A whole decade, its crazy when I think about it too much!  He has come such a long way in the last year, 9-10 was a big year of growth.  He is such a soft hearted little guy (shh don’t tell him I called him little!), and I just adore him.  He is always surprising me with something, the maturity with which he see’s a situation, a tender moment with his sister, or some snippet of information I didn’t know before.  He is like his father, a bottomless pit of random facts!

As we snuggled before bed the other day, I told him how much I loved him.  I told him that he is a part of me and that no matter how old he is or where he goes I will always be with him.  That when he goes, a little bit of me goes with him.

This was taken on Monday…see the binky?  You guys were awesome on the advice- thank you!  Ann’s comment really resonated with me- and my mother in law emailed me to say she agreed with Ann too!  I realized I had no good reason for wanting her off it.  Just this idea that she “should” be done with it by now…but guess what, she’s not.  All my kids have done things on their own time tables and I guess this one is no different.  She is still a very smart, sweet, snuggly little thing- binky and all!  I’ll try again- when she’s ready.

Don’t you just adore (sarcasm alert) that massive bear in her bed?  Her uncle bought it for her sister….can’t decide if I love him for spending a day playing with the kids or if I hate him for bringing that (much loved by the girls) monster into our tiny home!

oh psst you can follow me on instagram #applesonastick

(this picture has nothing to do with the post, but Aaron bought me flowers this week and I just thought they looked so pretty!)

We’re a pacifier friendly household.  All of my kids have happily taken a pacifier and nursed strong for at least a year.  I much prefer them to use a binky over their fingers…because I don’t want to deal with the drama that comes from thumb sucking (I have had friends try everything from mouth gear to nasty flavored nail polish).  You can take a binky away-but not  a thumb.  And here in lies the problem….

The baby (read 2 year old) still uses a pacifier.  I wish she didn’t.  I weaned the boy off of it at 18months and we talked my older daughter into throwing them away shortly after her 2 birthday.  But this child…she’s throwing me for a loop.  I have her down to only using it at bed time and nap time.  A girlfriend told me that when she wanted to get her daughter off binkies she started cutting holes in them.  So I tried that…she didn’t care.  Aaron and I decided that the best way would to be to just go cold turkey, so one day they just disappeared.  Nap time came and she cried the whole 2 hours.  Bed time came and she cried for over an hour.  Next day, nap time was the same.  Bed time, I caved.  I took a binky cut a massive chunk of it off and offered it to her.  She cried maybe 5min more and then went to sleep.  Usually I am really good at being the firm and consistent one, but I just caved.  I knew she was tired from 2 days without naps and I just wanted her to sleep.  There has got to be another way…she isn’t as verbal as her sister was, so talking her out of them isn’t going to work…

Please please tell me, how did you get your kids off the binky?  How do I teach her to fall asleep without it?

Two dresses in two days  and one trip to Big Lots and we are nearly ready for Easter.  I wasn’t purposely waiting until the last minute, but both of my machines were in the shop.  Just got the last one back on Friday (my fav machine- the elna), it runs so smooth now…like “butter” I exclaim every time I use it!

For the Easter dresses I decided to only use what I currently had in my stash (fabric, patterns & notions), which was a real challenge as I don’t typically buy large cuts of fabric.  After some strategic cutting I was able to make it all happen!  You may notice that neither of the dresses are self lined, I just didn’t have enough fabric and had to find coordinating pieces in the stash!  This also explains the glaring maroon zipper on the dress above, I did an overlapping flap so it isn’t visible while the dress is being worn.  Thankfully I had an invisible zipper in the right size for the blue dress!

After she finished her homework we decided to do a photo shoot in the backyard to show off the dress.  It is a simple sheath, but I think the cardigan (from down east basics) adds just the right “umph”!  The son asked for a tie….I think the only thing I have in my stash that might work is a blue cowboy print, which doesn’t seem very eastery….we’ll see.

We typically celebrate easter with a simple basket of one chocolate bunny some peeps and something fun like side walk chalk, bubbles, etc.  Each year our church hosts a easter egg hunt where my kids end up with more candy than Halloween!  How do you celebrate easter with the kids?

