry, but not dead! Squash bugs only got one plant while I wasn't looking! (damage in previous years has been a lot worse!) This time we also got to have the man of our house with us the entire time and that never happens! We (the kids and I) usually go up all week and he joins us on the weekend, (he's kind of our family's indentured servant, always working so hard so we can play!) But this year it worked out that we could all go up together! We had a mu+ needed time of rest, relaxation, play and much delicious food!! I think we all gained about 5 pounds from all the fantastic meals we shared there! So there is a reason for the slowing of blog posts lately, (I've been stuffing my face, LOL!)