Roller Rink

Last weekend Guptills from near and far gathered in Oregon City to celebrate my Grandma Valdines 84th birthday, reunion style. It was so so much fun, and SO good to see everyone.
We kicked things off with some roller skating, sounds fun, right?
It totally was!
Even if I did look like a complete fool, who cares?

Here is LaRue, recovering from a little spill...

Tillie demonstrates the tenacious wall holding technique...

Cousins! One of the best things about the whole reunion was that the girls got to see and play with so many of their wonderful cousins!

Since it was a private party we were even allowed to let little Adelaide in on the action (the stroller actually turned out to be pretty handy for keeping you upright).

By the end even Grandma couldn't resist the siren call of the roller skates and she gave it a bit of a go too.
I think our family is fun and wacky and terrific.

Silly Goose

So.
Silly Goose called to me from down the hall,
"Mom! Help me put on the kangaroo hat!"
Naturally, I helped Silly Goose put on the kangaroo hat.
Tillie: "I have a meeting with Piglet."
Mommy: "Oh, really? Well, you look great."
Tillie: "Thanks. Okay, bye mommy! I'm going on a Halloween adventure to save Matt!"
-Matt is a character from the cartoon, Cyberchase, whom Tillie used to refer to as her boyfriend-
With her kangaroo hat and her Barbie lunch box, it was clear that Tillie (and Piglet) would be ready for anything.
Every once in a while, I think my kids are pretty dang cute.

Your Roar Is In The Mail

Isn't this an adorable little boy?
He's my nephew, Brandon.
And I love him.
And today is his birthday!
Happy birthday, Brandon!

Isn't this an adorable little hat?
It's what I wanted to make for my adorable little nephew.
BUT.
The lady who makes and sells these hats on Etsy does not sell the pattern.
Dang it.

The challenge was on.
Putting every crochet trick I've learned this year to the test, I muddled through to figure it out by myself, and here is where I ended up.
These were the best pictures out of about a thousand.
I had a really hard time photographing this hat - hence, the three models.
Brandon, I hope you don't mind that I had the girls try your hat on for me, and I hope you have a terrific birthday!

Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; You're My Only Hope

A little friend for a little niece who had a birthday a few days ago.

Sticky, Splashy, Saturday.

Sticky.
Big ol' lollipops bought at the Saturday Market make for hours of sugary fun.

We went to the park right after this picture was taken and Tillie got so sticky from her lollipop and so dirty from playing that by the time we left, she looked a little something like this...

Splashy.

A slip and side, and a sprouting frog pool make for hours of splashy fun.
Adelaide got to splash too.
It's thirsty work.

We had such a lovely weekend at my parents in Washington, and got to visit with my dearest and loveliest Michelle and her fantastic kids.
I super love those mugs.
Lucky for me, we'll be seeing them again tomorrow!

And thanks again to McKenna and Michelle for buying LaRue and Matilda their lollipops. That was so nice, and the girls thought they were pretty much the best things ever!

Baby Shower

I have a beautiful and wonderful cousin who is expecting her first baby, a little girl, in August. *Hi Alycia!*
On Tuesday was her mom and her sisters threw her the sweetest baby shower.
Let me take a minute to tell you the thing about me and presents.
I always feel like I should make something, like that makes it more special or something, BUT bout halfway through the process I get all worked up, and in throes of torment I think things like 'they are just SO going to hate this!', 'why did I think this was a good idea?', and 'why didn't I just get a gift certificate? you CAN'T go wrong with gift certificates!'
By the time I finish whatever it is that I'm working on I'm usually okay enough with how it has turned out to foist it on who it was intended for after all.
So yeah, I went through all of that when I was making things for Alycia and Lulu, and as usual, I can't make anything without talking about it here afterwards, so here we go!

Hat, booties and little monkey.

I bought these onesies and made the baby legs to match using this tutorial. I knew I wanted to make these, but kept putting it off because for some reason I thought it was going to be hard. I can't even tell you how easy these were. I'm so bummed that it took me until now to figure that out because I LOOOOOVE babies in onesies and legwarmers, but I think that my little Adelaides legs are a bit too chubby at this point.