First-  I have to tell you I made these Cherry Blossom Pastries over the weekend, they were so easy and a BIG hit with everyone!

Second- I added a few items to the shop this weekend, 2 book marks I had been working on.  I can’t tell you how much I love these bookmarks!  I am forever leaving my books out and around the house, and in turn they are always being picked up and moved around by the kids.  The book marks NEVER fall out.  I love how the elastic keeps the bookmark tight on my book!  I tired to make them reasonably priced based on the amount of detail I put into them.  What do you think?

This week I took a very quick (24hours) trip to Salt Lake City to attend a meeting.  I forgot how much I missed spring!  The trees on Temple Square were in full bloom, tulips, paper whites and daffodils were standing brightly in attention.  It was just beautiful, and while the desert does it’s own unique version of spring, nothing can compare to a midwest or mountain spring.

Life had been feeling a little out of balance lately and this trip was just what I needed.  I went with some wonderful ladies and had such a nice time!  Adult conversation, spiritual edification, lunch at the Lion House (I never knew pot pie could taste so good!) and a wonderful dose of spring!

I’m planning a relaxing weekend that will include these delicious looking treats, dinner with new friends and a few simple sewing projects.  I hope your weekend will be just as relaxing!

xo

There is nothing I love more than spring thunderstorms!  They are few and far between here in the desert.  We welcomed spring with a bit of a cold snap (no complaining from me, I know we will more than make up for it very very soon).

I happened upon these sweet little baby ducks on my morning bike ride along the canal.  There were 13!  My girlfriend and I marveled that momma duck could have hatched 13 eggs, she just didn’t seem large enough to sit on that many!  She fought off other ducks as we threw cheerios and graham crackers to the babies, which made me cheer.  I am all about mommas fighting for what is best for their babies.  I will go down as the biggest advocate for my children!

Just for fun, I snapped this through the crack in the door at nap time, she was almost asleep!  She always looks so tiny to me, snuggled up on her bed…

Last night I sat at the computer looking through old family slides from the 60′s thru the early 80′s.  I was looking for images of my father around the age of 8, I wanted to compare them to images of my son.  I decided while he is built like a Clark his face is not that of a Clark, he looks like his father, a Hales.

The images are of my family- a part of my past, but they are just that- images, on a screen.  Snatches of time, the poignancy of the moments they were taken is gone.  Faded memories in the back of someones mind.  I scrolled through images of my grandmother at my age, 34, holding her 6th (and last) child-my father-in her arms. Through photos of my Great Grandma (who has been gone nearly 20 years now) standing on the Israeli shores with her bright yellow tour bag.  It was nice to see her face after so many years, mixed in with photos of relatives I don’t know.

These images reminded me that it was only a matter of time before my life and my photos became images on a screen for future generations.  What seems so vital, so important and urgent in my life today will quickly fade into the recesses of the past.  It was a gentle reminder to keep life in perspective.  I just need to do my best each day and not take myself or my “problems” to seriously.  Life is short and this existence I call my own is just one very small moment in a very long time line of human experience.

I like when life hands me  these little lessons, wrapped gently in the folds of my day.

I can’t say, think or type “Disneyland” without thinking of this song.

I’ve been kickin’ it here in the OC the last few days… took my 7yo to Disneyland all by herself…just her and me.  We had SUCH a good time.

If you are thinking of going I cannot recommend ridemax.com enough.  I’m too tired from being on my feet for 12 hours to tell you all the reasons why I love them, but if you email me I will wax long and poetic!

thanks to all the pinners on pinterest and my friend Jaylee for the tip about Dole Pineapple Whip Floats, tongue tingling good!

I made cookies today. I love these cookies, they are delicious and soft just like those ones from the grocery store with the neon frosting.  My kids love them too, and ask for them far more often than I have the inclination to make them.  I posted the recipe before, you can find it here.  I originally did an online search for cookies like those ones from the store and ran across the recipe in an online forum.  I adapted it a bit (I mentioned what I changed) and have been using it every since.

Enjoy!