My Little Artist

Since Sebastian has more time alone without his sisters since school started, he has been spending most afternoons drawing, which is pretty much his favorite thing to do.  I love all his details.  This one is an owl in a tree. 

 This one is a pirate.  Not quite finished.

And a snake.

A lizard.

A cowboy on a very happy horse.

And a monster.
Maybe I'm a bit biased because I'm his mother, but I think he's quite good for four years old! Or maybe I'm just happy one of my kids likes to draw and paint as much as I do. Love it!

Shoes and Other Things

I never thought I was a shoe person.  I really don't care that much about shoes, at all.  But that was before I saw Miz Mooz shoes.  Seriously, I would buy them all!!!!!!!!  Well maybe not all.  But close.  

 I mean just look at this perfection of a shoe.  Seriously I love it.

 I love it in blue too.

 And this is the perfect color of green.  Kelly green.  The only color of green that I wear.  Beautiful.

 And this, well this is delectable.  And really is the start of this whole rant of a blog post.  My friend Dorothy had a pair of these shoes and every time I saw her at church and she was wearing these shoes, I told her how cute they were.  And then Dorothy moved this week, and she left me a pile of shoes outside my door.  Including these ones.  Isn't that the nicest thing ever?  I was a bit shocked actually.  Anyway, they're a touch small, but I plan on wearing them anyway.  And just for your viewing pleasure, a few more adorable Miss Mooz shoes.

 I would wear these everywhere.  I love the color and the style.

 I don't think I'd actually wear these, two inch heels are my limit.  But if they had a tad shorter heel, I definitely would wear them.  Love, love, love them.

My Miss Mooz shoe obsession began with these boots by the way.  Aren't they perfection?  Another friend of mine has a pair.  

In other news, I exercised today, took Jubal to the Dr. for a well child check (he weighs 11 lbs) and I read a book.  It's hard to exercise with kids.  Nicolas was sitting on my head while I did child's pose.  They should make a exercise video with the reality of exercising with children someday.  Trying to do push ups while kids sit on your back wanting pony rides.  Trying to do the exercises on the ground but your kids are laying right next to you, so you can't move your arms.  Worrying about kicking a child while doing leg raises, etc.  It would be amusing at least.  

Also, I've added the Orkney Islands to my bucket list (well, I would, if I had a bucket list) but I really would like to visit someday.  I read National Geographic's article about this Neolithic site there and it was fascinating, so then I looked it up to find out more and found this great documentary (the narrator has a cool accent, makes it even more fun to listen too.) Really you all should watch it.  

And for another fun documentary, there's this one about the Battle of Agincourt.  It's really hard to find good documentaries you know.  Basically the Discovery Channel and History Channel are mostly junky, stupid reality shows, and good documentaries are few and far between.  Blah.


And Kayli took pictures of her kids and it's appalling how old they've gotten.  Craziness.  But here's a few shots, because I made the vest for her.

And that's all.  Chao.

First Day of School

 Elena and Isabel were very excited for school.

 They had to show off their backpacks.

  And can you believe it?  I was up and ready and the kids were on time.

Despite the happy faces here, both Elena and Isabel returned home distraught. Weeping and wailing and saying how much they hated school.   For Elena it boiled down to the fact that she didn't get to wait with her friend after school, and I think Isabel was just overtired.  Today went better.

 Ana, unfortunately, had her alarm set for the PM and not AM and so missed her first day of seminary and was a bit late to school. She was happy when she got home though.  Today was a bummer for her however.  She was supposed to get her braces off, but they changed their minds and she's keeping them for another 3 months.  So sad.

As for me, I am LOVING  the kids being back in school.  It's so quiet and restful.  Sebastian has been at friends' houses playing both days though.  Anyway, I love it.

Nuthouse News

1. Leo flew home from Torreon, Mexico today via Mexico City, and on the way he sat by a guy that people kept coming up to, and asking to have their pictures taken with him. Leo didn't know who he was, but found out he was Miguel Herrera, head soccer coach of Mexico's team. No picture, though. And actually, he didn't even talk to him.  They were both sleeping most of the trip, except when Miguel Herrera was taking pictures with half the plane, and people out on the jetway, and in waiting area, etc. He was pretty much mobbed the whole time.  Leo said he was really nice and pleasant to every one that came up to ask for a picture though.  That's nice.

2. Here's some pictures of Torreon. Leo actually didn't have a camera, but gracias la web para los photos.  How's that for Spanglish? 

 He said it was really pretty like Southern Utah, but unfortunately he thought the whole trip was rather lame because they couldn't go out and sight see or explore at all because Torreon is not very safe. A year ago it was listed as the 7th most dangerous city in the world. And he said the food wasn't that good either.  Poor Leo.  

3.  I am so glad my children are heading back to school.  The last two weeks have finally brought me to that stage in summer when you want to strangle your children.  School starts Monday. Hooray!  Ana went to Freshman Orientation this past week, and I went to meet the teachers with Isabel and Elena.  I'll only have boys at home come Monday.  Weird.

4.  Here's some pictures of Ana from her Nauvoo trip.

 5. I cleaned up my room and sewing room.  It took the last three days.  Not that my room is a pig sty or anything, it's just that papers had piled up and fabric had piled up, and my kids' clothes that needed to go in the attic because they had outgrown them had piled up, etc.  And then my friend gave us 6 huge totes of toys that I went through and it literally took 3 hours.  I let the little girls keep a bunch of barbies and barbie clothes and gave another two totes of toys away to another friend, and the rest I might try to sell on Craigslist.  Seriously, after letting my girls keep 10 or more barbies, Ana counted and we're still getting rid of 56 more.  Crazy, eh?  Meanwhile I have 3 more totes still piled up in my room (I consolidated some and used the extra totes to stash more fabric that's been piling up on the floor by my sewing table--another friend gave me a bunch of velvet!  Sweet!)  Oh, and I restacked all these soup cans from our shelves that Nicolas plays with while I sew.  It really was a lot of work!  But on the up side, I found a small box of Smarties today in my closet that I immediately devoured.  Yum!

6.  I finished all my dying and I am so excited to start sewing the kids' Halloween costumes!  
Seriously, it's my favorite project part of the year!!!  I LOVE it!

7. I have such nice friends here.  After I told Ana's best friend Alyssa's mom, (follow that?) that Leo was gone all week at church this past Sunday, she came and took the oldest 5 on Tuesday night and fed them dinner and let them play in their pool. Then another friend, Brittney, took the 3 middle ones on Thursday to play at her house for a couple hours, and another friend Karen, took them on Wednesday for almost half the day (her son Chase and Sebastian are best friends, and her daughter Audrey and Elena are best friends as well. Isabel just tags along.) I feel so spoiled.  Here's some pictures of Ana and Alyssa, just because, from last year.  

8. Jubal has grown so much, he's not fitting newborn clothes anymore. Leo can't believe how chubby he's gotten in one week. I should take more pictures. Here's some attempts at a good baby announcement photo though. Seriously, he looks so much more chubby now than in these photos.  I love baby rolls!

9. And photos of my other hooligans.

10. I have no idea why my pictures are coming out so grainy.  I really need to fix my camera somehow.  Yuck.

11. And I think I'll end here for tonight.  Time for bed.  Adios amigos.