And to finish things off I made this little dress using this tutorial, which was also much easier than I thought it was going to be.

So there we go!
I can't wait to meet Lulu, I just know she's going to be insanely cute.

Forks, Baby!

On Saturday July 26, my friend Salli and I went to Forks! She had been planning an overnight trip with some friends of hers from Utah, but at the last minute her Utah peeps couldn't make it, so we decided to make a "quick" day trip, just the two of us.
This is our journey...(Which I fully expect to only be interesting to me, and possibly Salli).

7:13 am: We're on our way!

Just two girls full of hope and Twi-love!

Be kind, it was seven in the morning after all.

8:10 A stop in Kalama, Washington to visit the high school that they used for filming. Sweet!
Back in the car, Mamma Mia sing along! Don't you wish you were in that car with us?
9:05 Skookumchuck River!
9:11 88B!
9:21 Chipsy Choy cookies!
9:53 Wynoochee river.
10:13 Stop for bathroom break and stretching.

After getting back on the road, it wasn't long until we saw the first sign for Forks!
10:51 There's a town named Humptulips, this is odd, no?
10:55 Promised Land recreation area: gotta keep tabs on the Promised Land.
11:22 More stretching, wildflower gathering.
*The drive to Forks was not short, but it was so beautiful, wooded, wildflowers everywhere, and the weather was gorgeous! Sunny and clear, but not hot.*

11:51 Lisa has to pee... pretty badly...

12:22 FORKS! We're here!

This is my first picture in Forks, isn't it a good one?
I was just jazzed to be there guys.Our very first stop was at the Forks Chamber of Commerce, made quite famous by the DVD, Twilight in Forks.

Happily, they had a restroom - note 11:51 in the travel log, that was a good half hour ago.
Even more happily, this was the light switch cover in the bathroom. Second picture in Forks!
It should be mentioned that Twilight cardboard people abound inside the chamber of commerce, so fun. Actually they abound just about everywhere in Forks.
We collected our complimentary Twilight guide to the town and headed outside to take pictures by Bellas truck!

And the must-have picture with "The" Forks sign, although I think this might have been "The" wrong Forks sign. There was another one as you left on the other side of town -oops, don't tell Edward!

Then we headed over to the actual Forks high school and peeked in some of the windows, like most normal people would. Could this be the science class where Edward first laid nostrils on Bella?

No trip to Forks would be complete without stopping in at least one of the many stores dedicated to Twilight merchandise, and ONLY Twilight merchandise. I didn't actually get anything exciting, a postcard and -my favorite purchase of the whole trip- a penny that you put in one of those penny-smashing, crank machines and when it came out it read Forks Washington. Jealous? This store had tons of displays in the store and some really funny ones in the window...

Like this!
Vampire baby!
I really enjoyed this vampire baby, just so you know.

After stopping to see the Hospital, and Carlisles parking space, we drove over to the Cullen house and looked around for a little bit. Then it was off to lunch. The Subway in the 76 Gas Station. Nice, right? They of course had a Twilight sandwich.

Then it was off to La Push!

La Push, baby. It's, La Push.

La Push was gorgeous! We wandered on the beach for a little while and then it was back in the car to head to Port Angeles.

But wait!

The coppas!Whoops! My friend Salli got pulled over for drifting over the middle line a couple of times - possibly the sightseeing had something to do with this.

The policeman who pulled us over was one of the reservation police. He was very nice. I very nervously snapped this picture when he was back looking over all of Sallis papers.
When he came back he said
"May I ask what brings you ladies down here?"
Maybe now would be a good time to mention that we were wearing these SUPER cool Twilight Tour badges that Salli had made for the trip.So Salli and I kind of giggled nervously to each other and then said "Um, we're pretty big Twilight fans."
To which he replies, "Oh geez, let me go get my ticket book."

gasp!

He was just kidding though, and after he encouraged Salli to drive straighter we were back on our way - thankfully, with no ticket.
We got to Port Angeles, shortly after 6:00 and put our name on the waiting list at Bella Italia.
The biggest drawback to a road trip with only two people is that you end up being in a lot of pictures just by yourself - which if you know anything about me, you know that I HATE having my picture taken! I tried to be a sport though, because I don't anticipate going to any of these places again.
So here I am in front of Bella Italia, dressed in my Twilightiest outfit and wearing the headband I made especially to wear to the restaurant - and possibly to the movie if I decide I have the guts.While we waited for our seating at Bella Italia, we wandered around Port Angeles. We stopped in a bookstore of course, and then sat down by the waterfront for a while, which was lovely.

Dinner was delicious, but when it was over it was time for us to head home.
A short five hours later and we were home at 2:45 in the morning. Yikes! I have to give props to Salli here, for driving the ENTIRE way - I'm a lame ignoramus who doesn't know how to drive a stick.
It was a looooong day, but it was so much fun! It's nice to have a crazy, totally silly road trip every once in a while, and while I'm sure it will be quite a while before I go on a trip like that again, I'm really glad that we went!

Hives!

On Sunday after church, Tillie was put on a timeout. She was crying hysterically, which is typical for when she's on timeout, but when I asked her why she was crying she said it was because her leg hurt.
Being the wonderful, always loving, caring, sugary sweet mom that I am, I of course said "No it doesn't!" But when I went to "check" her leg, this is what I saw!

*Warning: shocking photo ahead*

Hives!

All over her legs and torso.
Luckily, I am cool under pressure, not one to immediately seize on the worst case scenario, and I definitely don't cry very easily.
So I very calmly called Jordan and encouraged him to come home from his errand and take her to the emergency room.
They gave her medicine and sent her home, the swelling went down and the redness faded... mostly.
Then this morning I woke up to this:I don't know if you can tell, but that's not eye shadow she's wearing; those are puffy, swollen, sad, little Tillie eyes. And more on her legs and tummy.
Sad face.
Back to the doctor.
Different medicine.
I was hoping that they would be able to tell us what she is allergic to that is making this happen, but I guess it doesn't work that way. Just vague assurances? that she's allergic to something and if this happens again we might have a better idea of what it could be.
Sigh.
I don't like it.

In other news: I was recently called to be the Primary Secretary! I kind of feel like it's my first real, grown up calling. There's a lot of familiarizing and organizing to do, and I've spent A LOT of time on the computer the last few days trying to get some of that figured out which makes me feel a little bit behind on my blogging.
So stay tuned because there are a couple of things I've made that I want to show you - I know, I know, you just CAN'T wait.
And, oh yeah... there may have been a little trip to Forks that I still have to tell you about.
Oh yes she did!

Swimsuit Season

We spent an afternoon at the local wading pool because the weather was just perfect for it.

There is almost nothing cuter than watching Adelaide toddle around in her swimsuit, on the worlds chubbiest baby legs, with her wittle baby cellulite and her not so wittle bottom.
Oh my heck, I love this silly girl.

I'm So Ashamed

Lately, when Adelaide has been doing something she knows she's not supposed to and she knows that we're watching her, she will sometimes cover her face up like this:
I think it is so silly and cute.
She wasn't actually doing anything naughty when I took this picture, she was um... pooping.
There. I said it.
And she must have been self conscious about doing it during dinner, because she kept covering her face, which I of course found funny, and now I am the lady that blogs about her kids doing that.
Adelaide will be so mad about this when she learns to read...

Summer Solstice

Happy day late Summer Solstice, everybody!
I love that our weather around here has still largely been deliciously gloomy, and now the days are going to be getting shorter and shorter.
It gives me hope that this summer won't be as sweltering as last year.
Anyway, I'm not here to talk to you about how much I don't love summer, you really should know that about me by now.
I'm here to tell you about participating in the Summer Solstice run this year.

Remember this from two years ago?

Well we went again this year, and this time Tillie got to race too!

Here are Rue and Tillie, showing off their racers numbers.

All the kids lined up, ready to start.

Tillie was very reluctant to run once the race actually started, I ended up running it with her holding hands. We came in almost last, but I was proud of her for running the whole way.
Here she is collecting her ribbon.

LaRue did great, she ran really fast, and I would guess that she was among the first in her age/size group, but she was devastated that she didn't win the whole thing - there were a few ten and eleven year olds in there, several kids older than her for goodness sakes! She demands excellence of herself, I guess.

I'll spare you the picture of myself -you're welcome- it would look exactly like the one I posted two years ago. BUT I did want to mention that I ran the 5K again this year, my only goal was to beat my time from two years ago, and I did! I came in a minute and twenty seconds faster, booyah!
It felt good to do it, and I hope we do it again next year.
I'm thinking my goal for 2011 will be to have Jordan run it with me, what do you think?

Not a Kindergartener Anymore

Last Thursday was LaRues last day of Kindergarten.
It seems like only yesterday I was posting about her first day, I seriously cannot believe how crazy fast this year has gone by.
So here is a picture of LaRue from her first and last day, side by side.
I think we can all agree that one school year later, she is still a squirmy little picture taker.
Don't even get me started on LaRues shoes in the last day picture...ick.

I got to help with the class on the last day, and they had quite a party.
LaRue had such a wonderful year, and considering how scared I was to send her in the beginning, I couldn't be more thrilled with how well everything went.
We just adore Mrs. Clement and don't think there is a better Kindgergarten teacher out there.
We love Mrs. Thornley too!
With that in mind, I put these little boxes together for a little thank you, I thought they came out cute enough. It's a pastry box filled with homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and lemon bars.
I went to the teacher supply store (my FAVORITE) and picked up some library cards and pockets (I'm not sure why, but I just completely nerd out over things like that). I wrote a thank you note on the library cards and slipped them into the envelopes, and LaRue wrote them both a little note which we stuck in there too. I made the band using some cute scrapbooking paper that I found at Michaels.
Anyway, nothing fancy, just thought I'd share.
Now, only a few months to brace myself for the first grade and FULL days, yikes!

Skunked

I made this little friend for LaRue.
It was meant to be a birthday pal to go with her Strawberry Girl, but I didn't finish it in time.I think I'm going to make one for Tillie and Adelaide with their respective hair colors and maybe stick them in their stockings at Christmas... if I finish them in time which is by no means guaranteeable.Oh, and the reason that I would make them little skunks is because we're constantly calling them little skunks.
In our defense, they're constantly acting like little skunks, so... we're not jerks?

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Matilda has been in desperate need of a haircut for about one hundred years now.

She's never actually had her hair cut before, so it was very long, and very straggly.
It was also completely impossible to keep combed or clean.

So here are the BEFORE pictures,

Model pose

And from the back.
Her hair is freshly washed here, so this is about as good as we could get it lately.
Remember that I have absolutely ZERO hair prettifying skills.

So off we went to Little Clippers.
Have you ever been to a Little Clippers?
The girls thought it was the most magical place, they definitely didn't want to leave when the haircuts were over.
Luckily, I thought to bribe distract them with the promise of cookies, so, no tantrums.
Yay.

BUT we were talking about Tillies new haircut,
here is the AFTER:I think she's adorable, though honestly she could be completely bald and I would still think she was the most adorable thing.

She likes her "big girl" hair cut too, which is a plus.
I have to admit that it was a little emotional for me watching her hair get cut, which I so did not expect given how completely frustrated I've been with her long hair for the past few months, and how much we were looking forward to chopping it.
It's all good though, like any normal mother I now have an entire envelope filled with Matilda hair hanging out in my purse.

Admit It, You Think I'm Awesome

I seem to have lost a bit of my project mojo lately, so the other night when I finally made this, I was so excited - it has been on my to do list forever.

Cute, right? Wondering what's inside?

Hello, my pretties!I finally have something better than a plastic snack baggie to hold my crochet paraphernalia.
Yay!
The empty pocket is for my little scissors.
I know you were wondering.
Side note: have you ever made a fabric covered button before?
How oddly satisfying!

Since I'm nerding out about crochet (again), I might as well have Adelaide show you my super cool eyeballs container.
Don't worry, it's got a special lid that sometimes even makes it hard for me to get into.

I also have one of these babies,
(though this picture is off of amazon)which, by the by, is called a YARNTAINER.
I love it so much.

And of course I keep all of this awesomeness, in my super cool crochet tote:
Cuz I'm the coolest eighty-seven year old in the O.C.